Note Advisors, LLC (“Note Advisors”) has been in business since August, 2014. Shawn
Glogowski and Thomas Waring are the firm’s principal owners.
Note Advisors provides financial planning, portfolio management, and investment management
services. Clients advised may include individuals, families, trusts, charitable organizations and
foundations, pensions and corporations. We offer a straightforward approach to building
financial strategies focused around you, your schedule, your circumstances, and your
objectives. We take the time to understand your needs, explain different options to you and earn
your trust before offering possible solutions. At Note Advisors, we are planners first, then
managers with the means to help clients. Clients are asked to “rise above the noise of the
transaction”, meaning that success is determined by a client meeting their goals, not by chasing
a benchmark or looking for the next “it” stock. We believe that a solid investment plan should
be based on your financial plan which allows you to dictate your goals for all of your investments.
From there you can create asset allocation and diversification strategies for each investment
and time horizon.
Financial Planning
In most cases, the client will supply to Note Advisors information including income, investments,
savings, insurance, age and many other items that are helpful to the firm in assessing your
financial goals. The information is typically provided during personal interviews and
supplemented with written information. Once the information is received, we will discuss your
financial needs and goals with you, and compare your current financial situation with the goals
you state. Once these are compared, we will create a financial and/or investment plan to help
you meet your goals.
The plan is intended to be a suggested blueprint of how to meet your goals. Not every plan will
be the same for every client. Each one is specific to the client who requested it. Because the
plan is based on information supplied by you, it is very important that you accurately and
completely communicate to us the information we need. Also, your circumstances and needs
may change as your engagement with us progresses. It is very important that you continually
update us with any changes so that if the updates require changes to your plan, we can make
those changes. Otherwise, your plan may no longer be accurate.
Once you have your financial plan, the decision is yours how to implement it. If you decide to
implement your financial plan through Note Advisors, you will become an asset management
client.
If you request, Note Advisors may recommend the services of other professionals for
implementation purposes. You are under no obligation to engage the services of any such
recommended professional. You retain absolute discretion over all such implementation
decisions and are free to accept or reject any recommendation from Note Advisors. If you
engage any professional recommended by Note Advisors, and a dispute arises thereafter
relative to such engagement, you agree to seek recourse exclusively from and against the
engaged professional.
Asset Management
Note Advisors requires each client to place at least $500,000 with the firm. This minimum may
be waived in the discretion of Note Advisors.
Asset management services may be provided on a “discretionary” or on a “non- discretionary”
basis. When Note Advisors is engaged to provide asset management services on a
discretionary basis, we will monitor your accounts to ensure that they are meeting your asset
allocation requirements. If any changes are needed to your investments, we will make the
changes. These changes may involve selling a security or group of investments and buying
others or keeping the proceeds in cash. You may at any time place restrictions on the types of
investments we may use on your behalf, or on the allocations to each security type. You will
receive written or electronic confirmations from your account custodian after any changes are
made to your account. You will also receive statements at least quarterly from your account
custodian. Clients engaging us on a discretionary basis will be asked to execute a Limited
Power of Attorney (granting us the discretionary authority over the client accounts) as well as
an Investment Management Agreement that outlines the responsibilities of both the client and
Note Advisors.
When a client engages us to provide investment management services on a non-discretionary
basis, we monitor the accounts in the same way as for discretionary services. The difference is
that changes to your account will not be made until we have confirmed with you (either verbally
or in writing) that our proposed change is acceptable to you.
Asset Management – Note Advisors Direct
For some smaller accounts, typically between $5,000 and $100,000, we provide portfolio
management services through Note Advisors Direct. Note Advisors Direct is an automated
investment service used by Note Advisors utilizing Institutional Intelligent Portfolios™, an
automated, online investment management platform for use by independent investment
advisors offered by Schwab Performance Technologies. (the “Program” and “SPT,”
respectively). Through Note Advisors Direct, we offer clients a range of investment strategies
we have constructed and manage, each consisting of a portfolio of exchange traded funds
(“ETFs”) and a cash allocation. Clients may instruct us to exclude up to three ETFs from their
portfolio. Each client portfolio is held in a brokerage account opened by the client at SPT’s
affiliate, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (“CS&Co”). We are independent of and not owned by,
affiliated with, or sponsored or supervised by SPT, CS&Co or their affiliates (together,
“Schwab”).
We, and not Schwab, are the client’s investment advisor and primary point of contact with
respect to the Program. We are solely responsible, and Schwab is not responsible, for
determining the appropriateness of the Program for the client, choosing a suitable investment
strategy and portfolio for the client’s investment needs and goals, and managing that portfolio
on an ongoing basis.
We have contracted with SPT to provide us with the technology platform and related trading and
account management services for the Program. This platform enables us to make the Program
available to clients online and includes a system that automates certain key parts of our
investment process (the “System”). The System includes an online questionnaire that helps us
determine the client’s investment objectives and risk tolerance and select an appropriate
investment strategy and portfolio. Clients should note that we will recommend a portfolio via the
System in response to the client’s answers to the online questionnaire. The client may then
indicate an interest in a portfolio that is one level less or more conservative or aggressive than
the recommended portfolio, but we then make the final decision and select a portfolio based on
all the information we have about the client. The System also includes an automated investment
engine through which we manage the client’s portfolio on an ongoing basis through automatic
rebalancing and tax-loss harvesting (if the client is eligible and elects).
Clients do not pay fees to SPT in connection with the Program, but we charge clients a fee for
our services as described below. Our fees are not set or supervised by Schwab. Clients do not
pay brokerage commissions or any other fees to CS&Co as part of the Program.
Schwab does
receive other revenues in connection with the Program. We do not pay SPT fees for use of the
Platform.
Retirement Account Rollovers
Depending on a client’s given circumstances, Note Advisors may recommend that a client
rollover retirement plan assets to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) managed by us. As a
result of a rollover, Note Advisors may earn fees on those accounts. This presents a conflict of
interest, as Note Advisors has a financial incentive to recommend that a client roll over
retirement assets into an IRA we will manage. This conflict is disclosed to clients verbally and
in this brochure. Clients are also advised that they are under no obligation to implement the
recommendation to roll over retirement plan assets. Note Advisors attempts to mitigate this
conflict by requiring that all investment recommendations have a sound basis for the
recommendation, and by requiring employees to acknowledge their fiduciary responsibility
toward each client. When we provide investment advice to you regarding your retirement plan
account or individual retirement account, we are fiduciaries within the meaning of Title I of the
Employee Retirement 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 your interests, so we operate under a special rule that requires us to act in your best interest
and not put our interest ahead of yours. 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 yours 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 your best
interest; • Charge no more than is reasonable for our services; and • Give you basic information
about conflicts of interest.
Tax Preparation
Note Advisors offers individual tax preparation services in addition to financial planning and
investment management. Shawn Glogowski is an Enrolled Agent (EA) authorized to prepare tax
filings submitted to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Clients seeking tax preparation services
will be asked to provide all information necessary for the timely completion of a tax filing,
including prior year tax return information. If a client’s tax situation falls outside of the scope of
services offered, Note Advisors may provide contact information for accountants or attorneys
who specialize in this area if requested. We will participate in meetings or phone calls between
you and your tax professional with your approval.
Out of Scope Consulting
From time to time, Note Advisors may be engaged to perform consulting outside the scope of
traditional asset management services. Consulting topics by their nature may vary greatly, but
may include discussions regarding a client’s business, real estate or other personal assets.
Clients who engage Note Advisors to provide such consulting services will generally be required
to execute a Consulting Agreement.
Wealth Coaching Services
The purpose of wealth coaching services is to provide the Client with information which furthers
their defined short-term and long-term goals. This service includes, but is not limited to,
brainstorming techniques, identifying action plans, follow-up procedures to maintain Client
motivation, educating the Client, as well as asking and answering questions. Please note, Client
will be asked to state their goals and both the Coach and Client will work toward those stated
goals. Therefore, it is highly recommended, given the stated purpose of wealth coaching, that
married clients have their spouse commit to, and partake in, the wealth coaching sessions.
When attempting to improve a financial situation, it is crucially important that both spouses agree
to take the necessary steps to attain their improved financial goals, as stated. Coaching is an
ongoing relationship between a coach and a client. The opportunity for success for the coaching
client dramatically increases because shifting thought systems, changing habits, and creating
possibilities is a process. Coaching is a structure that facilitates the process of personal,
professional and/or spiritual development. Coaching is for individuals who are emotionally and
psychologically healthy and who want to make positive changes and move forward in their lives.
Coaching is not advice, therapy or counseling. The services will not include legal/tax advice,
asset management, or financial planning services. Client as applicable, will retain the
responsibility to arrange for implementation of Coach’s recommendations if Client desires. If
Client wishes Coach to assist with financial planning or asset management, Client will be
required to execute a separate agreement, which will require an additional fee. By entering this
relationship, the Coach and Client acknowledge that the Client wants to make significant
progress and change in his/her life. Because progress and change happen at rates that are
unique to each individual, the Coach and client commit to working with each other for “said
period” with the understanding that the working agreement can be extended/renewed. This
allows the coaching relationship necessary time to develop and progress through objectives,
obstacles and successes that occur. The service is delivered over three or six month intervals
and includes multiple monthly coaching sessions, virtual check-ins and task based assignments
for clients.
Coaching sessions are conducted by telephone, virtually, or in-office as arranged by the Coach.
The Coach and client commit to start and finish each session on time. If the client is more than
15 minutes late for a coaching session, the Coach will assume the session is cancelled and the
client will forfeit the session. Rescheduling a coaching session is easily done with appropriate
notice. Please allow for at least 24-hour notice to accommodate appointment changes.
Estate Planning Assistance
We offer Estate Planning services as an extension of planning or management services
described above that includes an analysis of your exposure to estate taxes and your current
estate plan, which may include whether you have a will, powers of attorney, trusts, and other
related documents. Our advice also typically includes ways for you to minimize or avoid future
estate taxes by implementing appropriate estate planning strategies such as the use of
applicable trusts. We always recommend clients consult with a qualified attorney when you
initiate, update, or complete estate planning services, and we will refer clients to an independent,
unaffiliated, third-party estate planning attorney for this service. We do not share in any fees
received by the third-party. From time to time, we will participate in meetings or phone calls
between you and your attorney with your approval or request. Note Advisors utilizes the services
of Trust & Will, a third-party digital estate planning service for clients who have the need for
estate planning review, creation or updates. Advisory services will not include paid services with
Trust and Will and the client will pay Trust and Will directly should they choose to utilize their
services.
Assets Under Management
As of December 31, 2023, Note Advisors has approximately $292,461,620 in assets under
management of which $292,357,881 is managed on a discretionary basis.