A. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC (the “Registrant”) is a limited liability company
formed on November 21, 2006 in the state of California. The Registrant became registered
as an investment adviser in February 2007. The Registrant is owned by the Frigon
Revocable Trust 3/1/99. Gerard Frigon and Karen Frigon are its co-trustees. Gerard is the
manager of the Registrant.
B. As discussed below, the Registrant offers investment advisory services, and, to the extent
specifically requested by a client, limited consulting services on investment and non-
investment related matters (including financial planning) that are generally ancillary to the
investment advisory process. Unless otherwise indicated, references to “client” throughout
this brochure relate to the Registrant’s separate account clients and not to the investment
company and private investment fund that it manages.
INVESTMENT ADVISORY SERVICES
Clients can engage the Registrant to provide discretionary investment advisory services on
a fee-only basis. The Registrant provides investment advisory services specific to the needs
of each client. Before engaging Registrant to provide investment advisory services, clients
are required to enter into an Investment Advisory Agreement with Registrant setting forth
the terms and conditions of the engagement (including termination), describing the scope
of the services to be provided, and the fee that is due from the client. To commence the
investment advisory process, Registrant will ascertain each client’s investment objective(s)
and then allocate the client’s assets consistent with the client’s designated investment
objective(s). Once allocated, Registrant provides ongoing supervision of the account(s).
The Registrant primarily invests in various individual equity, fixed income securities,
publicly traded real estate investment trusts, business development companies, and
investment companies (registered and unregistered), on a discretionary basis in accordance
with the client’s designated investment objectives.
AFFILIATED MUTUAL FUND
Registrant serves as the investment adviser of the Taylor Frigon Core Growth Fund, a
mutual fund registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Affiliated Mutual
Fund”). Registrant is responsible for the Affiliated Mutual Fund’s operations and
management, under the supervision of an independent Chief Compliance Officer and Board
of Trustees. The Affiliated Mutual fund seeks to generate long-term capital appreciation
under normal market conditions. The Affiliated Mutual Fund invests primarily in common
stocks of companies of all sizes, including small and micro- capitalization companies. The
prospectus for the Affiliated Mutual Fund contains a complete description of the Affiliated
Mutual Fund, its strategies, objectives, costs, and risks. Before investing clients in the
Affiliated Mutual Fund, the Registrant will make a good faith determination about whether
an investment would reasonably be appropriate by considering factors that may include but
are not limited to the following: (1) the client’s investment objectives; (2) the total amount
of client assets currently being managed by Registrant; (3) the amount of anticipated future
contributions that the client will make to the account(s) being managed by the Registrant;
(4) the cost and efficiency of managing the client’s assets including and excluding an
investment in the Affiliated Mutual Fund; and (5) the combined management fees and
expense ratios of other non-affiliated mutual funds. However, the Registrant has a
preference for recommending the Affiliated Mutual Fund to its clients.
Mutual funds charge operating expenses and investment management fees. As described
in the Affiliated Mutual Fund’s prospectus, the Registrant receives a 1.00% management
fee from the Affiliated Mutual Fund based upon the amount of assets invested in the
Affiliated Mutual Fund. In addition, as also described in the Affiliated Mutual Fund
prospectus, the Registrant receives an additional fee of 0.45% of the Affiliated Mutual
Fund’s average daily net assets up to $100 million, and 0.25% of such assets in excess of
$100 million and is obligated to pay the operating expenses of the Affiliated Mutual Fund
excluding management fees, brokerage fees and commissions, 12b-1 fees (if any), taxes,
borrowing costs (such as (a) interest and (b) dividend expenses on securities sold short),
ADR fees, the cost of acquired funds and extraordinary expenses. The Registrant will
waive its investment advisory fee described in Item 5 below with respect to any client assets
invested in the Affiliated Mutual Fund. Accordingly, the Registrant will only receive one
layer of management fees—the investment management fee payable by the Affiliated
Mutual Fund. Depending on the client’s agreement with the Registrant, this could result
in an increase or decrease in the amount of fees received by the Registrant. Clients may
direct Registrant, in writing at any time, not to exercise its discretionary authority to place
client assets in the Affiliated Mutual Fund or to limit the amount of assets that the
Registrant may invest in the Affiliated Mutual Fund. The Registrant’s Chief Compliance
Officer, Douglas E. Connolly, remains available to address any questions regarding the
above and any perceived conflict of interest.
AFFILIATED PRIVATE FUND
The Registrant is the investment adviser to Taylor Frigon Capital Partners, LP (the
“Affiliated Private Fund”). The Registrant may recommend that qualified clients consider
investing in the Affiliated Private Fund on a non-discretionary basis. The terms and
conditions for participation in the Affiliated Private Fund, including management and
incentive fees, conflicts of interest, and risk factors, are set forth in its offering documents.
Registrant’s clients are under absolutely no obligation to consider or make an investment
in the Affiliated Private Fund or any other private investment fund.
Private investment funds generally involve various risk factors, including, but not limited
to, potential for complete loss of principal, liquidity constraints and lack of transparency,
a complete discussion of which is set forth in each fund’s offering documents, which will
be provided to each client for review and consideration. Unlike liquid investments that a
client may maintain, private investment funds do not provide daily liquidity or pricing.
Each prospective client investor will be required to complete a Subscription Agreement,
pursuant to which the client shall establish that they are qualified for investment in the
fund and acknowledges and accepts the various risk factors that are associated with such
an investment.
In valuing the assets of the Affiliated Private Fund, the Registrant relies on the most recent
valuations provided by the underlying fund sponsors or issuer. When a fund sponsor or
issuer has not provided any updated valuations, the Registrant will use the purchase price
as the value of the investment. The current value of an investment in the Affiliated Private
Fund could be significantly more or less than the original purchase price or the price
reflected in any client report. The client’s investment in the Affiliated Private Fund is not
subject to an advisory fee, but remain subject to a management fee charged by the
Affiliated Private Fund.
Because the Registrant and/or its affiliates can earn compensation from the Affiliated
Private Fund (management fees, incentive compensation, etc.) that may exceed the fee that
the Registrant would earn under its fee referenced in Item 5 below, the recommendation
that a client become an Affiliated Private Fund investor presents a conflict of interest. The
Registrant generally has a preference for recommending its Affiliated Private Fund over
other non-affiliated funds, even if those other funds may have better track records or
investment metrics. No client is under any obligation to become an Affiliated Private Fund
investor. The Registrant’s Chief Compliance Officer, Douglas E. Connolly, remains
available to address any questions regarding this conflict of interest.
MODELS OFFERED THROUGH ENVESTNET ASSET MANAGEMENT, INC.
AND OTHER CUSTOMIZED INVESTMENT SUB-ADVISORY SERVICES.
Envestnet has developed an investment management program (the “Third Party SMA
Models Program”) that certain investment advisers or other financial institutions use to
provide advisory services to their clients. Under the Third Party SMA Models Program
these other advisors engage Envestnet to directly trade their assets pursuant to the
investment models of one or more investment management firms that have agreed to
provide their models to Envestnet for use in the Third Party SMA Models Program. The
Registrant has an agreement with Envestnet to make its Core Growth model available
through the Third Party SMA Models Program and expects it to offer its Israeli and Aspire
models through the program in the near future.
The Registrant provides Envestnet with its recommendations as to the securities and other
property to be purchased, sold and held from time to time in each of its models in the Third
Party SMA Models Program, as well as the percentage of the model portfolio that would
be invested in each security. Envestnet or another advisor provides individualized
investment advice and portfolio management services to its clients and may or may not
decide to implement all of the Registrant’s recommendations as to the securities and other
property to be held within an account.
The Registrant may also enter into sub-advisory agreements with unaffiliated registered
investment advisers, broker-dealers, or custodian institutional clients to provide
customized discretionary investment advisory services to their advisory client accounts per
the terms and conditions of a sub-advisory agreement. As the sub-adviser, the Registrant
manages these accounts in accordance with the investment direction provided by the
investment adviser, broker-dealer or custodian client in connection with the underlying
client accounts. The Registrant utilizes proprietary SMA investment models employing
different equity strategies to meet specific investment objectives and sub-advisory
mandates for institutional advisory clients. Depending on the investment adviser, broker-
dealer or custodial client investment direction and objectives, one or more of the
Registrant’s equity strategies may be implemented. The Registrant works closely with each
institutional client to identify the strategies to be implemented with respect to underlying
clients in consideration of their investment policy and related portfolio requirements.
The separate investment adviser, broker-dealer or custodian, who is Registrant’s sole client
for these services, maintain both the initial and ongoing day-to-day relationship with the
underlying client, including initial and ongoing determination of client suitability for
Registrant’s designated investment strategies. If the custodian/broker-dealer is determined
by the unaffiliated investment adviser, Registrant will be unable to negotiate commissions
and/or transaction costs, and/or seek better execution. As a result, client may pay higher
commissions or other transaction costs or greater spreads, or receive less favorable net
prices, on transactions for the account than would otherwise be the case through alternative
clearing arrangements recommended by Registrant. Higher transaction costs adversely
impact account performance. In certain situations, investment mandates may be
customized further to the needs of the client’s underlying investor relationships and any
restrictions indicated by the client. The Registrant typically receives a portion of the fee
charged by the primary advisor or platform provider.
The Registrant’s recommendations in the Third Party SMA Models Program or other sub-
advised programs may differ from recommendations made to other clients.
MISCELLANEOUS
Limitations of Non-Investment Consulting/Implementation Services. To the extent
requested by the client, the Registrant may provide consulting services regarding non-
investment related matters, such as estate planning, tax planning, insurance, etc. Neither
the Registrant, nor any of its representatives, serves as an attorney, accountant, or licensed
insurance agent, and no portion of the Registrant’s services should be construed as legal,
accounting, or insurance implementation services. Accordingly, the Registrant does not
prepare estate planning documents, tax returns, or sell insurance products. To the extent
requested by a client, the Registrant may recommend the services of other professionals
for certain non-investment implementation purposes (i.e., attorneys, accountants, insurance,
etc.). The client is under no obligation to engage the services of any such recommended
professional. The client retains absolute discretion over all such implementation decisions
and is free to accept or reject any recommendation from the Registrant. If the client engages
any such recommended professional, and a dispute arises thereafter relative to such
engagement, the client agrees to seek recourse exclusively from and against the engaged
professional.
Retirement Plan Rollovers. A client or prospective client leaving an employer typically
has four options regarding an existing retirement plan (and may engage in a combination
of these options): (i) leave the money in the former employer’s plan, if permitted, (ii) roll
over the assets to the new employer’s plan, if one is available and rollovers are permitted,
(iii) roll over to an Individual Retirement Account (“IRA”), or (iv) cash out the account
value (which could, depending upon the client’s age, result in adverse tax consequences).
If Registrant recommends that a client roll over their retirement plan assets into an account
to be managed by Registrant, such a recommendation creates a conflict of interest if
Registrant will earn new (or increase its current) compensation as a result of the rollover.
Whether Registrant provides a recommendation as to whether a client should engage in a
rollover or not, Registrant is acting as a fiduciary 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. To the extent that Registrant
recommends that clients roll over assets from their retirement plan to an IRA managed by
Registrant,
then Registrant represents that it and its investment adviser representatives are
fiduciaries under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), or
the Internal Revenue Code, or both. Clients are under absolutely no obligation to engage
Registrant as the investment adviser for his/her retirement account.
ERISA PLAN and 401(k) INDIVIDUAL ENGAGEMENTS:
• Trustee Directed Plans. Registrant may be engaged to provide discretionary
investment advisory services to ERISA retirement plans, whereby the Firm shall
manage Plan assets consistent with the investment objective designated by the Plan
trustees. In such engagements, Registrant will serve as an investment fiduciary as
that term is defined under The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
(“ERISA”). Registrant will generally provide services on an “assets under
management” fee basis per the terms and conditions of an Investment Advisory
Agreement between the Plan and the Firm.
• Participant Directed Retirement Plans. Registrant may also provide investment
advisory and consulting services to participant directed retirement plans per the
terms and conditions of a Retirement Plan Services Agreement between Registrant
and the plan. For such engagements, Registrant shall assist the Plan sponsor with
the selection of an investment platform from which Plan participants shall make
their respective investment choices (which may include investment strategies
devised and managed by Registrant), and, to the extent engaged to do so, may also
provide corresponding education to assist the participants with their decision
making process.
Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, and Digital Assets: For clients who want exposure to
cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, the Registrant, will advise the client to consider a
potential investment in corresponding exchange traded securities, or an allocation to
separate account managers and/or private funds that provide cryptocurrency
exposure. Crypto is a digital currency that can be used to buy goods and services but uses
an online ledger with strong cryptography (i.e., a method of protecting information and
communications through the use of codes) to secure online transactions. Unlike
conventional currencies issued by a monetary authority, cryptocurrencies are generally not
controlled or regulated and their price is determined by the supply and demand of their
market. Because cryptocurrency is currently considered to be a speculative investment, the
Registrant will not exercise discretionary authority to purchase a cryptocurrency
investment for client accounts. Rather, a client must expressly authorize the purchase of
the cryptocurrency investment. Please Note: The Registrant considers investments in
cryptocurrencies to be speculative. Clients who authorize the purchase of a cryptocurrency
investment must be prepared for the potential for liquidity constraints, extreme price
volatility and complete loss of principal. Notice to Opt Out: Clients can notify the
Registrant, in writing, to exclude cryptocurrency exposure from their accounts. Absent the
Registrant’s receipt of such written notice from the client, the Registrant may (but is not
obligated to) utilize cryptocurrency as part of its asset allocation strategies for client
accounts.
Portfolio Activity. Registrant has a fiduciary duty to provide services consistent with the
client’s best interest. Registrant will review client portfolios on an ongoing basis to
determine if any changes are necessary based upon various factors, including, but not
limited to, investment performance, market conditions, fund manager tenure, style drift,
account additions/withdrawals, and/or a change in the client’s investment objective. Based
upon these factors, there may be extended periods of time when Registrant determines that
changes to a client’s portfolio are neither necessary, nor prudent. Clients remain subject to
the fees described in Item 5 below during periods of account inactivity. As indicated below,
there can be no assurance that investment decisions made by the Registrant will be
profitable or equal any specific performance level(s).
Cash Positions. Registrant continues to treat cash as an asset class. As such, unless
determined to the contrary by Registrant, certain cash positions (money markets, etc.) shall
continue to be included as part of assets under management for purposes of calculating
Registrant’s advisory fee. At any specific point in time, depending upon perceived or
anticipated market conditions/events (there being no guarantee that such anticipated
market conditions/events will occur), Registrant may maintain cash positions for defensive
purposes. In addition, while assets are maintained in cash, such amounts could miss market
advances. Depending upon current yields, at any point in time, Registrant’s advisory fee
could exceed the interest paid by the client’s money market fund. ANY QUESTIONS:
Registrant’s Chief Compliance Officer, Douglas E. Connolly, remains available to
address any questions that a client or prospective may have regarding the above fee
billing practice.
Cash Sweep Accounts. Certain account custodians can require that cash proceeds from
account transactions or new deposits, be swept to and/or initially maintained in a specific
custodian designated sweep account. The yield on the sweep account will generally be
lower than those available for other money market accounts. When this occurs, to help
mitigate the corresponding yield dispersion, Registrant shall (usually within 30 days
thereafter) generally (with exceptions) purchase a higher yielding money market fund (or
other type security) available on the custodian’s platform, unless Registrant reasonably
anticipates that it will utilize the cash proceeds during the subsequent 30-day period to
purchase additional investments for the client’s account. Exceptions and/or modifications
can and will occur with respect to all or a portion of the cash balances for various reasons,
including, but not limited to the amount of dispersion between the sweep account and a
money market fund, the size of the cash balance, an indication from the client of an
imminent need for such cash, or the client has a demonstrated history of writing checks
from the account. Please Note: The above does not apply to the cash component
maintained within a Registrant actively managed investment strategy (the cash balances
for which shall generally remain in the custodian designated cash sweep account), an
indication from the client of a need for access to such cash, assets allocated to an
unaffiliated investment manager, and cash balances maintained for fee billing purposes.
Please Also Note: The client shall remain exclusively responsible for yield dispersion/cash
balance decisions and corresponding transactions for cash balances maintained in any
Registrant unmanaged accounts. ANY QUESTIONS: Registrant’s Chief Compliance
Officer, Douglas E. Connolly, remains available to address any questions that a client or
prospective client may have regarding the above.
Borrowing Against Assets/Risks. A client who has a need to borrow money could
determine to do so by using:
• Margin-The account custodian or broker-dealer lends money to the client. The
custodian charges the client interest for the right to borrow money, and uses the
assets in the client’s brokerage account as collateral
These above-described collateralized loans are generally utilized because they
typically provide more favorable interest rates than standard commercial loans. These
types of collateralized loans can assist with a pending home purchase, permit the
retirement of more expensive debt, or enable borrowing in lieu of liquidating existing
account positions and incurring capital gains taxes. However, such loans are not
without potential material risk to the client’s investment assets. The lender (i.e.,
custodian, bank, etc.) will have recourse against the client’s investment assets in the
event of loan default or if the assets fall below a certain level. Registrant does not
recommend such borrowing however, certain clients may use margin for short term
or long term purposes according to the client’s needs. Regardless, if the client was to
determine to utilize margin, the following economic benefits would inure to
Registrant:
• by taking the loan rather than liquidating assets in the client’s account, Registrant
continues to earn a fee on such Account assets; and
• if the client invests any portion of the loan proceeds in an account to be managed
by Registrant, Registrant will receive an advisory fee on the invested amount.
Please Note: The Client must accept the above risks and potential corresponding
consequences associated with the use of margin or a pledged assets loans.
Cybersecurity Risk. The information technology systems and networks that Registrant
and its third-party service providers use to provide services to Registrant’s clients employ
various controls, which are designed to prevent cybersecurity incidents stemming from
intentional or unintentional actions that could cause significant interruptions in Registrant’s
operations and result in the unauthorized acquisition or use of clients’ confidential or non-
public personal information. Clients and Registrant are nonetheless subject to the risk of
cybersecurity incidents that could ultimately cause them to incur losses, including for
example: financial losses, cost and reputational damage to respond to regulatory
obligations, other costs associated with corrective measures, and loss from damage or
interruption to systems. Although Registrant has established processes to reduce the risk of
cybersecurity incidents, there is no guarantee that these efforts will always be successful,
especially considering that Registrant does not directly control the cybersecurity measures
and policies employed by third-party service providers. Clients could incur similar adverse
consequences resulting from cybersecurity incidents that more directly affect issuers of
securities in which those clients invest, broker-dealers, qualified custodians, governmental
and other regulatory authorities, exchange and other financial market operators, or other
financial institutions.
Custodian Charges-Additional Fees. As discussed below at Item 12 below, when
requested to recommend a broker-dealer/custodian for client accounts, Registrant generally
recommends that Schwab serve as the broker-dealer/custodian for client investment
management assets. Broker-dealers such as Schwab charge brokerage commissions,
transaction, and/or other type fees for effecting certain types of securities transactions (i.e.,
including transaction fees for certain mutual funds, and mark-ups and mark-downs charged
for fixed income transactions, etc.). The types of securities for which transaction fees,
commissions, and/or other type fees (as well as the amount of those fees) shall differ
depending upon the broker-dealer/custodian (while certain custodians, including Schwab,
generally do not currently charge fees on individual equity transactions (including ETFs),
others do. Please Note: there can be no assurance that Schwab will not change its
transaction fee pricing in the future). When beneficial to the client, individual fixed‐income
and/or equity transactions may be effected through broker‐dealers with whom Registrant
and/or the client have entered into arrangements for prime brokerage clearing services,
including effecting certain client transactions through other SEC registered and FINRA
member broker‐dealers (in which event, the client generally will incur both the transaction
fee charged by the executing broker‐dealer and a “trade-away” fee charged by Schwab).
These fees/charges are in addition to Registrant’s investment advisory fee at Item 5 below.
Registrant does not receive any portion of these fees/charges.
Use of Mutual Funds: Registrant utilizes mutual funds for its client portfolios. In addition
to Registrant’s investment advisory fee described below, and transaction and/or custodial
fees discussed above, clients will also incur, relative to all mutual fund purchases, charges
imposed at the fund level (e.g., management fees and other fund expenses). The mutual
funds utilized by the Registrant are generally available directly to the public. Thus, a client
can generally obtain the funds recommended and/or utilized by Registrant independent of
engaging Registrant as an investment advisor. However, if a prospective client does so,
then they will not receive Registrant's initial and ongoing investment advisory services.
Client Obligations. The Registrant will not be required to verify any information received
from the client or from the client’s other professionals and is expressly authorized to rely
on the information in its possession. Clients are responsible for promptly notifying the
Registrant if there is ever any change in their financial situation or investment objectives
so that the Registrant can review, and if necessary, revise its previous recommendations or
services.
Please Note: Investment Risk. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of
risk, and it should not be assumed that future performance of any specific investment or
investment strategy (including the investments and/or investment strategies recommended
or undertaken by Registrant) will be profitable or equal any specific performance level(s).
Disclosure Brochure. A copy of the Registrant’s written Brochure as set forth on Part 2A
of Form ADV and Form CRS (Client Relationship Summary) shall be provided to each
client prior to, or contemporaneously with, the execution of an agreement between the
client and the Registrant.
C. The Registrant shall provide investment advisory services specific to the needs of each
client. Prior to providing investment advisory services, an investment adviser
representative will ascertain each client’s investment objective(s). Thereafter, the
Registrant shall allocate and/or recommend that the client allocate investment assets
consistent with the designated investment objective(s). The client may, at any time, impose
reasonable restrictions, in writing, on the Registrant’s services.
D. The Registrant does not participate in a wrap fee program.
E. As of December 31, 2023, the Registrant had $297,510,685 in assets under management
on a discretionary basis and $3,836,277 in assets under management on a non-discretionary
basis for a total of $301,346,962.