Overview

Assets Under Management: $195 million
High-Net-Worth Clients: 25
Average Client Assets: $8 million

Services Offered

Services: Financial Planning, Portfolio Management for Individuals

Fee Structure

Primary Fee Schedule (MITTELMAN WEALTH MANAGEMENT ADV BROCHURE)

MinMaxMarginal Fee Rate
$0 $2,000,000 1.50%
$2,000,001 $10,000,000 1.25%
$10,000,001 $20,000,000 1.00%
$20,000,001 and above Negotiable
Illustrative Fee Rates
Total AssetsAnnual FeesAverage Fee Rate
$1 million $15,000 1.50%
$5 million $67,500 1.35%
$10 million $130,000 1.30%
$50 million Negotiable Negotiable
$100 million Negotiable Negotiable

Clients

Number of High-Net-Worth Clients: 25
Percentage of Firm Assets Belonging to High-Net-Worth Clients: 97.52
Average High-Net-Worth Client Assets: $8 million
Total Client Accounts: 26
Discretionary Accounts: 26

Regulatory Filings

CRD Number: 313042
Last Filing Date: 2024-03-27 00:00:00
Website: https://mwmfamilyoffice.com

Form ADV Documents

Primary Brochure: MITTELMAN WEALTH MANAGEMENT ADV BROCHURE (2025-03-31)

View Document Text
Mittelman Wealth Management LLC d/b/a: Mittelman Wealth Management Andover, MA 01810 Telephone: 617-378-1382 Email: joel@mwmfamilyoffice.com Website: http://www.mwmfamilyoffice.com/ FORM ADV PART 2A BROCHURE March 31, 2025 This brochure provides information about the qualifications and business practices of Mittelman Wealth Management. If you have any questions about the contents of this brochure, contact us at 617-378- 1382. The information in this brochure has not been approved or verified by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or by any state securities authority. Additional information about Mittelman Wealth Management is available on the SEC's website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. Mittelman Wealth Management is a registered investment adviser. Registration with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or any state securities authority does not imply a certain level of skill or training. 1 Item 2 Summary of Material Changes Form ADV Part 2 requires registered investment advisers to amend their brochure when information becomes materially inaccurate. If there are any material changes to an adviser's disclosure brochure, the adviser is required to notify you and provide you with a description of the material changes. We have no material changes to report since our last filing. 2 Item 3 Table of Contents Item 2 Summary of Material Changes ................................................................................... 2 Item 3 Table of Contents ....................................................................................................... 3 Item 4 Advisory Business ...................................................................................................... 4 Item 5 Fees and Compensation ............................................................................................ 5 Item 6 Performance-Based Fees and Side-By-Side Management ....................................... 6 Item 7 Types of Clients ......................................................................................................... 6 Item 8 Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies and Risk of Loss ................................... 6 Item 9 Disciplinary Information ............................................................................................ 11 Item 10 Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations ................................................. 11 Item 11 Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transactions and Personal Trading ............................................................................................................................................ 11 Item 12 Brokerage Practices ............................................................................................... 12 Item 13 Review of Accounts ................................................................................................ 13 Item 14 Client Referrals and Other Compensation ............................................................. 14 Item 15 Custody .................................................................................................................. 14 Item 16 Investment Discretion ............................................................................................. 14 Item 17 Voting Client Securities .......................................................................................... 14 Item 18 Financial Information .............................................................................................. 15 Item 19 Requirements for State-Registered Advisers ......................................................... 15 Item 20 Additional Information ............................................................................................ 15 3 Item 4 Advisory Business Description of Firm Mittelman Wealth Management LLC d/b/a Mittelman Wealth Management is a registered investment adviser based in Andover, MA. We are organized as a limited liability company ("LLC") under the laws of the State of Massachusetts. We are owned by S. Joel Mittelman, CFA ®, CFP®. The following paragraphs describe our services and fees. Refer to the description of each investment advisory service listed below for information on how we tailor our advisory services to your individual needs. As used in this brochure, the words "we," "our," and "us" refer to Mittelman Wealth Management and the words "you," "your," and "client" refer to you as either a client or prospective client of our firm. Investment Management and Wealth Planning Services Investment Management Services We offer discretionary investment management services. Our investment programs are customized for each client based on their respective needs, objectives, and preferences. Our approach is predicated on clients granting the firm discretionary authority to manage their account. Discretionary authorization will allow us to determine the appropriate asset allocation, as well as specific securities and amounts to be purchased or sold without client approval prior to each transaction. Discretionary authority is typically granted by the investment advisory agreement the client signs with our firm and the appropriate trading authorization forms. The client may limit our discretionary authority (e.g., types of securities that can be purchased or sold) by providing us with restrictions in writing. Wealth Planning Services We offer a variety of highly tailored wealth planning consulting services. The scope of these services will vary based on client need and are provided at no additional cost. Areas of expertise include: financial planning, tax strategy, retirement planning, trust and estate advisory, nonprofit advisory, and philanthropic advisory. Wrap Fee Programs We do not participate in any wrap fee program. Types of Investments We offer advice on equity securities, corporate debt securities, municipal securities, mutual fund shares, United States government securities, money market funds, ETFs, and private placements. Additionally, we may advise you on various types of investments based on your stated goals and objectives. We may also provide advice on any type of investment held in your portfolio at the inception of our advisory relationship. Since our investment strategies and advice are based on each client’s specific financial situation, the investment advice we provide to you may be different or conflicting with the advice we give to other clients regarding the same security or investment. Assets Under Management As of December 31, 2024, we provide continuous management services for $243,358,275 in client assets on a discretionary basis. 4 Item 5 Fees and Compensation Investment Management and Wealth Planning Services Our fee for investment management and wealth planning service is based on a percentage of the assets in your account and is set forth in the following annual fee schedule: Annual Fee Schedule Annual Fee 1.50% Assets Under Management Less than $2,000,000 1.25% Between $2,000,001 and $10,000,000 1.00% Between $10,000,001 and $20,000,000 Negotiable Greater than $20,000,000 Our annual fee is billed and payable, quarterly in arrears, based on the balance at end of billing period. If the agreement is executed at any time other than the first day of a calendar quarter, our fees will apply on a pro rata basis, which means that the advisory fee is payable in proportion to the number of days in the quarter for which you are a client. Our advisory fee is negotiable, depending on individual client circumstances. At our discretion, we may combine the account values of family members living in the same household to determine the applicable advisory fee. For example, we may combine account values for you and your minor children, joint accounts with your spouse, and other types of related accounts. Combining account values may increase the asset total, which may result in your paying a reduced advisory fee based on the available breakpoints in our fee schedule stated above. We will send you an invoice for the payment of our advisory fee, or we will deduct our fee directly from your account through the qualified custodian holding your funds and securities. We will deduct our advisory fee only when you have given our firm written authorization permitting the fees to be paid directly from your account. Further, the qualified custodian will deliver an account statement to you at least quarterly. These account statements will show all disbursements from your account. You should review all statements for accuracy. We encourage you to reconcile our invoices with the statement(s) you receive from the qualified custodian. If you find any inconsistent information between our invoice and the statement(s) you receive from the qualified custodian, call our main office number located on the cover page of this brochure. You may terminate the agreement upon 30 days written notice. You will incur a pro rata charge for services rendered prior to the termination of the agreement, which means you will incur advisory fees 5 only in proportion to the number of days in the quarter for which you are a client. If you have pre-paid advisory fees that we have not yet earned, you will receive a prorated refund of those fees. Additional Fees and Expenses As part of our investment advisory services to you, we may invest, or recommend that you invest, in mutual funds and exchange traded funds. The fees that you pay to our firm for investment advisory services are separate and distinct from the fees and expenses charged by mutual funds or exchange traded funds (described in each fund's prospectus) to their shareholders. These fees will generally include a management fee and other fund expenses. You will also incur transaction charges and/or brokerage fees when purchasing or selling securities. These charges and fees are typically imposed by the broker-dealer or custodian through whom your account transactions are executed. We do not share in any portion of the brokerage fees/transaction charges imposed by the broker-dealer or custodian. To fully understand the total cost you will incur, you should review all the fees charged by mutual funds, exchange traded funds, our firm, and others. For information on our brokerage practices, refer to the Brokerage Practices section of this brochure. Item 6 Performance-Based Fees and Side-By-Side Management We do not have performance-based fees or participate in side-by-side management. Performance- based fees are fees that are based on a share of a capital gains or capital appreciation of a client's account. Side-by-side management refers to the practice of managing accounts that are charged performance-based fees while at the same time managing accounts that are not charged performance- based fees. Our fees are calculated as described in the Fees and Compensation section above and are not charged on the basis of a share of capital gains upon, or capital appreciation of, the funds in your advisory account. Item 7 Types of Clients We offer investment advisory services to individuals (other than high net worth individuals), high net worth individuals, endowments and foundations and other entities. In general, we do not require a minimum dollar amount to open and maintain an advisory account; however, we have the right to terminate your account if it falls below a minimum size which, in our sole opinion, is too small to manage effectively. We may also combine account values for you and your minor children, joint accounts with your spouse, and other types of related accounts to meet the stated minimum. Item 8 Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies and Risk of Loss Our Methods of Analysis and Investment Strategies We may use one or more of the following methods of analysis or investment strategies when providing investment advice to you: Fundamental Analysis - involves analyzing individual companies and their industry groups, such as a company's financial statements, details regarding the company's product line, the experience and expertise of the company's management, and the outlook for the company and its industry. The resulting data is used to measure the true value of the company's stock compared to the current market value. 6 Risk: The risk of fundamental analysis is that information obtained may be incorrect and the analysis may not provide an accurate estimate of earnings, which may be the basis for a stock's value. If securities prices adjust rapidly to new information, utilizing fundamental analysis may not result in favorable performance. Cyclical Analysis - a type of technical analysis that involves evaluating recurring price patterns and trends. Economic/business cycles may not be predictable and may have many fluctuations between long-term expansions and contractions. Risk: The lengths of economic cycles may be difficult to predict with accuracy and therefore the risk of cyclical analysis is the difficulty in predicting economic trends and consequently the changing value of securities that would be affected by these changing trends. Modern Portfolio Theory - a theory of investment which attempts to maximize portfolio expected return for a given amount of portfolio risk, or equivalently minimize risk for a given level of expected return, by carefully diversifying the proportions of various assets. Risk: Market risk is that part of a security's risk that is common to all securities of the same general class (stocks and bonds) and thus cannot be eliminated by diversification. Long-Term Purchases - securities purchased with the expectation that the value of those securities will grow over a relatively long period of time, generally greater than one year. Risk: Using a long-term purchase strategy generally assumes the financial markets will go up in the long-term which may not be the case. There is also the risk that the segment of the market that you are invested in or perhaps just your particular investment will go down over time even if the overall financial markets advance. Purchasing investments long-term may create an opportunity cost - "locking-up" assets that may be better utilized in the short-term in other investments. Short-Term Purchases - securities purchased with the expectation that they will be sold within a relatively short period of time, generally less than one year, to take advantage of the securities' short- term price fluctuations. Risk: Using a short-term purchase strategy generally assumes that we can predict how financial markets will perform in the short-term which may be very difficult and will incur a disproportionately higher amount of transaction costs compared to long-term trading. There are many factors that can affect financial market performance in the short-term (such as short-term interest rate changes, cyclical earnings announcements, etc.) but may have a smaller impact over longer periods of times. Option Writing - a securities transaction that involves selling an option. An option is a contract that gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a particular security at a specified price on or before the expiration date of the option. When an investor sells a call option, he or she must deliver to the buyer a specified number of shares if the buyer exercises the option. When an investor sells a put option, he or she must pay the strike price per share if the buyer exercises the option, and will receive the specified number of shares. The option writer/seller receives a premium (the market price of the option at a particular time) in exchange for writing the option. Risk: Options are complex investments and can be very risky, especially if the investor does not own the underlying stock. In certain situations, an investor's risk can be unlimited. Trading - We may use frequent trading (in general, selling securities within 30 days of purchasing the same securities) as an investment strategy when managing your account(s). Frequent trading is not a 7 fundamental part of our overall investment strategy, but we may use this strategy occasionally when we determine that it is suitable given your stated investment objectives and tolerance for risk. This may include buying and selling securities frequently in an effort to capture significant market gains and avoid significant losses. Risk: When a frequent trading policy is in effect, there is a risk that investment performance within your account may be negatively affected, particularly through increased brokerage and other transactional costs and taxes. Our investment strategies and advice may vary depending upon each client's specific financial situation. As such, we determine investments and allocations based upon your predefined objectives, risk tolerance, time horizon, financial information, liquidity needs and other various suitability factors. Your restrictions and guidelines may affect the composition of your portfolio. It is important that you notify us immediately with respect to any material changes to your financial circumstances, including for example, a change in your current or expected income level, tax circumstances, or employment status. Tax Considerations Our strategies and investments may have unique and significant tax implications. However, unless we specifically agree otherwise, and in writing, tax efficiency is not our primary consideration in the management of your assets and will be deemed an important consideration but not a constraint. Regardless of your account size or any other factors, we strongly recommend that you consult with a tax professional regarding the investing of your assets. Custodians and broker-dealers must report the cost basis of equities acquired in client accounts. Your custodian will likely employ an accounting method for calculating the cost basis of your investments that minimizes expected tax consequences. You are responsible for contacting your tax advisor to determine if this accounting method is the right choice for you. If your tax advisor believes another accounting method is more advantageous, provide written notice to our firm immediately and we will alert your account custodian of your individually selected accounting method. Decisions about cost basis accounting methods will need to be made before trades settle, as the cost basis method cannot be changed after settlement. Risk of Loss Investing in securities involves risk of loss that you should be prepared to bear. We do not represent or guarantee that our services or methods of analysis can or will predict future results, successfully identify market tops or bottoms, or insulate clients from losses due to market corrections or declines. We cannot offer any guarantees or promises that your financial goals and objectives will be met. Past performance is in no way an indication of future performance. Other Risk Considerations When evaluating risk, financial loss may be viewed differently by each client and may depend on many different risks, each of which may affect the probability and magnitude of any potential losses. The following risks may not be all-inclusive but should be considered carefully by a prospective client before retaining our services. Liquidity Risk: The risk of being unable to sell your investment at a fair price at a given time due to high volatility or lack of active liquid markets. You may receive a lower price, or it may not be possible to sell the investment at all. Credit Risk: Credit risk typically applies to debt investments such as corporate, municipal, and sovereign fixed income or bonds. A bond issuing entity can experience a credit event that could impair 8 or erase the value of an issuer’s securities held by a client. Inflation and Interest Rate Risk: Security prices and portfolio returns will likely vary in response to changes in inflation and interest rates. Inflation causes the value of future dollars to be worth less and may reduce the purchasing power of a client’s future interest payments and principal. Inflation also generally leads to higher interest rates which may cause the value of many types of fixed income investments to decline. Horizon and Longevity Risk: The risk that your investment horizon is shortened because of an unforeseen event, for example, the loss of your job. This may force you to sell investments that you were expecting to hold for the long term. If you must sell at a time that the markets are down, you may lose money. Longevity Risk is the risk of outliving your savings. This risk is particularly relevant for people who are retired or are nearing retirement. Pandemic Risk: Pandemic risk can result in significant market volatility and disruptions to individual companies, investor sentiment, and the broader economy. As a result, a future Pandemic may negatively impact client investment in a number of ways. MWM cannot predict with certainty future Pandemics and the related the company, investor, and economic impacts. Cybersecurity Risk: MWM computer systems, networks and devices and those of our and our custodian and other clients service providers to carry out routine business operations employ a variety of protections designed to prevent damage or interruption from computer viruses, network failures, computer and telecommunication failures, infiltration by unauthorized persons and security breaches. Despite the various protections utilized, systems, networks, or devices potentially can be breached, and a client could be negatively impacted as a result. Cybersecurity breaches can include unauthorized access to systems, networks, or devices; infection from computer viruses or other malicious software code; and attacks that shut down, disable, slow, or otherwise disrupt operations, business processes, or website access or functionality. Cybersecurity breaches may cause disruptions and impact business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses to a client; impediments to trading; the inability by us and other service providers to transact business; violations of applicable privacy and other laws; regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs, or additional compliance costs; as well as the inadvertent release of confidential information. Similar adverse consequences could result from cybersecurity breaches affecting issuers of securities in which a client invests; governmental and other regulatory authorities; exchange and other financial market operators, banks, brokers, dealers, and other financial institutions; and other parties. Recommendation of Particular Types of Securities We recommend various types of securities and we do not primarily recommend one particular type of security over another since each client has different needs and different tolerance for risk. Each type of security has its own unique set of risks associated with it and it would not be possible to list here all of the specific risks of every type of investment. Even within the same type of investment, risks can vary widely. However, in very general terms, the higher the anticipated return of an investment, the higher the risk of loss associated with the investment. A description of the types of securities we may recommend to you and some of their inherent risks are provided below. Money Market Funds: A money market fund is technically a security. The fund managers attempt to keep the share price constant at $1/share. However, there is no guarantee that the share price will stay at $1/share. If the share price goes down, you can lose some or all of your principal. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") notes that "While investor losses in money market funds have been rare, they are possible." In return for this risk, you should earn a greater return on 9 your cash than you would expect from a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") insured savings account (money market funds are not FDIC insured). Next, money market fund rates are variable. In other words, you do not know how much you will earn on your investment next month. The rate could go up or go down. If it goes up, that may result in a positive outcome. However, if it goes down and you earn less than you expected to earn, you may end up needing more cash. A final risk you are taking with money market funds has to do with inflation. Because money market funds are considered to be safer than other investments like stocks, long-term average returns on money market funds tends to be less than long term average returns on riskier investments. Over long periods of time, inflation can eat away at your returns. Municipal Securities: Municipal securities, while generally thought of as safe, can have significant risks associated with them including, but not limited to: the credit worthiness of the governmental entity that issues the bond; the stability of the revenue stream that is used to pay the interest to the bondholders; when the bond is due to mature; and, whether or not the bond can be "called" prior to maturity. When a bond is called, it may not be possible to replace it with a bond of equal character paying the same amount of interest or yield to maturity. Bonds: Corporate debt securities (or "bonds") are typically safer investments than equity securities, but their risk can also vary widely based on: the financial health of the issuer; the risk that the issuer might default; when the bond is set to mature; and, whether or not the bond can be "called" prior to maturity. When a bond is called, it may not be possible to replace it with a bond of equal character paying the same rate of return. Stocks: There are numerous ways of measuring the risk of equity securities (also known simply as "equities" or "stock"). In very broad terms, the value of a stock depends on the financial health of the company issuing it. However, stock prices can be affected by many other factors including, but not limited to the class of stock (for example, preferred or common); the health of the market sector of the issuing company; and, the overall health of the economy. In general, larger, better-established companies ("large cap") tend to be safer than smaller start-up companies ("small cap") are but the mere size of an issuer is not, by itself, an indicator of the safety of the investment. Mutual Funds and Exchange Traded Funds: Mutual funds and exchange traded funds ("ETF") are professionally managed collective investment systems that pool money from many investors and invest in stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, other mutual funds, other securities, or any combination thereof. The fund will have a manager that trades the fund's investments in accordance with the fund's investment objective. While mutual funds and ETFs generally provide diversification, risks can be significantly increased if the fund is concentrated in a particular sector of the market, primarily invests in small cap or speculative companies, uses leverage (i.e., borrows money) to a significant degree, or concentrates in a particular type of security (i.e., equities) rather than balancing the fund with different types of securities. ETFs differ from mutual funds since they can be bought and sold throughout the day like stock and their price can fluctuate throughout the day. The returns on mutual funds and ETFs can be reduced by the costs to manage the funds. Also, while some mutual funds are "no load" and charge no fee to buy into, or sell out of, the fund, other types of mutual funds do charge such fees which can also reduce returns. Mutual funds can also be "closed end" or "open end". So-called "open end" mutual funds continue to allow in new investors indefinitely whereas "closed end" funds have a fixed number of shares to sell which can limit their availability to new investors. ETFs may have tracking error risks. For example, the ETF investment adviser may not be able to cause the ETF’s performance to match that of its Underlying Index or other benchmark, which may negatively affect the ETF's performance. In addition, for leveraged and inverse ETFs that seek to track the performance of their Underlying Indices or benchmarks on a daily basis, mathematical 10 compounding may prevent the ETF from correlating with performance of its benchmark. In addition, an ETF may not have investment exposure to all of the securities included in its Underlying Index, or its weighting of investment exposure to such securities may vary from that of the Underlying Index. Some ETFs may invest in securities or financial instruments that are not included in the Underlying Index, but which are expected to yield similar performance. Private Placements: A private placement (non-public offering) is an illiquid security sold to qualified investors and are not publicly traded nor registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Risk: Private placements generally carry a higher degree of risk due to illiquidity. Most securities that are acquired in a private placement will be restricted securities and must be held for an extended amount of time and therefore cannot be sold easily. The range of risks are dependent on the nature of the partnership and are disclosed in the offering documents. Item 9 Disciplinary Information We are required to disclose the facts of any legal or disciplinary events that are material to a client's evaluation of our advisory business or the integrity of our management. We do not have any required disclosures under this item. Item 10 Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations We have not provided information on other financial industry activities and affiliations because we do not have any relationship or arrangement that is material to our advisory business or to our clients with any of the types of entities listed below. 1. broker-dealer, municipal securities dealer, or government securities dealer or broker; 2. investment company or other pooled investment vehicle (including a mutual fund, closed-end investment company, unit investment trust, private investment company or "hedge fund," and offshore fund); 3. other investment adviser or financial planner; 4. futures commission merchant, commodity pool operator, or commodity trading adviser; 5. banking or thrift institution; 6. accountant or accounting firm; 7. lawyer or law firm; 8. insurance company or agency; 9. pension consultant; 10. real estate broker or dealer; and/or 11. sponsor or syndicator of limited partnerships. Item 11 Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transactions and Personal Trading Description of Our Code of Ethics We strive to comply with applicable laws and regulations governing our practices. Therefore, our Code of Ethics includes guidelines for professional standards of conduct for persons associated with our firm. Our goal is to protect your interests at all times and to demonstrate our commitment to our fiduciary duties of honesty, good faith, and fair dealing with you. All persons associated with our firm are expected to adhere strictly to these guidelines. Persons associated with our firm are also required to report any violations of our Code of Ethics. Additionally, we maintain and enforce written policies 11 reasonably designed to prevent the misuse or dissemination of material, non-public information about you or your account holdings by persons associated with our firm. Clients or prospective clients may obtain a copy of our Code of Ethics by contacting us at the telephone number on the cover page of this brochure. Participation or Interest in Client Transactions Neither our firm nor any persons associated with our firm has any material financial interest in client transactions beyond the provision of investment advisory services as disclosed in this brochure. Personal Trading Practices Our firm or persons associated with our firm may buy or sell the same securities that we recommend to you or securities in which you are already invested. A conflict of interest exists in such cases because we have the ability to trade ahead of you and potentially receive more favorable prices than you will receive. To mitigate this conflict of interest, it is our policy that neither our firm nor persons associated with our firm shall have priority over your account in the purchase or sale of securities. Item 12 Brokerage Practices While you are free to choose any broker-dealer or other service provider as your custodian, we have a relationship with Charles Schwab and recommend that you establish an account with them. Charles Schwab provides benefits to our firm, including but not limited to market information, research, and administrative services that help our firm manage your account(s). We believe that this recommended broker-dealer provides quality execution services for our clients at competitive prices. Price is not the sole factor we consider in evaluating best execution. We also consider the quality of the services, including the value of the firm's reputation, execution capabilities, commission rates, and responsiveness to our clients and our firm. Not all advisors require clients to direct brokerage; by directing brokerage most favorable execution of client transactions may not always be attained. In recognition of the value of the services Charles Schwab provides, you may pay higher commissions and/or trading costs than elsewhere. Research and Other Soft Dollar Benefits We do not have any formal soft dollar arrangements. Economic Benefits As a registered investment adviser, we have access to the institutional platform of your account custodian. As such, we will also have access to research products and services from your account custodian and/or other brokerage firm. These products are in addition to any benefits or research we pay for with soft dollars, and may include financial publications, information about particular companies and industries, research software, and other products or services that provide lawful and appropriate assistance to our firm in the performance of our investment decision-making responsibilities. Such research products and services are provided to all investment advisers that utilize the institutional services platforms of these firms and are not considered to be paid for with soft dollars. However, you should be aware that the commissions charged by a particular broker for a particular transaction or set of transactions may be greater than the amounts another broker who did not provide research services or products might charge. Brokerage for Client Referrals We do not receive client referrals from broker-dealers in exchange for cash or other compensation, such as brokerage services or research. 12 Directed Brokerage You are free to choose any broker-dealer or other service provider as your custodian. Aggregated Trades We do not combine multiple orders for shares of the same securities purchased for advisory accounts we manage (the practice of combining multiple orders for shares of the same securities is commonly referred to as "aggregated trading"). Accordingly, you may pay different prices for the same securities transactions than other clients pay. Furthermore, we may not be able to buy and sell the same quantities of securities for you and you may pay higher commissions, fees, and/or transaction costs than other clients. Mutual Fund Share Classes Mutual funds are sold with different share classes, which carry different cost structures. Each available share class is described in the mutual fund's prospectus. When we purchase, or recommend the purchase of, mutual funds for a client, we select the share class that is deemed to be in the client’s best interest, taking into consideration cost, tax implications, and other factors. When the fund is available for purchase at net asset value, we will purchase, or recommend the purchase of, the fund at net asset value. We also review the mutual funds held in accounts that come under our management to determine whether a more beneficial share class is available, considering cost, tax implications, and the impact of contingent deferred sales charges. Item 13 Review of Accounts S. Joel Mittelman, CFA ®, CFP®, Chief Compliance Officer, will monitor your accounts on an ongoing basis and will conduct account reviews periodically to ensure the advisory services provided to you are consistent with your investment needs, objectives, and preferences. Additional reviews may be conducted based on various circumstances, including, but not limited to: • contributions and withdrawals; • year-end tax planning; • market moving events; • security specific events; and/or • changes in your risk/return objectives. The individuals conducting reviews may vary from time to time, as personnel join or leave our firm. We will provide you with additional or regular written reports in conjunction with account reviews as appropriate. Reports we provide to you will contain relevant account and/or market-related information such as an inventory of account holdings and account performance, etc. You will receive trade confirmations and quarterly statements from your account custodian(s), as well as have the ability to review more frequently online or as requested. S. Joel Mittelman, CFA ®, CFP®, Chief Compliance Officer, will review financial plans as needed, depending on the arrangements made with you at the inception of your advisory relationship to ensure that the advice provided is consistent with your investment needs and objectives. Generally, we will contact you periodically to determine whether any updates may be needed based on changes in your circumstances. Changed circumstances may include, but are not limited to marriage, divorce, birth, death, inheritance, lawsuit, retirement, job loss and/or disability, among others. We recommend meeting with you at least annually to review and update your plan if needed. Additional reviews will be conducted upon your request. Written updates to the financial plan will be provided in conjunction with the review as needed. 13 Item 14 Client Referrals and Other Compensation We do not receive any compensation from any third party in connection with providing investment advice to you. We have entered into written agreements with unaffiliated third-party promoters through which we have agreed to pay a fee for each client referral. These referrals may result in the provision of investment advisory services by Mittelman Wealth Management. We require such entities to disclose this promoter arrangement to the prospective client, and any cash compensation agreements will comply with Rule 206(4)-1 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Such compensation will be paid pursuant to a written agreement with the promoter and in compliance with Rule 206(4)-1. The cost of any such fees will be borne entirely by Mittelman Wealth Management and not by the referred client. Refer to the Brokerage Practices section above for disclosures on research and other benefits we may receive resulting from our relationship with your account custodian. Item 15 Custody As paying agent for our firm, your independent custodian will directly debit your account(s) for the payment of our advisory fees. This ability to deduct our advisory fees from your accounts causes our firm to exercise limited custody over your funds or securities. We do not have physical custody of any of your funds and/or securities. Your funds and securities will be held with a bank, broker-dealer, or other qualified custodian. You will receive account statements from the qualified custodian(s) holding your funds and securities at least quarterly. The account statements from your custodian(s) will indicate the amount of our advisory fees deducted from your account(s) each billing period. You should carefully review account statements for accuracy. We will also provide statements to you reflecting the amount of the advisory fee deducted from your account. You should compare our statements with the statements from your account custodian(s) to reconcile the information reflected on each statement. If you have a question regarding your account statement, or if you did not receive a statement from your custodian, contact us immediately at the telephone number on the cover page of this brochure. Item 16 Investment Discretion Before we can buy or sell securities on your behalf, you must first sign our discretionary management agreement and the appropriate trading authorization forms. You may grant our firm discretion over the selection and amount of securities to be purchased or sold for your account(s) without obtaining your consent or approval prior to each transaction. You may specify investment objectives, guidelines, and/or impose certain conditions or investment parameters for your account(s). For example, you may specify that the investment in any particular stock or industry should not exceed specified percentages of the value of the portfolio and/or restrictions or prohibitions of transactions in the securities of a specific industry or security. Refer to the Advisory Business section in this brochure for more information on our discretionary management services. Item 17 Voting Client Securities We will not vote proxies on behalf of your advisory accounts. At your request, we may offer you advice regarding corporate actions and the exercise of your proxy voting rights. If you own shares of applicable securities, you are responsible for exercising your right to vote as a shareholder. 14 Item 18 Financial Information Our firm does not have any financial condition or impairment that would prevent us from meeting our contractual commitments to you. We do not take physical custody of client funds or securities, or serve as trustee or signatory for client accounts, and, we do not require the prepayment of more than $1,200 in fees six or more months in advance. Therefore, we are not required to include a financial statement with this brochure. We have not filed a bankruptcy petition at any time in the past ten years. Item 19 Requirements for State-Registered Advisers We are a federally registered investment adviser; therefore, we are not required to respond to this item. Item 20 Additional Information Trade Errors In the event a trading error occurs in your account, our goal would be to restore your account to the position it should have been in had the trading error not occurred. Depending on the circumstances, corrective actions may include canceling the trade, adjusting an allocation, and/or reimbursing the account. Class Action Lawsuits We do not determine if securities held by you are the subject of a class action lawsuit or whether you are eligible to participate in class action settlements or litigation nor do we initiate or participate in litigation to recover damages on your behalf for injuries as a result of actions, misconduct, or negligence by issuers of securities held by you. IRA Rollover Considerations As part of our investment advisory services to you, we may recommend that you withdraw the assets from your employer's retirement plan and roll the assets over to an individual retirement account ("IRA") that we will manage on your behalf. If you elect to roll the assets to an IRA that is subject to our management, we will charge you an asset-based fee as set forth in the agreement you executed with our firm. This practice presents a conflict of interest because persons providing investment advice on our behalf have an incentive to recommend a rollover to you for the purpose of generating fee-based compensation rather than solely based on your needs. You are under no obligation, contractually or otherwise, to complete the rollover. Moreover, if you do complete the rollover, you are under no obligation to have the assets in an IRA managed by our firm. Many employers permit former employees to keep their retirement assets in their company plan. Also, current employees can sometimes move assets out of their company plan before they retire or change jobs. In determining whether to complete the rollover to an IRA, and to the extent the following options are available, you should consider the costs and benefits of: 1. Leaving the funds in your employer's (former employer's) plan. 2. Moving the funds to a new employer’s retirement plan. 3. Cashing out and taking a taxable distribution from the plan. 4. Rolling the funds into an IRA rollover account. Each of these options has advantages and disadvantages and before making a change we encourage 15 you to speak with your CPA and/or tax attorney. If you are considering rolling over your retirement funds to an IRA for us to manage here are a few points to consider before you do so: 1. Determine whether the investment options in your employer's retirement plan address your needs or whether you might want to consider other types of investments. a. Employer retirement plans generally have a more limited investment menu than IRAs. b. Employer retirement plans may have unique investment options not available to the public such as employer securities, or previously closed funds. 2. Your current plan may have lower fees than our fees. a. If you are interested in investing only in mutual funds, you should understand the cost structure of the share classes available in your employer's retirement plan and how the costs of those share classes compare with those available in an IRA. b. You should understand the various products and services you might take advantage of at an IRA provider and the potential costs of those products and services. 3. Our strategy may have higher risk than the option(s) provided to you in your plan. 4. Your current plan may also offer financial advice. 5. If you keep your assets titled in a 401k or retirement account, you could potentially delay your required minimum distribution beyond age 72. 6. Your 401k may offer more liability protection than a rollover IRA; each state may vary. a. Generally, federal law protects assets in qualified plans from creditors. Since 2005, IRA assets have been generally protected from creditors in bankruptcies. However, there can be some exceptions to the general rules so you should consult with an attorney if you are concerned about protecting your retirement plan assets from creditors. 7. You may be able to take out a loan on your 401k, but not from an IRA. 8. IRA assets can be accessed any time; however, distributions are subject to ordinary income tax and may also be subject to a 10% early distribution penalty unless they qualify for an exception such as disability, higher education expenses or the purchase of a home. 9. If you own company stock in your plan, you may be able to liquidate those shares at a lower capital gains tax rate. 10.Your plan may allow you to hire us as the manager and keep the assets titled in the plan name. It is important that you understand the differences between these types of accounts and to decide whether a rollover is best for you. Prior to proceeding, if you have questions contact your investment adviser representative, or call our main number as listed on the cover page of this brochure. 16