Firm Description Wedgewood Partners, Inc. (hereinafter "WPI"), a corporation organized under Missouri law, is an
investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. WPI maintains its
principal office at 9909 Clayton Road, Suite 103, St. Louis, MO 63124.
Principal Owners Anthony Guerrerio, Chairman, Founder, CEO and David Rolfe, CIO are the principal owners.
Michael Quigley, Senior Portfolio Manager has less than 5% interest as of 1/1/2015 and voting trust
composed of shareholders of RiverPark Advisors LLC has 5.95%.
Types of Advisory Services WPI is primarily a Large Cap Growth (LCG) securities manager that offers the following products:
WPI LCG Third Party Investment Program – WPI provides portfolio management
services to clients through various investment programs sponsored by independent, third-
party investment firms and investment management consultants. Some, but not all, of these
programs are wrap fee and Unified Managed Account (UMA) programs.
Often, the end-clients in our Third-Party Investment Program are high net worth individuals,
Pension/profit sharing plans, Foundation/charities, Government/municipal, Mutual Funds,
other. We do not typically interact with these end-clients, as the third-party sponsor or
investment management consultant usually has a single point of contact, such as an analyst or
consultant.
WPI LCG Sub-adviser to Investment Companies - WPI will also provide portfolio
management services as a sub-adviser to investment companies (registered under the
Investment Company Act of 1940) such as mutual funds. WPI will typically manage some or
all the assets of a Fund on a discretionary basis in accordance with the Fund’s investment
objectives, policies, and restrictions and subject to the supervision and control of the Fund
Manager.
WPI Private Portfolio Management – WPI also provides continuous investment advice
directly to clients regarding investment of their funds based upon the individual needs of the
client. WPI manages these accounts on a discretionary basis. Account supervision is guided
by the client’s stated objectives, risk tolerance, economic situation, and asset allocation of
each client. WPI does not actively market this product.
As of 12/31/2019, WPI’s has total firm assets under management comprised of Model Assets which is
not included in the ADV Part 1:
Discretionary Assets Under
Management
Assets Under Advisement -
Model Assets (UMA) Total Firm Assets
$780,438,149 $1,386,679,791 $2,167,117,940
Tailored Relationships Clients have the opportunity to place reasonable restrictions on the types of investments that WPI
will make on their behalf. However, WPI does not provide Socially Responsible Investment (SRI)
screens.
Wrap Fee Program Participation Details A “wrap-fee” program is one that provides the client with advisory and brokerage execution
services, plus account reporting and custodial services, for one all-inclusive fee.
WPI participates in these programs as a sub-adviser.
In a sub-advisory capacity, WPI receives only a portion of the total wrap fee that is charged to the
account.
Some of the sub-advised programs include:
Program Sponsor
Mount Yale Investment
Consulting Program
Mount Yale Securities, LLC
UBS Access/SWP UBS Securities LLC
Managed Account Utility Platform Lockwood Capital Management, Inc.
In these sub-advisory programs, WPI's investment management services are available to individuals
subject to account minimums specified in the wrap program brochure. Depending on the program,
account minimums may be between $100,000 and $250,000.
In these sub-advisory programs, a representative of the program sponsor or an independent
financial adviser will work with the client to complete an investment questionnaire and recommend
investing a portion of the client’s assets in the WPI sub-advised portfolio. WPI will review all client
applications for inclusion in its managed accounts. For approved clients, WPI's portfolio managers
will be reasonably available to consult with clients if necessary.
The factors that prospective clients should consider include the size of a client’s portfolio, the nature
of the investments to be managed, commission costs, custodial expenses, if any, the anticipated level
of trading activity and the amount of advisory fees only for managing the client portfolio.
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Description Generally, WPI is compensated through AUM-based fees. WPI’s standard fee schedule across all
programs is as follows:
Assets under management Maximum Annual Fee (%)
First $1,000,000 1.50%
Next $1,500,000 1.25%
Next $2,500,000 1.00%
Any amount over $5,000,000 0.75%
In certain circumstances, WPI’s fees and account minimums may be negotiable.
Advisory fees may vary among WPI’s clients based upon a number of factors, including:
• the size of the client’s account
• the types and nature of related services provided
• the length of the advisory relationship with a client
WPI may group certain related client accounts for the purposes of achieving the minimum account
size and determining the annualized fee.
Fee Billing Most Clients will be invoiced for each calendar quarter based upon the value (market value or fair
market value in the absence of market value) of the client's account at the end of the previous
quarter. The first payment is due upon execution of a service agreement and will be assessed pro
rata in the event services do not begin at the start of a calendar quarter. Upon termination of any
account, any prepaid, unearned fees will be promptly refunded, and any earned, unpaid fees will be
due and payable.
Other Fees Clients may be charged fees in addition to the advisory fee paid WPI. This can include brokerage
commissions and other custodian fees. Please refer to the section entitled Brokerage Practices for
more information.
Performance-Based Fees
WPI does not currently earn performance-based fees. However, in the case that we do, performance-
based fees will only be charged in accordance with the provisions of Reg. 205-3 of the Investment
Advisers Act of 1940 and/or applicable state regulations. All performance-based fees have the ability
to introduce a conflict of interest. WPI treats all client accounts with the same attention and
discretion, regardless of fee, account size and working or personal relationship.
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Description Generally, WPI manages separate accounts for high-net worth individuals (HNW), institutions and
investment companies.
We manage the majority of our HNW clients through relationships with third-party wealth managers
and investment management consultants. Typically, WPI has a few main points of contact with these
managers and consultants, often in the research and due-diligence departments, but otherwise does
not directly speak to the HNW clients. In any case, WPI requires that all clients pass a
suitability screen before we accept portfolio management responsibilities.
Institutional accounts include: pensions, endowments, defined contribution and ERISA-based
clients.
WPI will also provide portfolio management services as a sub-adviser to investment companies
(registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940) such as mutual funds. WPI will typically
manage some or all the assets of a fund on a discretionary basis in accordance with the fund’s
investment objectives, policies, and restrictions and subject to the supervision and control of the
Fund Manager.
Account Minimums We require clients that do not have an affiliation to a third-party that WPI has a relationship with, to
have a minimum of $1,000,000 AUM. Otherwise, account minimums are negotiable and range from
$100,000.
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Methods of Analysis Our underlying equity investment philosophy is predicated on our strong belief that significant long-
term wealth will be created by thinking, analyzing and investing as “owners” in companies. Our
clients’ portfolios are purposefully and most distinctly different to that of the typical institutional
portfolio in terms of the concentration of holdings and in annual turnover. We seek to concentrate
our portfolios in approximately 20 or so unusually profitable companies in just a handful of
industries. We believe that if our research effort is focused and thorough enough to derive truly
long-term convictions, a beneficial by-product is the concomitant reduction of company-specific
risk (though not short-term price and market risk) through the pursuit of superior knowledge of our
limited investments.
Because this investment strategy involves a certain degree of equity investment risk, including
permanent loss of capital, it will only be recommended when consistent with the client's stated
tolerance for risk.
Investment Strategies The primary strategy that WPI offers is the Large Cap Focused Growth Product (LCG).
For the Third-Party Investment Program and when acting as Sub-adviser to Investment Companies:
• Portfolios typically hold approximately 20 positions
• Investment process subsumes a thorough qualitative and quantitative screening of 500-600
of the largest companies (measured by market cap).
o Quantitatively, we screen for past excellence. This includes the search for
exceptionally high profitability.
o Qualitatively, we search for the prospect of future excellence.
▪ This analysis includes assessing the sustainability of a company’s business
model by comparing them to Porter’s Five Forces of Competitive Advantage
(i.e. barriers to entry, threat of substitutes, buying power, supplier power,
degree of internal rivalry).
o Often, approximately 40 companies exceed our profitability hurdles and
qualitative requirements.
o The remaining buy decision becomes a question of valuation. We look for a
company to trade at a discount to its relative, absolute, and historical growth rates.
o Of these companies, approximately 20 true growth companies are held for the long
term.
• Using volatility as a proxy for risk, a concentrated portfolio tends to be much more risky
than a more diversified portfolio. This risk can lead to permanent loss of capital.
WPI also administers, though no longer actively marketing, a comprehensive Private Portfolio
Management strategy. WPI will create a portfolio consisting of:
• Individual equities, corporate debt securities, certificates of deposit (CDs), municipal
securities, mutual funds, U.S. Government securities, and options contracts on securities.
• WPI will allocate the client's assets among various investments taking into consideration the
objectives of the client.
• Using fundamental analysis, securities are continuously monitored and evaluated relative to
market and industry conditions.
• WPI may utilize one or more of the following investment strategies in servicing Private
Portfolio Management accounts:
o long-term and short-term investment strategies
o trading (securities sold within 30 days)
o margin transactions, or option writing, including covered options, uncovered options
or spreading strategies.
• Because these investment strategies involve certain additional degrees of risk, they will only be
recommended when consistent with the client's stated tolerance for risk.
WPI utilizes a number of sources of financial information in the firm’s analysis of securities
including:
• Financial newspapers, magazines and industry-sponsored trade publications
• Annual reports, prospectuses, SEC filings and conference call transcripts
• Corporate rating services and sell-side research
This Private Portfolio Management strategy often requires clients to take on various levels of equity
market, interest rate and credit risk. All these risks can lead to permanent loss of capital.
Pension consulting services are offered as a Private Portfolio Management strategy, typically to
pension, profit sharing and 401(k) plans. These services consist of:
• WPI reviewing a client's investment needs and goals
• The review of various investments, consisting exclusively of mutual funds to recommend
• The number of investments to be recommended will be determined by the client, based on
their needs and goals.
WPI will supervise the client's portfolio and will make recommendations to the client as market
factors and the client's needs dictate. WPI will generally review recommended investments on a
quarterly basis. WPI does not exercise discretionary authority over these accounts and does not
generally handle securities transactions in these accounts. The pension consulting services strategy
often requires clients to take on various levels of equity market, interest rate and credit risk. All
these risks can lead to permanent loss of capital.
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Potential Conflicts of Interest A 5.95% stake in Wedgewood is owned by a voting trust composed of shareholders of RiverPark
Advisors LLC., the adviser to the RiverPark/Wedgewood Fund [RWGIX; RWGFX]. RiverPark may
refer clients to WPI; however, additional fees are not paid to RiverPark as a result of the referrals.
This also does not increase or change the fees paid by the underlying clients.
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Personal Trading
Code of Ethics WPI has adopted a Code of Ethics expressing the firm's commitment to ethical conduct. WPI's
Code of Ethics primarily focuses on the obligation to comply with securities regulations and the
reporting by certain employees of personal securities transactions.
WPI's Code of Ethics further includes the firm's policy prohibiting the use of material non-public
information. As part of the Code of Ethics and firm policy, WPI requires that all individuals must
act in accordance with all applicable Federal and State regulations governing registered investment
advisory practices. Any individual not in observance of the above may be subject to termination.
Any client or prospective client may request a copy of the Firm's Code of Ethics by addressing such
request to: Wedgewood Partners, Inc. ATTN: Compliance Director.
Financial Interest Wedgewood does recommend securities for which executives of the firm have financial interest.
This does present a potential conflict. Clients are notified when we recommend a security for
which we have financial interest. Recommendations are made based on the client’s objectives and
in the client’s best interest.
Participation or Interest in Client Transactions Individuals associated with WPI may buy or sell securities for their personal accounts identical to or
different than those recommended to clients. It is the express policy of WPI that no person
employed by WPI shall prefer his or her own interest to that of an advisory client or make personal
investment decisions based on the investment decisions of advisory clients.
Personal Trading To supervise compliance with its Code of Ethics, WPI requires that anyone associated with this
advisory practice with access to advisory recommendations provide annual securities holdings
reports and quarterly transaction reports to the firm's Chief Compliance Officer or designee. WPI
further requires the pre-clearance by an appropriate person of certain securities listed on a securities
restriction list.
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Selecting Brokerage Firms/Best Execution WPI has authority in managing discretionary client accounts to determine the amount and type of
securities to be bought and sold and in some cases the securities broker or dealer to be used, and the
commission rate to be paid. We effect portfolio transactions in a manner deemed fair and
reasonable. The primary factor in all portfolio transactions is prompt execution of orders in an
efficient manner at a favorable price. In selecting broker-dealers WPI evaluates all relevant factors
and seeks best execution for its clients. Wedgewood does not participate in any soft dollar-
arrangements, although the RiverPark/Wedgewood Fund may participate in such soft-dollar
arrangements.
Based on the nature of WPI's investment strategies, accounts are traded through the account(s)
custodian. WPI may trade with other broker/dealers in order to achieve best execution, obtain a
wider variety of issues or take advantage of favorable mark-ups or mark-downs available elsewhere.
However, because such third-party trades may result in additional transaction costs to the client,
WPI will typically limit execution as described. WPI may trade with third parties for fixed income
transactions in which clients may pay the third-party mark-ups or mark-down costs on the
transaction.
In wrap fee programs, transactions are executed without commission costs through the sponsoring
party, and a portion of the wrap fee is generally to be considered as being in lieu of commissions.
WPI's execution procedures are designed to make every attempt to obtain the best execution
possible, although there can be no assurance that it can be obtained. Clients should consider
whether or not the participation in a wrap fee program may or may not result in certain costs or
disadvantages to the client as a result of possibly less favorable executions.
Directed Brokerage Certain clients may instruct WPI to direct brokerage commissions to particular brokers selected by
the client. Additionally, certain client accounts may be custodied with broker-dealers such that it may
involve additional costs to execute trades with a broker-dealer other than the custodian or
affiliate of the custodian. These client accounts are referred to as “Directed Brokerage Accounts”.
In such circumstances, the client is responsible for negotiating commission rates and WPI may not
b e able to obtain best execution for their transactions and may receive less favorable prices and pay
a higher commission rate for executing these transactions. Ultimately, Directed Brokerage Accounts
may cost clients more money. All Directed Brokerage accounts are traded on a rotational basis with
other Directed Brokerage clients as part of Bucket B, a s further defined below under Aggregation,
Allocation and Rotation.
Certain WPI clients participate in wrap programs. These clients are referred to as "Wrap Accounts."
Transactions for Wrap Accounts are arranged only through the sponsoring broker-dealer and
commission charges, custodial and other fees are included within the total wrap fee. Often WPI has
the ability to trade these accounts with other broker-dealers in order to achieve best execution,
however, these transactions would generally be subject to additional commission charges or step-out
fees in addition to the wrap fee charged for participating in the program. Additionally, various
operational issues often would preclude WPI from efficiently settling transactions arranged with
brokers other than the sponsoring broker. Clients in such wrap fee program will generally receive
the same execution prices as other clients within the same wrap fee program, however, these prices
may differ from the execution prices received by other WPI clients, or other clients that participate
in wrap fee programs in which WPI participates. Each wrap fee program is considered as a single
group of Directed Brokerage clients and is traded on a rotational basis as part of Bucket B as further
defined below under Aggregation, Allocation and Rotation.
Soft Dollars WPI does not engage in soft-dollar arrangements.
Aggregation, Allocation and Rotation When it is appropriate, WPI may aggregate or “block” client orders to achieve more efficient
execution. In such cases, each client participating in the aggregation transaction will be charged the
average price per unit for the security and transaction costs will be allocated pro rata among clients.
Trades are allocated according to a pre-set weight. If there is a partial execution, shares are allocated
pro rata across the client participants in the aggregated transaction. Consistent with WPI’s
obligation to seek best execution, orders may be blocked to achieve lower commission rates,
minimize the time associated with entering numerous small orders, and to more easily ensure that all
accounts managed in a particular style obtain the same execution and to minimize differences in
performance across accounts. In certain cases, it may be a disadvantage to aggregate client
transactions. In those circumstances, WPI will create a list of all discretionary non-directed
brokerage accounts (the “Free Accounts”) and execute client transactions on a rotational basis. The
RiverPark/Wedgewood Fund is included in Bucket A and RiverPark Advisors, LLC., the Fund’s
adviser, is responsible for directing the trading of the Fund.
Wedgewood manages client accounts where there is a directed broker and where there may be
additional costs associated with trading those client accounts with a broker-dealer other than the
directed broker or where the client account is custodied (see special situations with regard to
Directed Brokerage above). These client accounts comprise (Bucket B) and are traded on a
rotational basis.
WPI also manages accounts where it does not have complete discretion over client transactions.
These accounts, mostly through participation in Unified Managed Account (“UMA”) programs,
involve Wedgewood submitting a model portfolio to the UMA sponsor. Sponsors of UMA
programs are typically responsible for generating and executing trade orders for program
participants. WPI submits changes to its model portfolio to these accounts on a rotational basis
(Bucket C). For transactions for clients in Bucket C, WPI may only have limited information as
to the timing of executions and therefore does not necessarily wait for transactions to be
completely executed for one client, before informing the next client in the rotation of a change in
the model portfolio.
For each investment decision that leads to transactions in client accounts the buckets will trade on a
rotational basis (A,B,C; B,C,A; C,A,B; etc.). Each bucket must complete its trading before moving
on to the next bucket. Within each bucket, trades are entered on a rotational basis in order to ensure
that no one client, or group of clients, has a perceived advantage over another client.
The WPI Private Portfolio Management accounts are not traded within these buckets and rotation.
They are managed uniquely to each client’s specific needs and therefore are traded on need as basis.
Therefore, these accounts may trade before, during, or after other WPI clients.
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Periodic Reviews While the underlying securities within Program accounts are continuously monitored, these accounts
will be reviewed at least quarterly by WPI. The review will be conducted to determine if the current
investment holdings of the account are consistent with the client's investment objectives. The
reviews are conducted by Anthony Guerrerio, CEO; David Rolfe, CIO; Michael Quigley.
Review Triggers More frequent reviews may be triggered by material changes in variables such as the client's
individual circumstances, an addition or subtraction of cash from management, drift or variance
from the model portfolio weighting or the market, political or economic environment.
Regular Reports WPI LCG Third-Party Investment Programs - clients will typically receive the monthly/quarterly
statements and confirmations of transactions from their broker dealer and/or custodian. They may
receive reports from the Program Sponsor. WPI will not provide any reports to these clients. Clients
in these third party sponsored wrap fee programs should refer to each program’s disclosure
document (Appendix A or other similar disclosure document) for additional information about the
reports provided to program participants.
WPI LCG Sub-Adviser to Investment Companies - WPI will provide reports to the Fund
Managers as contracted for at the inception of the advisory relationship.
WPI Private Portfolio Management - WPI provides these clients with comprehensive quarterly
investment portfolio and performance reports. These reports summarize the clients’ account(s) and
its relative performance. Clients will also receive account statements and confirmations of
transactions directly from their account custodian.
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Incoming Referrals Presently, WPI has a marketing arrangement with RiverPark Advisors, LLC ("Riverpark"), a
registered investment adviser, whereby RiverPark may refer clients to WPI. RiverPark does not
receive additional fees for these referrals and it does not increase or change the fees paid by the
underlying clients.
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WPI does not have physical custody of client accounts. WPI does have the ability to assist clients
with money movement and therefore, participates in surprise custody exams. The custodian will
provide client’s accounts statements and confirmations.
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Discretionary Authority for Trading WPI requests that it be provided with written authority to determine which securities and the
amounts of securities that are bought and sold. Any limitations on this discretionary authority shall
be included in the written agreement between each client and WPI. Clients may change/amend
these limitations as required. Such amendments shall be submitted in writing.
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Proxy Votes WPI, through Broadridge’s (“BR”) Proxy Edge, votes proxies on behalf of each client account over
which WPI has proxy voting authority, based on WPI’s determination of the best economic interests
of that account. WPI has retained BR to provide research and recommendations on proxy voting
issues and to vote proxies for each account.
In the event there is a conflict of interest, WPI may either refrain from voting, consult with the
client on the proper vote, or obtain an independent third party.
In certain circumstances WPI may not vote proxies received. These circumstances include the
following: 1) Securities that are not included in Wedgewood’s model portfolio; 2) The client
maintains proxy voting authority; 3) Termination of the client account; 4) Limited value of portfolio
amount; 5) Securities lending programs; and/or 6) Unjustifiable costs.
WPI's proxy voting policy and procedures and information on how the proxy votes were cast are
available upon request.
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Financial Condition WPI has never been the subject of a bankruptcy petition. Should, at some future date, WPI file for
bankruptcy or should the principals decide to withdraw their capital, WPI may no longer be able to
meet its contractual commitments to clients.
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