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Client Relationship Summary

Introduction

TradeWinds, LLC (“TradeWinds”) headquartered in Raleigh, NC, is an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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 adviser, and investing. 

What investment services and advice can you provide me?

We provide investment management and financial planning services to retail clients, typically bundled together for a single ongoing asset-based fee based upon the value of cash and investments in the advisory account. Unless you are a financial planning-only client, we will sit down with you to discuss your concerns and objectives and walk you through our investment process and philosophy. We will examine your current financial situation, and then work with you to identify an appropriate investment strategy, considered in the context of your overall financial plan, investment objectives, and risk tolerance. Based upon these conversations, we will create an investment policy statement and select an appropriate asset allocation based upon your unique objectives, goals, and risk tolerance. 

Financial Planning services are provided to all clients. We will provide advice regarding your investment goals and objectives, balance sheet, tax planning, retirement, cash flow and other investment planning needs. We do not include monitoring of investments or have discretion over investments for clients that hire us solely for financial planning or consulting. 

All client portfolios are generally invested in a mixture of individual stocks, load and no-load mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, individual corporate bonds, municipal bonds, and a small allocation to cash or cash equivalents, although some client accounts may contain inherited positions (non-traded REITs or other securities) until we are able to employ a suitable divesting strategy. Our investment management program provides discretionary account management monitored on a continuous basis by our firm’s Portfolio Managers, who are responsible for ensuring that your account is managed according to your investment objective and risk tolerance. Reasonable restrictions on the management of your account(s) may be imposed on our firm. We do not have a household minimum in investable assets, but this can be waived at the firm’s discretion. 

For additional information about the services we can offer you, please see Item 4 of our Form ADV Part 2A Brochure and Wrap Brochure which are available on our website, www.tradewinds.global 

 

Conversation Starters: Ask your financial professional –

  • Given my financial situation, should I choose an investment advisory service? Why or why not?
  • How will you choose investments to recommend to me?
  • What is your relevant experience, including your licenses, education and other qualifications? What do these qualifications mean?

What fees will I pay? 

You will be charged an ongoing management fee based on the assets under management in accordance with the fee schedule contained in your agreement. Fees are typically charged monthly in arrears based on the average daily balance during the period. These fees are “asset-based” meaning that the fee is calculated as a percentage of the assets invested in your advisory account according to the fee schedule in your advisory agreement with us. This means that the more assets you invest in your account, the more you will pay in fees, and therefore we have an incentive to encourage you to increase your advisory account assets. The www.tradewinds.global 

firm’s current fee schedules are described in Item 5 of the Form ADV Part 2. In addition to the fee(s) above, you may be responsible for certain charges imposed by the custodian and/or broker, including transaction fees, custodian fees (e.g. wire fees), and internal fees related to mutual funds. 

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. For additional information, please see TradeWind’s Form ADV Part 2A brochure posted on our website, Items 5 and 7. 

Conversation Starters: 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?

What are your legal obligations to me when acting as my investment adviser? 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 with your interests. You should understand and ask us about these conflicts because they can affect the investment advice we provide you. Here are some examples to help you understand what this means. 

  • Your broker-dealer and custodian provide us with access to electronic systems that assist us in managing your account, as well as research, software, other technology, and discounts for products and services offered by third-party service providers. These economic benefits give our firm an incentive to potentially recommend the broker-dealer and custodian over another broker-dealer and custodian that do not provide similar benefits. 

For additional information regarding our firm’s conflicts of interest, please see Item 10 of the Firm’s Form ADV Part 2A brochure posted on our website. 

Conversation Starters: Ask your financial professional –

  • How might your conflicts of interest affect me, and how will you address them?

How do your financial professionals make money? 

Our financial professionals are paid a salary plus discretionary bonuses based on company, team, and individual performance, which includes metrics like client retention, referrals, and because the firm’s salaries are ultimately derived, from revenue the firm earns from the financial professional’s advisory services or recommendations. 

Do you or your financial professionals have legal or disciplinary history? 

No. This includes our firm and its representatives. Visit Investor.gov/CRS for a free and simple search tool to research us and our financial professionals.? 

Conversation Starters: Ask your financial professional –

  • As a financial professional, do you have any disciplinary history? For what type of conduct?

Additional Information 

For additional information about our services, including up-to-date information about the firm and/or a copy of this disclosure, please call Ian Meiksins at 202-753-6940. To report a problem to the SEC, visit Investor.gov or call the SEC’s toll-free investor assistance line at (800) 732-0330. 

Conversation Starters: Ask your financial professional –

  • Who is my primary contact person? Is he or she a representative of an investment adviser or broker dealer? Who can I talk to if I have concerns about how this person is treating me?