A. Firm Information
Claro Advisors, LLC (“Claro” or the “Advisor”) is a registered investment advisor with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The Advisor is organized as a Limited Liability Company (“LLC”) under the
laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Claro was founded in January 2012, and is owned and operated
by Ryan S. Belanger (Principal). This Disclosure Brochure provides information regarding the qualifications,
business practices, and the advisory services provided by Claro.
B. Advisory Services Offered
Claro offers investment advisory services to individuals, high net worth individuals, trusts, estates, businesses,
and retirement plans (each referred to as a “Client”).
The Advisor serves as a fiduciary to Clients, as defined under the applicable laws and regulations. As a
fiduciary, the Advisor upholds a duty of loyalty, fairness and good faith towards each Client and seeks to
mitigate potential conflicts of interest. Claro’s fiduciary commitment is further described in the Advisor’s Code
of Ethics. For more information regarding the Code of Ethics, please see Item 11 – Code of Ethics, Participation
or Interest in Client Transactions and Personal Trading.
Investment Management Services
Claro provides customized investment advisory solutions for its Clients. This is achieved through continuous
personal Client contact and interaction while providing discretionary and non-discretionary investment
management and consulting services. Claro works with each Client to identify their investment goals and
objectives as well as risk tolerance and financial situation in order to create a portfolio strategy. Claro will then
construct an investment portfolio, consisting of mutual funds and/or exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) to
achieve the Client’s investment goals. The Advisor may also utilize individual stocks, bonds, options, non-
traded REITs, margin, and unaffiliated money managers (as defined below) to meet the needs of its Clients. The
Advisor may retain certain legacy investments based on portfolio fit and/or tax considerations.
Claro’s investment approach is primarily long-term focused, but the Advisor may buy, sell or re-allocate
positions that have been held for less than one year to meet the objectives of the Client or due to market
conditions. Claro will construct, implement and monitor the portfolio to ensure it meets the goals, objectives,
circumstances, and risk tolerance agreed to by the Client. Each Client will have the opportunity to place
reasonable restrictions on the types of investments to be held in their respective portfolio, subject to the
acceptance by the Advisor.
Claro evaluates and selects investments for inclusion in Client portfolios only after applying their internal due
diligence process. Claro may recommend, on occasion, redistributing investment allocations to diversify the
portfolio. Claro may recommend specific positions to increase sector or asset class weightings. The Advisor may
recommend employing cash positions as a possible hedge against market movement. Claro may recommend
selling positions for reasons that include, but are not limited to, harvesting capital gains or losses, business or
sector risk exposure to a specific security or class of securities, overvaluation or overweighting of the position[s]
in the portfolio, change in risk tolerance of the Client, generating cash to meet Client needs, or any risk deemed
unacceptable for the Client’s risk tolerance.
Retirement Accounts – When the Advisor provides investment advice to Clients regarding ERISA retirement
accounts or individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”), the Advisor is a fiduciary within the meaning of Title I of
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) and/or the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”), as
applicable, which are laws governing retirement accounts. When deemed to be in the Client’s best interest, the
Advisor will provide investment advice to a Client regarding a distribution from an ERISA retirement account
or to roll over the assets to an IRA, or recommend a similar transaction including rollovers from one ERISA
sponsored Plan to another, one IRA to another IRA, or from one type of account to another account (e.g.
commission-based account to fee-based account). Such a recommendation creates a conflict of interest if the
Advisor will earn a new (or increase its current) advisory fee as a result of the transaction. No client is under
any obligation to roll over a retirement account to an account managed by the Advisor.
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At no time will Claro accept or maintain custody of a Client’s funds or securities, except for the limited
authority as outlined in Item 15 – Custody. All Client assets will be managed within the designated account[s] at
the Custodian, pursuant to the terms of the agreement, please see Item 12 – Brokerage Practices.
Use of Independent Managers - Claro may recommend that a Client utilize one or more unaffiliated investment
managers or investment platforms (collectively “Independent Managers”) for a portion of a Client’s investment
portfolio. In such instances, the Client may be required to authorize enter into an advisory agreement with the
Independent Manager[s] that defines the terms in which the Independent Manager[s] will provide investment
management and related services. The Advisor may also assist in the development of the initial policy
recommendations and managing the ongoing Client relationship. The Advisor will perform initial and ongoing
oversight and due diligence over the selected Independent Manager[s] to ensure the Independent Managers’
strategies and target allocations remain aligned with its clients’ investment objectives and overall best interests.
The Client, prior to entering into an agreement with unaffiliated investment manager[s] or investment
platform[s], will be provided with the Independent Manager's Form ADV 2A (or a brochure that makes the
appropriate disclosures).
Financial Planning and Consulting Services
Claro will typically provide a variety of financial planning services to individuals and families, pursuant to a
written financial planning or consulting agreement. Services are offered in several areas of a Client’s financial
situation, depending on their goals and objectives.
Generally, such financial planning
services will involve preparing a financial plan or rendering a financial
consultation based on the Client’s financial goals and objectives. This planning or consulting may encompass
one or more areas of need, including, but not limited to investment planning, retirement planning, personal
savings, education savings, insurance needs and other areas of a Client’s financial situation.
A financial plan developed for or financial consultation rendered to the Client will usually include general
recommendations for a course of activity or specific actions to be taken by the Client. For example,
recommendations may be made that the Client start or revise their investment programs, commence or alter
retirement savings, establish education savings and/or charitable giving programs. Claro may also refer Clients
to an accountant, attorney or another specialist, as appropriate for their unique situation. For certain financial
planning engagements, the Advisor will provide a written summary of Client’s financial situation, observations,
and recommendations. For consulting or ad-hoc engagements, the Advisor may not provide a written
summary. Plans or consultations are typically completed within six months of contract date, assuming all
information and documents requested are provided promptly.
Financial planning and consulting recommendations pose a potential conflict between the interests of the
Advisor and the interests of the Client. For example, the Advisor has an incentive to recommend that Clients
engage the Advisor for investment management services or to increase the level of investment assets with the
Advisor, as it would increase the amount of advisory fees paid to the Advisor. Clients are not obligated to
implement any recommendations made by the Advisor or maintain an ongoing relationship with the Advisor. If
the Client elects to act on any of the recommendations made by the Advisor, the Client is under no obligation to
implement the transaction through the Advisor.
Retirement Plan Advisory Services
Claro provides retirement plan advisory services on behalf of the retirement plans (each a “Plan”) and the
company (the “Plan Sponsor”). The Advisor’s retirement plan advisory services are designed to assist the Plan
Sponsor in meeting its fiduciary obligations to the Plan and its Plan Participants. Each engagement is
customized to the needs of the Plan and Plan Sponsor. Services generally include:
• Vendor Analysis
• Employee Enrollment and Education Tracking
• Investment Policy Statement (“IPS”) Design and Monitoring
• Investment Oversight Services (ERISA 3(21))
• Performance Reporting
• Ongoing Investment Recommendation and Assistance
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• Benchmarking Services
These services are provided by Claro serving in the capacity as a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”). In accordance with ERISA Section 408(b)(2), the Plan
Sponsor is provided with a written description of Claro’s fiduciary status, the specific services to be rendered
and all direct and indirect compensation the Advisor reasonably expects under the engagement.
Financial Institution Consulting Services
Claro provides investment consulting services to brokerage customers (herein “Brokerage Customers”) of
Mutual Securities, Inc. (herein “MSI”) who provide written consent requesting to receive the Advisor’s
consulting services, pursuant to a written agreement with Claro. Consulting services are strictly on products
where MSI serves as the broker-dealer. Please see Item 10 – Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations
for additional details.
Private Fund Advisor Services
Claro Bain Technology Opportunities Fund (the “Fund”) is a private fund formed under the laws of the State of
Delaware in 2021 The Advisor serves as the investment manager of the Fund pursuant to the agreement
between the Fund and the Advisor. The manager has the exclusive right and power to manage the operations of
the Fund and in this capacity, it has engaged the Advisor to provide investment management services for the
Fund.
The Fund is a technology opportunities fund that seeks long term, value driven returns through capital
appreciation, portfolio hedges, and exposure to high quality technology and cybersecurity companies
throughout the global market.
Clients should refer to the Fund’s offering documents for more complete information on the investment
objectives and qualifications. There is no assurance that the Fund and its strategies will achieve its investment
objectives. Certain Clients of the Advisor may invest in the Fund. In these instances, Clients will pay fees in
accordance with the offering documents and will not pay any additional investment advisory fees to the
Advisor on assets invested in the Fund. The Fund requires a minimum investment of $200,000.
C. Client Account Management
Prior to engaging Claro to provide investment advisory services, each Client is required to enter into one or
more agreements with the Advisor that define the terms, conditions, authority and responsibilities of the
Advisor and the Client. These services may include:
• Establishing an Investment Policy Statement – Claro, in connection with the Client, will develop a
strategy that seeks to achieve the Client’s goals and objectives.
• Asset Allocation – Claro will develop a strategic asset allocation that is targeted to meet the investment
objectives, time horizon, financial situation and tolerance for risk for each Client.
• Portfolio Construction – Claro will develop a portfolio for the Client that is intended to meet the stated
goals and objectives of the Client.
• Investment Management and Supervision – Claro will provide investment management and ongoing
oversight of the Client’s investment portfolio.
D. Wrap Fee Programs
Claro does not manage or place Client assets into a wrap fee program. Investment management services are
provided directly by Claro.
E. Assets Under Management
As of December 31, 2023 Claro manages $1,019,639,439 in Client assets, $999,572,600 of which are managed on a
discretionary basis and $20,066,839 on a non-discretionary basis. Clients may request more current information
at any time by contacting the Advisor.
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