Customer Relationship Summary
June 24, 2020
Introduction
Optivest, Inc. is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as an investment adviser. There are different ways you can get help with your investments. You should carefully consider which types of accounts and services are right for you. We are an investment adviser and provide advisory accounts and services. This document gives you a summary of the types of services we provide and how you pay.
Brokerage and investment advisory services and fees differ, and it is important for the retail investor to understand the differences. Free and simple tools are available for you to research firms and financial professionals at www.investor.gov/CRS, a website maintained by the SEC. These tools can also provide you with educational materials about broker-dealers, investment advisers, and investing.
What investment services and advice can you provide me?
We offer investment advisory services and advice on a regular basis to retail investors. Our services include discussing your investment goals, designing with you a strategy to achieve your investment goals, and the on- going monitoring of your account. We will generally contact you at least quarterly regarding your investment portfolio. Other advisory services we provide include financial planning services, investment consulting, the selection of advisers, family office services and concierge services.
We provide our advisory services on a discretionary and non-discretionary basis. Our discretionary authority is generally granted, at the outset of our advisory relationship in our client agreement, to select the identity and amount of securities to be bought or sold during your advisory relationship with us. With respect to our non-discretionary services, you should be aware that you make the ultimate decision regarding your investment holdings, including the purchase and or sale of those investments. Our investment advice generally covers equities, debt, options, futures, mutual funds, alternative assets, and direct real estate investments. Other firms could provide advice on a wider range of choices, some of which might have lower cost. We have no minimum requirements for retail investors to open or maintain an account or establish an advisory relationship with us.
Additional Information
For additional information, please see our Form ADV, Part 2A brochure, Items 4 and 7 or on our website: http://www.optivestinc.com.
Conversation Starter: – Ask your financial professional –
- Given my financial situation, should I choose an investment advisory service? Why or why not?
- How will you choose investments to recommend to me?
- What is your relevant experience, including your licenses, education, and other qualifications? What do these qualifications mean?
What fees will I pay?
Principal Fees and Costs
Retail investors will incur the fees described below for investment advisory services, which are negotiated between you the client, and your financial advisor. The principal fees for investment advisory services are: (i) asset-based fees, which are an on-going fee, and based upon a percentage of the assets managed by us; (ii) hourly or fixed fees for financial planning and general investment consulting services; and (iii) you may pay a commission to your financial professional when we buy an investment for you. This is in addition to the advisory fees payable to us for advisory services. According to our advisory agreement, as you deposit additional assets in your advisory account, each subsequent deposit will be charged according to the total household deposits on file. Our fee schedule is applied based on total assets under management with breakpoints that may result in lower fees on additional deposits.
Our fees vary and are negotiable. The amount you pay will depend, for example, on the services you receive and the amount of assets in your account. Additionally, the amount paid to us, and your financial professional, generally does not vary based on the type of investments we select on your behalf. The asset-based fee reduces the value of your account and will be deducted from your account.
The more assets you have in the advisory account, including cash, the more you will pay us. We therefore have an incentive to increase the assets in your account in order to increase our fees. The quarterly fee is applied to any/all managed advisory accounts regardless of total investment activity.
Other Fees and Costs
You will also pay transaction fees, and other transaction related third-party costs and expenses incurred in management of your assets. These costs include charges imposed by custodians, third-party investment advisers and others, such as custodial fees, deferred sales charges, wire transfer and electronic fund fees, and other fees and taxes on custodial brokerage accounts and securities transactions. Some investments (such as mutual funds and variable annuities) impose additional fees that will reduce the value of your investment over time
Additional Information
You will pay fees and costs whether you make or lose money on your investments. Fees and costs will reduce any amount of money you make on your investments over time. Please make sure you understand what fees and costs you are paying.
See our Form ADV, Part 2A brochure, Items 5 and 12. as applicable and other applicable documents for additional information regarding our fees and costs.
Conversation Starter: Ask your financial professional and start a conversation about the impact of fees and costs on investments –
- Help me understand how these fees and costs might affect my investments. If I give you$10,000 to invest, how much will go to fees and costs, and how much will be invested for me?
What are your legal obligations to me when acting as my investment adviser?
When we act as your investment adviser, we have to act in your best interest and not put our interests ahead of yours. At the same time, the way we make money creates some conflicts with your interests. You should understand and ask us about these conflicts because they can affect the investment advice that we provide you. Here are some examples to help you understand what this means:
- Certain managers and or sponsors of investments shares revenue with us that it earns on such activities or portfolios. In those situations, we have an incentive to advise you to utilize those managers and or sponsors because revenue sharing relationship it has with us.
Additional Information
For more detailed information about our conflicts of interest, see our Form ADV, Part 2A brochure.
Conversation Starter: Ask your financial professional –
- How might your conflicts of interest affect me, and how will you address them?
How do your financial professionals make money?
Your financial professional earns compensation based upon a portion of the revenue we earn from you for providing you with those advisory services. As a result, your financial professional may have a financial incentive not to reduce fees; however, we deploy a tiered billing structure that lowers fees based on meeting certain assets under management thresholds. Additionally, your financial professionals are compensated based on factors such as the amount of client assets they service, the time and complexity required to meet a client’s needs, commissions from portfolio transactions recommended by your financial professional. Your financial professional may also receive compensation from the sale of insurance products through non-affiliated firms..
Do you or your financial professionals have legal or disciplinary history?
No. Please see www.investor.gov/CRS for a free and simple search tool to research the background and experience of us and our financial professionals.
Conversation Starter: Ask your financial professional:
- As a financial professional, do you have any disciplinary history? For what type of conduct?
Additional Information
For additional information regarding our services, please see our Form ADV Part 2A, or if you would like additional, up-to-date information or a copy of this disclosure, please contact Leslie Calhoun by phone at 949- 363- 8686, or by email at leslie@optivestinc.com.
Conversation Starter: Ask your financial professional –
- Who is my primary contact person? Is he or she a representative of an investment-adviser or a broker-dealer? Who can I talk to if I have concerns about how this person is treating me?