Advisor Policies & Procedures

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The client risk assessment process should be completed at the beginning of the client relationship prior to signing any contractual documents. 

Please refer to the Compliance section of our website for training.

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Short Version

In-Depth Version

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How To Submit an Allocation Ticket

A Deeper Dive Into Trading Best Practices

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The minimum investment for this model is $500,000.

A separate disclosure must be signed and a higher fee must be set in order to invest in this model.

This model cannot be comingled with other models in the same account and must be in a standalone account.

Please see the WWA Client Contracts page of our site to view the disclosure and details within the paperwork.

Please see the Billing page of our website for details on the model minimum and maximum fees.

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***the process below only pertains to ZEGA accounts that are traded with Option & Margin accounts. Regular ZEGA models with “ETF” in the title are not subject to any of these instructions and can be invested as usual under your normal rep code and sleeved together with other accounts***

Step 1: Watch ZEGA Training Videos and make sure to speak with James Jurica. All Advisors are required to do this ahead of being provided a ZEGA rep code so that we can be sure that proper Advisor training happens before making investment decisions. A letter of understanding will need to be signed by each Advisor prior to investing with ZEGA.

Step 2: Open a New Account Using the Correct ZEGA Rep Code

Contact service@wealthwatchadvisors.com if you wish to invest an account already opened under the wrong rep code and we can assist.

If you do not already have a ZEGA rep code on the system, a training and approval process will be required in order to set one up in your name. Please contact James Jurica for more information.

Step 3: Choose Fee Amount and Complete Required Paperwork Under ZEGA Rep Code

These forms should always be generated inside Fusion and can be found on the RIA list of forms or on the WWA Client Contracts page. 

1. ZEGA Financial Disclosures & Fee Supplement

  • The manager cost of all ZEGA models is 45 bps, therefore:
  • Maximum fee = 202 bps
  • Minimum fee = 102 bps

2. TD Client Options Agreement 

  • ***Section 5: check Tier 2 – Standard Margin
  • ***Top of Section 6: check all 7 boxes under type of transactions and investment objectives.
  • Bill Gastl must sign this document in the “Witness Whereof” section at the end.
    • Name of Advisor: Wealth Watch Advisors
    • Printed Name of Signer: Bill Gastl
    • Title of Signer: COO

3. TD Margin Agreement

The paperwork listed above is required in addition to the usual WWA contractual paperwork. If you have already obtained signatures on these documents once prior, you do not need to obtain signatures on these forms again to invest with ZEGA and only the 3 new forms listed above will be required.

Step 4: Submit Allocation Ticket Trade Instructions

 

 

Do you have a client account already open at TD that you need to convert to a ZEGA Option & Margin account? 

  1. Submit a fee change ticket in Fusion to update the rep code and the fee rate on the current account number.
  2. Complete the same steps listed above with the exception of opening a new account. Instead of using the new business wizard, populate and complete all the required forms using the Account Service wizard instead. This way, you can skip the new account application and still submit all other required documents. Be sure to manually complete each form in it’s entirety inside the Account Service wizard PDF viewer, including typing the correct ZEGA rep code at the top of all TD forms.
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Distributions from the Bluerock Model:

The Bluerock model is illiquid and is not intended to be distributed from. Investing in Bluerock should mean that the client does not need to withdraw any money from the model for several years. Please see the the Bluerock Disclosure on the WWA Client Contracts page of our site for more details. Each client and advisor are required to sign this form in order to invest in Bluerock to acknowledge that the model is illiquid.

We do not recommend investing more than 10% of the clients net assets into Bluerock, so that should they need cash, they can get it from a different source other than the Bluerock model. RMDs from IRA accounts are no exception. RMDs should be satisfied using other accounts not invested in Bluerock, and we do not recommend investing all of a client’s IRA assets in Bluerock because they may not be able to satisfy their RMD from the account.

If a client needs to take a distribution, a different account other than the Bluerock account should be considered first. 

If it is a necessity for a client to distribute cash from their Bluerock account, the fund works the same as any tender date fund:

  • Shares can only be sold on 4 specific tender dates throughout the year. These dates are not on a traditional calendar quarter schedule and are unique and chosen by the fund company.
  • A distribution ticket should be submitted in Fusion as usual for a distribution request from an account invested in Bluerock. The tickets must be submitted 1 week prior to the upcoming fund tender date (no earlier, no later, please).
  • Advisors are never contacting TD or Bluerock directly about buying or selling shares and everything must be done through the Fusion system as usual.
  • Our team will submit the cash raise request to TD as usual. From there, we wait to hear back from the fund company as to how many shares they agreed to sell.
  • The fund company will typically only allow a very small number of shares, or sometimes zero shares, to be liquidated on each tender date. This decision is made by the fund company on the tender date at their discretion – neither WWA or TD knows how many shares will be sold and how much cash will be available to the client – this number is unpredictable.
  • Once we receive confirmation from TD on how many shares were allowed to be sold by the fund company, the ticket comments will be updated showing the advisor how much cash we were able to generate. WWA staff will communicate with the Advisor inside the ticket to confirm the final distribution amount.
  • The upcoming tender dates for the Bluerock fund inside our model are as follows:
    • 5/7/24
    • 8/6/24
    • 11/5/24
    • 2/4/25
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A visual and audio explanation of these guidelines can be found in the Trading Accounts section.

Partial cash raises for ACH distributions, annuity funding, or ongoing cash holds are different from full liquidation requests described on this page and can be executed using the Allocation or Distribution ticket process as usual.

WWA does not approve our Advisors to recommend that clients fully exit the market temporarily or indefinitely due to market conditions. 

WWA will fully liquidate and close/distribute an account for a client at any time at their discretion following the guidelines below.

  • Once all required WWA paperwork is on file.
  • By selecting the “Full Liquidation – Client Requested” model inside the model allocation ticket process in Fusion and providing a reason in the special instructions for WWA review.
  • Full liquidation requests are not entered using the cash raise section in Step 1 of the allocation tool. 
  • The “Full Liquidation – Client Requested” model may not be used as a sleeve amoung other models assigned to an account. The Full Liquidation model by definition may only be used when assigning 100% to the model in order to fully liquidate the account at the client’s request.
  • If the written reason within the ticket for the full liquidation is to fund an annuity, then no further explanation is required.
  • If the client wants out of the market at their own discretion for no other reason other than to be out of the market indefinitely and are keeping their balance at TD under WWA, an email from the client must be copied and pasted into the allocation ticket comments. The text must show the client email address on file, the date and time the email was sent, specifying the account registration details, a note that they are requesting their account be liquidated at their discretion, and that they understand they will still be charged their management fees.
  • *Please note* WWA only places trades for active clients. WWA does not liquidate accounts for brand new clients who do not have any billable AUM invested with WWA. Liquidation instructions for new clients will be on hold until household AUM is active in system first. In other words, our platform may not be used as a pass-through to fund annuities or other products. If WWA is trading the account, it must mean the client is a WWA client and is investing at least a portion of their household assets with the company.
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Once a client’s account opens at TD Ameritrade, they receive a written welcome letter in the mail direct from TD. Inside the letter are instructions about how to access TD’s website on their end. TD access online is not something that Advisors or WWA staff can set-up for clients and is something they would have to do on their end.

A client does not need to wait for their letter to arrive via “snail mail” before accessing TD’s site. The only condition of accessing TD’s site is that the client has to have an active and open account in order to register.

For any Advisors who receive this question from clients or want to pro-actively send instructions out to their clients, you are welcome to copy and paste the written text below:

 

TD’s Advisor Client Website Login Instructions:

To view your account details and to establish your access to TD Ameritrade’s Advisor Client website, you will need to register directly in their system online and establish your login credentials. You will be able to register online only once your account(s) are open at TD first.

All of your accounts will be visible at TD under your one online username. Establishing access to TD’s website allows you to view your current balances, view/ download statements, tax forms, and view other account related details.

Please keep in mind that your online log-in is “read-only”. Please contact our office to help you facilitate any trades, distributions, or general requests rather than initiating anything direct at TD online or by phone.

Please follow the link www.advisorclient.com.

Click on “Set up my profile” and follow the prompts to create your user ID and password. Your full TD account number(s) listed at the top of your signed TD application will be required during the registration process.

If you have any questions or technical issues gaining access to your online account, please contact TD’s Technology Services for help by calling 800-431-3500 x 2. 

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Transfers In-Kind Out to Another Custodian

  • The company receiving the assets always facilitates direct transfers out of TD.
  • The company receiving the assets will work with the client to initiate any outgoing transfer from TD using their proprietary paperwork. While there are some steps required beforehand when transferring out to an annuity as listed below, all other transfers can leave TD in-kind without involvement from Advisors or WWA staff. The client should simply work with the receiving side to request the assets and work with TD’s back office directly.

 

WWA Outgoing Annuity Transfer Process

    1. Advisor to Check Client Account & Household Trading Status

Step 1 listed below is relevant to new accounts that have never been traded under WWA previously. If you have an ongoing account that is already invested in a model, please proceed to Step 2.

  • Advisor to check that a WWA investment model has been assigned to a client’s account prior to requesting a cash raise for an annuity transfer. This can be found by looking at the account within the Accounts Overview in Fusion and whether there is a model listed.
  • If transferring out an entire account balance in full to an annuity, Advisor to check that at least some portion of the client’s household assets are under active model management with WWA among other accounts in their name. This guideline is in place to help prevent the WWA platform from being used solely to fund annuities. Please keep in mind that WWA will not be facilitating trading or liquidating a client’s account if they are not an active client invested with WWA in some capacity.
  • In clarify further, client accounts must be invested in an active WWA model in order to trade a client account in any way, including raising cash for an annuity transfer. New accounts with otherwise remain in-kind on the system until model allocation instructions are submitted via a ticket in Fusion.
  • Both WWA model assignment instructions and cash raise instructions can be submitted at the same time within the same ticket when using the allocation process in Fusion if necessary. If a model has already been assigned to an account previously, separate cash raise instructions can be submitted anytime using the allocation ticket process as usual.

   2. Raise Cash for Transfer

  • Advisor to submit allocation ticket in Fusion to raise cash in the client account in step 1 of the ticket process (if necessary) before annuity transfer paperwork is submitted to TD. Instructions on how to use the allocation tool to raise cash can be found within the “Trading Accounts” menu.
  • We ask that all Advisors please prepare cash prior to submitting annuity paperwork to TD. This helps immensely to avoid NIGOs backing up on our system and also it avoids slowdowns once the request arrives at TD so that balances can be sent out seamlessly.
  • We also ask that Advisors please do not submit cash raise instructions inside the submitted annuity paperwork. Cash raises should always be handled beforehand direct through the WWA ticketing system to avoid potential trade errors and complications.
  • When requesting a full balance transfer out to an annuity, market fluctuation may cause a mismatch between the balance requested and the balance inside the TD account. In these cases, TD will send out the full amount in the account even if it does not match the transfer form as long as a “FULL” transfer is indicated on the annuity paperwork.

   3. Next Steps for Processing

The principals of any outgoing transfer request are that the back office at the company receiving the assets is the party that should check with TD on the transfer status and clear up any clarifications they can. WWA staff may become involved based on the following scenarios:

For Requests In Good Order:

  • When annuity paperwork arrives at TD in good order, meaning annuity paperwork is correct and sufficient cash is already available within the account, TD will automatically send balances out to annuity companies without any involvement from WWA. This is the fastest and most efficient way to fund an annuity from a TD account.
  • WWA staff cannot see nor is alerted of annuity paperwork that is submitted to TD in the vast majority of cases when submitted in good order. TD’s transfer team will simply process the request within their usual timeframes on their end.
  • We’ve seen outgoing annuity transfers take anywhere from 2 days to 10 days depending on TD’s outgoing transfer volume at the time. Please set proper expectations with clients. Under promise and overdeliver is always the best policy with any outgoing transfer.
  • WWA staff can check on the status of an annuity transfer at the request of an Advisor via email to service@wealthwatchadvisors.com if the usual processing timeframe has passed and the balance has still not been sent out. Please note that WWA staff cannot rush or expedite an annuity request at TD.

For Requests Not In Good Order:

  • When annuity paperwork arrives at TD not in good order, meaning there is clarification needed on the paperwork or there is not sufficient cash in the account, WWA staff will be contacted by TD with notes as to what the problem is.
  • WWA staff will then resolve the NIGO direct with TD whenever possible, or contact the Advisor with instructions if their involvement is needed.
  • Once NIGO issues have been resolved, WWA staff will then reply to TD on behalf of the Advisor to go ahead and process the request.
  • Once issues are resolved by WWA staff, WWA staff will reply to TD to process the request. The request then goes back into TDs rotation of requests and the usual processing timeline starts over.
  • WWA encourages all Advisors to follow the suggested workflow when submitting annuity requests, because anything submitted not in good order will always take longer than requests submitted in good order.

  4. Remove On-Time Cash Holds

    • The trading system and/or WWA staff will remove any one-time cash holds from accounts once the balance is sent out of TD. The account then remains trading on our system as usual.
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When a client passes away, it is of course a sensitive and difficult time for the beneficiaries and family members who may be in contact with you. While we certainly feel compelled to assist in any way that we can, there are some guidelines that we ask Advisors to please follow along the way.

 

  1. When a client is deceased, please notify the WWA operations team at service@wealthwatchadvisors.com right away. Our team will then speak with Charles Schwab to notify them as step 1. Please always go through our team rather than calling or notifying Charles Schwab directly.
    • Deceased client accounts are always completely frozen by Schwab. As a result, once a client is deceased, Advisors and wwa staff can no longer service the account in any way, including trading, billing, or misc. service requests.
    • Deceased client accounts are automatically de-linked from WWA due to the account being frozen. Advisors and WWA will lose access and visibility to the deceased client’s account, although all application information and account numbers are still stored inside the Fusion ticket history if needed for any reason.

 

If and when account beneficiaries contact you, always ask them up front what their wishes are regarding the inheritance (cash distribution, transfer out of Schwab, keeping the balance in an account with you as the Advisor, etc.)

Whether the beneficiary is being retained as an ongoing client of WWA will determine step 2A vs. 2B:

 

If the beneficiary is accepting their inheritance as a distribution or into an account not managed under WWA (***most common outcome***)

2A:   Always direct them to work with Charles Schwab directly from that point forward by calling 800-515-2157.

    • From there, the beneficiary will work with a member of the Schwab team dedicated to processing death claims.
    • It is best for our Advisors to allow Charles Schwab’s death claim team to assist beneficiaries directly for many reasons, ranging anywhere from the liability of authenticating the beneficiaries and their intentions, to the amount of time and resources it can take to process these situations that commonly takes months or even years to resolve.
    • Please note that a beneficiary that you are not onboarding and retaining as a client and should never be provided any information about the account and should only be provided the Charles Schwab phone number with instructions to call them for next steps.
    • Please do not open beneficiary accounts through Fusion, or offer to assist beneficiaries with contacting Schwab, for the purpose of the beneficiary taking a distribution or transferring the balance elsewhere. Schwab should facilitate this process direct with the beneficiary rather than the Advisor’s office or WWA staff.

 

If the beneficiary intends to accept their inheritance as a managed account under WWA using your Advisory services:

2B:   Begin the new client onboarding process as you would normally from the beginning.

    • (For beneficiaries that are already WWA clients, new WWA paperwork will be required only if they have never signed the most recent version of the Schwab IAA).
    • Reach out to WWA staff at service@wealthwatchadvisors.com with any questions on what type of account you should open for the client and what additional paperwork may be required.
    • Fusion may be used to open accounts and submit any required documents with assistance from WWA operations.

 

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The Schwab “Account Closure Form” is required to be signed by the client for any account closure request, otherwise the account will remain open at Schwab. The only exception to this is for full outgoing ACAT transfer requests that are requested from other institutions where the account will close automatically in that case.

The Account Closure Form can be found in Fusion and sent for signing using the Account Service Forms wizard. 

Account closures can be requested through the distribution ticket process, or by an email request from the Advisor to the Ops Team, if an Advisor would like assistance making sure the account is closed, however the Account Closure Form will still be required.

De-linking an account differs from closing an account, where WWA or Schwab may de-link, aka remove, WWA advisory services from the account at their discretion. The account remains open at Schwab in this case, but WWA can no longer view or service the account.