Why Independence? Zappia Family Wealth has been established as the embodiment of our uncompromising focus on the client.

Transcription

1 Why Independence?

2 Zappia Family Wealth has been established as the embodiment of our uncompromising focus on the client. Why Independence? We believe Zappia Family Wealth gives us the opportunity to be true fiduciaries that will provide you with advice that is transparent, ethical, intellectual, and deeply personal to your own situation. Highlights: We are now part of an independent registered investment advisor. We believe this allows us to advise you as uncompromising, true fiduciaries. Our investment and service team will remain the same. Our practice has been created with the sole purpose of serving our clients with objective and transparent advice. Your assets will be held at Charles Schwab, the largest custodian of independent investment advisory firm assets in the United States, with over $2.2 trillion in client assets. Your portfolio and investments will remain the same, and once transferred, our oversight of them will continue as always. We are partnering with LVW Advisors, LLC, that we believe to be one of the most prominent independent investment advisory firms in the United States. Our new office is located at 67 Monroe Avenue, Pittsford, NY. Please visit our new website or give us a call at (585)

3 FAQ s Why are you leaving a broker dealer and establishing Zappia Family Wealth and partnering with LVW Advisors? Since we began advising clients more than 25 years ago, we have always believed that our clients are best served when they receive unbiased wealth management and financial planning advice. We felt strongly that we could best serve our clients interests by partnering with an independent investment advisory firm. We believe partnering with LVW Advisors is the next step in our continuing efforts to improve and enhance the resources and objectivity of that advice. When we decided to move to an independent model, we thought it was best to seek an affiliation and partnership with industry leaders that shared with us a common set of core principles. Our search lead us to LVW Advisors (LVW). LVW is a registered investment advisor based in Pittsford, NY that works with high-net-worth, ultra-highnet-worth and institutional investors throughout the United States. Together, with Zappia Family Wealth, we will leverage resources in the areas of financial planning, investment management, and technology, in an effort to deliver the level of client attention that you deserve. As an independent SEC-registered investment advisory firm, we have a personal stake in seeking to ensure that clients receive superior investment advice, talent, and breadth of knowledge that is unmatched in our industry. Who is LVW Advisors, LLC? Founded in 2011, the core team at LVW worked and met at Citigroup more than a decade ago, where they began to form like-minded ideas and values. We believe LVW is the purest expression of a client-focused strategy which founding partner, Lori VanDusen, has advocated for over two decades. Lori and her team at LVW advise on approximately $1.5 billion in client assets, making our combined partnership what we believe to be one of the most prominent independent advisory firms in the United States. Where will my assets be held? Your assets will not be held by Zappia Family Wealth, but rather by an independent, qualified custodian, Charles Schwab Institutional, one of the world s largest custodians to independent investment advisors with over $2.22 trillion in client assets. Just as your portfolio is managed today, Zappia Family Wealth would be the advisor of record and would have the authority (granted by you) to manage the assets as we do today. Your accounts will have the same level of insurance and protection as they do today. Moreover, as one of the world s largest custodians, Charles Schwab is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) with additional insurance specifically for the protection of client assets. Why are you partnering with LVW Advisors to become part of an independent investment advisory firm? Like the partners at LVW, each senior partner of Zappia Family Wealth has over two decades of experience providing customized wealth management solutions. Zappia Family Wealth seeks at all times to provide strictly objective investment advice that incorporates the best practices of financial planning and investment management. By partnering with LVW Advisors, Zappia Family Wealth will offer clients a comprehensive wealth management platform, which will: 1. Seek to provide full transparency of fees and costs. 2. Operate without undisclosed conflicts of interest. 3. Offer customized financial planning and investment solutions. Each partner and employee has a personal stake in ensuring that clients receive superior investment advice and outstanding client service.

4 Why is it good for me that Zappia Family Wealth act as a fiduciary? As a registered investment advisor regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, we act as a fiduciary and therefore, must follow the fiduciary standard of care which requires us to place the interests of our clients ahead of our own. Are there other advantages to being an independent Registered Investment Advisory firm? We believe LVW Advisors is an industry leader, undiluted by bureaucracy who shares our passion for holistic wealth management. We believe that our services and talents are best applied with a research-focused firm that is large enough to attract and retain talented professionals, yet flexible and nimble enough to be able to react to market changes and innovations and that is exactly what we believe LVW provides. Access to money managers and lower cost investment vehicles In joining an independent advisory firm, we believe we will have greater access to money managers and low-cost investment vehicles. LVW has a significant institutional advisory practice. We believe their strong institutional network will provide our clients with access to managers and ideas that may not otherwise be available. Improved research and analysis. As a partner of LVW Advisors we will tap into their deep experience and breadth of knowledge which we think will enhance our existing investment process. In addition, LVW is not limited to using a single firm s research department. Instead, we are free to choose from among the best research resources the industry has to offer. Our independence gives us the freedom to search out superior research capabilities and employ leading edge analytical tools wherever they may be found. By way of example, today LVW Advisors utilizes six research specialist firms with access to over 115 analysts. Best-in-class technology By moving to independence, we will seek to implement solutions that provide the best experience for our unique approach to wealth management. We will aim to select high quality systems for portfolio management, portfolio performance reporting and our website. As a client of ours, we believe you will see an immediate improvement in the way you access your accounts and interact with us. Will my portfolio be managed by the same team? Yes. The team at Zappia Family Wealth has been working together for years. Managing Partners, Joe Zappia and Ted Garofola, will continue to direct wealth management and financial planning. Additionally, the core members of our team, Kara Hayward, Catie Arnold, and Abby Adams look forward to continuing their relationship with you. An added benefit will be access to the experienced team at LVW. Everyone at our firm recognizes that our business is built on trust and relationships, and we have made every effort to ensure that our clients receive the highest level of investment advice, financial planning and client service starting on day one. As employee-owners, therefore, we remain 100% focused on dedicating our efforts to providing you with a successful client experience. Will you continue to work with my other trusted advisors such as my attorney, accountant, or estate planning professional? Yes. We have always felt that working with our client s trusted advisors helps us provide them with a holistic wealth management experience. We look forward to continuing these existing relationships.

5 Why do you believe Charles Schwab offers the best custodial platforms? We are platform agnostic. However, we have thoroughly evaluated several custodial firms and have selected Charles Schwab as our primary custodian. Schwab has an industryleading investment platform, promotes a strong culture of technological innovation, offers broad organizational infrastructures to comfortably manage transitions such as ours, and provides immediate access to senior level executives if the need arises. Moreover, Schwab provides a dedicated service team to help exceed the expectations of our clients. LVW Advisors has been working with the same group of Schwab professionals for 6 years. I currently use a number of non-investment related services. Can these services transition over to Zappia Family Wealth? We will work closely with you to make sure there is no interruption in any of your banking or lending needs. We are confident that your new custodian will be able to handle all of these transactions and in all likelihood will enhance your overall custodial experience. Why are you so excited about Zappia Family Wealth? Zappia Family Wealth is the embodiment of our uncompromising focus on the client and adheres to our core principles of Trust, Insight, and Accountability. From another perspective, the partnership we have formed with LVW Advisors gives us the opportunity to shape our own culture and to establish a higher standard of service and performance within our industry. Indeed, Zappia Family Wealth, in partnership with LVW Advisors represents an ethical, intellectual, and deeply personal opportunity for each of us to be a true steward of your assets. Respectfully submitted, The Partners and team members of Zappia Family Wealth 67 Monroe Avenue Pittsford, NY Phone: (585) Fax: (888) LVW Advisors, LLC d/b/a Zappia Family Wealth ( ZFW ) is an SEC registered investment adviser with its principal place of business in the State of New York. ZFW and its representatives are in compliance with the current registration and notice filing requirements imposed upon registered investment advisers. Any subsequent, direct communication by ZFW will be conducted by a representative that is either registered or qualifies for an exemption or exclusion from registration under applicable law. For information pertaining to the registration status of ZFW, please contact ZFW or refer to the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure web site ( For additional information about ZFW, including fees and services, send for our Wrap Fee Brochure using the contact information herein. This brochure is limited to the dissemination of general information pertaining to ZFW. There is no guarantee that the views and opinions expressed herein will come to pass.