A. Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co. LLC (“GMO”) was founded in 1977 and furnishes
investment advisory services to clients. GMO is a Massachusetts limited liability company
that is controlled by active employee-members (“Members”). The Members, analogous to
partners in other organizations, include senior individuals in the firm. No Member owns
more than 25% of the membership interests in the firm.
GMO’s offices include its headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, and a representative office
in Tokyo. The offices of GMO’s affiliates are located in Amsterdam, London, Singapore, and
Sydney. Please see Item 10, “Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations” for a more
detailed discussion about GMO’s affiliates.
B. GMO offers investment strategies in many of the major asset classes (e.g., U.S., non-U.S.,
emerging and global equities and fixed income), as well as multi-asset class, absolute return,
and alternative strategies. Within these strategies, a range of investment styles, market
capitalizations, and types of securities may be represented. GMO’s investment strategies are
implemented through pooled vehicles (e.g., mutual funds, private funds or exchange-traded
funds (ETF)) and/or primarily through discretionary advice provided to separately managed
accounts, some of which use pooled vehicles. In certain instances, GMO also offers non-
discretionary services through the delivery of model portfolios or other similar advice-only
mandates. Please see Item 8, “Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies and Risk of Loss”
for more information regarding GMO’s investment strategies.
An independent wealth advisor may select GMO to manage a separate account for the wealth
adviser’s clients and enter into the investment management agreement with GMO for the
client’s account with GMO on the client’s behalf (“Manager Advised Separate Account”). In
such cases, the wealth advisor selects an investment strategy on behalf of the client, and the
wealth advisor and/or the wealth advisor’s client enters into an agreement with GMO for
GMO to provide sub-advisory services to the client’s account. The wealth advisor may
request certain customizations on behalf of the client’s account, such as restricting the
account from holding certain securities. Clients participating in the Manager Advised
Separate Account program should review the terms of the investment management
agreement, investment guidelines, and fees selected by their wealth advisor. GMO generally
allocates investment opportunities as described in Item 7 and follows the allocation and other
brokerage practices, as out set forth in Item 12. As further explained in Item 12, brokerage
commissions or other costs for execution of transactions in the Manager Advised Separate
Accounts may not be negotiated by GMO.
GMO may tailor its advisory services for clients investing through separately managed
accounts. GMO may agree to manage the client’s assets against a particular benchmark or
pursuant to investment guidelines discussed and agreed upon with the client. To the extent
practicable and consistent with the intended investment strategy, GMO may agree to
implement client-imposed limitations on GMO’s discretionary authority with respect to the
securities to be bought or sold for an account including, but not limited to, diversification
requirements, benchmark deviation, industry concentration, restrictions prohibiting the
purchase of certain securities or securities of certain types of issuers, prohibiting investments
in certain countries or markets, limitations in relationships with counterparties, and/or
prohibiting the employment of certain investment strategies or techniques (e.g., derivatives).
Please see Item 16, “Investment Discretion,” which discusses these and other restrictions
relating to GMO’s discretionary authority. Client accounts that are subject to such
limitations may perform differently (and potentially less successfully) than other accounts
with similar strategies managed by GMO that do not have such limitations.
Additionally, pursuant to a licensing agreement with Nebo Wealth Solutions LLC (a GMO
affiliate), GMO also offers an asset management software platform to assist independent
investment advisers (each, an “Adviser”, collectively “Advisers”) in constructing portfolios
for their advisory clients (the “Allocation Platform). The Allocation Platform utilizes a
shortfall optimization engine to generate portfolio asset allocations tailored to each client’s
personal financial circumstances and goals based on information provided by Advisers.
GMO offers the Allocation Platform on a standalone basis or as part of a turnkey asset
management services platform (“TAMP”). GMO’s TAMP includes administrative services,
reporting, trading oversight and other services in addition to use of the Allocation Platform.
The Allocation Platform generates customized portfolio allocations based on information
provided by Advisers, and Advisers remain responsible for reviewing and approving all
portfolio allocations and investments for their clients. Advisers utilizing GMO’s TAMP
instruct GMO, or a third party engaged by the Adviser, to trade client accounts to maintain
parity with the Adviser-approved portfolio allocations and investments in accordance with
defined parameters.
GMO does not exercise investment discretion with respect to the investments selected for
clients of Advisers using the Allocation Platform, and GMO does not maintain any
relationship (whether contractual or otherwise) with the underlying clients of those Advisers.
Advisers remain solely responsible for selecting and approving portfolio allocations,
investments and trading parameters on behalf of their clients and for determining the
suitability of any allocations, investments and strategies for their clients.
C. GMO does not participate in wrap-fee programs.
D. As of December 31, 2023, GMO managed US$58 billion on a discretionary basis for its
clients. These figures reflect GMO’s net assets under management, as contrasted with the
assets required to be reported in Part 1A of Form ADV as GMO’s “regulatory assets under
management.”
GMO may provide investment advice to certain clients on a non-discretionary basis. Those
services include securities analysis, model portfolio delivery, portfolio risk analysis and
specific investment recommendations. As of December 31, 2023, GMO managed US$1.7
billion on a non-discretionary basis for its clients.