Grand Central Investment Group, LLC (the “Firm” or “Advisor”) is a limited liability corporation formed
under Florida law. The Advisor became a registered investment advisor in January 20
15.1
The Firm was established in July 2014. Frank E. Cooper III became the Advisor’s Chief Executive Officer
(“CEO”) in August 2014. The Advisor is solely owned by Frank E. Cooper III.
Advisory services include separate account portfolio management, financial planning, and consulting
services. This Wrap Brochure provides information about the Advisor and its advisory services under its
wrap program. Other investment advisory services offered by the Advisor are described in detail in the
Advisor’s ADV Part 2A Brochure.
Through its wrap program, the Grand Central Investment Group Wrap Program, the Advisor provides
ongoing investment advice and management for assets in the client’s account. The Advisor provides
advisory services for the following types of investments: equity securities, warrants, options, debt
securities, municipal bonds, real estate investment trusts (“REIT”), mutual funds, closed end funds,
exchange traded products (“ETP”), unit investment trusts, private placements, limited partnerships,
structured products, alternative investments, certificates of deposit (“CD”), and master limited
partnerships (“MLP”). Advisory services are tailored to an individual client’s needs.
As of December 31, 2023, the Advisor managed approximately $102,425,147 in client assets on a
discretionary basis, and $23,188,332 on a non-discretionary basis.
Services
At our initial meeting with a prospective client, we tend to ask the “SWAN” Question –
Help us understand
what needs to happen for you to SleepWell® at night.2 Basically, help us understand what needs to
happen over the next three to five years for you to be pleased with your financial progress.
This leads to our “CAR” Conversation, which is a discussion to first to discover the client’s Concerns, which
then leads to what they would like to Accomplish, and finally the Resources that they have to work with
through current liquid assets along with their ability to save annually.
From there, we begin to help the client better understand asset allocation and the resulting potential
volatility of the financial markets for each of our investment models. This helps us identify where the
client is the most comfortable on a risk scale to help accomplish the client’s financial goals.
Portfolios typically include, but are not limited to, a variety of stock positions, ETPs, mutual funds, and
individual corporate or municipal bonds (based on the Advisor’s assessment of a client’s personal finances
and tax bracket).
1Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.
2Investment results are not guaranteed. There are risks involved with investing, including possible loss of principal. See
“Methods of Analysis and Investment Strategies” below for additional information regarding risks of loss.
A client may impose restrictions by indicating any restrictions in the Investment Advisory Agreement. A
client may impose restrictions on specific industries or securities that the client prefers not to invest. The
Advisor will exercise its best efforts to adhere to the client’s investment restrictions. Imposing restrictions
may affect a client’s overall portfolio performance in relation to other portfolios the Advisor may manage
without such restrictions.
Trade-PMR, Inc. (“Custodian”) acts as the custodian for clients’ accounts and provides brokerage and
execution services as the broker-dealer on account transactions and delivers quarterly statements to
clients.
Fees and Compensation
The client pays the Advisor a single wrap fee (“Advisory Fee”) for advisory, brokerage and trade execution
services.
The Advisory Fee is based on the value of assets managed by the Advisor, calculated as a percentage of
assets under management. This fee is compensation for advisory services and portfolio management fees
rendered by the Advisor, as well as charges for execution and transaction services provided by the
Custodian. The Advisory Fee is negotiable between the client and the Advisor and is set out in the
Investment Advisory Agreement.
Fees may be negotiated on a client-by-client basis depending on the client’s specific financial needs as
well as the size, complexity and nature of the portfolio managed and will be set forth in the Investment
Advisory Agreement. Because the Advisory Fee may be negotiated, not all clients will pay the same fees.
A client may pay higher or lower Advisory Fees depending on considerations such as the size of the client’s
account, the amount of time the client has maintained an account with the Advisor (or its affiliated IAR),
and/or the combined market value of related portfolios. While the Advisor believes that its Advisory Fees
are competitive, clients may find lower or higher fees for comparable services from other sources.
The maximum Advisory Fee schedule is as follows:
Assets Under Management Maximum Annual Fee
First $250,000 2.25%
Next $250,000 1.75%
Next $500,000 1.50%
Next $1,000,000 1.25%
Next $3,000,000 1.00%
Over $5,000,000 .75%
The amount of the Advisory Fee is set forth in the Investment Advisory Agreement executed by the client
at the time the relationship is established.
Advisory Fees are charged quarterly in advance as a percentage of the portfolio value on the last business
day of the previous quarter or the last value provided by the custodian (if not valued quarterly). These
asset-based fees are assessed on all billable assets under management, including securities, cash, and
money market funds. The initial investment advisory fee will be prorated based upon the number of days
from the first day the Client’s assets are transferred to Custodian through the end of the quarter in which
the assets were transferred. Subsequently, investment advisory fees are charged and debited from a
client’s account within the first week of each calendar quarter.
Although the client does not directly pay charges for execution and
transactions, clients should be aware
that from the Advisory Fee paid to the Advisor, the Advisor pays the Custodian for its charges associated
with the client’s account. The Advisor retains the remaining portion as compensation for its advisory
services and portfolio management. These transaction charges paid by the Advisor to the Custodian vary
based on the type of transaction. Because the Advisor pays the execution and transaction charges, clients
should understand that the cost of transaction charges is a factor to the Advisor when making decisions
regarding transactions in the client’s account.
The Advisor instructs the Custodian to debit the client’s designated account(s) the amount of the Advisory
Fee. If the client’s account does not maintain a sufficient cash or money market balance to cover the
Advisory Fee or is restricted from automatic debiting of fees, the client may deposit additional funds
(subject to certain restrictions for IRA accounts and Qualified Retirement Plans) or make payment in an
alternative manner acceptable to the Advisor. If such funds are not deposited, certain securities in the
client’s account may be liquidated in an amount sufficient to cover such debits.
A client has the right to terminate the Investment Advisory Agreement for investment advisory services
without penalty within five (5) business days after entering into an Investment Advisory Agreement.
Thereafter, the Investment Advisory Agreement will terminate upon the Advisor’s receipt of the client’s
verbal or written notice. The Advisor may cease providing investment advisory services upon its written
notice of termination of the Investment Advisory Agreement to the client or upon the occurrence of
certain events as described in the Investment Advisory Agreement.
Upon the effective date of termination, the client will be refunded fees on a prorated share based on the
remaining days of the quarter that have been prepaid.
After the termination date, the Advisor has no responsibility to provide ongoing investment advice to the
client.
Other Types of Fees and Expenses
In addition to the Advisory Fee, which includes the Custodian’s execution and transaction costs, the
Custodian may charge additional costs directly to the client. The Custodian notifies clients of these
charges at account opening and makes available a list of these charges directly to the client.
The Advisor may assume the cost of expenses incurred from engaging an outside tax preparation service
on behalf of the client. This service is negotiable and will be set out in the Investment Advisory Agreement.
The Advisor does not pay for tax preparation services for all clients.
Fees Charged by Third Parties
There are other fees and charges that are imposed by parties other than the Advisor (third parties) that
apply to investments in Grand Central Investment Group Wrap Program accounts.
If a client’s assets are invested in mutual funds, ETPs, or other pooled investment products, the client
should be aware that there will be two layers of fees and expenses for those assets. The client will pay
an investment management fee to the fund manager and other expenses as a shareholder of the fund. In
the case of mutual funds that are fund-of-funds, there could be an additional layer of fees, including
performance fees that vary depending on the performance of the fund. The client will also pay the Advisor
the Advisory Fee with respect to those assets. Most of the mutual funds available to the Grand Central
Investment Group Wrap Program can be purchased directly. Therefore, a client could generally avoid the
second layer of fees by not using the advisory services of the Advisor and by making their own decisions
regarding the investment.
If a client transfers a previously purchased mutual fund into a Grand Central Investment Group Wrap
Program account, and there is an applicable contingent deferred sales charge on the fund, the client will
pay that charge when the mutual fund is sold. If a mutual fund has a frequent trading policy, the policy
can limit a client’s transactions in shares of the fund (e.g., for rebalancing, liquidations, deposits or tax
harvesting).
Although the Custodian makes available no-load and load-waived mutual funds to Grand Central
Investment Group Wrap Program accounts, the Custodian receives asset-based sales charges or service
fees (e.g., 12b-1 fees) from certain mutual funds. The Custodian retains these fees and they are not
shared with the Advisor.
If a client holds a REIT as part of a Grand Central Investment Group Wrap Program account, there are
dealer management fees and other organizational, offering and pricing expenses imposed by the REIT. If
a client holds a UIT in the Grand Central Investment Group Wrap Program account, UIT sponsors charge
creation and development fees or similar fees. Further information regarding fees assessed by a product
sponsor is available in the appropriate prospectus or offering document, which is available upon request
from the Advisor or from the product sponsor directly.
Important Things to Consider About Fees on a Grand Central Investment Group Wrap Program Account
The Advisory Fee is an ongoing wrap fee for investment advisory services, which includes the cost of the
execution of transactions and other administrative and custodial services. The Advisory Fee may cost the
client more than purchasing the services separately, for example, paying an advisory fee plus commissions
for each transaction in the account. In as much as the Advisor pays the Custodian the transaction and
execution costs associated with client accounts, this may create a disincentive for the Advisor to trade
securities in accounts.
Factors that bear upon the cost of the Grand Central Investment Group Wrap Program account in relation
to the cost of the same services purchased separately include the:
• type and size of the account;
• historical and/or expected size or number of trades for the account; and
• number and range of supplementary advisory and client-related services provided to the client.
The Advisor receives compensation as a result of the client’s participation in the program, which may be
more than what the client would pay to another investment advisory firm.
The Advisor may make amendments to the fee schedule, including negotiated fees, at any time with at
least 30 days written notice to the client.