Background and Management
O’Brien Greene is an investment advisory firm that has served families, individuals and
institutions for more than 50 years. Founded in 1969 by G. Davis Greene, Mark O’Brien
took over ownership and management of the firm in 1987 and changed its name Greene
Associates to O’Brien Greene & Co, Inc. In 2020 Matthew O’Brien, Ph.D. assumed day-
to-day leadership and principal ownership of our firm. Mark O’Brien continues to serve as
Chairman. Sally Sulcove, CFA, CFP has served as a lead research analyst and portfolio
manager for approximately 21 years.
O’Brien Greene’s clientele consists of high-net-worth individuals, families, trusts,
charities, and pension and profit-sharing plans.
Investment Management Services
Our firm's principal service is independent discretionary investment management, for
which we receive a fixed fee based upon a percentage of assets under management. Our
firm operates under a fiduciary duty to our clients, and neither the firm nor our employees
sell stocks, bonds, insurance or other financial products, nor do we receive commissions
on the purchases or sales of securities in client accounts, or other remuneration from
banks, brokerages, or insurance companies.
We work with each client to understand their particular financial circumstances,
investment time-horizon, and risk tolerance in order to identify appropriate investment
objectives and portfolio design. Each client account is individually reviewed and
managed. Clients may impose restrictions on investing in certain securities or types of
securities due to ethical or other concerns. Each quarter of the year O’Brien Greene
composes and sends to our clients a market commentary letter along with a detailed
portfolio appraisal and performance report for the preceding period. Clients are
responsible for notifying us of material changes in their circumstances that impact their
investment objectives or financial situation.
Client portfolios managed by O’Brien Greene consist primarily of publicly-listed
individual stocks, investment-grade corporate bonds, and U.S. government obligations.
Depending upon client objectives, we may maintain positions in treasury bills, money
market funds, or other cash equivalents, as well as supplement a client’s holdings in
individuals stocks and bonds with certain exchange-traded funds.
In addition to overseeing our clients’ separately-managed accounts, our firm is also the
general partner of a private fund, viz., the O’Brien Greene Small-Capitalization Stock
Fund, L.P. Our private fund was established in 1993 and invests primarily in small public
companies. As a private limited partnership, our fund is available only to clients who
meet defined accredited investor criteria and is only offered pursuant to a separate
disclosure and offering document that details the fund’s objectives, operations, risks, fees
and other material information. See “Performance-Based Fees and Side-By-Side
Management” below. A subset of our accredit investor clients have chosen to invest in
our private fund after reviewing its offering documents; we do not “put” clients into the
fund at our own discretion.
Financial Planning and Use of eMoney Advisor Software
O’Brien Greene’s clients may request us to compose a customized financial plan in order
to help them manage cash flow projections, saving objectives, charitable giving, stock
option vesting, and so on. The firm generally does not charge an additional fee for basic
planning, but may charge a negotiated hourly fee for more in-depth financial plans. To the
extent requested by a client, O’Brien Green may recommend the services of other
professionals for certain non-investment related purposes, such as trust and estate
attorneys, accountants, insurance brokers, and so on. Clients are not under any obligation
to engage the services of any such referred professional.
We may provide clients who have financial planning needs with access to an online
financial dashboard and planning software that we license on our clients’ behalf from
eMoney Advisor, LLC. Clients who choose to use this dashboard and planning software
are responsible for the input, maintenance, accuracy and completeness of their
information. When clients input information about assets or accounts that O’Brien Greene
does not manage, and are “held-away” at the direction of an unrelated third-party or self-
directed by a client, we are not responsible for monitoring or overseeing these assets or
accounts. The dashboard and planning software licensed from eMoney Advisor LLC
provides clients access to financial planning concepts and tools which should not, in any
manner whatsoever, be construed as services, advice, or recommendations provided by
O’Brien Greene. Finally, we are not responsible for any adverse results a client may
experience if the client engages in financial planning or uses other tools available through
the eMoney software without O’Brien Greene’s assistance or oversight.
Use of Mutual Funds and Exchange Trade Funds
From time-to-time O’Brien Greene may purchase for its clients’ exchange-traded funds
(ETFs) or mutual funds for diversification benefits or exposure to targeted asset classes.
ETFs and mutual funds have fees and expenses apart from O’Brien Greene’s advisory fee.
Wrap Fee Programs
The firm does not participate in wrap-fee programs.
Discretionary/Non-Discretionary Account Statistics
The firm manages client assets on both a discretionary and non-discretionary basis.
“Discretionary” means the firm has the authority to decide what securities to buy and sell
without the client’s advance approval. As of December 31, 2022, the firm managed
$377,170,000 in total assets; $335,678,492 is managed on a discretionary basis and
$41,491,664 on a non-discretionary basis.
Retirement Plan / IRA Rollover Recommendation Considerations
O’Brien Greene may provide you recommendations and advice concerning your employer
retirement plan or other qualified retirement account as part of our advisory services. A
recommendation
may include you consider withdrawing the assets from your employer's
retirement plan or other qualified retirement account and roll the assets over to an
individual retirement account ("IRA"). Further, we may offer to you the availability of our
advisory services for those funds and securities targeted to be rolled into an IRA or other
account for which we charge advisory services management fee compensation. If you
elect to roll the assets to an IRA that is subject to our advisory services under a written
contract, we will charge you an asset-based fee. This practice presents a potential conflict
of interest, because O’Brien Greene has an additional incentive to recommend a rollover
to you for the purpose of generating fee-based compensation in addition to making a
recommendation solely based upon your needs.
O’Brien Greene acts as a fiduciary for all accounts it manages; however, for retirement
plan and individual retirement accounts we have a specific responsibility to make certain
required disclosures in conjunction with providing rollover advice as follows:
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.
You are encouraged to investigate independently educational materials on the pros and
cons of rolling over your 401k / pension into an IRA. Some important considerations are
summarized below.
You are under no obligation, contractually or otherwise, to complete the rollover.
Furthermore, if you do complete the rollover, you are under no obligation to have the
assets in an IRA managed by us. It is important for you to understand many employers
permit former employees to keep their retirement assets in their company plan. Also,
current employees can sometimes move assets out of their company plan before they retire
or change jobs. In determining whether to complete the rollover to an IRA, and to the
extent the following options are available, you should consider the costs and benefits of
each.
An employee will often have four options:
1. Leave the funds in your former employer's plan.
2. Move the funds to a new employer's retirement plan.
3. Cash out and take a taxable distribution from the plan.
4. Roll the funds into an IRA rollover account.
Each of these options has advantages and disadvantages and before making a change we
encourage you to speak with your CPA and/or tax attorney.
If you are considering rolling over your retirement funds to an IRA for us to manage it is
important you understand the following:
1. Determine whether the investment options in your employer's retirement plan address
your needs or whether you might want to consider other types of investments
a) Employer retirement plans generally have a more limited investment menu than IRAs.
b) Employer retirement plans may have unique investment options not available to the
public such as employer securities, or previously closed funds.
2. Your current plan may have lower fees than our fees.
a) If you are interested in investing only in mutual funds, you should understand the cost
structure of the share classes available in your employer's retirement plan and how the
costs of those share classes compare with those available in an IRA.
b) You should understand the various products and services you might take advantage of
at an IRA provider and the potential costs of those products and services.
c) It is likely you will not be charged a separate management fee and will not receive
ongoing asset management services unless you elect to have such services. In the event
your plan offers asset management or model management, there may be a fee associated
with the services that is more or less than our asset management fee.
3. Our strategy may have higher risk than the option(s) provided to you in your plan.
4. Your current plan may offer financial advice, guidance, and/or model management or
portfolio options at no additional cost.
5. If you keep your assets titled in a 401k or retirement account, you could potentially
delay your required minimum distribution beyond age 70.5 (70 1⁄2).
6. Your 401k may offer more liability protection than a rollover IRA; each state law may
vary.
a) Generally, federal law protects assets in qualified plans from creditors. Since 2005, IRA
assets have been generally protected from creditors in bankruptcies. However, there can be
some exceptions to the general rules so you should consult an attorney if you are
concerned about protecting your retirement plan assets from creditors.
7. You may be able to take out a loan on your 401k, but not from an IRA.
8. IRA assets can be accessed any time; however, distributions are subject to ordinary
income tax and may also be subject to a 10% early distribution penalty unless they qualify
for an exception such as disability, higher education expenses or the purchase of a home.
Prior to proceeding, if you have questions contact our main number as listed on the cover
page of this Brochure for further assistance.