Media Wealth, LLC (“Media Wealth”) is part of the Focus Financial Partners, LLC (“Focus LLC”)
partnership. Specifically, Media Wealth is a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of Focus LLC.
Ferdinand FFP Acquisition, LLC is the sole managing member of Focus LLC. Ultimate
governance of Focus LLC is conducted through the board of directors at Ferdinand FFP Ultimate
Holdings, LP. Focus LLC is majority-owned, indirectly and collectively, by investment vehicles
affiliated with Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, LLC (“CD&R”). Investment vehicles affiliated with Stone
Point Capital LLC (“Stone Point”) are indirect owners of Focus LLC. Because Media Wealth is
an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Focus LLC, CD&R and Stone Point investment vehicles
are indirect owners of Media Wealth.
Focus LLC also owns other registered investment advisers, broker-dealers, pension consultants,
insurance firms, business managers and other firms (the “Focus Partners”), most of which
provide wealth management, benefit consulting and investment consulting services to
individuals, families, employers, and institutions. Some Focus Partners also manage or advise
limited partnerships, private funds, or investment companies as disclosed on their respective
Form ADVs.
Media Wealth is managed by James Knight, Michael Spector, Eric Swensen, Aaron White,
Gregory Warner, Jayne Smith, Sarah Robinson, and Mark Bates (“Media Wealth Principals”),
pursuant to a management agreement between Cambridge Partners, LLC and Media Wealth.
The Media Wealth Principals serve as leaders and officers of Media Wealth and, in that capacity,
are responsible for the management, supervision and oversight of Media Wealth.
Media Wealth offers clients discretionary and non-discretionary investment management,
financial planning, and other consulting services as discussed in more detail below.
INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT SERVICES
Media Wealth offers investment management services on a fee-only basis. Media Wealth’s
annual investment management services also include, to the extent requested by the client,
financial planning and consulting services. In the event that the client requires extraordinary
planning and/or consultation services (to be determined at the sole discretion of Media Wealth),
Media Wealth may determine to charge for these additional services pursuant to a stand-alone
Financial Planning and Consulting Agreement.
Before engaging Media Wealth to provide planning or consulting services, clients are required to
enter into an Investment Advisory Agreement with Media Wealth setting forth the terms and
conditions of the engagement (including termination), describing the scope of the services to be
provided, and the portion of the fee that is due from the client.
To commence the investment management process, Media Wealth representatives consult with
clients to discuss their financial condition, investment experience, time horizon, risk tolerance
level, income requirements, and other relevant factors. Media Wealth representatives then help
clients develop investment objectives, individualized investment guidelines, and an asset
allocation strategy. Media Wealth supervises account transactions on a continuous basis, and
each client’s portfolio holdings and asset allocations are monitored on at least a quarterly basis.
There are three levels of services offered which are delineated by the asset levels the client
maintains. For clients with up to $500,000 of investable assets, Media Wealth will manage the
portfolio based on a client’s objectives and risk tolerance. A Media Wealth advisor will be
assigned to each client and is available to discuss the portfolio with clients. For clients with
investable assets between $500,000 and $1,000,000, financial planning services will also be
available to the client. This includes an initial financial plan and periodic updates as requested
by the client. For clients with investable assets between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000, additional
planning services will be offered, including estate, charitable and insurance planning, as well as
tax planning opportunities. For clients with investable assets above $5,000,000, clients will also
have access to tax services, including preparation, for an additional fee.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Before engaging Media Wealth to provide advisory services, clients are required to enter into an
Investment Advisory Agreement with Media Wealth setting forth the terms and conditions of the
engagement (including termination), describing the scope of the services to be provided, and the
portion of the fee that is due from the client. Typically, clients must authorize Media Wealth to
exercise discretionary trading authority over the assets dedicated to the client’s recommended
strategy, which include the initial allocation and ongoing rebalancing. The discretionary authority
allows Media Wealth to buy, sell or otherwise trade the assets in the client’s account without prior
approval of each transaction. In addition, clients may impose reasonable restrictions on any of
Media Wealth’s advisory services at any time, but restrictions must be delivered to Media Wealth
as designated by Media Wealth.
Reports summarizing the client’s current asset allocation, transactions and current holdings can
be accessed at any time through the client website at www.mediawealth.com. Clients are
encouraged to visit the website on a regular basis to review their account details.
In performing its services, Media Wealth is not required to verify any information received from
the client and is expressly authorized to rely thereon. It is always the client’s responsibility to
promptly notify Media Wealth if there is any change in their financial situation or investment
objective. This notification of change allows Media Wealth to an opportunity to review, evaluate,
or revise Media Wealth’s previous recommendations or services.
Media Wealth does not serve as a law firm, accounting firm, or insurance agency, and no portion
of its services should be viewed as legal, accounting, or insurance implementation services.
Accordingly, Media Wealth does not prepare estate planning documents or sell insurance
products. However, to the extent requested by a client, Media Wealth may recommend the
services of other professionals for implementation purposes (i.e. attorneys, accountants,
insurance agents, etc.). The client
is under no obligation to engage the services of any
recommended professional. The client retains absolute discretion over all implementation
decisions and is free to accept or reject any recommendation from Media Wealth related to such
services. If the client engages any recommended professional, and a dispute arises from that
engagement, the client agrees to seek damages exclusively from the engaged professional.
Media Wealth is a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Securities Act of 1974, as
amended (“ERISA”) with respect to investment management services and investment advice
provided to ERISA plan clients, including ERISA plan participants. Media Wealth is also a
fiduciary under section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code (the “IRC”) with respect to investment
management services and investment advice provided to individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”),
ERISA plans, and ERISA plan participants. As such, Media Wealth is subject to specific duties
and obligations under ERISA and the IRC that include, among other things, prohibited transaction
rules which are intended to prohibit fiduciaries from acting on conflicts of interest. When a
fiduciary gives advice in which it has a conflict of interest, the fiduciary must either avoid or
eliminate the conflict or rely upon a prohibited transaction exemption (a “PTE.”)
As a fiduciary, we have duties of care and of loyalty to you and are subject to obligations imposed
on us by the federal and state securities laws. As a result, you have certain rights that you cannot
waive or limit by contract. Nothing in our agreement with you should be interpreted as a limitation
of our obligations under the federal and state securities laws or as a waiver of any unwaivable
rights you possess.
Media Wealth may provide investment advice about private investment funds, and may also
recommend, on a non-discretionary basis, that certain qualified clients consider an investment in
private investment funds. Media Wealth’s role relative to the private investment funds will be
limited to its initial and ongoing due diligence and investment monitoring services. If a client
determines to become a private fund investor, the amount of assets invested in the fund(s) will be
included for purposes of Media Wealth calculating its annual investment advisory fee. Media
Wealth clients are under absolutely no obligation to consider or make an investment in a private
investment fund(s).
While Media Wealth may recommend allocating investment assets to private investment funds
that are not available directly to the public, Media Wealth may also recommend that clients
allocate investment assets to publicly available mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”)
that the client could obtain without engaging Media Wealth as an investment adviser. If a client or
prospective client determines to allocate investment assets to publicly available mutual funds or
ETFs without engaging Media Wealth as an investment adviser, the client or prospective client
would not receive the benefit of Media Wealth’s initial and ongoing investment advisory services.
Certain mutual funds, such as those issued by Dimensional Fund Advisors (“DFA”), are only
available through professional intermediaries like registered investment advisers. Media Wealth
may allocate client investment assets to DFA mutual funds. Upon the termination of Media
Wealth’s services, clients may be restricted in transferring or purchasing additional shares of DFA
mutual funds or similarly restricted mutual funds.
Additionally, Media Wealth may allocate (and/or recommend that the client allocate) a portion of
a client’s investment assets among unaffiliated independent investment managers (“Independent
Manager(s)”) in accordance with the client’s designated investment objective(s). The client may
be required to enter into a separate agreement with the Independent Manager(s), which will set
forth the terms of the client’s engagement with the Independent Manager(s). In these situations,
the Independent Manager(s) will have day-to-day responsibility for the active discretionary
management of the allocated assets. Media Wealth will continue to render investment supervisory
services to the client relative to the ongoing monitoring and review of account performance, asset
allocation and client investment objectives. The factors Media Wealth considers in recommending
Independent Manager(s) include the client’s designated investment objective(s), management
style, performance, reputation, financial strength, reporting, pricing, and research. The investment
management fee charged by the Independent Manager(s) is separate from, and in addition to,
Media Wealth’s advisory fee as set forth in Item 5.
We implement investment advice on behalf of clients in certain held-away accounts – for example,
401(k) or 529 plan accounts – maintained either at the custodians with whom we have an
institutional relationship or at other independent third-party custodians. We have the capability to
review, monitor, and manage these held-away accounts in a fashion similar to the way in which
we review, monitor, and manage accounts that are not held away.
Media Wealth also has business arrangements with SCS Capital Management LLC (“SCS”) and
Origin Investments Group, LLC (“Origin”), which are indirect, wholly-owned subsidiaries of Focus
LLC, under which certain clients of Media Wealth have the option of investing in certain private
investment vehicles managed by SCS or Origin. Media Wealth is an affiliate of SCS and Origin
by virtue of being under common control with them. Please see Items 5, 10, and 11 of this
Brochure for further details.
Additionally, we help our clients obtain certain insurance solutions from unaffiliated, third-party
insurance brokers by introducing clients to our affiliate, Focus Risk Solutions, LLC (“FRS”), a
wholly owned subsidiary of our parent company, Focus Financial Partners, LLC. Please see Items
5 and 10 for a fuller discussion of this service and other important information.
Media Wealth, in its sole discretion, may determine to provide a client with a service level for
which that client does not have the asset levels described above.
Media Wealth does not participate in a wrap fee program.
As of December 31, 2023, Media Wealth maintained approximately $109,363,530 in client assets
under management, all being managed on a discretionary basis.