Mutual Advisors, LLC Form CRS - Customer Relationship Summary – September 1, 2024
ITEM 1- INTRODUCTION
Mutual Advisors, LLC is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) as an investment adviser. One of the requirements of being a Registered Investment Adviser (“RIA”) is to produce this Client Relationship Summary.
As an RIA, we do not sell any products or accept any commissions. We have a fiduciary responsibility to our clients and are legally required to act in their best interest. This differentiates us from brokerage firms, which offer other types of services, fee structures, and working relationships. Brokerage and investment advisory services and fees differ, and it is important for you to understand these differences, which is why the SEC provides free and simple tools for researching financial professionals at: www.investor.gov/CRS. This site also provides educational materials about investment advisors, broker-dealers, and investing.
ITEM 2- RELATIONSHIP & SERVICES
WHAT INVESTMENT SERVICES AND ADVICE CAN YOU PROVIDE ME?
Mutual Advisors, LLC offers investment management and advice, financial planning and consulting, ERISA 3(21) advisory services and wrap program accounts (further described in our ADV 2A: Item 4 or Appendix 1: Item 4). In a discretionary account, you grant us the authority to execute purchase and sell orders in your investment account(s) without consulting with you first. You may limit our discretion, such as by imposing reasonable restrictions on investing in certain securities or groups of securities. In a non-discretionary account, you have not granted written trading authority to your Financial Professional, and he or she will consult with you before executing trades in your account. As the retail client, you make the ultimate decision regarding the purchase or sale of your investments.
As an investment adviser, we provide investment advice and the monitoring of your investments through our Investment Adviser Representatives (“IARs”) for an ongoing fee. Based on your financial needs and objectives, your IAR will advise you on the management of your investments, including through 1) a separately managed account 2) wrap fee program 3) third-party money manager program (“TPMM”) 4) and/or fee based financial planning. We will provide our investment Management Services through a “wrap” fee advisory program, you will pay a wrap fee which usually includes the advisory fee and the costs for the execution of securities transactions and other services. If deemed appropriate for you, our Firm will recommend utilizing a TPMM to aid in the implementation of investment strategies for the client’s portfolio. Our Firm may enter into an advisory agreement directly with the client or may be hired by another investment adviser to act as sub-advisor. Our Firm also offers financial planning and consulting services for our clients. These services can be provided on a stand- alone basis or in conjunction with our investment management services. These services usually include preparing long term financial projections for clients, and may also include advising on insurance policies, education funding, real estate decisions, non-managed investments, financing options, and tax and estate planning matters.
Questions to Ask Your Financial Professional:
Given my financial situation, should I choose an investment advisory service? Should I choose a brokerage service? Should I choose both types of services? 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?
FOR MORE INFORMATION REFER TO OUR FIRM’S ADV PART 2A BROCHURE – ITEM 4, 7, 13, AND 16
ITEM 3.A- FEES, COSTS, CONFLICTS & STANDARD OF CONDUCT
WHAT FEES WILL I PAY?
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. The type of advisory fee that you pay may vary based upon the type of account or services being provided (further described in our ADV 2A: Item 5 or Appendix 1: Item 4). The type of fee charged to you will be one of the following, based upon the agreement you entered into: Asset-based (AUM) fees (up to 2% annually) – your advisory accounts may be charged an AUM fee which is based upon the amount of assets you have in the account, which could incentivize us to encourage you to increase assets in your account; Wrap AUM fees (up to 2.25% annually) – wrap accounts may also charge an AUM fee, which is potentially higher than a standard AUM fee, because it wraps in any transaction charges for purchases and/or sales if charged by the custodians. Many investments trade without transaction fees today, so our payment of these and other incidental custodial related expenses should not be considered a significant factor in determining the relative value of our wrap program. This means we could be incentivized to trade your account less frequently or invest in assets that do not incur any charges in order to retain more in fees; Financial Planning and Consulting fees – you may be charged for financial planning or consulting services based upon a fixed dollar amount or an hourly rate; or ERISA 3(21) fees – ERISA plans may be charged an AUM fee or a financial planning fee based upon the agreement you sign.
In addition to the fees described above, your account may also be charged transaction charges for purchases and/or sales of securities (not applicable to wrap accounts), custodial fees, or product level fees charged by the product company through the fund or product expenses. Mutual funds charge an annual management fee which varies depending on the fund. With certain investments, such as variable annuities, there may also be additional expenses on top of the mutual fund sub-account expenses that are charged for the investment. Information about product-level fees can be found in the applicable product prospectus.
Questions to Ask Your Financial Professional:
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?
FOR MORE INFORMATION REFER TO OUR FIRM’S ADV PART 2A BROCHURE – ITEM 5
ITEM 3.B- FEES, COSTS, CONFLICTS & STANDARD OF CONDUCT
WHAT ARE YOUR LEGAL OBLIGATIONS TO ME WHEN PROVIDING RECOMMENDATIONS? HOW ELSE DOES YOUR FIRM MAKE MONEY AND WHAT CONFLICTS OF INTEREST DO YOU HAVE?
When we act as your investment adviser, we have to act in your best interest and not put our interest ahead of yours. At the same time, the way we make money creates some conflicts of interests. You should understand and ask us about these conflicts because they can affect the investment advice we provide you (further described in ADV 2A: Item 5 and Item 12). Here are some examples to help you understand what this means: Third-party Payments – we receive compensation from third-party investment advisers through co- advisory, sub-advisory/signal or solicitor agreements, where the advisors act in the capacity of your advisor to help with the selection of third-party managed strategies, and all fees are AUM based on the value of assets in your account and do not vary by the type of asset invested in; Financial Consulting – we provide consulting services to other financial institutions and receive compensation for those services; Affiliated Broker-Dealer, Mutual Securities, Inc. (MSI) – we have an affiliated broker-dealer that offers brokerage services for which they receive commission-based compensation for, and they do act as the introducing broker-dealer for legacy advisory accounts that we hold through National Financial Services, LLC. For these legacy accounts, if any mutual funds are held in the account, they could receive up to 0.25% trail commission on those holdings. If you have questions about whether any of these situations could apply to your investments, ask your Financial Professional. For additional information about MSI’s commission-based brokerage services, please review MSI’s Form CRS (www.mutual.group/msi- form).
FOR MORE INFORMATION REFER TO OUR FIRM’S ADV PART 2A BROCHURE – ITEM 5, 10, 11, AND 14
ITEM 3.C- FEES, COSTS, CONFLICTS & STANDARD OF CONDUCT
HOW DO YOUR FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS MAKE MONEY?
Our investment advisor representatives (IARs) receive compensation for advisory services (after firm expenses) either through 1) an asset-based fee that is charged to you based on the value of assets in an account under management, 2) an hourly fee that is based on time spent for a specific financial planning or consulting service, or 3) a flat dollar fee that is charged for ongoing or a specific financial planning and consulting service (further described in our ADV2A: Item 5 or Appendix 1: Item 4). Some of our IARs also offer other non- advisory services, such as commission-based insurance or broker-dealer services (for additional information about the available broker- dealer services, please review MSI’s Form CRS (www.mutual.group/msi-form)). This could cause a conflict of interest when recommending one service over another. Your IAR must provide you with a copy of their ADV2B which describes these other business activities in more detail.
FOR MORE INFORMATION REFER TO OUR FIRM’S ADV PART 2A BROCHURE – ITEM 5, 10, 11, AND 14
Questions to Ask Your Financial Professional:
How might your conflicts of interest affect me and how will you address them?
ITEM 4- DISCIPLINARY HISTORY
DO YOU OR YOUR FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS HAVE LEGAL OR DISCIPLINARY HISTORY?
Yes, some of IARs have legal or disciplinary history. Visit www.investor.gov/CRS for a free and simple search tool to research us and our financial professionals.
Questions to Ask Your Financial Professional:
As a financial professional, do you have any disciplinary history? For what type of conduct?
ITEM 5- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For additional information, up to date information about our services, please review our ADV 2A or ADV2A, Appendix 1, which are available online at https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/brochure/167658. You may request a copy of the Form CRS Relationship Summary by contacting your investment professional or you may also contact our Compliance Department at (805) 764-6740 or mallc.compliance@mutual.group for a copy.
Questions to Ask Your Financial Professional:
Who is my primary contact person?
Is he or she a representative of a registered investment adviser, a broker-dealer, or both?
Who can I talk to if I have concerns about how this person is treating me?