Item 3: Fees, Costs, Conflicts, and Standard of Conduct
What fees will I pay?
The annual advisory fee is charged as a percentage of assets under management. For fee purposes, accounts with the same address are aggregated into households. Many clients will pay less than the Maximum Annual Fee. In the case of clients utilizing third-party investment advisors, APIA and the third-party adviser selected by the client share the total advisory fee. While fees may vary by investment products and third-party advisors, the range of possible maximum fees is as follows:
Note: An investment advisor that charges an asset-based fee, such as APIA may have a conflict of interest with the investor with regard to the amount of assets invested. The more assets there are in a client’s investment account, the more the investor will pay in fees, and thus the firm may have an incentive to encourage the investor to increase the assets in his or her account.
Description of Other Fees and Costs: APIA may also charge hourly fees for college planning, consulting services, and other individualized services. You will negotiate these fees with your advisor.
Conversation Starter: You might ask the following question of a financial professional to start a conversation about the impact of fees and costs on investments: “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?
Standard of Conduct: When we act as your investment adviser, we are legally required to act in your best interest and put your interest ahead of ours. 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 is an example to help you understand what this means: investments where the manager or sponsor of your investments shares with APIA revenue it earns on those investments.
Conversation Starter: You might ask the following question of a financial professional to start a conversation about conflicts of interest: “How might your conflicts of interest affect me, and how will you address them?”
Additional Information: 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.” APIA may recommend its own services and/or other professionals to implement its recommendations. Clients are advised that a conflict of interest exists if APIA recommends its own services. APIA may receive additional compensation for administrative and marketing services. APIA may also pay other unaffiliated financial service companies for providing administrative and market support to APIA. To address these potential conflicts of interest, APIA will make full disclosure of any additional economic benefit the firm has receives from any third party and will amend this brochure periodically to disclosure any changes in those benefits.
How do your financial professionals make money? APIA financial professionals are paid based on the amount of assets under advisement and any management duties for assistance with accounts or retirement plans. We are paid a percentage of non-asset management commissions when we sell products such as life insurance and annuities. Rarely, we may receive a referral fee if we refer a client who does business with us on other solutions within the agency. Compensation described above is consistent across all lines of business.