Overview
Evermay Wealth Management, LLC (“Evermay”, “we”, “us”, “our”, or “the Firm”) is an investment
adviser registered (“adviser” or “RIA”) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
The Firm became an adviser in December 2008. Evermay provides investment advisory services,
sometimes referred to as Investment Management Services, on both a discretionary and non-
discretionary basis to its clients, which may include individuals, high net worth individuals and
associated trusts, estates, charitable organizations, pension and profit-sharing plans, and other
corporations or business entities (together “clients” or “you”). Clients and prospective clients meet
with Investment Adviser Representatives (“Advisors”, “Wealth Advisors”, “Associate Wealth
Advisors”, “IARs”, or “Wealth Managers,” together “Advisory Services Team or Advisory Team”)
to determine if an advisory program is in their best interest, uncover investment goals and
objectives, establish suitable investment strategies, review portfolios, and work with clients to
discuss any changes to the client’s financial goals and objectives. Advisors can also work with
clients to create a financial plan. Additionally, Wealth Advisors are available to provide consulting
services to certain retirement plans. Evermay offers a team-centric approach to helping clients with
their financial needs whereby our clients work with different members of the Advisory Team.
Evermay invests in equities, mutual funds, bonds, cash-equivalents, private funds, private equity
funds, and other instruments and/or third-party investment managers. In certain circumstances,
clients have the ability to place reasonable restrictions on the types of investments that may be
recommended by Evermay.
Evermay’s principal place of business is located in Arlington, Virginia.
The Firm is a limited liability company whose shares are majority owned by President and Co-
Founder, William Pitt, IV.
Evermay is a Fiduciary to Clients
Evermay is a fiduciary when providing advisory services to its clients. We are registered under the
Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (“Advisers Act”), which places a fiduciary obligation
on us.
In addition, Evermay provides services as a “fiduciary” (as the term is defined in Section 3(21)(A)
of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”) and/or Section
4975 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“the Code”)), with respect to Retirement
Accounts. For the purposes of this Brochure, the term “Retirement Account” is used to cover certain
retirement plans under Title I of ERISA, which includes Individual Retirement Accounts (“IRAs”).
As a fiduciary, Evermay’s responsibility is to make sure your best interests come first. Evermay
provides you with full disclosure of all material facts relating to its advisory relationship with you.
The advisory services are designed to avoid conflicts of interest. Evermay is obligated to disclose
conflicts of interest to make you aware of them as you evaluate the Firm’s services. Conflicts of
interest or potential conflicts of interest commonly refer to activities or relationships whereby
Evermay’s and/or its Advisors’ interest compete with the interest of our clients. A conflict of interest
arises when the conflict could incline Evermay or its Advisors to provide advice to you that is
influenced by considerations of firm or personal advantages.
The Firm will provide you with objective investment advice. Portfolio investments and asset
allocation decisions are subject to a due diligence review process by our experienced investment
professionals.
Evermay investment strategy recommendations are provided to you only after we thoroughly review
your investment goals, financial situation, liquidity needs, tax sensitivity and risk tolerance
(together “Investor Profile”). We will provide ongoing investment advice to you and if your goals
change, we will work with you to keep your investment strategy in-line with those changes.
Evermay will provide ongoing monitoring of your portfolios and make changes to the portfolio
holdings and asset allocations as necessary.
Prior to Evermay providing clients with objective investment advice, clients are required to enter
into a written agreement with us setting forth the terms and conditions of the advisory relationship
(the “Investment Advisory Agreement”) sometimes referred to as the “Advisory Agreement.” The
Advisory Agreement will continue in effect until terminated by either party by written notice to the
other. Evermay reserves the right to terminate the Advisory Agreement at any time by providing
30-day advance written notice to the client.
While this brochure generally describes the business of Evermay, certain sections also discuss the
activities of the Firm’s officers, Wealth Advisors, or other employees (together “Supervised
Persons” or “Access Persons”) who provide investment advice or support services on Evermay’s
behalf and are subject to the Firm’s supervision and control.
If Evermay works with a third-party investment manager to manage a portion of a client’s portfolio,
these clients are provided with the third-party manager’s Form ADV Part 2A, which describes
information about third-party investment manager’s investment strategies, advisory fees, conflicts
of interest and advisory services. Third-party investment managers do not split their fees with us
and therefore there is no conflict of interest associated with recommending clients invest with a
third-party manager.
Investment Management Services
Evermay and its Wealth Advisors provide ongoing discretionary portfolio Investment Management
Services to clients. The portfolio advice and management are based on the client’s individual
financial needs. Wealth Advisors work closely with clients to establish financial goals and
objectives based on their specific financial circumstances and needs. Evermay’s investment
portfolios have flexibility to use similar or different asset allocations, rebalancing methodologies,
and security holdings within the same investment strategy. There is no guarantee that clients with
the same asset allocations or investment strategy will have the same investment holdings or
performance. In a limited number of client engagements, we offer Investment Management Services
on a non-discretionary basis.
Evermay tailors its advisory services to meet the needs of its clients and works on a continuous
basis to manage client portfolios in a manner consistent with those needs and objectives. After
building a client’s investment portfolio, we attempt to meet with clients at least annually, or as
reasonably necessary under the circumstance, to discuss changes to the client’s financial situation,
investment goals and objectives, and aspects of their Investor Profile. During investment portfolio
reviews or throughout the course of the year, Wealth Advisors are available to review various
components of the client’s investment portfolios including but not limited to, account performance,
securities holdings, asset allocation, and the rebalancing strategy. Clients must notify us as soon as
practical when there are changes to their financial situation.
Clients can engage Evermay to manage and/or advise on certain investment products or accounts
that are not maintained at our primary custodian, such as employer sponsored retirement plans and
qualified tuition plans (i.e., 529 plans). In these situations, Evermay recommends the allocation of
client assets among various investment choices available within the account and works with the
client to access the account and implement portfolio investment changes.
Some investments available for client portfolios take on additional degrees of investment risk and/or
liquidity risk. These investments are only included in a client portfolio when consistent with the
client’s goals, objectives, liquidity needs, and risk tolerance.
Client accounts that are approved by the custodian to use margin have the ability to borrow money
to buy securities and/or for other non-investment borrowing purposes such as short-term bridge
loans. The custodian charges the investor interest for the right to borrow money and uses the
securities in the account as collateral. Evermay does not recommend the use of margin for
investment purposes and does not receive any interest or fees in connection with the use of margin.
Clients can make deposits to and withdrawals from their accounts at any time, subject to Evermay’s
right to terminate the Advisory Agreement for a client account. Deposits can be in cash or securities
provided that the Firm reserves the right to liquidate or decline any transferred securities. Clients
can withdraw account assets on notice to Evermay, subject to the usual and customary securities
settlement procedures. However, the Firm designs its portfolios for long-term investing, and
withdrawals of assets may impair the achievement of a client’s investment objectives. Evermay may
consult with its clients about the options and implications of transferring securities. Clients are
advised that when securities transferred to the account are liquated, the securities may be subject to
transaction fees, short-term redemption fees, fees assessed at the mutual fund level (e.g., contingent
deferred sales charges) and the sale of securities could have tax implications.
Retirement Account Rollovers. A client or prospective client who has changed employers over
the years may have retirement plan accounts such as 401ks or 403bs remaining at their former
employers. Clients who find themselves in these situations have four options regarding their prior
qualified retirement plans which include the following: (i) leave the money in the former employer’s
plan, if permitted, (ii) roll over the assets to the new employer’s plan, if one is available and rollovers
are permitted, (iii) roll over the assets to an Individual Retirement Account (“IRA”), or (iv) cash
out the account value, which could, depending on the client’s age, result in adverse tax
consequences. If Evermay or its Wealth Advisors recommends clients roll over their retirement plan
assets into an account to be managed by Evermay, such recommendations create a conflict of
interest since Evermay will earn new or increase its compensation as a result of the rollover. If
Evermay provides a recommendation as to whether a client should engage in a rollover or not,
Evermay is acting
as a fiduciary within the meaning of ERISA and/or the Code, as applicable, which
are laws governing retirement accounts. No client is under any obligation to roll over retirement
plan assets to an account managed by Evermay.
Additional information regarding potential conflicts of interest and conflicts of interest can be found
throughout different sections of this brochure.
Financial Planning
We offer financial planning services that focus on determining our client’s unique long-term
financial goals and objectives and establish a road map to help them achieve those goals. Clients
who would like to obtain a financial plan are provided with a financial plan report and consultative
review sessions to discuss detailed steps and recommendations to implement the plan.
Financial planning is the evaluation of a client’s current and hypothetical future financial state that
utilizes known variables to help model or forecast future cash flows, asset values, and portfolio
withdrawals. During the financial planning process, we ask an extensive number of questions in
order for you to provide us with the necessary information to assist us with building your financial
plan.
Planning Limitations. Evermay believes that it is important for the client to address financial
planning issues on an ongoing basis. Evermay’s advisory fee, as set forth at Item 5 below, will
remain the same regardless of whether or not the client determines to address financial planning
issues with Evermay. It remains each client’s responsibility to promptly notify Evermay if there is
ever any change in his/her/its financial situation or investment objectives for the purpose of
reviewing/evaluating/revising our previous recommendations and/or services.
Retirement Plan Consulting Services
We provide consulting services to qualified retirement plans (“Plans”), which include, 401ks, profit
sharing plans, and pensions. Evermay will analyze the Plan’s current investment platform, and, if
applicable, review and analyze the Plan’s investment policy statement. Evermay will also
recommend the investment options to offer in the Plan, provide participant education, and monitor
the performance of the plan’s available investment vehicles.
The firm will work with the Plans on an ongoing basis to include regular considerations of the goals
and objectives of the Plan and provide plan participate education.
Miscellaneous
Custodian Charges-Additional Fees. As discussed in Item 12, when requested to recommend a
broker-dealer/custodian for client accounts, Evermay generally recommends that Schwab serve as
the broker-dealer/custodian for client investment management assets. Broker-dealers such as
Schwab charge brokerage commissions, transaction, and/or other type fees for effecting certain
types of securities transactions (i.e., including transaction fees for certain mutual funds, and mark-
ups and mark-downs charged for fixed income transactions, etc.). The types of securities for which
transaction fees, commissions, and/or other type fees (as well as the amount of those fees) shall
differ depending upon the broker-dealer/custodian. While certain custodians, including Schwab,
generally (with exceptions) do not currently charge fees on individual equity transactions (including
ETFs), others do. Please Note: there can be no assurance that Schwab will not change its transaction
fee pricing in the future. Please Also Note: Schwab may also assess fees to clients who elect to
receive trade confirmations and account statements by regular mail rather than electronically.
Cash Positions. Evermay continues to treat cash as an asset class. As such, unless determined to
the contrary by Evermay, all cash positions (money markets, etc.) shall continue to be included as
part of assets under management for purposes of calculating Evermay’s advisory fee. At any
specific point in time, depending upon perceived or anticipated market conditions/events (there
being no guarantee that such anticipated market conditions/events will occur), Evermay may
maintain cash positions for defensive purposes. In addition, while assets are maintained in cash,
such amounts could miss market advances. Depending upon current yields, at any point in time,
Evermay’s advisory fee could exceed the interest paid by the client’s money market fund.
Cash Sweep Accounts. Certain account custodians can require that cash proceeds from account
transactions or new deposits, be swept to and/or initially maintained in a specific custodian
designated sweep account. The yield on the sweep account will generally be lower than those
available for other money market accounts. When this occurs, to help mitigate the corresponding
yield dispersion, Evermay shall (usually within 30 days thereafter) generally (with exceptions)
purchase a higher yielding money market fund (or other type security) available on the custodian’s
platform, unless Evermay reasonably anticipates that it will utilize the cash proceeds during the
subsequent 30-day period to purchase additional investments for the client’s account. Exceptions
and/or modifications can and will occur with respect to all or a portion of the cash balances for
various reasons, including, but not limited to the amount of dispersion between the sweep account
and a money market fund, the size of the cash balance, an indication from the client of an imminent
need for such cash, or the client has a demonstrated history of writing checks from the account.
Please Note: The above does not apply to the cash component maintained within an Evermay
actively managed investment strategy (the cash balances for which shall generally remain in the
custodian designated cash sweep account), an indication from the client of a need for access to such
cash, assets allocated to an unaffiliated investment manager, and cash balances maintained for fee
billing purposes. Please Also Note: The client shall remain exclusively responsible for yield
dispersion/cash balance decisions and corresponding transactions for cash balances maintained in
any Evermay unmanaged accounts.
Portfolio Activity. Evermay has a fiduciary duty to provide services consistent with the client’s
best interest. Evermay will review client portfolios on an ongoing basis to determine if any changes
are necessary based upon various factors, including, but not limited to, investment performance,
market conditions, fund manager tenure, style drift, account additions/withdrawals, and/or a change
in the client’s investment objective. Based upon these factors, there may be extended periods of
time when Evermay determines that changes to a client’s portfolio are unnecessary. Clients remain
subject to the fees described in Item 5 during periods of portfolio inactivity. Of course, as indicated
below, there can be no assurance that investment decisions made by Evermay will be profitable or
equal any specific performance level(s).
Cybersecurity Risk. The information technology systems and networks that Evermay and its third-
party service providers use to provide services to Evermay’s clients employ various controls, which
are designed to prevent cybersecurity incidents stemming from intentional or unintentional actions
that could cause significant interruptions in Evermay’s operations and result in the unauthorized
acquisition or use of clients’ confidential or non-public personal information. Clients and Evermay
are nonetheless subject to the risk of cybersecurity incidents that could ultimately cause them to
incur losses, including for example: financial losses, cost and reputational damage to respond to
regulatory obligations, other costs associated with corrective measures, and loss from damage or
interruption to systems. Although Evermay has established processes to reduce the risk of
cybersecurity incidents, there is no guarantee that these efforts will always be successful, especially
considering that Evermay does not directly control the cybersecurity measures and policies
employed by third-party service providers. Clients could incur similar adverse consequences
resulting from cybersecurity incidents that more directly affect issuers of securities in which those
clients invest, broker-dealers, qualified custodians, governmental and other regulatory authorities,
exchange and other financial market operators, or other financial institutions.
Use of Mutual and Exchange Traded Funds: Evermay utilizes mutual funds and exchange traded
funds for its client portfolios. In addition to Evermay’s investment advisory fee described below,
and transaction and/or custodial fees discussed above, clients will also incur, relative to all mutual
fund and exchange traded fund purchases, charges imposed at the fund level (e.g., management fees
and other fund expenses). The mutual funds and exchange traded funds utilized by Evermay are
generally available directly to the public. Thus, a client can generally obtain the funds recommended
and/or utilized by Evermay independent of engaging Evermay as an investment advisor. However,
if a prospective client does so, then they will not receive Evermay's initial and ongoing investment
advisory services.
Client Obligations. In performing our services, Evermay shall not be required to verify any
information received from the client or from the client’s other professionals and is expressly
authorized to rely thereon. Moreover, it remains each client’s responsibility to promptly notify
Evermay if there is ever any change in his/her/its financial situation or investment objectives for the
purpose of reviewing/evaluating/revising our previous recommendations and/or services.
Investment Risk. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and it should not
be assumed that future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy (including
the investments and/or investment strategies recommended or undertaken by Evermay) will be
profitable or equal any specific performance level(s).
Disclosure Brochure. A copy of Evermay’s written Brochure as set forth on Part 2A of Form ADV
and Form CRS (“Client Relationship Summary”) shall be provided to each client prior to, or
contemporaneously with, the execution of an agreement between the client and Evermay.
Assets Under Management
As of March 1, 2024, Evermay managed approximately $1,062,573,000 in assets under
management, with $1,037,276,000 on a discretionary basis and $25,297,000 on a non-discretionary
basis.