General Information
Wealth Dimensions Family Office, Inc. (“WDFO”) registered as an investment adviser in 2015 and
provides family office services to its clients.
Thomas A. Curti, Douglas P. Loftus and Michael E. McCaw are the owners of WDFO. For more
information on Messrs. Curti and Loftus, as well as other individuals who formulate investment
advice, have direct contact with clients, or have discretionary authority over client accounts, please
contact us to receive a copy of the WDFO Form ADV Part 2B brochure supplement.
As of June 30, 2023, total assets under advisement were $543,804,806, while total assets under
management were $519,976,533, all of which were managed on a discretionary basis.
SERVICES PROVIDED
WDFO provides family office services to high-net-worth clients as described below. Specific services
to be provided will be identified in the written agreement executed between each client and WDFO.
At the outset of each client relationship, WDFO spends time with the client, asking questions,
discussing the client’s investment experience and financial circumstances, and broadly identifying
major goals and service needs of the client. WDFO generally develops with each client:
• a financial outline for the client based on the client’s financial circumstances and
goals, and the client’s risk tolerance level (the “Financial Profile” or “Profile”); and
• the client’s investment objectives and guidelines (the “Investment Plan” or “Plan”).
The Financial Profile is a reflection of the client’s current financial picture and a look to the future
goals of the client. The Investment Plan outlines the types of investments WDFO will make or in some
cases recommend on behalf of the client to meet those goals. The Profile and the Plan are discussed
regularly with each client in terms of a financial outline or investment guidelines.
Financial Planning
Financial Planning is essential to the high-net-worth individual or family. It generally includes
advice that addresses many areas of a client’s financial situation, such as estate planning, risk
management, budgeting and cash flow controls, retirement planning, education funding,
philanthropic initiatives, generational transfer of wealth, and investment portfolio design.
Depending on a client’s particular situation, financial planning may include some or all of the
following:
• Gathering factual information concerning the client’s personal and financial situation;
• Assisting the client in establishing financial goals and objectives;
• Analyzing the client’s present situation and anticipated future activities in light of the
client’s financial goals and objectives;
• Identifying problems foreseen in the accomplishment of these financial goals and
objectives and offering alternative solutions to the problems;
• Making recommendations to help achieve retirement plan goals and objectives;
• Designing an investment portfolio to help meet the goals and objectives of the client;
• Providing general estate planning advice (typically in the form of coordination with
an estate-planning attorney; WDFO does not provide legal advice);
• Assessing risk and reviewing basic health, life and disability insurance needs; or
• Reviewing goals and objectives and measuring progress toward these goals.
The client is under no obligation to act upon any of the recommendations made by WDFO under a
financial planning engagement and/or to engage the services of any recommended professional.
Family Governance and Generational Transfer Planning
An important aspect of managing wealth is coordination and communication among and between
family members. As children grow up and marry, this becomes even more important. WDFO provides
a neutral third party with an objective view to help manage this area.
Check-Writing and Bill-Pay Services
WDFO will manage the payment of ongoing expenses of various family members, businesses, and
other entities as requested.
Philanthropy
Various family members may have disparate ideas towards charitable giving. WDFO will help
develop a comprehensive family plan for giving, and then implement it.
Reporting Services
WDFO will provide the reports needed and requested by family members, including reports on
illiquid assets and/or those that are not managed by WDFO.
Portfolio Management
As described above, at the beginning of a client relationship, WDFO meets with the client, gathers
information, and performs research and analysis as necessary to develop the client’s Investment Plan.
The Investment Plan will be updated from time to time when requested by the client, or when
determined to be necessary or advisable by WDFO based on updates to the client’s financial or other
circumstances.
To implement the client’s Investment Plan, WDFO will direct the management of the client’s
investment portfolio on a discretionary basis. As a discretionary investment adviser, WDFO will have
the authority to supervise and direct the portfolio without prior consultation with the client. Please
see “Separate Account Managers” below for more information.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, clients may impose certain written restrictions on WDFO in the
management of their investment portfolios, such as prohibiting the inclusion of certain types of
investments in an investment portfolio or prohibiting the sale of certain investments held in the
account at the commencement
of the relationship. Each client should note, however, that restrictions
imposed by a client may adversely affect the composition and performance of the client’s investment
portfolio. Each client should also note that his or her investment portfolio is treated individually by
giving consideration to each purchase or sale for the client’s account. For these and other reasons,
performance of client investment portfolios within the same investment objectives, goals and/or
risk tolerance may differ, and clients should not expect that the composition or performance of their
investment portfolios would necessarily be consistent with similar clients of WDFO.
Retirement Plan Advisory Services
Establishing a sound fiduciary governance process is vital to good decision-making and to ensuring
that prudent procedural steps are followed in making investment decisions. WDFO will provide
Retirement Plan consulting services to Plans and Plan Fiduciaries as described below. The
particular services provided will be detailed in the consulting agreement. The appropriate Plan
Fiduciary(ies) designated in the Plan documents (e.g., the Plan sponsor or named fiduciary) will (i)
make the decision to retain our firm; (ii) agree to the scope of the services that we will provide; and
(iii) make the ultimate decision as to accepting any of the recommendations that we may provide.
The Plan Fiduciaries are free to seek independent advice about the appropriateness of any
recommended services for the Plan. Retirement Plan consulting services may be offered individually
or as part of a comprehensive suite of services.
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) sets forth rules under which Plan
Fiduciaries may retain investment advisers for various types of services with respect to Plan assets.
For certain services, WDFO will be considered a fiduciary under ERISA. For example, WDFO will act
as an ERISA § 3(21) fiduciary when providing non-discretionary investment advice to the Plan
Fiduciaries by recommending a suite of investments as choices among which Plan Participants may
select. Also, to the extent that the Plan Fiduciaries retain WDFO to act as an investment manager
within the meaning of ERISA § 3(38), WDFO will provide discretionary investment management
services to the Plan.
With respect to any account for which WDFO meets the definition of a fiduciary under Department of
Labor rules, WDFO acknowledges that both WDFO and its Related Persons are acting as fiduciaries.
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.
Separate Account Managers
Even when serving as the primary investment adviser for a client account, WDFO does not typically
direct the day-to-day management of investments. Instead, it chooses other investment advisers
(each a “Manager”) to direct the investments of various portions of the overall investment portfolio
as appropriate. WDFO’s affiliate, Wealth Dimensions Group, Ltd., also a registered investment
adviser, is one of the Managers that WDFO utilizes under a sub-advisory agreement. This creates a
conflict of interest due to WDFO’s discretion in determining the asset allocation among all Managers,
including its affiliate.
Having access to various Managers offers a wide variety of manager styles, and offers clients the
opportunity to utilize more than one Manager if necessary to meet the needs and investment
objectives of the client. WDFO will select or recommend the Manager(s) it deems most appropriate
for the client. Factors that WDFO considers in recommending/selecting Managers generally includes
but is not limited to the client’s stated investment objective(s), management style, performance, risk
level, reputation, financial strength, reporting, pricing, and research.
The selected Manager(s) will generally be granted discretionary trading authority for the relevant
portions of the client’s portfolio. WDFO retains the authority to terminate the Manager’s relationship
or to add new Managers without specific client consent. Fees paid to such Manager(s), including
WDFO’s affiliate, are separate from and in addition to the fee assessed by WDFO.
In any case, with respect to assets managed by a Manager, WDFO’s role will be to monitor the overall
financial situation of the client, to monitor the investment approach and performance of the
Manager(s), and to assist the client in understanding the investments of the portfolio.
