Firm History
LaFleur & Godfrey LLC (“LaFleur & Godfrey”) is an SEC-registered investment adviser formed as a limited liability
company on August 1, 2013, in the State of Delaware, as successor to the business of LaFleur & Godfrey, Inc.
(“LaFleur & Godfrey”), which registered with the SEC in 2001. On September 1, 2020, LaFleur & Godfrey LLC,
acquired the advisory business of Daniel McAdams. On May 1, 2021, the investment advisory business of Investment
Counsel, Inc. joined LaFleur & Godfrey. Investment Counsel, Inc. operates as a DBA of LaFleur & Godfrey.
Focus Financial Partners
LaFleur & Godfrey LLC is part of the Focus Financial Partners, LLC (“Focus LLC”) partnership. Specifically, LaFleur
& Godfrey LLC is a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of Focus LLC. Focus Financial Partners Inc. is the sole
managing member of Focus LLC. Ultimate governance of Focus LLC is conducted through the board of directors at
Ferdinand FFP Ultimate Holdings, LP.
Focus LLC is majority-owned, indirectly and collectively, by investment vehicles affiliated with Clayton, Dubilier &
Rice, LLC (“CD&R”). Investment vehicles affiliated with Stone Point Capital LLC (“Stone Point”) are indirect
owners of Focus LLC. Because LaFleur & Godfrey LLC is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Focus LLC,
CD&R and Stone Point investment vehicles are indirect owners of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC.
Focus LLC also owns other registered investment advisers, broker-dealers, pension consultants, insurance firms,
business managers and other firms (the “Focus Partners”), most of which provide wealth management, benefit
consulting and investment consulting services to individuals, families, employers, and institutions. Some Focus
Partners also manage or advise limited partnerships, private funds, or investment companies as disclosed on their
respective Form ADVs.
Firm Management
LaFleur & Godfrey LLC is managed by Daniel Van Timmeren, John Dice and John Koczara (“LaFleur & Godfrey
LLC Principals”), pursuant to a management agreement between Charlevoix Management LG LLC and LaFleur &
Godfrey LLC. The LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Principals serve as officers of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC and are
responsible for the management, supervision and oversight of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC including Investment Counsel
a division of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC.
Our Services
LaFleur & Godfrey LLC provides personalized, comprehensive and confidential wealth management to clients who
are primarily individuals, including high net worth individuals, and their trusts and estates. We also advise pension
and profit-sharing plans, charitable organizations and small businesses. We are a fee-only firm who invests client
assets in a manner designed to assist our clients in meeting their goals and needs as communicated in meetings with
us. We typically invest in individual stocks and bonds in accordance with investment principals which favor active
investing, company ownership and focused portfolios. In addition, we may utilize exchange trades funds (“ETFs”)
and mutual funds in constructing portfolios. The terms of our relationship with clients are explained in the investment
management agreements clients sign with us.
We are a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”) with respect
to investment management services and investment advice provided to ERISA plan clients, including ERISA plan
participants. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC is also a fiduciary under the Internal Revenue Code (the “IRC”) with respect to
investment management services and investment advice provided to ERISA plans, ERISA plan participants, IRAs and
IRA owners (collectively, “Retirement Account Clients”). As such, LaFleur & Godfrey LLC is subject to specific
duties and obligations under ERISA and the IRC that include, among other things, prohibited transaction rules which
are intended to prohibit fiduciaries from acting on conflicts of interest. When a fiduciary gives advice in which it has
a conflict of interest, the fiduciary must either avoid or eliminate the conflict or rely upon a prohibited transaction
exemption (a “PTE”).
As a fiduciary, we have duties of care and of loyalty to you and are subject to obligations imposed on us by the federal
and state securities laws. As a result, you have certain rights that you cannot waive or limit by contract. Nothing in
our agreement with you should be interpreted as a limitation of our obligations under the federal and state securities
laws or as a waiver of any unwaivable rights you possess.
Additional Services
Schwab Institutional Intelligent Portfolios®
For the appropriate client, Institutional Intelligent Portfolios® is an automated investment management platform that has
been developed by Schwab and only available to clients who custody their assets at Schwab. LaFleur
& Godfrey customizes,
monitors, and maintains a select number of portfolios comprised of ETFs and/or Mutual Funds and made available for use
on the platform. The platform further provides a fully digital onboarding experience with automated trading and
rebalancing. In accordance with our standard Investment Management Agreement, LaFleur & Godfrey will calculate
quarterly fees and instruct Schwab to deduct any agreed upon fees directly from the portfolio held at Schwab. In addition,
although Schwab does not assess brokerage commissions or any other account service fees, Schwab does receive other
revenues which includes the spread on the required 4% cash allocation, revenue sharing or investment management fees
from the ETFs or Mutual funds as described in the respective prospectus, and order flow rebates.
LaFleur & Godfrey Model Portfolios
For the appropriate client, LaFleur & Godfrey has developed ETF Portfolios to correlate to specific client risk and return
characteristics. These models are intended to benefit appropriate client accounts and leveraging the scale offered through
modeling. Client portfolios would be subject to any fees or charges assessed by the underlying ETF as well as our fees
disclosed in our Investment Management Agreement.
Financial Planning
Financial planning services are an additional complement to our investment advisory services. The financial plan may
address any or all of the following areas;
Personal – family records, budgeting, personal liability, financial goals
Education – Education IRAs, 529 Plans, dependent educational needs
Tax & Cash Flow – income tax, spending analysis, tax planning past, present, future
Death & Disability – cash needs at death, income needs for surviving dependents, estate planning, disability income
analysis
Retirement – investment plan and strategies
Investments – portfolio analysis and possible alternatives
Divorce Planning – financial issues and decisions couples may face during the divorce process
Implementation of any financial plans are entirely at the client’s discretion. Clients should include their attorney(s),
accountant(s), and/or insurance agent(s) when making decisions regarding our recommendations for their personal financial
plan.
Our recommendations will never be based upon any specific product nor service offered by any third party (i.e., broker,
insurance company).
Treasury & Credit Solutions
We offer clients the option of obtaining certain financial solutions from unaffiliated third-party financial institutions through
UPTIQ Treasury & Credit Solutions, LLC (together with UPTIQ, Inc. and its affiliates, “UPTIQ”) and Flourish Financial
LLC (“Flourish”). Please see Items 5 and 10 for a fuller discussion of these services and other important information.
Insurance Solutions
We also help our clients obtain certain insurance solutions from unaffiliated, third-party insurance brokers by introducing
clients to our affiliate, Focus Risk Solutions, LLC (“FRS”), a wholly owned subsidiary of our parent company, Focus
Financial Partners, LLC. Please see Items 5 and 10 for a fuller discussion of this service and other important information.
IRA Rollovers
Effective December 20, 2021 (or such later date as the US Department of Labor (“DOL”) Field Assistance Bulletin 2018-
02 ceases to be in effect), for purposes of complying with the DOL’s Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02 (“PTE
2020-02”) where applicable, we are providing the following acknowledgement to our clients. When we provide investment
advice to clients regarding retirement plan account or individual retirement accounts, we are fiduciaries within the meaning
of Title I of the Employee Retirements Income Security Act and/or the Internal Revenue Code, as applicable, which are
laws governing retirement accounts.
The way we make money creates some conflicts with client interests, so we operate under a special rule that requires us to
act in the client’s best interest and not put our interests ahead of the client’s. Under this special rule’s provisions, we must:
• Meet a professional standard of care when making investment recommendations (give prudent advice);
• Never put our financial interests ahead of the client when making recommendations (give loyal advice);
• Avoid misleading statements about conflicts of interest, fees, and investments;
• Follow policies and procedures designed to ensure that we give advice that is in the client’s best interest;
• Charge no more than is reasonable for our services; and
• Disclose basic information about any conflicts of interest.
Discretionary Client Assets
We invest client assets on a discretionary basis pursuant to a limited power of attorney clients give us in their client
agreements. As of December 31, 2023, LaFleur & Godfrey LLC managed approximately $870 million in client assets
on a discretionary basis.