A. Segment Wealth Management, LLC (the “Registrant”) is a limited liability company
formed on August 23, 2011 in the State of Texas. The Registrant became registered as an
Investment Adviser Firm in August 2012. The Registrant is principally owned by GAB
Interests, Inc. which, in turn, is owned by Gil Baumgarten. GAB Interests, Inc. is the
Registrant’s Managing Member.
B.
INVESTMENT ADVISORY SERVICES
The client can determine to engage the Registrant to provide discretionary and/or non-
discretionary investment advisory services on a fee-only basis The Registrant’s annual
investment advisory fee is based upon a percentage (%) of the market value of the assets
placed under the Registrant’s management. The Registrant provides investment advisory
services specific to the needs of each client. Before providing investment advisory services,
an investment adviser representative will ascertain each client’s investment objectives.
Thereafter, the Registrant will allocate investment assets consistent with the designated
investment objectives. Once allocated, the Registrant provides ongoing monitoring and
review of account performance, asset allocation and client investment objectives. Before
engaging Registrant to provide investment advisory services, clients are required to enter
into an Investment Advisory Agreement with Registrant setting forth the terms and
conditions of the engagement (including termination), describing the scope of the services
to be provided, and the fee that is due from the client.
RETIREMENT CONSULTING SERVICES
The Registrant may also be engaged to provide non-discretionary pension consulting
services, pursuant to which it assists sponsors of self-directed retirement plans with the
selection and/or monitoring of investment alternatives (generally open-end mutual funds)
from which plan participants shall choose in self-directing the investments for their
individual plan retirement accounts. In addition, to the extent requested by the plan
sponsor, the Registrant shall also provide participant education designed to assist
participants in identifying the appropriate investment strategy for their retirement plan
accounts. The terms and conditions of the engagement, describing the scope of services to
be provide, and the required fee shall generally be set forth in a Retirement Plan Services
Agreement between the Registrant and the plan sponsor.
MISCELLANEOUS
Limited Consulting/Implementation Services. Although the Registrant does not hold
itself out as providing financial planning, estate planning or accounting services, to the
extent specifically requested by the client, the Registrant may provide limited consultation
services to its investment management clients on investment and non-investment related
matters, such as estate planning, tax planning, insurance, etc. Registrant shall not receive
any separate or additional fee for any such consultation services. Neither the Registrant,
nor any of its representatives, serves as an attorney, accountant, or licensed insurance agent,
and no portion of the Registrant’s services should be construed as same. Accordingly, we
do not prepare estate planning or any other legal documents, provide tax preparation or
make tax filings, or sell insurance products. To the extent requested by a client, the
Registrant may recommend the services of other professionals for certain non-investment
implementation purposes (i.e., attorneys, accountants, insurance, etc.). The client is under
no obligation to engage the services of any such recommended professional. The client
retains absolute discretion over all such implementation decisions and is free to accept or
reject any recommendation from the Registrant.
If the client engages any such recommended professional, and a dispute arises thereafter
relative to such engagement, the client agrees to seek recourse exclusively from and against
the engaged professional. At all times, the engaged licensed professional[s] (i.e., attorney,
accountant, insurance agent, etc.), and not the Registrant, shall be responsible for the
quality and competency of the services provided.
It remains the client’s responsibility to promptly notify the Registrant if there is ever any
change in their financial situation or investment objectives for the purpose of reviewing,
evaluating or revising Registrant’s previous recommendations and/or services.
Affiliated Private Investment Funds. VEP II Orchard, LLC is an affiliated private
investment fund (the “affiliated private fund”). The Registrant, on a non-discretionary
basis, may recommend that qualified clients consider allocating a portion of their
investment assets to the affiliated private fund. The terms and conditions for participation
in the affiliated private fund, including management and incentive fees, conflicts of
interest, and risk factors, are set forth in the fund’s offering documents. Registrant’s clients
are under absolutely no obligation to consider or make an investment in a private
investment fund(s).
Although the Registrant is affiliated with the private fund, the Registrant has no
involvement with the initial or ongoing management or business operations of, the
affiliated private fund.
Investment in private investment funds involve various risk factors, including, but not
limited to, potential for complete loss of principal, liquidity constraints, and lack of
transparency of the underlying fund investments, as more fully discussed in the fund
offering documents. Unlike liquid investments that a client/investor may maintain, private
investment funds generally do not provide daily liquidity or pricing. The client must be
fully prepared to accept any and all adverse consequences resulting from his/her decision
to invest in the Fund.
Valuation. In the event that the Registrant references private investment funds owned by
the client on any supplemental account reports prepared by the Registrant, the value(s) for
all private investment funds owned by the client shall reflect the most recent valuation
provided by the fund sponsor. However, if subsequent to purchase, the fund has not
provided an updated valuation, the valuation shall reflect the initial purchase price. If
subsequent to purchase, the fund provides an updated valuation, then the statement will
reflect that updated value. The updated value will continue to be reflected on the report
until the fund provides a further updated value.
As result of the valuation process, if the valuation reflects initial purchase price or an
updated value subsequent to purchase price, the current value(s) of an investor’s fund
holding(s) could be significantly more or less than the value reflected on the report. Unless
otherwise indicated, the Registrant shall calculate its fee based upon the latest value
provided by the fund sponsor.
Non-Discretionary Service Limitations. Clients that determine to engage Registrant on a
non-discretionary investment advisory basis must be willing to accept that Registrant
cannot effect any account transactions without obtaining prior consent to such
transaction(s) from the client. Thus, in the event that Registrant would like to make a
transaction for a client’s account (including in the event of an individual holding or general
market correction), and the client is unavailable, the Registrant will be unable to effect the
account transaction(s) (as it would for its discretionary clients) without first obtaining the
client’s consent.
Retirement Plan Rollovers – No Obligation / Conflict of Interest. A client or
prospective client leaving an employer typically has four options regarding an existing
retirement plan (and may engage in a combination of these options): (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 to an Individual
Retirement Account (“IRA”), or (iv) cash out the account value (which could, depending
upon the client’s age, result in adverse tax consequences). Generally, the Registrant does
not provide recommendations on rollovers. However, if requested,
the Registrant may
provide certain educational materials to assist clients who are considering a rollover. No
client is under any obligation to roll over retirement plan assets to an account managed by
Registrant.
Cash Positions. Registrant continues to treat cash as an asset class. As such, unless
determined to the contrary by Registrant, all cash positions (money markets, etc.) shall
continue to be included as part of assets under management for purposes of calculating
Registrant’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), Registrant 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, Registrant’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 Registrant 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 Registrant
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.
The above does not apply to the cash component maintained within a Registrant 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.
The client shall remain exclusively responsible for yield dispersion/cash balance decisions
and corresponding transactions for cash balances maintained in any Registrant unmanaged
accounts.
Cryptocurrency. For clients who want exposure to cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin,
the Registrant, will advise the client to consider a potential investment in corresponding
exchange traded securities, or an allocation to separate account managers and/or private
funds that provide cryptocurrency exposure. Crypto is a digital currency that can be used
to buy goods and services but uses an online ledger with strong cryptography (i.e., a
method of protecting information and communications through the use of codes) to secure
online transactions. Unlike conventional currencies issued by a monetary authority,
cryptocurrencies are generally not controlled or regulated and their price is determined by
the supply and demand of their market. Because cryptocurrency is currently considered
to be a speculative investment, the Registrant will not exercise discretionary authority to
purchase a cryptocurrency investment for client accounts. Rather, a client must expressly
authorize the purchase of the cryptocurrency investment.
The Registrant does not recommend or advocate the purchase of, or investment in,
cryptocurrencies. The Registrant considers such an investment to be speculative.
Clients who authorize the purchase of a cryptocurrency investment must be prepared for
the potential for liquidity constraints, extreme price volatility and complete loss of
principal.
Portfolio Activity. Registrant has a fiduciary duty to provide services consistent with the
client’s best interest. As part of its investment advisory services, Registrant 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, 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 Registrant determines that changes to a client’s portfolio are neither necessary nor
prudent. Of course, as indicated below, there can be no assurance that investment decisions
made by Registrant will be profitable or equal any specific performance level(s). Clients
nonetheless remain subject to the fees described in Item 5 below during periods of account
inactivity.
Client Obligations. In performing its services, Registrant 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, each client is advised that it remains their
responsibility to promptly notify the Registrant if there is ever any change in their financial
situation or investment objectives for the purpose of reviewing, evaluating or revising
Registrant’s previous recommendations and/or services.
Cybersecurity Risk. The information technology systems and networks that Registrant
and its third-party service providers use to provide services to Registrant’s clients employ
various controls, which are designed to prevent cybersecurity incidents stemming from
intentional or unintentional actions that could cause significant interruptions in Registrant’s
operations and result in the unauthorized acquisition or use of clients’ confidential or non-
public personal information. Clients and Registrant 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 Registrant has established procedures to reduce the risk
of cybersecurity incidents, there is no guarantee that these efforts will always be successful,
especially considering that Registrant 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.
Disclosure Statement. A copy of the Registrant’s written Brochure as set forth on Part 2A
and 2B of Form ADV, Form CRS (Client Relationship Summary) and Privacy Notice shall
be provided to each client prior to, or contemporaneously with, the execution of the
applicable form of agreement between Registrant and the client. Any client who has not
received a copy of Adviser’s written Brochure at least 48 hours prior to executing such
agreement shall have five business days subsequent to executing the agreement to
terminate the Adviser’s services without penalty.
C. The Registrant shall provide investment advisory services specific to the needs of each
client. Prior to providing investment advisory services, an investment adviser
representative will ascertain each client’s investment objective(s). Thereafter, the
Registrant shall allocate and/or recommend that the client allocate investment assets
consistent with the designated investment objective(s). The client may, at any time, impose
reasonable restrictions, in writing, on the Registrant’s services.
D. The Registrant does not participate in a wrap fee program.
E. As of December 31, 2023, the Registrant had $1,410,130,134 in assets under management
on a discretionary basis.