General Information
Signature Wealth Management Group LLC("SWMG") was formed in 2017 and provides financial
planning/consulting services and portfolio management services to its clients.
James O. Sims and Scott R. Bishop are the principal owners of SWMG. Please see Brochure
Supplement(s), 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, SWMG had approximately $354 million of discretionary client assets under
management and no non-discretionary client assets under management.
SERVICES PROVIDED
Financial Planning/Consulting
Financial planning services generally includes advice that addresses one or more areas of a client's
financial situation, such as estate planning, risk management, budgeting and cash flow controls,
retirement planning, education funding, and investment portfolio design. Depending on a client's
particular situation, financial planning services includes 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 estate planning;
•Assessing risk and reviewing basic health, life and disability insurance needs; or
•Reviewing goals and objectives and measuring progress toward these goals.
This service is provided in conjunction with SWMG's portfolio management services. Clients are under
no obligation to act upon any of the recommendations made by SWMG under a financial planning
engagement and/or to engage the services of any recommended professional.
In addition to financial planning services, SWMG provides consulting services on various financial
topics to address specific needs and objectives. Our consultation can include financial counseling,
account reviews, securities research and other advisory services related to investments. Consulting
services, while similar to traditional financial planning services, provide clients with several distinct
services such as Budget Planning, Cash Flow Analysis, Debt Management, Education Planning,
Estate, Legacy or Multigenerational Planning, Family Financial Planning, Life Transition Planning,
Major Purchase Planning, Philanthropic/Charitable Planning and Special Needs Planning.
Consulting services can be narrow in scope and do not always take into consideration all areas of the
client's financial situation. Consulting services provided should not be construed as investment
advice.
Financial Consulting services are provided pursuant to a separate agreement for a negotiated, agreed
upon fee.
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Portfolio Management
At the beginning of a client relationship, SWMG meets with the client, gathers information, and
performs research and analysis as necessary to develop the client's financial plan. The financial plan
will be updated from time to time when requested by the client, or when determined to be necessary or
advisable by SWMG based on updates to the client's financial or other circumstances.
To implement the client's recommended portfolio, SWMG will manage the client's investments on a
discretionary basis. As a discretionary investment adviser, SWMG will have the authority to supervise
and direct the portfolio without prior consultation with the client. 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 conflict with the advice we give to other clients regarding the same security or
investment.
IRA Rollover Recommendations
Effective December 20, 2021 (or such later date as the US Department of Labor ("DOL") Field
Assistance Bulletin 2018-02 ceases to be in effect), for purposes of complying with the DOL's
Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02 ("PTE 2020-02") where applicable, we are providing the
following acknowledgment to you. 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.
We benefit financially from the rollover of your assets from a retirement account to an account that we
manage or provide investment advice, because the assets increase our assets under management
and, in turn, our advisory fees. As a fiduciary, we only recommend a rollover when we believe it is in
your best interest.
Schwab
Institutional Intelligent Porfolios - Closed to New Clients
SWMG is no longer accepting new clients in the Schwab Institutional Intelligent Porfolios. Those clients
who began using the program will remain as legacy client accounts. We had offered an automated
investment program (Ingenious) through which clients are invested in a range of investment strategies
we have constructed and manage, each consisting of a portfolio of exchange-traded funds ("ETFs")
and a cash allocation. The client's portfolio is held in a brokerage account opened by the client at
Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. ("CS&Co"). We used the Institutional Intelligent Portfolios® platform
("Platform"), offered by Schwab Performance Technologies ("SPT"), a software provider to
independent investment advisors and an affiliate of CS&Co., to operate Ingenious. We are
independent of and not owned by, affiliated with, or sponsored or supervised by SPT, CS&Co., or their
affiliates (together, "Schwab").
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We charge clients a fee for our services as described below under Item 5 Fees and Compensation.
Our fees are not set or supervised by Schwab. Clients do not pay brokerage commissions or any
other fees to CS&Co.
We pay SPT an annual licensing fee of 0.10% (10 basis points) on the value of our clients' assets
in Schwab Institutional Intelligent Porfolios.
Third Party Wrap Programs – Closed to New Clients
SWMG does not currently recommend the services of a Separate Account Manager ("Manager") to
assist with implementation of a client's portfolio. However, certain clients have legacy arrangements
with a Manager in a Third-Party Wrap Program to manage all or a portion of their assets. A Wrap
Program is one that charges one fee (the "wrap fee") for both the manager's fee and the transaction
expenses incurred by the account. SWMG's fee is charged separately from and in addition to the wrap
fee.
SWMG's role in this arrangement is to monitor the overall financial situation of the client, to monitor the
investment approach and performance of the Manager, and to assist the client in understanding the
investments of the portfolio.
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. SWMG 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 provide. The Plan Fiduciaries are free to
seek independent advice about the appropriateness of any recommended services for the Plan.
Retirement Plan consulting services are 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 are permitted to retain investment advisers for various types of services with respect to
Plan assets. For certain services, SWMG will be considered a fiduciary under ERISA. For example,
SWMG 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 SWMG to act as an
investment manager within the meaning of ERISA § 3(38), SWMG will provide discretionary
investment management services to the Plan. With respect to any account for which SWMG meets the
definition of a fiduciary under Department Of Labor rules, SWMG acknowledges that both SWMG and
its Related Persons are acting as fiduciaries. Additional disclosure is located in this Brochure or in the
written agreement between SWMG and Client.
Fiduciary Consulting Services
•Investment Selection Services
SWMG will provide Plan Fiduciaries with recommendations of investment options consistent with the
safe harbor requirements of ERISA section 404(c) while acting as a 3(21) fiduciary. Plan Fiduciaries
retain responsibility for the final determination of investment options and for compliance with ERISA
section 404(c).
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Non-Discretionary Investment Advice
SWMG provides Plan Fiduciaries and Plan Participants general, non-discretionary investment advice
regarding asset classes and investments.
•Investment Monitoring
SWMG will assist in monitoring the plan's investment options by preparing periodic investment reports
that document investment performance, consistency of fund management and conformation to the
guidelines set forth in the investment policy statement and SWMG will make recommendations to
maintain or remove and replace investment options. The details of this aspect of service will be
enumerated in the engagement agreement between the parties.
Non-Fiduciary Services
•Participant Education
SWMG will provide education services to Plan Participants about general investment principles and the
investment alternatives available under the Plan. Education presentations will not take into account
the individual circumstances of each Plan Participant and individual recommendations will not be
provided unless a Plan Participant separately engages SWMG for such services. Plan Participants are
responsible for implementing transactions in their own accounts.
•Participant Enrollment
SWMG will assist with group enrollment meetings designed to increase retirement Plan participation
among employees and investment and financial understanding by the employees.