Woodward Financial Advisors, Inc (referred to as “WFA” throughout this document) is a fee-only,
independent, financial planning and investment advisory firm and has been registered with the SEC as an
investment advisor since June 2009.
The firm provides financial planning and investment management services to individuals, families and
their related entities, trusts and estates, and businesses. WFA works with clients to define their financial
objectives and create strategies to achieve these objectives while providing peace of mind.
The firm’s compensation is derived solely from fees paid directly by clients, also known as “fee-only”. The
firm does not receive commissions or pay or receive referrals fees from anyone. We work in a
consultative fashion with our clients and feel that this is the most transparent of all business models, and
we would do business no other way.
General Description of Primary Advisory Services
The following are brief descriptions of WFA’s primary services. A detailed description of WFA’s services
is provided in
Item 5 – Fees and Compensation so that clients and prospective clients can review the
services and description of fees in a side-by-side manner.
Wealth Management Service - WFA provides proactive advisory services in the form of Wealth
Management. Wealth Management Services involve providing clients with continuous and on-going
supervision over their portfolio in addition to financial planning services. This service involves periodic
meetings, conference calls and emails and is very comprehensive in nature. Our Wealth Management
service is geared towards folks that wish to have continuous financial consultation and delegate the
investment management to a professional. The financial planning component can be described as
helpin
g individuals determine and set their
long-term financial goals, through
investments, tax planning,
asset allocation, risk management, retirement planning, an
d other areas. The
role of a financial planner is
to find ways to help the client understand his/her
overall financial situation and help the
client set financial
objectives.
Hourly Advice - We work with a limited number of legacy clients on an hourly basis, charging a current
rate of $300/hour. The firm has stopped taking on new clients in an hourly fashion but still services a few
of these legacy hourly clients. These engagements are limited in scope and may involve analysis such
as asset allocation, cash flow, investments, tax planning, etc.
Specialization.
We specialize in comprehensive financial planning, which can include areas such as retirement planning,
investments, estate planning, college funding analysis, risk assessment, and tax planning, among others.
We customize our advice to each individual client and do not have a one-size fits all cookie-cutter
approach. Each client situation is unique and so is our advice.
Limits Advice to Certain Types of Investments.
WFA Implements client portfolios under the Wealth Management service using a variety of instruments,
tailored to the individual clients’ goals. The portfolio may include investments such as no-load mutual
funds, exchange-traded funds, individual stocks or bonds, annuities, variable life insurance or
partnerships. WFA does not provide advice or implement portfolios with things such as options contracts,
individual commodities, direct real estate, futures contracts, hedge funds or other private (i.e., non-
registered) securities.
When clients engage our Wealth Management service, the firm will typically construct each client’s
account holdings using mutual funds and exchange-traded funds to build diversified portfolios. We focus
on low-cost and passive investments as part of our global asset allocation strategy. It is not WFA’s typical
investment strategy to attempt to time the market, but we may make tactical changes from time to time as
deemed appropriate, based on your risk tolerance and our expectations of market behavior. We may
modify our investment strategy to accommodate special situations like: low basis stock, stock options,
legacy holdings, inheritances, closely held businesses, collectibles, or special tax situations.
Tailor Advisory Services to Individual Needs of Clients
WFA’s services are always provided based on the individual needs of each client. We work with each
client on a one-on-one basis through interviews and questionnaires to determine the client’s investment
objectives and suitability information.
Client Assets Managed by WFA
The amount of client assets managed by WFA
totaled approximately $511,205,897 as of December 31,
2023. The entire portion is managed on a discretionary basis.