Vanderbilt Financial Group is the marketing name for Vanderbilt Securities, LLC and its affiliates. Securities offered through Vanderbilt Securities, LLC. Member FINRA, SIPC. Registered with MSRB. Clearing agent: Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions Advisory Services offered through Vanderbilt Advisory Services & Consolidated Portfolio Review.
Clearing agents: Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions, Charles Schwab & TD Ameritrade Insurance Services offered through Vanderbilt Insurance and other agencies. For additional information on services, disclosures, fees, and conflicts of interest, please read below. Privacy Policy | SEC Rule 606 | Public BCP
VFG and its affiliates support and promote Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (“ESG”), Socially Responsible Investing (“SRI”), and Impact Investing, but the Firm and its affiliates do not require or mandate that its financial professionals engage solely in related activities. Clients of the Firm and its affiliates are not required to adopt or invest in any specific security, strategy, or portfolio.
Vanderbilt Securities LLC, and Vanderbilt Advisory Services comply with Section 326 of the USA PATRIOT Act. This law mandates that we request certain information about you while processing your account application. This information is used to verify your identity.
Securities products are: NOT FDIC INSURED • NOT BANK GUARANTEED • MAY LOSE VALUE
No information on this web site should be considered a recommendation or solicitation to invest in a particular security or type of security.
Neither asset allocation nor diversification can eliminate the risk of fluctuating prices and uncertain returns.
Past performance is not indicative of future results. Please obtain from your Financial Advisor, the prospectus(es) or other offering documents as applicable for the fee-based account program and read carefully before investing.
Vanderbilt Securities LLC is not a tax advisor. We suggest you consult your personal tax advisor and/or legal representative before making tax-related investment decisions.
©2023 – All Rights Reserved – Vanderbilt Financial Group 125 Froehlich Farm Blvd, Woodbury, NY 11797 | Phone: 631-845-5100
On June 5, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted a package of rulemakings and interpretations designed to enhance the quality and transparency of retail investors’ relationships with Financial Professional and Broker-Dealers (or Firms), bringing the legal requirements and mandated disclosures in line with reasonable investor expectations, while preserving access (in terms of choice and cost) to a variety of investment services and products. Specifically, these actions include new Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), the new Form CRS Relationship Summary, and two separate interpretations under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
Individually and collectively, these actions are designed to enhance and clarify the standards of conduct applicable to Firms and Financial Professionals, help retail investors better understand and compare the services offered and make an informed choice of the relationship best suited to their needs and circumstances, and foster greater consistency in the level of protections provided by each regime, particularly at the point in time that a recommendation is made.
Below, we have included information about these regulations, the products and services offered, fees, and any conflicts of interest between Vanderbilt Financial Group and its affiliates.
Click on a topic below to navigate
This webpage and the accompanying documents provide information on conflicts of interests, costs and fees, and other investment-related information. Statements in this document provide additional information on topics discussed in our Form CRS, which is summary in nature and limited in substance and size by the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Information in this document is also subject to, and intended to supplement, the separate disclosures, prospectuses, account forms, account agreements and other materials that we provide to you when making recommendations over the course of our relationship with you.
Vanderbilt Financial Group (“VFG”) is the marketing name for Vanderbilt Securities, LLC, PFG Investments, LLC (dba Vanderbilt Advisory Services), and other affiliated entities.
Vanderbilt Securities, LLC (“VS”) and ImpactU.Investments, LLC (“IUI”) are both broker-dealers. They are each a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC).
Vanderbilt Advisory Services (“VAS”) and Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp. (“CPR”) are investment adviser firms registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Brokerage and investment advisory services and fees differ and it is important for you to understand these differences. Free and simple tools are available to research firms and financial professionals at Investor.gov/CRS, which also provides educational materials about broker-dealers, investment advisers, and investing
VFG maintains a network of individuals, referred to as “Financial Professionals”(“FP”), who offer brokerage services. VFG’s Financial Professionals are independent contractors. VFG Financial Professionals are located throughout the U.S. and may offer investment services under their own business name.
Throughout the disclosures, we provide you with information that is designed to assist you in making sound investment decisions, and to help you consider reasonably available investment alternatives offered by VFG, its Affiliates and Financial Professionals.
VFG and its affiliates and Financial Professionals face conflicts of interest in the normal course of business. While we recognize that certain conflicts of interests exist, we have taken a variety of steps through policies, procedures and/or oversight that are reasonably designed to manage them effectively. In addition, we expect all of our Financial Professionals and employees to maintain the highest standard of ethical behavior in dealing with clients. Throughout this document, we point out when and how these conflicts arise. This high-level summary is intended to be inclusive of all conflicts of interest that might existing with respect to a particular transaction. Additional information may be provided in product prospectuses, trade confirmations, and offering or marketing materials. Please see the product specific sections of this document or contact your Financial Professional for more information.
We and our Financial Professionals are compensated directly by customers and indirectly from the investments made by customers. When you purchase an investment, we typically get paid an upfront commission or sales load at the time of the transaction and in some cases a deferred sales charge. If we are paid an upfront commission, it means that we are paid more the more transactions you make. We are also paid more the larger the transaction. When we are paid indirectly from the investments made by customers, we receive ongoing compensation, typically called a “trail” payment, for as long as you hold the investment. In addition, we receive compensation from the sponsors of some of the investment products that we offer. The amount we receive varies depending on the particular type of investment purchased. The compensation described in this disclosure summary represents the maximum gain or profit we receive on an investment, before deduction of our expenses. It is important that you read and consider other information, including prospectuses and transaction confirmations to ensure that you are fully apprised of the costs and fees associated with your investment.
Not all of the conflicts described in this disclosure summary apply to a particular Financial Professional, his or her services, or all the products we offer. When Regulation Best Interest applies, our Financial Professionals may be required to disclose additional information specific to them, such as limitations on the securities or investment strategies involving securities that they may recommend, differences in the investment approach they are recommending to you, and any conflicts of interest that may be unique to them. If that is the case, then your Financial Professional will disclose such additional information to you orally or in writing before or at the time they make the recommendation to which that additional information relates.
We also provide important information regarding our compensation, and the costs and fees you pay in documents such as prospectuses, offering materials, account agreements and on our website at www.vanderbiltfg.com/disclosures.
We supervise retail investors’ investments, including the frequency and any material limitations, but we do not provide a monitoring service.
We encourage you to read the contents of this document and reach out to your Financial Professional if you have any questions. If you would prefer to receive a paper copy of the information referenced, please contact us at 631-845-5100
On June 5, 2019, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Reg BI establishes a “best interest” standard of conduct for Broker-Dealers (Firms) and associated persons (Financial Professionals) when they make a recommendation to a retail customer of any securities transaction or investment strategy involving securities, including recommendations of types of accounts.
As part of the rulemaking package, the SEC also adopted new rules and forms to require Broker-Dealers and Financial Professionals to provide a brief relationship summary, Form CRS, to retail investors.
Firms must comply with Reg BI and Form CRS by June 30, 2020.
As part of the Reg BI adoption on June 5, 2019, the SEC adopted a new rule to require registered Financial Professionals and registered Broker-Dealers to provide a brief relationship summary – Form CRS – to retail investors. Below is a summary of Form CRS and its applications. Vanderbilt Financial Group’s Form CRS can be viewed and downloaded here: VFG Form CRS
Form CRS is a client or customer relationship summary. Financial Professionals are required to deliver a relationship summary to you beginning in summer 2020 (effective June 30, 2020). The relationship summary contains important information about the Financial Professional and Firm.
Choosing or continuing to work with a Financial Professional is an important decision. Financial Professionals offer different types of services and are paid differently. Reading a relationship summary can help you decide if a Financial Professional is right for you.
A relationship summary tells you about:
A relationship summary also includes questions to help you begin a discussion with a Financial Professional about the relationship, including their services, fees, costs, conflicts, and disciplinary information.
Beginning in the summer of 2020, Financial Professionals and Firms will provide you with a relationship summary when starting a new relationship with you or when your account changes (e.g., you rollover an IRA). If the information in the relationship summary changes, your Financial Professional will be required to give you a new relationship summary or communicate the changes through another disclosure that must be delivered to you. You can also always request a relationship summary.
If you already have a brokerage or advisory account, you will get your first relationship summary by July 30, 2020.
You are also able to find a Firm’s relationship summary and more information about a Firm using the free and simple search tool on Investor.gov.
Conflicts of interest exist between VFG and its affiliates, such as Vanderbilt Securities, LLC (“VS”), Vanderbilt Advisory Services (“VAS”), Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp.(“CPR”), ImpactU.Investment, LLC (“IUI”), among others. We earn compensation and other benefits when you invest in a product that we (or one of our affiliates) advise, manage, or sponsor. As such, we have an incentive to recommend (or to invest your assets in) the services of our affiliated entities. We address these conflicts of interest by disclosing it to you and by requiring our Financial Professionals and their supervisors to review your account at account-opening to ensure that it is appropriate for you in light of matters such as your investment objectives and financial circumstances.
The compensation structure for our Financial Professionals (“FPs”) result in conflicts of interest between clients and themselves as FPs. Our Financial Professionals earn compensation and/or benefits based on the revenue VFG and its affiliates earn from client transactions or other compensation earned from transactions with affiliates or third parties. As revenue increases, a Financial Professional’s compensation and/or benefits will increase. This compensation structure means a FP has a financial interest in charging more for transactions where they have the discretion to do so, or recommending those transactions that generate higher amounts of revenue for VFG and its affiliates and compensation to the Financial Professional, rather than those transactions that generate lower amounts of revenue. Additionally, VFG and its affiliates pay its Financial Professionals different compensation percentages based on recruitment incentivizing efforts and/or anticipated retention compensation.
In a brokerage account, a Financial Professional has an incentive to recommend more transactions. In an investment advisory account, a Financial Professional has an incentive to recommend that you add more assets to your account, as it will generate a higher asset-based fee. Compensation can vary depending on (i) the type of account (i.e. brokerage vs. investment advisory), (ii) the type of product (including share classes of products), service or strategy recommended to a client, and/or (iii) the size, timing, duration, or frequency of the recommended transaction(s). As a result, the Financial Professional may receive more or less compensation if, for example, client select certain products over others or if they purchase products in larger or smaller quantities. Similarly, there may be alternative ways to achieve the same or a similar investment objective which may carry different costs.
Bank Deposit Sweep Program
The Bank Deposit Sweep Program (“BDSP”) is the Firm’s default core sweep vehicle. Your account will automatically be set up with BDSP as your core account investment vehicle by default. We do this because we believe that having your cash balance in a vehicle insured by the FDIC provides you with important protection. However, we offer a wide range of investment products, including among others non-sweep money market mutual funds, treasury bills, and brokered certificates of deposit to invest cash in your Account. If receiving interest income is the primary objective for maintaining a cash balance in your Account, you should speak with your Financial Professional to consider options other than the BDSP.
The BDSP is offered to allow you to maintain and accumulate cash pending future investments or withdrawals in your Account while earning modest interest income that would not be earned if your cash were to remain as a free credit balance and to obtain up to $2.5 million (or $5 million for joint accounts) in FDIC insurance for such funds. If you are seeking to invest your Brokerage Account cash balances for potential returns or you seek yields greater than those offered by the BDSP, do not desire FDIC insurance for such funds, and you do not anticipate the need for immediate availability of your cash balances for future investments or withdrawals, you can request that your Financial Professional provide other investment options. Investment options outside of the BDSP will have different characteristics including different potential risks and benefits.
The clearing firm, National Financial Services (“NFS”), and participating banks determines the rate of interest you receive on your deposit accounts. To do so, they periodically review the interest rates paid to clients in the BDSP and determine whether, and when, the rates will change. Factors considered include the rates paid by the banks in which your funds are held (“Program Banks”) to obtain deposits from the Sweep Program, expected changes in interest rates, interest rates paid by market competitors, and program expenses. Program Banks pay a rate that is higher than the rate received by you. For BDSP, we retain a substantial portion of the difference, after the fees due to NFS and the third-party administrator for administering the program and related services are paid. We will retain a higher percentage of the interest received from Program Banks than what is credited to your Account(s).
The BDSP is not, and should not be viewed, as a long-term option for cash in your Brokerage Account if you are seeking to maximize the potential return on your investable assets. Note that an overly conservative allocation to lower-yielding options like the Insured Deposit Program will result in long-term underperformance compared to other cash vehicles that pay a higher return on investment. If you are seeking to invest your Brokerage Account cash balances for potential returns or yields greater than those offered by the Sweep Program, you can request that your Financial Professional provide other investment options.
The income we earn from the Program Banks are held based on your balances in BDSP will, in almost all circumstances, be substantially greater than the amount of interest you earn from the same balances. The amount of fees that we retain will, in almost all circumstances, be substantially greater than the portion of the fees paid to NFS or our service providers. We receive a substantially higher percentage of the interest generated by deposit balances in the BDSP than the interest credited to customer accounts. This is a conflict of interest that we ask you to carefully consider. Interest rates for the BDSP for your NFS account will change over time. For questions on the specific BDSP interest rates for your account, please contact your representative or the Firm’s Home Office at (631) 845-5100. Alternatively, under the “Bank Deposits” section of your NFS account statement, you can see the current applicable rates you will earn on Program Deposits for your specific account.
Both we and NFS will receive more revenue for cash in the BDSP than if your cash was invested in other sweep products, including other Money Market Funds. Therefore, we have an incentive for you to place and maintain your assets in the BDSP to earn more income. We use this revenue to defray the cost of operating the Sweep Program and the expense of providing other services to our clients, and for general operating expenses and to provide net earnings to our firm. Nonetheless, we believe it is important to state: this is a conflict of interest that we ask you to carefully consider.
Commissions and Sales Charges
VFG receives upfront commissions when we execute transactions that result in the purchase or sale of a security. A commission, which also may be called a sales load, sales charge, or placement fee, is typically paid at the time of the sale, reduces the amount available to invest or can be charged directly against an investment.
Generally, commissions are calculated based on the principal purchase or sale amount involved and the product type. The commission may also be based on the quantity of securities purchased, and other factors. We pay Financial Professionals a portion of the commissions that we receive. Financial Professional compensation generally will increase as the volume of trades increases in a brokerage account. Please see more information about how we compensate Financial Professionals below.
Because the commissions vary from product to product, we have an incentive to sell a higher commission product rather than a lower commission product.
The maximum and typical commissions for common investment products are listed below. For more information about other commissions that apply to a particular transaction, we encourage you to refer to the applicable investment’s prospectus or other offering document.
Brokerage Account Fees and Charges
VFG is an introducing broker. Your brokerage accounts are carried and cleared on a fully disclosed basis through our clearing and custodial firm: Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions (“Fidelity”).
If you hold a brokerage account through VFG you will pay costs for transactions, transfers, certain optional features, retirement account maintenance and other fees. Our Financial Professionals do not, but we do receive a portion of many of the fees charged by our clearing firms as a result of adding a mark-up. Generally, we receive more fees when there are more transactions in an account. Click Here to view the Firm’s Brokerage Account Fee Schedule.
We charge our Financial Professionals various fees for, among other things, trade execution, administrative services, industry-insurance, technology, and licensing. These fees impact the Financial Professional’s ability to be profitable, and provide incentive to offer and recommend certain services or products over others. In certain cases, these fees are reduced based on a Financial Professional’s overall business production or the amount of assets serviced by the Financial Professional, which gives the Financial Professional an incentive to recommend that you invest more in your account or engage in more frequent transactions. Transaction fees charged to your Financial Professional can also vary depending on the specific security that the Financial Professional recommends. For example, the transaction fees a Financial Professional pays to purchase or sell a mutual fund for your account may be different from the transaction fee to purchase or sell an ETF, which creates an incentive for your Financial Professional to recommend the product that carries the lowest transaction charge.
Clients that elect our fee-based financial planning services include a discussion of financial resources, evaluation of financial circumstances, and projected needs. Generally, this process seeks information about your current assets, liabilities, income sources, and expenditures, current tax status and future objectives, educational, retirement and other long-term financial goals, insurance and estate planning needs. There are no additional fees or expenses for the services offered in the fee-based financial planning services program. There are additional fees and expenses associated with implementing a financial plan in an advisory account, a brokerage account or a combination of advisory and brokerage accounts. Your Financial Professional can provide you with that information upon your request.
Product Fees and Expenses
Below is a summary of the typical range of expenses of the various investment products we sell. In most cases, these expenses are in addition to the commissions and fees that VFG receives for our brokerage services.
Conflicts of interests can arise in particular when VFG and its affiliates, such as Vanderbilt Securities, LLC (“VS”), Vanderbilt Advisory Services (“VAS”), Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp.(“CPR”), ImpactU.Investment, LLC (“IUI”), among others have an economic or other incentive to act, or persuade you to act, in a way that favors VFG or its affiliates.
Financial Professional may lack certain licensing or are otherwise limited in the products they can recommend. For example, some Financial Professionals may only be licensed to recommend and provide brokerage services, meaning they cannot recommend or service investment advisory accounts. In both brokerage and investment advisory accounts, we offer a wide variety of products and services but may limit the products available to you based upon factors such as account limitations and client eligibility requirements.
Compensation to Financial Professionals
We typically pay our Financial Professionals a percentage of the revenue they generate from sales of products and services. The percentage received can vary (typically between 45% to 95%) depending on a Financial Professional’s agreement for certain levels of production and the investment product or service provided. Compensation of this type creates a financial incentive for the Financial Professional to meet the production or asset levels, or to sell products that pay higher commissions.
It is customary for us to pay a portion of a Financial Professional’s compensation to the Financial Professional’s branch manager or another licensed person for supervision and/or administrative or sales support. There is a conflict of interest because the compensation affects the manager/supervisor’s ability to provide objective supervision of the Financial Professional. We address this conflict by implementing a supervisory system that includes checks and balances.
Other Benefits
Financial Professionals are eligible to receive other benefits based on the revenue generated from sales of products and services. These benefits present a conflict of interest because a Financial Professional has an incentive to remain with VFG in order to maintain these benefits. These benefits include eligibility for practice management support and enhanced service support levels that confer a variety of benefits, conferences (e.g., for education, networking, training, and personal and professional development), and other non-cash compensation. These benefits also include free or reduced cost marketing materials, reimbursement or credits of fees that Financial Professionals pay to VFG for items such as administrative services or technology, and payments that can be in the form of repayable or forgivable loans (e.g. for retention purposes or to assist a Financial Professional grow his or her securities practice). If we make a loan to a new or current Financial Professional, there is also a conflict of interest because VFG’s interest in collecting on the loan affects our ability to objectively supervise the Financial Professional.
A Financial Professional’s Outside Business Activities
Our Financial Professionals may engage in certain approved outside business activities other than providing brokerage and advisory services through VFG, and in certain cases, a Financial Professional receives more compensation, benefits, and non-cash compensation through an outside business activity than through VFG.
When this happens, the Financial Professional is subject to the policies and procedures of the third-party entity, and there are different conflicts of interest in addition to those discuss by VFG. A Financial Professional may receive compensation, benefits, and non-cash compensation through the third-party insurance agency and may have an incentive to recommend you purchase insurance products away from VFG. If you contract with a Financial Professional for services separate or away from VFG, you should discuss any questions you have about the compensation they receive from the outside activity.
VFG requires the Financial Professional to disclose these activities, but they are offered outside the services provided by VFG and subject to their own separate disclosures. You can find more information on FINRA’s website at https:// brokercheck.finra.org.
Please be advised of the following:
VFG, our affiliates, and our Financial Professionals receive compensation from third-party unaffiliated sponsors and managers when we recommend or sell certain products such as mutual funds, annuities, and alternative investments. As such, we have an incentive to recommend (or to invest your assets in) products of third-parties that pay us over products of third parties that do not pay us, or pay us less. Certain types of third-party compensation are received by VFG and shared with our Financial Professionals, and other types are retained only by VFG.
Certain managers, sponsors (or their affiliates), and our clearing firm share the revenue they earn when you invest in certain of their investment products, such as money market balances, bank sweep products balances, platform fees, and alternative investments through marketing money or warrants, with us. As such, we have an incentive to recommend (or to invest your assets in) products of sponsors and managers that share their revenue with us, over other products of sponsors or managers that do not share their revenue, or who share less.
Trail Compensation
VFG, our affiliates, and our Financial Professionals receive compensation from third-party unaffiliated sponsors and managers when we recommend or sell certain products such as mutual funds, annuities, and alternative investments. As such, we have an incentive to recommend (or to invest your assets in) products of third-parties that pay us over products of third parties that do not pay us, or pay us less. Certain types of third-party compensation are received by VFG and shared with our Financial Professionals, and other types are retained only by VFG.
Certain managers, sponsors (or their affiliates), and our clearing firm share the revenue they earn when you invest in certain of their investment products, such as money market balances, bank sweep products balances, platform fees, and alternative investments through marketing money or warrants, with us. As such, we have an incentive to recommend (or to invest your assets in) products of sponsors and managers that share their revenue with us, over other products of sponsors or managers that do not share their revenue, or who share less.
The amount of trails received varies by product. This creates an incentive to recommend a product that pays a higher trail rather than a lower trail. We also have an incentive to recommend a product that pays trails (regardless of amount) rather than products that do not pay trails.
For more information about trail compensation received with respect to a particular investment, please refer to the prospectus or offering document for the investment.
VFG and its affiliates’ Code of Ethics prohibits Employees from engaging in securities transactions or activities that involve a material conflict of interest, possible diversion of a corporate opportunity, or the appearance of impropriety. Employees must always place the interests of their clients above their own and must never use knowledge of client transactions acquired in the course of their work to their own advantage. Supervisors are required to use reasonable supervision to detect and prevent any violations of the Code of Ethics by the individuals, branches and departments that they supervise. The Code of Ethics generally operates to protect against conflicts of interest either by subjecting Employee activities to specified limitations (including pre-approval requirements) or by prohibiting certain activities.
Non-Cash Compensation
VFG and our Financial Professionals receive non-cash compensation from investment sponsors that is not in connection with any particular customer or investment. Compensation includes such items as gifts valued at less than $100 annually, an occasional dinner or ticket to a sporting event, or reimbursement for expenses in connection with educational meetings, customer workshops or events, or marketing or advertising initiatives, including services for identifying prospective customers. Investment sponsors also pay or reimburse VFG and/or our Financial Professionals, for the costs associated with education or training events that may be attended by VFG employees and Financial Professionals and for VFG sponsored conferences and events.
Third Party Compensation Retained by VFG
When Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions (“Fidelity”) is the custodian of your account, Fidelity automatically moves (sweeps) the cash in your account into money market funds and/or FDIC insured bank deposit accounts. Fidelity retains some of the interest paid on the bank deposit account or shareholder servicing fees paid on the money market fund and pays a portion of that to VFG. These payments to VFG are called “distribution assistance” and they vary based on the bank deposit account or money market fund. VFG does not determine the interest rates paid on bank deposit accounts or shareholder servicing fees paid on money market funds, or the amount or percentage of distribution payments that it will receive. We do not share distribution assistance payments with our Financial Professionals.
Fidelity also pays fees to VFG, or shares fees it earns with VFG. Vanderbilt may receive up to a 5 basis point net flow payment annually from Fidelity. For the purposes of calculating the, “Net Flows” shall be defined as the value of cash and securities transferred onto the NFS platform and into Customer Accounts, net of the value of cash and securities transferred out of Customer Accounts and off of the NFS platform, in connection with any of the following transaction types: Rollovers, Distributions, Checks Paid and Received, TOA’s, Contributions, Wires, Card Activity, and Transfers for a calendar year.
Explicitly excluded from the definition of “Net Flows” are the following transaction types: Net Sales, Dividends, Capital Gains, Fees, and Tax Withholding.
For clarity, explicitly excluded from the calculation of “Net Flows” are transfers of cash or securities between Customer Accounts and any other accounts custodied or introduced by NFS or its affiliates. For example, the transfer of cash or securities from an account on the NFS platform that was introduced to Net Flows and any transfer of cash or securities out of a Customer Account to another account introduced to NFS by Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC or another introducing broker dealer shall not reduce Net Flows.
VFG and its affiliates along with our Financial Professionals and employees may interact with you via electronic means of communication, such as email. A client can elect eDelivery and/or eConsent to the delivery of important communications, documentation and disclosures, including, but not limited to, Firm communications, the Firm’s Client Relationship Summary (Form CRS), fraud alerts, account statements, account documentation, trade confirmations, performance reports, and legal and regulatory notices and disclosures. When you enroll in eDelivery and/or eConsent, you consent to the electronic delivery of all eligible documents, however once enrolled you can customize the selection of documents and update your delivery preferences.
Our Financial Professionals provide recommendations with respect to a broad range of investment products, including certain Mutual Funds with which we have selling agreements (Onshore and Offshore Mutual Funds such as Equity Funds, Fixed Income Funds, and Balance Funds), U.S. Equities (listed companies on all U.S. exchanges, Nasdaq stocks, Bulletin Board stocks, and Pink Sheet stocks), Non-USD Equities, Fixed Income (U.S. Treasury bonds, notes, and bills; U.S. Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) securities; U.S. Corporate Bonds), Options, and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), and Alternative Investments.
Each type of investment product carries unique risks, and many investment products charge fees and costs that are separate from and in addition to the commissions and fees that VFG and our Financial Professionals receive. You can learn more about these risks and the fees and costs charged by an investment product by reviewing the investment product’s prospectus, offering memorandum, or other disclosure documents along with any other documentation we provide you at the time of recommendation. Organized by product type below, the following summaries and resources are intended to supplement the information already provided to you at the time of a recommendation.
Click on a topic below to jump to that section on the page:
Mutual Funds, Share Classes and Fund Selection
A mutual fund is a company that pools money from many investors and invests the money in securities such as stocks, bonds, and short-term debt. The combined holdings of the mutual fund are known as its portfolio. Investors buy shares in mutual funds. Each share represents an investor’s part ownership in the fund and the income it generates.
Mutual funds offer professional investment management and potential diversification.
They also offer three ways to earn money:
All funds carry some level of risk. With mutual funds, you may lose some or all of the money you invest because the securities held by a fund can go down in value. Dividends or interest payments may also change as market conditions change.
A fund’s past performance is not as important as you might think because past performance does not predict future returns. But past performance can tell you how volatile or stable a fund has been over a period of time. The more volatile the fund, the higher the investment risk.
Please read more about mutual funds at: https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/investing-basics/investment-products/mutual-funds-and-exchange-traded-1
We offer various share classes of mutual funds and 529s. As an example, certain mutual fund share classes, often referred to as Class A shares, charge an upfront sales charge and an ongoing trail. For other mutual fund share classes, often titled Class C shares, there is no upfront sale charge paid, however, there is an ongoing trail payment and a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) to the customer if there is a redemption within a certain period of time after purchase. Depending on the length of the holding period for a mutual fund or 529 plan, and other factors, one share class may be less expensive to you than another, and VFG and your Financial Professional may earn more or less in compensation for one share class than another. Because of their characteristics and sales load structure, mutual funds generally are longer term investments. Frequent purchases and sales of mutual funds can result in significant sales charges unless the transactions are limited to exchanges among mutual funds offered by a sponsor that permits exchanges without additional sales charges. We maintain policies and procedures that are designed to detect and prevent excessive mutual fund switching, but you should carefully review the mutual fund prospective, regularly monitor your account and discuss with your Financial Professional any frequent mutual fund purchases and sales.
We offer various mutual funds and ETFs, some of which have similar or identical investment strategies but differing fee structures. For example, a mutual fund that is designed to track an index of securities, such as the S&P 500 Index, may have higher or different types of fees than an ETF that is designed to track the same index. Whether a fund or ETF is more expensive than another fund or ETF with a similar or identical investment strategy may depend on factors such as length of holding, size of the initial investment, and other factors. In addition, holding an ETF in a taxable account will generate less tax liabilities than a similarly structured mutual fund. VFG and your Financial Professional may earn more compensation for one fund or ETF than another, giving VFG and your Financial Professional an incentive to recommend the product that pays more compensation to us.
You should familiarize yourself with tools and information that will help you make sound decisions about investing.
We encourage you to refer to FINRA’s Fund Analyzer and 529 Savings Plan Analyzer found here:
VFG does not offer all the securities and services available across the broad markets due to structure, size, and liquidity of the security or similar characteristics of the security or underlying investments, and decisions made for product offerings by our principals team or Fidelity. Funds available for purchase through VFG are generally limited to fund companies with which we have selling agreements or that have agreements in place with our custodians. Not all mutual funds available to the investing public will be available to you through VFG, including funds with lower fees and expenses. All share classes offered by a fund company are also not always available due to the selling agreements we have negotiated. This means that lower cost share classes might not be available to you through VFG, even though you might otherwise be eligible to purchase those lower share classes elsewhere.
Some mutual funds and other products offer lower commissions for higher investment amounts. This discounts are called “breakpoints.” Because an investor meeting a breakpoint pays a lower sales concession, we are incentivized to make investment recommendations below the breakpoint. The prospectus you receive in connection with your investment provides important information about breakpoints that should be used to help inform you investment decision. You should also familiarize yourself with tools and information that will help you make sound decisions about investing in products with breakpoints. We encourage you to refer to FINRA’s Investor Alert titled “Mutual Fund Breakpoints: A Break Worth Taking” and other tools and information available at https://www.finra.org/investors/alerts .
Products that include alternative investments impose minimum account sizes and also require that investors meet specific criteria. Therefore, these products are not offered or available to all investors.
When applicable, VFG provides product-specific limitations and criteria at the time of the recommendation, including through prospectuses or offering materials. These documents are your primary source of information.
There are many types of Mutual Funds. Here are descriptions of some of the varieties and links to more information:
Alternative Mutual Funds
In addition to the usual market and investment risks associated with traditional mutual funds, alt funds may face additional risks to the extent they use relatively complex investment and trading strategies. Depending on the strategy being used, these potential risks can include use of derivatives and leverage, futures contracts, short selling and swaps.
Leveraged Loan Funds
Like every investment, leveraged loans involve a trade-off between rewards and risks. They could cause the fund (and you) to lose money. Risks include:
Index Funds
Like any investment, index funds involve risk. An index fund will be subject to the same general risks as the securities in the index it tracks. The fund may also be subject to certain other risks, such as:
Non-traditional index funds have unique characteristics and risks. In some cases, they may be complex and difficult to understand. Take time to make sure a fund is a good fit for you by considering such things as:
Money Market Funds
Money market mutual funds typically pay interest at about the same rate and many offer check-writing privileges. One advantage is that there’s usually no limit on the number of checks you can write each month. However, any check you write against the account may have to be for at least the required minimum, such as $500. One drawback is that money market funds, unlike money market accounts, are not FDIC insured, although some offer their own insurance. While fund companies try to keep their money market share price stable at $1 a share, there is the possibility you could lose some of your principal.
Please review descriptions of the types of risks of investing in Money Market Funds below:
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) combine aspects of mutual funds and conventional stocks. Like a mutual fund, an ETF is a pooled investment fund that offers an investor an interest in a professionally managed, diversified portfolio of investments. But unlike mutual funds, ETF shares trade like stocks on stock exchanges and can be bought or sold throughout the trading day at fluctuating prices.
Please review the types of risks inherent in investing in ETFs:
ETFs may also suffer from crowded trade risks, given the sheer number of market participants involved in this market. Like other assets, ETFs also carry opportunity costs, creation and redemption fees and taxes on interest income and capital gains. These fees must be factored into overall trading costs so there aren’t any surprises down the road.
This is very different from average daily volume, which provides a historical account of how frequently the ETF is traded. Investors who have in the past relied on average daily volume to gauge liquidity need to reassess their strategy for the ETF market.
ETFs typically do in-kind transactions to avoid paying capital gains distributions. However, actively managed ETFs may not do all their selling in-kind, leaving investors exposed to capital gains taxes. This also applies to international ETFs, funds that use derivatives, commodity ETFs and currency ETFs.
Margin
Margin accounts can be very risky and they are not suitable for everyone. Before opening a margin account, you should fully understand that:
You can protect yourself by knowing how a margin account works and what happens if the price of the stock purchased on margin declines. Know that your firm charges you interest for borrowing money and how that will affect the total return on your investments. Be sure to ask your broker whether it makes sense for you to trade on margin in light of your financial resources, investment objectives, and tolerance for risk.
There is additional information in this article published on the SEC website at: https://www.sec.gov/reportspubs/investor-publications/investorpubsmarginhtm.html
You will also receive a Margin Agreement when we recommend a margin account for you. Please read it carefully. It is your primary source of information.
Options
Options are contracts that give the purchaser the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a security, such as a stock or exchange-traded fund, at a fixed price within a specific period of time.
Options can help you manage risk. But buying and selling options also involves risk, and it is possible to lose money. It pays to learn about different types of options, trading strategies and the risks involved.
If you invest in options, you will receive a separate Options Disclosure Document. We encourage you to read it carefully.
We also encourage you to review FINRA’s Options resources found here: https://www.finra.org/investors/learn-to-invest/types-investments/options
Here are general descriptions of the risks inherent in options investing:
1. Risks of option holders
2. Risks of option writers
Private Placements, Alternative Investments
Simply stated, a private placement is an offering of a company’s securities that is not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and is not offered to the public at large.
Many private placements are offered pursuant to Regulation D of the Securities Act of 1933, which specifies the amount of money that can be raised and the type of investor that can be solicited to participate in the offering. See https://www.sec.gov/fast-answers/answers-regdhtm.html for a plain English explanation.
The offering document, sometimes called a private placement memorandum or term sheet, likely will contain limited information on the company’s business (and may not be provided at all, if the offering is sold only to accredited investors). Since many private placement securities are issued by companies that are not required to file financial reports, you may have problems finding out how the company is doing, and gauging how your private placement is likely to perform over time.
There are limitations to who can invest in a private placement. You generally must be an accredited investor to invest in a private placement, but there are exceptions. In order to make the investment, you should carefully consider the risk, and understand that the Financial Professional and VFG likely make more commission if you buy the private placement than they would for an alternative investment. Ask yourself if you can absorb a substantial loss, even the entire amount of the investment, or if you can withstand a long period of time, even indefinitely before you money is available to you again. Keep in mind that private placement securities are considered “restricted” securities and cannot be resold without registration or an exemption from registration – features that make them difficult to sell (illiquid) and may negatively impact the price at which you are able to sell them. In addition, the issuer typically does not have an obligation to provide liquidity to investors by buying the securities back when the investor wants to sell.
Important information regarding a private placement is provided an offering memorandum, sometimes called a PPM. Read it very carefully – it is your primary source of information. If you do not understand it, or you are not comfortable with the information – do not invest.
On its website, FINRA offers investors the following tips in the excerpt below about investing in private placements:
Retirement Accounts, Rollovers
If a customer decides to roll assets out of a retirement plan, such as a 401(k) plan, and into an individual retirement account (IRA), we have a financial incentive to recommend that the customer invest those assets through VFG, because we will be paid on those assets, for example, through commissions, fees, and/or third-party payments.
Please be advised of your options, and what a rollover means to you.
If you leave your employer, you typically have four options (and may engage in a combination of these options):
Each choice offers advantages and disadvantages, depending on your desired investment options and services, fees and expenses, withdrawal options, required minimum distributions, tax treatment, and your unique financial needs and retirement plans. The complexity of these choices may lead you to seek assistance one of our Financial Professionals. The options that we offer you will result in revenue to our Financial Professionals and our firm. You should be aware that such fees and commissions likely will be higher than those the customer pays through their plan, and there can be custodial and other maintenance fees. As securities held in a retirement plan generally cannot be transferred to an IRA, commissions and sales charges may be charged when liquidating such securities prior to the transfer, in addition to commissions and sales charges previously paid on transactions in the plan.
Therefore, we have an incentive to recommend that you “roll-over” your employer plan to us. Please consider each of your options before making a decision.
SIPC Coverage Summary
Please review the following disclosures regarding insurance coverage relevant to your investments:
The Firm is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). SIPC provides coverage, as set forth above, in the unlikely event that we fail financially. Money market fund shares are not considered cash for this purpose; they are securities. An explanatory brochure is available upon request at www.sipc.org. SIPC asset protection limits apply, in the aggregate, to all securities accounts that you hold with us in a particular capacity. SIPC coverage does not insure against the loss of your investment. SIPC coverage does not ensure the quality of investments, protect against a decline or fluctuations in the value of your investment, or cover securities not held by us. Account protection applies when an SIPC-member firm fails financially and is unable to meet obligations to securities clients, but it does not protect against market fluctuations.
SIPC coverage is not the same as FDIC deposit insurance and operates differently. FDIC is an independent agency of the U.S. government that insures bank-held assets as set forth above.
Unless explicitly stated, products sold by the Firm are not considered bank deposits and are not covered by FDIC insurance. Further information on FDIC insurance can be obtained from your Financial Professional, who will provide you with the FDIC brochure, “Your Insured Deposits, FDIC’s Guide to Deposit Insurance Coverage,” upon request. You can obtain information directly from the FDIC, Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection, by writing to Deposit Insurance Outreach, 550 17th Street N.W., Washington, DC 20429, or telephoning 877-275-3342 or 800-925-4618 (TDD). Or, you may visit the FDIC website at www.fdic.gov or e-mail them at dcainternet@fdic.gov. You may also wish to consult with your attorney concerning FDIC coverage of deposits, particularly when held in more than one capacity.
This content is developed from sources believed to be providing accurate information. The information in this material is not intended as tax or legal advice. Please consult legal or tax professionals for specific information regarding your individual situation. Some of this material was developed and produced by third parties to provide information on a topic that may be of interest. The opinions expressed and material provided are for general information, and should not be considered a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security.
ADA accessible design website
Vanderbilt Financial Group is an investment firm disrupting traditional finance by focusing on socially and environmentally responsible, ethical, and impactful investments.
Vanderbilt Financial Group is the marketing name for Vanderbilt Securities, LLC and its affiliates. Securities offered through Vanderbilt Securities, LLC. Member FINRA, SIPC. Registered with MSRB. Clearing agent: Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions. Advisory Services offered through Vanderbilt Advisory Services & Consolidated Portfolio Review. Clearing agents: Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions and Charles Schwab. Insurance Services offered through Vanderbilt Insurance and other agencies. For additional information on services, disclosures, fees, and conflicts of interest, please visit Important Disclosures | Privacy Policy | SEC Rule 606 | Public BCP
VFG uses Ethos ESG Research, an industry leader in driving ESG and Climate transparency through objective measuring and modeling of ESG characteristics. Learn more at www.ethosesg.com. VFG and its affiliates support and promote Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (“ESG”), Socially Responsible Investing (“SRI”), and Impact Investing, but the Firm and its affiliates do not require or mandate that its financial professionals engage solely in related activities. Clients of the Firm and its affiliates are not required to adopt or invest in any specific security, strategy, or portfolio. We take protecting your data and privacy very seriously. As of January 1, 2020 the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) suggests the following link as an extra measure to safeguard your data: Do not sell my personal information.
This content is developed from sources believed to be providing accurate information. The information in this material is not intended as tax or legal advice. Please consult legal or tax professionals for specific information regarding your individual situation. Some of this material was developed and produced by third parties to provide information on a topic that may be of interest. The opinions expressed and material provided are for general information, and should not be considered a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security.
