Platform Technology Partners, LLC (“we” or “us” or “our” or “Platform Technology
Partners” or “PTP”) was founded in August of 2019 and has been registered with the
SEC since October 2019 . Platform Technology Partners is wholly owned by United
Atlantic Capital, LLC.
Platform Technology Partners provides investment supervisory and investment
advisory services, and also provides financial consultation services for our clients,
which includes individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates,
charitable organization, corporations, and business entities. Platform Technology
Partners has a minimum size of $100,000 per relationship (which may include the
aggregate of multiple accounts for any one relationship) which shall be pro-rated
pursuant to the billing practices as described in Item 5 of this Brochure. The firm’s
minimum account size may be waived at our sole discretion.
Our firm will manage portfolios of publicly traded securities, which consist
primarily of common stocks, other securities, such as preferred stocks, bonds,
debentures, warrants, commercial paper, certificates of deposit, municipal
securities, investment company securities, which include variable life insurance,
variable annuities, mutual fund shares, U.S. government securities, and options
contracts on securities.
We may also recommend the potential investment by clients in privately held
entities such as illiquid alternative investments, hedge funds, etc. consistent with the
client’s investment objectives. Certain of these potential investments will be in
private funds. Some of our employees and principals may also be investors in these
entities. This may present a conflict of interest which we address by full and fair
disclosure to our clients.
We offer qualified clients an opportunity to invest in certain funds or strategies in
which we also serve as the investment manager. These investments are available to
clients who are suitable and meet the investment minimums. See item 10 for more
information including conflicts of interest related to these investments.
As described in Item 5 of this Brochure, Platform Technology Partners, depending
on the engagement, offers its services on a fee basis including hourly and/or fixed
fees and fees based on assets under management. Prior to engaging our firm to
provide any of the foregoing investment advisory services, the client will be
required to enter into one or more written agreements with us setting forth the
terms and conditions under which we shall provide our services (collectively the
“Agreement”).
Platform Technology Partners may provide discretionary and non-discretionary
investment advisory services to clients relative to brokerage/qualified accounts,
variable life/annuity products that they may own, and/or their individual employer-
sponsored retirement plans. Individual client accounts are managed pursuant to the
client’s advisory agreement.
The firm offers many services through our network of investment advisory
representatives (“IARs”). IARs may conduct advisory services under a trade name
(i.e., “Doing Business As” or “DBA “) or other corporate structure that is held out to
the public for marketing purposes. Platform Technology Partners does not have any
ownership interest in the IARs’ trade name or other corporate structure. Our IARs
negotiate the advisory fees charged to the client, which cannot exceed the advisory
fee(s) listed in Item 5 of this Brochure. While not the primary focus of their business,
PTP IARs may also be registered representatives of an unaffiliated broker/dealer
firm, and may also be licensed insurance representatives. Additional Information
regarding the nature of the relationship between IARs is described in Items 5 and
10.
This Brochure provides disclosure of Platform Technology Partners’ services, fees,
and material information. Please read it carefully and if questions should arise,
please contact our Chief Compliance Officer, Matthew A. Swendiman at 513-562-
1675.
Our financial professionals offer advice on each type of investment described in this
Brochure. However, Platform Technology Partners intends to primarily allocate its
clients’ investment management assets, on a discretionary and/or a non-
discretionary basis (“Investment Advisory Services” or “Advisory Services”), among
Independent Managers (as defined below), mutual funds, exchange traded funds,
individual debt and equity securities and/or options as well as the securities
components of variable annuities and variable life insurance contracts in
accordance with the client’s investment objectives.
The firm may only implement its investment management recommendations after
the client has arranged for and furnished Platform Technology Partners with all
information and authorization regarding accounts with appropriate financial
institutions. As discussed in Item 15 of this Brochure, Platform Technology Partners
generally recommends that clients utilize our preferred custodial firms.
Additions may be in cash or securities provided that Platform Technology Partners
reserves the right to liquidate any transferred securities or decline to accept
particular securities into a client’s account. Platform Technology Partners may
consult with its clients about the options and ramifications of transferring securities.
However, clients are advised that when transferred securities are liquidated, they
are subject to transaction fees, fees assessed at the mutual fund level, (i.e.,
contingent deferred sales charge) and/or tax ramifications.
clients who engage PTP to provide advisory services must play an active role.
Platform Technology Partners requires the client to participate in the formation of
the investment plan, investment advice and recommendations. Clients may call the
office to discuss their portfolio(s) or ask questions, but Platform Technology
Partners recommends that clients initiate a meeting with Platform Technology
Partners no less than annually. However, clients are obligated to immediately
inform Platform Technology Partners of any changes in their financial
situation or to impose any reasonable restrictions upon Platform Technology
Partners’ Investment Advisory Services.
Neither Platform Technology Partners nor the client may assign the Agreement
without the consent of the other party. Transactions that do not result in a change
of actual control or management of Platform Technology Partners shall not be
considered an assignment. A copy of Platform Technology Partners’ privacy policy
notice and a written disclosure statement that meets the requirements of Rule 204-
3 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the "Advisers Act"), shall be
provided to each Client prior to or contemporaneously with the
execution of the
Agreement.
The firm also offers investment advice to retirement plans such as 401(k) plans and
other retirement plans or related entities regarding the type of securities or
investments which should be included as investment options for the plan
participants. Platform Technology Partners also offers various allocation strategies
and investment advice to individual plan participants based upon the participant’s
particular investment objectives which include the use of various retirement
resource platforms offering, among other investments, a selection of mutual funds
offered by a variety of mutual fund complexes.
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.
Platform Technology Partners has a total of approximately $936,699,274 in assets
under management as of December 31, 2023, of which $21,609,928 is managed on
a non-discretionary basis.
Financial Consultation Services
Platform Technology Partners is available to provide financial consultation services
(which may include non-investment-related matters such as business consulting).
Financial consultation services are provided on an hourly or flat-fee project basis
and terminate upon delivery.
When financial consultation services only focus on certain areas of client interests,
needs or is otherwise limited, clients must understand that their overall financial
and investment needs and objectives may not be considered because of time and/or
service restraints placed on Platform Technology Partners’ services . Clients
requiring assistance on issues relating to matters outside of investment advisory
topics should consult their personal tax advisor, legal counsel, or other professionals
for expert opinions . When providing plan-related services, the advice and
recommendations are limited to plan offerings . The advice provided by Platform
Technology Partners may include recommendations for updates and reviews .
Platform Technology Partners may suggest the client work closely with their
attorney, accountant, insurance agent, and the custodian of their account .
Implementation of any advice or recommendations pertaining to non-securities
matters (such as insurance), in whole or in part, is entirely at the client’s discretion
via the service provider(s) of their choice.
Consultation services terminate upon the delivery of services unless ongoing
services are engaged pursuant to the Client Agreement . Prior to conclusion, services
may be immediately terminated upon written notice from either party and the client
will only be invoiced for time incurred by Platform Technology Partners up until the
effective date of termination or prepaid but unearned fees will be refunded.
Rollover Recommendations
To the extent we provide you investment advice as a participant in a retirement
plan regarding whether to maintain investments and/or proceeds in the
retirement plan, roll over such investment/proceeds from the retirement plan to a
Rollover IRA or make a distribution from the retirement plan, Platform Technology
Partners hereby acknowledges our fiduciary obligations to you with regard to our
investment advice about whether to maintain, roll over or distribute proceeds
from the retirement plan, and as such a fiduciary with respect to its investment
advice to you about whether to maintain, roll over or distribute proceeds from the
retirement plan.
Our investment advisor representatives are required to act with the care, skill,
prudence, and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent
person acting in a like capacity and familiar with such matters would use in the
conduct of an enterprise of a like character and with like aims, based on the
investment objectives, risk, tolerance, financial circumstances, and a client’s needs,
without regard to the financial or other interests of Platform Technology Partners
or our affiliated personnel.
To the extent we recommend you roll over your account from a current retirement
plan to an individual retirement account (“Rollover IRA”), managed by Platform
Technology Partners please know that our firm and our investment adviser
representatives have a conflict of interest.
We can earn increased investment advisory fees by recommending that you roll
over your account at the retirement plan to a Rollover IRA managed by Platform
Technology Partners. We will earn fewer investment advisory fees if you do not
roll over the funds in the retirement plan to a Rollover IRA managed by Platform
Technology Partners.
Thus, our investment adviser representatives have an economic incentive to
recommend a rollover of funds from a retirement plan to a Rollover IRA which is a
conflict of interest because our recommendation that you open an IRA account to
be managed by our firm can be based on our economic incentive and not based
exclusively on whether or not moving the IRA to our management program is in
your overall best interest.
We have taken steps to manage this conflict of interest. We have adopted an
impartial conduct standard whereby our investment adviser representatives will (i)
provide investment advice to a retirement plan participant regarding a rollover of
funds from the retirement plan in accordance with the fiduciary status described
below, (ii) not recommend investments which result in Platform Technology
Partners receiving unreasonable compensation related to the rollover of funds from
the retirement plan to a Rollover IRA, and (iii) fully disclose compensation received
by Platform Technology Partners and our supervised persons and any material
conflicts of interest related to recommending the rollover of funds from the
retirement plan to a Rollover IRA and refrain from making any materially misleading
statements regarding such rollover.