General Information
Pillar Financial Advisors, LLC (“we” or “PFA”) was formed in 1997 and provides Wealth
Management Services.
Gregory M. Curry and Ben D. Allison are the principal owners of PFA. Please see Brochure
Supplements, Exhibit A, for more information on these principal owners and other
individuals who formulate investment advice and have direct contact with clients or have
discretionary authority over client accounts.
As of December 31, 2023, we managed $293,750,677 on a discretionary basis, and no
assets on a non-discretionary basis.
Wealth Management Services
We believe wealth management services are most successful in full view of your complete
financial situation. We begin with preparation of an initial Wealth Management Strategy
(“WMS”), followed by continuous financial management, including portfolio management
and ongoing wealth planning (described more fully below). By delivering these services
through a comprehensive model, we strive to serve as your primary financial professional,
coordinating your financial affairs much the way a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) does for
a corporation.
Wealth Planning
Delivering advice on a broad range of financial issues, we seek to bring order, expertise
and perspective to every aspect of a family’s financial life. In our view, solid wealth
planning services are intrinsic to the effective management of your investment portfolio.
By including ongoing planning advice along with investment management services, quality
time is invested on the front-end solving problems and providing solutions that are
designed to alleviate future obstacles and provide a more reliable roadmap to meeting
your goals. Wealth planning is not provided as a standalone service; it is solely provided
in conjunction with management of your portfolio.
Working together with you, our wealth planning process starts by defining your current
overall financial circumstances, long-term financial goals, objectives, and needs. At the
conclusion of this phase, we construct a comprehensive Wealth Management Strategy,
which includes the following planning considerations, as applicable to each client:
• Cash Flow Analysis and Projections
• Tax Planning
• Retirement Planning
• Risk Management
• Debt Management
• Estate Planning
• Investment Policy Statement (“IPS”)
Once the initial WMS is completed, we will manage your portfolio on an ongoing basis in
accordance with the IPS. In addition, we will work with your trusted advisors (e.g.
attorneys, insurance agents, CPAs, etc.) or with our network of seasoned professionals to
assist with the implementation of other aspects of the WMS. Taking an active
responsibility in these vital relationships, we aim to ensure these advisors have up-to-
date financial and investment information, and that all involved communicate and
strategize as a team. In all instances, you are free to determine whether to implement
any of the recommendations in the WMS and are under no obligation to engage the
services of any recommended professional.
The WMS will generally be updated annually, when you request it, or when determined to
be necessary or advisable by us based on updates to your financial or other
circumstances.
Portfolio Management
As a professional asset manager, we design and manage customized investment portfolios
tailored to the unique risk characteristics and investment objectives of each client. Based
on your personalized WMS, we create an IPS structured to build wealth and maintain your
acceptable risk level. The IPS describes our investment philosophy and discipline, your
asset allocation, types of securities to be used, tax management and portfolio rebalancing.
More information about our investment strategies may be found in Item 8 – Methods of
Analysis, Investment Strategies and Risk of Loss.
To implement the portfolio, we will manage your investments on a discretionary basis. As
a discretionary investment adviser, we will have the authority to supervise and direct the
portfolio without prior consultation with you.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, you may impose certain written restrictions on us in the
management of your investment portfolio, such as prohibiting the inclusion of certain
types of investments
in your investment portfolio or prohibiting the sale of certain
investments held in the account at the commencement of our relationship. You should
note, however, that if you impose restrictions it may adversely affect the composition and
performance of your investment portfolio. You should also note that your investment
portfolio is treated individually by giving consideration to each purchase or sale for your
account. For these and other reasons, performance of client investment portfolios within
the same investment objectives, goals and/or risk tolerance may differ, and you should
not expect that the composition or performance of your investment portfolio would
necessarily be consistent with similar clients of ours.
Portfolio Management Services through Institutional Intelligent Portfolios™
For certain clients who do not meet our investment minimum, we will provide standalone
portfolio management services through Institutional Intelligent Portfolios™, an automated,
online investment management platform provided by Schwab for use by independent
investment advisors. The platform is sponsored by Schwab Wealth Investment Advisory,
Inc. (“SWIA”), an affiliate of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (“Schwab”). Through the platform,
SWIA sponsors a Wrap Program (“the Program”), through which we construct and manage
model investment strategies, each generally consisting of a portfolio of mutual funds and
a cash allocation.
We are your investment adviser and primary point of contact with respect to the Program
and are solely responsible for determining the appropriateness of the Program for you.
Based on your inputs, we choose a suitable investment strategy and portfolio for your
investment needs and goals and manage that portfolio on an ongoing basis. SWIA’s role
is limited to delivering you the Schwab Wealth Investment Advisory, Inc. Institutional
Intelligent PortfoliosTM Disclosure Brochure (the “Program Disclosure Brochure”) and
administering the Program so that it operates as described in the Program Disclosure
Brochure.
Your portfolio is held in a brokerage account that you open at Schwab. We are independent
of and not owned by, affiliated with, or sponsored or supervised by Schwab or any of its
affiliates. We have contracted with SWIA to provide the technology platform and related
trading and account management services for the Program. This platform enables us to
make the Program available to you online and includes a system that automates certain
key parts of our investment process (the “System”). The System also includes an
automated investment engine through which we manage your portfolio on an ongoing
basis through automatic rebalancing and tax-loss harvesting (if you are eligible and elect).
Communication is primarily conducted with you through electronic channels. You must
agree to accept electronic delivery of the Investment Advisory Agreement, disclosure
documents, prospectuses, statements, and other materials. We make portfolio managers
available to discuss servicing matters with you.
If you participate in the Program, you do not pay commissions on the transactions
executed in the Program. As described below in Item 5 – Fees and Compensation, if
you participate in the Program, you will pay an annual management fee to us.
Retirement Plan Rollovers
We are fiduciaries under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and when we provide
investment advice to you regarding your retirement plan account or individual retirement
account, we are also 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. We have to act in your best interest and not put our
interest ahead of yours. If we recommend that you transfer an IRA or roll over your
retirement plan assets into an account to be managed by us, such a recommendation
creates a conflict of interest if we will earn a new (or increase our current) advisory fee
because of the transfer/rollover. Investing in an IRA with us may be more expensive than
an employer-sponsored retirement plan. You are under no obligation to roll over plan
assets to an IRA managed by us or to engage us to monitor and/or manage the account
while maintained at your employer.