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Investment Committee Charter
UPDATED JULY 2021
Investment Committee Charter
Investment Committee Composition and Responsibilities
Goal:
- Provide easy-to-understand and visible guidance to AWM leadership and stakeholders on the roles and responsibilities of the Investment Committee (IC).
Outcome:
- Implement a simple process outline relating to investment committee governance that is in keeping with industry
best practices.
Where Can Clients / Wealth Advisors Find This Information:
- AWM Investment Team (IT) will maintain a running roster of IC members and rotation schedule. This information
will be kept in the AWM shared drive directory > Investment Committee subfolder.
- For clients, the IT recommends that AWM publish a list of permanent / rotating IC members on the company
website.
Membership:
The committee shall be composed of the following members:
| CURRENT MEMBERS | |
|---|---|
| AWM: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) | Thomas Johnson III, CFP® |
| AWM: President | Timothy Denehy, CFP® |
| AWM: Managing Director | Nesha Zeigler, MBA |
| Forge Principal | Michael Gunn |
| Rotating Seats: AWM FC, Forge | Robinson Martin (starting 2021) |
| Marcela Espinosa (starting 2021) | |
| David Paventi (starting 2021) |
Membership Details:
- The Committee’s Chair (the “Chair”) shall be appointed by the IC annually and may serve an unlimited number
of consecutive one-year terms. Voting shall take place at the January IC Meeting.
- All members of the Committee shall be voting members of the Committee.
- There shall not be more than seven members of the Committee.
- A rotating seat on the IC is a best practice that many other Registered Investment Advisors (RIA) have adopted.
- A rotating seat allows for a number of organizational benefits to include:
- Involving junior members of the organization to help develop future talent
- Bringing a fresh perspective to investment discussions
- Providing a voice to a newly acquired companies’ leadership team
- Term Limits: The only permanent members of the IC should be AWM personnel. Other members will serve a
three year term, with staggered expirations such that there is no more than one member of the IC exiting every
year, or, if a Rotating Seat, the term is one year.
Meetings:
The Chair shall preside at meetings of the Committee and shall set the agenda.
The Committee shall meet at least four (4) times per year
and otherwise as often as deemed necessary or appropriate,
in its judgment, to discharge its duties and responsibilities. Meetings of the Committee may be held in-person and/or via
telephonic or electronic or video conference, and at such times and places as the Committee determines. A majority of
the members (3+ currently) constitute a quorum. If a quorum is present, a majority of the members present shall decide
any matter brought before the Committee. The Chair may call a meeting of the Committee upon due notice to all other
members at least 48 hours prior to the meeting. Notice by electronic mail shall be sufficient notice. The Committee may
also act by written consent signed by majority of its members.
Duties and Responsibilities:
- In addition to carrying out any other responsibilities delegated to the Committee by the Forge Companies, the
Committee:
- Understand the company’s investment goals and how they support the company’s mission.
- Establish the company’s investment policies and guidelines and review them regularly.
- Adopt a written statement of investment policies
that includes one or more benchmark portfolios that serve as
a metric to evaluate portfolio returns over several years.
- Authorize and ratify investments to delegated authorities, such as the Outsourced Chief Investment Officer.
- Monitor the investment funds’ performance, including the impact on the company’s policies and guidelines.
- Monitor, retain or replace investment managers and the portfolio’s investment funds.
- Make adjustments and correct inaccuracies in the portfolio as necessary.
- Review fees incurred by the portfolio to ensure reasonableness.
- Select, monitor and replace third-party advisors and consultants of the portfolio for effectiveness and
appropriateness of responsibilities.
- The committee will maintain records for administering the portfolio and monitoring the actions of the committee.
Review the committee members’ backgrounds to ensure no conflicts of interest exist. Sworn statement would
be sufficient.
- The committee shall have access to any of the company’s relevant books and records that are necessary for it
to carry out its duties.
- The committee may require a board officer or company employee to attend investment committee meetings for
the purpose of obtaining information relevant to the committee’s duties, except as the board may prohibit.
Expected Client Benefit:
While obvious client benefits are not easily visible, several academic studies would suggest an Investment Committee
with a well-understood structure and responsibilities would benefit client interests from:
- More expedient decision-making
- Documented decision-making process that will be refined over time
Reviewed:
March 16, 2021
July 23, 2021
Adopted:
July 23, 2021
References:
This communication should not be regarded as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or investment products, an official confirmation of any transaction, an official statement, or as any other official statement of Forge Consulting, LLC or its affiliates, which include but are not limited to Advocacy Trust LLC, Advocacy Inc., Advocacy Wealth Management, Forge Capital, LLC, Forge Capital Services, LLC, and Full Circle Coverage (altogether referred to as “Forge”). Forge does not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice to its clients, and all clients are advised to consult with professionals who can provide tax, accounting, and legal advice regarding any potential investment.
Securities and insurance products are NOT
insured by the FDIC, nor by any other Federal or state government agency, are NOT
a deposit of and are NOT
Guaranteed by a bank or any bank affiliate, and MAY
lose value.
FORGE and
are registered trademarks of Forge Consulting LLC.
is a registered trademark of Advocacy Wealth Management, LLC.
, FORGE CAPITAL, FORGE FOR BUSINESS, FULL CIRCLE, and ABACUS ADVISORS are trademarks of Forge Consulting LLC.
All investments involve risks that you will lose value including the amount of your initial investment. Investments that offer the potential for higher rates of return generally involve greater risk of loss. Note: reinvestment transactions that involve selling existing investments may involve transaction costs associated with the sale of those assets as well as transaction costs associated with the purchase of new investments.
International investing: There are special risks associated with international investing, such as political changes and currency fluctuations. These risks are heightened in emerging markets.
Small/Mid-Capitalization investing: Investments in companies with small or mid-market capitalization ("small/mid-caps") may be subject to special risks given their characteristic narrow markets, limited financial resources, and less liquid stocks, all of which may cause price volatility.
High-Yield investing: Investments in high yielding debt securities are generally subject to greater market fluctuations and risk of loss of income and principal, than are investments in lower yielding debt securities.
Inflation Protected Bond investing: Interest rate increases can cause the price of a debt security to decrease. Increases in real interest rates can cause the price of inflation‐protected debt securities to decrease. Interest payments on inflation‐protected debt securities can be unpredictable.
Interest Rate Risk: This risk refers to the risk that bond prices decline as interest rates rise. Interest rates and bond prices tend to move in opposite directions. Long‐term bonds tend to be more sensitive to interest rate changes and therefore may be more volatile.
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