Mark Phillips & Associates MacArthur Blvd., Suite 225 Irvine CA (949) Interview Questions and Answers as of January 2013

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1 Mark Phillips & Associates MacArthur Blvd., Suite 225 Irvine CA (949) Interview Questions and Answers as of January 2013 Do you have experience in providing advice on the following topics? If yes, indicate the number of years. Retirement Planning Since November 2000 Investment Planning Since November 2000 Tax Planning Since November 2000 Estate Planning Since November 2000 Insurance Planning Since November 2000 Comprehensive Planning Since November 2000 Education Planning Since November 2000 Business Planning Since November 2002 What are your areas of specialization? Retirement Income Management/Coordination from investment and pension sources. Small Business Owner Issues: Retirement Plan Implementation & Management, Benefits Planning, Valuation. What qualifies you in this field? Training (CFP professional certification and related course work, AIF designation and related coursework, ongoing education) and Experience planning/investing for over 400 families and spending well over 7,000 hours meeting and discussing their issues with them, providing recommendations and helping them with implementing the solutions. How long have you been offering financial planning advice to clients? Since November How many clients do you currently have? Just over 110 Households and entities (pensions, businesses, etc.)

2 Briefly describe your work history. After completion of initial training with American Express Financial Advisors in mid 2000, and obtaining the applicable securities registrations, I began working with new and assigned clients in November By late 2003 I was advising over 350 families and entities (businesses) as an employee advisor with American Express Financial Advisors. In 2003, I became an independent (non-employee) advisor within the American Express Financial Advisor network. Over the following seven years I intentionally reduced our client base to about 100 households and businesses, increased my staff support for my clients, and moved into dedicated office space designed to better support our client service. In early 2010 I affiliated with Commonwealth Financial Network as my Broker Dealer and Registered Investment Advisor partner. Over the past 12 years we have evolved the practice to focus more on comprehensive planning and advice, investor outcome management, and support for client action and service, all on a transparent fee basis. Prior to 2003 I worked for a fortune 500 firm and as a regional manager for an internationally based chemical company. What are your educational qualifications? Bachelors in Business Admin., National Univ Masters in Business Admin., Pepperdine Univ Certificate in Personal Financial Planning, Univ. of California, Irvine 2003 What financial planning designation(s) or certification(s) do you hold? CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER Certificant Accredited Investment Fiduciary What financial planning continuing education requirements do you fulfill? CFP 30 hours of pre-approved coursework every two years AIF 6 hours of pre-approved coursework every year FINRA 6 units of pre-approved coursework every year CA Dept. of Insurance 24 hours of pre-approved coursework every two years What licenses and registrations do you hold? Insurance - Life & Health, Variable Contracts (CA Insurance Lic.# 0D07767, FL, NV)

3 Securities -General Securities Representative (Series 7), Uniform Combined State Law and Investment Advisor Representative (Series 66) Are you or your firm licensed or registered as an investment adviser with any states and/or Federal Government? I am an Investment Adviser Representative of Commonwealth Financial Network, an SEC-registered Investment Adviser. Please refer to Commonwealth Financial Network s ADV II for details. How are you going to tell me when you are acting as a sales agent of the brokerage firm and when you are acting as an investment adviser? I am generally working for you in the fiduciary roll of your advisor unless I specifically say otherwise (when presenting an insurance or investment product for you to purchase on a commissionable basis). Will you provide me with your disclosure document Form ADV Part II or its state equivalent? Yes. Please find this in the Initial Meetings Materials folder I have provided. Will you provide me with a written disclosure detailing any disciplinary history for you or your firm? See ADV II for broker/dealer, I, as an individual advisor, have no adverse disciplinary history at this time. What services do you offer? Comprehensive and issue specific Advisory Service in all of the areas listed in the first answer above and more. Investment management services. Ability to act as an agent on your behalf for your purchase of Life, Health, Disability, and Long Term Care Insurance only if we mutually agree to the appropriateness. Fixed insurance products and services offered through Mark Phillips & Associates are separate and unrelated to Commonwealth. Ability to act as agent for the commissioned purchase of registered securities if required and prudent. Who will work with me? Planner/Firm Principle - Mark Phillips, MBA, CFP,AIF Associates: o Eric Figarsky, CFP (Senior Paraplanner, Registered Staff Member *), o Nicholas Bautista (Paraplanner, Registered Staff Member*),

4 o Tracy Chiu (Administrative Assistant) *Registered through Commonwealth Financial Network Will the same individual(s) review my financial situation? Mark Phillips, MBA, CFP, AIF as Planner and Advisor, along with Eric Figarsky, CFP and/or Nick Bautista as Paraplanners are solely responsible for reviewing your financial situation. All advice will come from Mark. Eric and Nick help with analysis and may communicate Mark s advice to you. What type of clients do you serve? Professionals, Small Business Owners, many clients fast approaching retirement or in the midst of retirement. Do you have a minimum net worth or income requirement? No, however we have a minimum willingness requirement to work with us to engage in the process of planning and implementation. We also require that you be able to benefit from the relationship and planning process. How are you paid for your services? Fee - for ongoing financial planning and advice and for asset management. This makes up approximately 90% of our total revenues. Commission - for insurance and one off investing actions. This generally makes up less than 10% of what clients pay to work with us. What do you typically charge? A. Fee: Hourly rate $220/hour. However, we do not typically charge by the hour Flat fee (range) - From $1,000 (single individual, simple issues) up to $6,000 annually for small business, complex issues Percentage of assets under management fee: From 1.30% down to 0.35% annually (please see the Investment Management Section) B. Commissions: In the rare cases that you might choose to purchase a commissionable product, I will happily share with you exactly what the commission pay out is.

5 Do you have a business affiliation with any company whose products or services you are recommending? No. We do not have a direct financial interest in the business success or failure of any product or service company we might recommend. While we would like to see their products succeed (for our clients sakes) that is the extent of our concern. Is any of your compensation based on selling products? Only to the extent these are commissioned products, as stated above. We do not receive any override compensation or supplemental commission from any product company for reaching a sales target with them. Do professionals and sales agents to whom you may refer me send business, fees or any other benefits to you? We do not receive any direct financial benefit. Only in as much as they may refer a client of theirs to my practice do we receive any benefit whatsoever. Is the account that you are offering an "advisory account," or is it a "brokerage account" exempt from investment adviser registration? For investment management I am offering an Advisory Account. I am acting as a fiduciary in my relationship to you. As a fiduciary, I am required to act in your best interest. If your circumstance does not make investment management appropriate for your investments we can discuss a brokerage account through me that you may invest in. Regarding any brokerage account that I may open, what are the potential conflicts of interest that you have when recommending certain products for sale to me, and how will you disclose these to me prior to purchase, including any special cash payments or incentives that you receive? For commissionable accounts only, I receive different commission compensation when you purchase different mutual funds, or individual stocks. We typically only open commissionable brokerage accounts to accommodate small investment accounts or for securities you hold and do not want to sell and would therefore require no management. We are very clear to disclose all fees you may pay and revenue we may receive.

6 Are you an owner of, or connected with, any other company whose services or products I will use? No. I provide advisory services through my affiliation with Commonwealth Financial Network. I am able to offer insurance products from over 25 insurance companies through my appointment with each. I have no equity (ownership) in any of these firms. Do you provide a written client engagement agreement? Yes, for both comprehensive planning services, and for asset management separately. How might you address my particular needs? Because needs are very client specific we will discuss your situation and goals together to determine just how I propose to help you address your particular needs. This will be determined before you engage my services. How often will my plan be updated? Virtually every time we meet or that we are aware of changes in your financial circumstances. Some of these changes are significant, requiring a change of action on your part, and some will prove not to be so. At a minimum we review and fully update your plan annually. Are you affiliated with any professional associations? Financial Planning Association (FPA) Financial Services Institute (FSI): Panelist for the national FSI conference January 2013 Ongoing panelist for the University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry Alumni meeting Mark Phillips, MBA, CFP,AIF (CA Insurance Lic. 0D07767) is a registered representative and investment adviser representative with and offers securities and advisory services through Commonwealth Financial Network, member FINRA/SIPC, a registered investment adviser.