Is An Investment Advisory Account Right for You?
There are different ways you can get help with your investments. You should carefully consider which types of accounts and services are right for you. Baker Tilly Wealth Management, LLC (“BTWM”) is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Our services and compensation structure differs from that of a registered broker-dealer. This document provides you a summary of the types of services we provide and how you pay for those services. Free and simple tools are available to research firms and financial professionals at www.Investor.gov/CRS, which also provides educational materials about broker-dealers, investment advisers, and investing.
What investment services and advice can you provide me?
- We offer investment consulting services, such as asset monitoring or financial planning, and portfolio management services to individuals, their trusts and estates.
- We will discuss your investment goals and design with you a strategy to achieve your investment goals. Once the appropriate portfolio has been determined, portfolios are monitored on an on-going basis, and if necessary, rebalanced based upon the client’s individual needs, stated goals and objectives. Asset monitoring is standard for all services except standalone financial planning.
- If you choose a portfolio management service, this allows us to buy and sell investments in your account without asking you in advance (a “discretionary account”), in accordance with your goals, investment objectives, time horizon and risk tolerance.
- We may also use the services of third-party investment managers to service your discretionary account.
- We may refer you to unaffiliated investment advisers if we deem it appropriate and in your best interest.
- Although investment advice often covers a wide variety of investment options; other firms may provide advice on a wider range of choices, some of which might have lower costs or present fewer conflicts of interest.
- We do not have minimum fee requirements for portfolio management clients, although we do have minimum standalone investment consulting fees, which are described in Item 7 of Form ADV Part 2A.
- For more detailed information about our advisory business and types of clients we generally service, please see BTWM’s Form ADV Part 2A, Items 4 and 7.
Conversation starters – Ask your financial professional:
- Given my financial situation, should I choose an investment advisory service? Why or why not?
- How will you choose the investments to recommend to me?
- What is your relevant experience, including your licenses, education and other qualifications? What do these qualifications mean?
What fees will I pay?
- Our fees vary and are negotiable. Our fees are agreed upon prior to entering into an agreement and will not exceed 1.50%. The amount you pay will depend, for example on the services you receive and the amount of assets in your account. Our fees can be fixed, hourly or asset based. Our fees do not include fees paid to any of our affiliates should you elect to invest in an investment product sponsored by another affiliate of Baker Tilly US, LLP (“Baker Tilly”).
- Some investments (such as mutual funds, ETFs and other pooled investments) impose additional fees that, although not billed to you directly, will reduce the value of your investment over time.
- There may also be fees charged by third-party investment managers, which are separate and apart from our fees.
- You may pay a transaction fee when we buy and sell an investment for you. You will also pay fees to a broker-dealer or financial institution that will hold your assets (a “custodian”).
- The more assets you have in the advisory account, including cash, the more you will pay us, in the event you are paying us an asset based fee. We therefore have an incentive to increase the assets in your account in order to increase our fees. Our fee is payable even if you do not buy or sell any securities.
- You will pay fees and costs whether you make or lose money on your investments over time. Please make sure you understand what fees and costs you are paying.
- For more detailed information about our fees and costs related to our management of your account, please see BTWM’s Form ADV Part 2A, Item 5.
Conversation starter – Ask your financial professional:
- Help me understand how these fees and costs might affect my investments. If I give you $10,000 to invest, how much will go to fees and costs, and how much will be invested for me?
What are your legal obligations to me when acting as my investment adviser? How else does your firm make money and what conflicts of interest do you have?
- When we act as your investment adviser, we have to act in your best interest and not put our interest ahead of yours. At the same time, the way we make money creates some conflicts with your interests. You should understand and ask us about these conflicts because they can affect the investment advice that we provide you. Here are some examples to help you understand what means:
- We may recommend a particular custodian from whom we receive support services. This presents a conflict of interest, because our receipt of their support makes us more inclined to continue using and recommending them.
- Employees of our are also employees of Baker Tilly, an accounting, advisory, tax and assurance firm. Our clients in need of accounting services may be referred to Baker Tilly for which they would pay separate and typical compensation. Also, we may recommend investment products sponsored by BT REI Manager, LLC (“BTREI”) and/or distributed by Baker Tilly Capital, LLC (“BTC”), a registered broker-dealer, our affiliates. These referrals or recommendations present conflicts of interest as the referrals or recommendations will result in the receipt of additional compensation by an affiliate or its employees.
- We may recommend rollovers out of employer-sponsored retirement plans and into Individual Retirement Accounts that we manage for an asset based fee. If we don’t currently manage your account held with your employer’s plan, this will increase our compensation.
- Certain representatives, in their separate individual capacities serve as representatives of BTC, or as licensed insurance agents or as both. The recommendation by one of our representatives to purchase a securities or insurance product presents a conflict of interest as the receipt of commissions provides them with an incentive to recommend investment products. No client is under any obligation to purchase any securities or insurance commission products from one of our representatives or any investment product sponsored by BTREI or distributed by BTC. Clients may decline to purchase any product or may purchase these products through other unaffiliated broker-dealers or insurance agents even if you maintain a discretionary account.
- If we refer to you to another investment adviser, we will, and in some cases, our representatives, will receive a portion of the advisory fee you pay to the other adviser for the referral that will be disclosed to you at the time of the referral.
- For more detailed information about our conflicts of interest, please review Items 4, 5, 10, 11 and 12 of BTWM’s Form ADV Part 2A.
Conversation starter – Ask your financial professional:
- How might your conflicts of interest affect me, and how will you address them?
How do your financial professionals make money?
BTWM, BTREI and BTC are controlled by Baker Tilly. As such, almost all BTWM financial professionals are employees of Baker Tilly and are typically compensated based on either a salary or hourly wages plus a discretionary bonus. The bonus is based on work performance, skill, client satisfaction and professional conduct, it is not typically tied to the amount of assets under management or fees generated from clients. A few representatives are compensated based on a percentage of the revenue that the accounts that they introduce to us or service generate or on the basis of a referral fee received from another adviser. This compensation may come through a salary or in a non-payroll manner. In addition, certain of our representatives are equity owners of Baker Tilly, in which case they may share in the profits generated by BTWM, BTC and BTREI.
Do your financial professionals have legal or disciplinary history?
- Yes. One of our financial professionals has disciplinary information disclosed on his Form U4, related to a customer arbitration filed against his prior firm.
- Visit www.Investor.gov/CRS for free and simple search tools to research us and our financial professionals.
Conversation starter – Ask your financial professional:
- As a financial professional, do you have any disciplinary history? For what type of conduct?
Additional information
For additional information about our services please review BTWM’s Form ADV Part 2A or visit our website at www.bakertilly.com If you would like additional, up-to-date information or a copy of this relationship summary, please call 608.240.2541
Conversation starter – Ask your financial professional:
- Who is my primary contact person? Is he or she a representative of an investment adviser or a broker-dealer? Who can I talk to if I have concerns about how this person is treating me?
For a copy of our Form ADV Part 2A, please visit: https://www.bakertilly.com/page/baker-tilly-financial-llc-legal-and-privacynotices