M1 Capital has been in business as an investment advisor registered with the SEC since 2011.
M1 Capital is an LLC owned by partners Robert Stapleton Jr. and Paul Dunbar. We provide
investment advice to our clients and manage their portfolios. Our strategies include general
asset allocation and tactical asset allocation as well as a more actively traded total return
program. Our investment strategies are geared toward specific client financial objectives, as
explained in more detail below. We tailor our advisory services to the individual needs and
goals of our clients. Clients may impose restrictions on the investments we make for their
accounts. Such restrictions may include limitations on the types of investments or restrictions
on investments in specific securities.
We do not manage any assets on a non-discretionary basis.
Tactical Asset Allocation (“TAA”)
Our Tactical Asset Allocation program is a portfolio management strategy designed to develop
solutions for clients with varied financial goals. Our process utilizes active asset allocation
strategies that seek to balance a client’s risk/return parameters to meet that client’s specific
needs. We diversify the fixed income portion of the portfolio by maturity and sector. For those
clients who have an equity allocation, we create the core equity exposure of the portfolio,
which may include a blend of any of the following ETFs based on growth and value, and
international and emerging markets exposure. We expect the benefit of our approach to be
reduced volatility of our clients’ portfolios.
Each client completes a questionnaire that we use to determine the appropriate portfolio
recommendations for that client. Our recommendations are based on the client’s tolerance for
risk, expected rate of return, and investment objectives. For our TAA program, we use ETFs
(exchange traded funds) to obtain the desired market exposure. We use a proprietary model to
determine entry and exit points for each of the ETFs in a portfolio.
Tactical Dividend Income (“TDI”)
The Tactical Dividend Income program is a portfolio management strategy that seeks high
dividend yield while attempting to reduce volatility by moving to cash when in our opinion
market conditions warrant a more conservative position. The portfolio is comprised of
diversified ETFs that have as their objective high dividend yield. Each ETF has an independent
signal that is used to determine when to purchase or sell. The signals are received daily but the
objective is to maintain positions during stable or upward trending moves for the specific ETF.
This strategy is intended to be for those clients seeking high dividend yield while still desiring a
sell discipline when warranted. Consideration of the client’s long term investment objectives,
tolerance for risk, expectation for returns, and income needs are some of the factors used
when recommending this strategy.
General Investment Advice
Our general investment advice service involves making asset allocation recommendations for
you and selecting ETFs, individual stocks, bonds, CMOs and mutual funds to meet the
recommended asset classes, based upon your individualized risk and return parameters and
tolerance. We generally charge an annual fee of up to 150 basis points of the assets under
management for this service, depending upon the size of your account and the complexity of
the recommendations you request. Fees generally are charged quarterly in advance.
Other Services
Option Strategies
We offer you the ability to add an option enhancement strategy to your portfolio. Our option
overlay or enhancement strategy is a passively managed option investment strategy that
generally uses a defined-risk option investing in an attempt to generate income against the core
portfolio assets. The goal of adding this option overlay strategy is to seek to provide additional
return to a tactical portfolio, concentrated stock position, or an existing portfolio. We attempt
to deliver an “alpha” strategy that adds to the returns and dividend streams of the core
portfolio by implementing a premium-selling option strategy based on time, probability of
success, and implied volatility. It is important to understand that our option strategy is not
intended to be an active trading strategy. The goal is to generate income from the premium
erosion of the short option positions, not from speculation regarding future option prices.
Premium-selling involves selling call or put options, or potentially both, depending on the
client’s objectives, to generate income against the long assets held in the portfolio. In certain
circumstances, options may also be used to initiate long ETF or equity positions in client
accounts. We also offer portfolio protection option strategies. We charge an additional fee of
up to 50 basis points for use of our option strategies.
Consulting
From time to time, we provide consulting services to clients that involve the evaluation of client
portfolios or portions of client portfolios. Each consulting engagement is unique and we
negotiate our fees for such services on an individualized basis.
Arctaris Funds, L.P.
To suitable clients we may offer investment in one of several Arctaris Funds. These funds are
limited partnerships which invest in lower middle market US companies through security
structures designed to provide investors current income, high liquidity, and above-market
returns on investment. The funds address a capital void in the lower and middle markets by
issuing subordinated debt with royalty-based enhancements or equity components such as
warrants or restricted stock. The expected result is a diversified portfolio of income-generating
securities in companies with sufficient cash flows to pay attractive returns to the funds.
Investors must be able to prove accredited investor status to participate.
Annuities
We may, on occasion recommend or purchase for a client, a fixed rate or variable annuity.
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For our TAA and TDI, our annual fees range from .10% to 1.50% of assets under management.
For our generalized advice, our annual fees range from .10% to 1.50% of assets under
management. We will negotiate our fees based upon the size of a client’s portfolio and the
strategies requested by the client. We generally charge up to an additional 50 basis points for
clients that add an option strategy to the management of their portfolios.
Fees for our special consulting services are negotiated on an individualized basis and may be a
percentage of assets or a flat fee.
We generally charge our fees quarterly in advance. No fee adjustments will be made for
changes in the value of your portfolio, including the depreciation or appreciation of assets in
your account during the quarter. If you terminate your advisory contract with us prior to the
end of a quarter, we will return the unused portion of your quarterly advisory fee, which will be
calculated on a pro-rated basis. For example, if you terminate your advisory agreement with us
after two months of a three month quarter, we will return to you one-third of your advisory fee
for that quarter.
Generally, our fees are automatically deducted from our clients’ assets and our clients are not
given a choice on the method of payment. However, some of our clients request that we bill
them instead of automatically deducting our fees from their accounts and we generally will
agree to do so.
Our clients whose assets are invested in ETFs, mutual funds, CMOs and REITs pay both a direct
management fee to us and an indirect management fee through such funds and mutual funds
to the funds’ advisors. We recommend ETFs, CMOs and REITs. On occasion, we do recommend
mutual funds to achieve specific investment objectives for our clients. In such cases, we
purchase mutual funds for our clients’ portfolios. We make efforts to purchase investor class
shares and generally use only no load funds. All of our clients also pay brokerage fees, which
include brokerage commissions, wire transfer fees and fees for other services a client may
request. Clients who choose custodians other than their brokerage firms will pay separate
custodian fees. Clients that are trusts or ERISA accounts may also pay trustee and other service
fees.
Neither our firm nor our registered or supervised personnel accept compensation for the sale
of securities or other investment products, including asset based sales charges or service fees
from the sale of mutual funds to advisory clients. One of our employees is also an employee of
Purshe Kaplan Sterling and he may receive, on behalf of M1 Capital, commissions for sales and
purchases in non-advisory, brokerage-only client accounts.
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Neither our firm nor our registered or supervised personnel accept performance based fees,
nor do any subadvisors we may use charge performance based fees on any of our client
accounts. Performance based fees are fees based on a share of capital gains on or capital
appreciation of the assets of a client. Performance based fees are typically charged for hedged
funds and other pooled investments.
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We provide our investment advisory services primarily to individuals, most of whom are high
net worth individuals. We also provide investment advisory services to pension and profit
sharing plans.
Our stated minimum account size for generalized investment supervisory services and
management of investment advisory accounts is $300,000. On an individualized basis and
under special circumstances, we may negotiate our minimum account sizes and fees.
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We use various methods of analysis, sources of information, and investment strategies in order
to deliver investment management, advice, and guidance to clients. Our primary investment
strategy involves asset allocation. We believe in tactical asset allocation and invest client funds
in diversified investment vehicles such as CMOs and other fixed income instruments, ETFS,
mutual funds, individual stocks and listed options.
Our TAA strategy is a diversified ETF strategy based on a tactical asset allocation model. In our
TAA model, clients either hold long positions or cash. For this strategy we do not hold short
positions in our clients’ accounts. As an addition to an all ETF portfolio, we may purchase
collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”) for clients whose accounts are managed using our
TAA and TDI programs. We also may purchase CMOs for stand alone accounts with fixed
income as an objective. The goals of our TAA and TDI asset allocation strategies are to reduce
volatility and investment risk by diversifying investments while retaining the ability to achieve a
desired rate of return based on our clients’ individual risk tolerance and investment objectives.
We may also add strategies to these investment programs achieve increased tax efficiency and
options enhancement at the request of our clients.
The securities we use include without limitation: ETFs, mutual funds, individual equities,
including growth, value and yield based stocks, fixed income securities, including corporate
bonds, municipal bonds, and government bonds, and money market instruments. We also
purchase CMOs for our clients’ portfolios. Our strategies are focused on controlling risk and
realizing a satisfactory rate of return over the long term. Other than the option strategies,
which are short term by their nature, it is generally not our intent to engage in short-term
trading of our client accounts. However, the tactical discipline of the TAA and TDI strategies
may on occasion result in shorter-term trading. As a result of their short-term nature, our
strategies that involve options trading have higher transaction costs.
Investing in securities involves substantial risk and there can be no guarantee that our
investment strategies will permit you to achieve your investment objectives, your desired rate
of return or any tax benefits. There is no guarantee our investments strategies will generate
positive returns. That means that you can lose your capital. Our clients’ portfolios and the
investment products in those portfolios are subject to market risk, liquidity risk, credit risk,
business risk, general economic risk and political risk. Market risk is the risk that the value of a
portfolio will decrease due to the change in value of the market risk factors. Liquidity risk is the
risk that a sufficiently liquid market does not exist for a given security or asset and as a result
the security or other asset cannot be traded quickly enough in the market to prevent a loss or
to be able to sell at a satisfactory price. Credit risk, also called
default risk, is the risk
associated with a borrower defaulting on an obligation (not making payments as promised).
You could include lost principal and interest, receive decreased cash flow, and have increased
collection cost as a result of a default. Business risk is the risk arising from execution of a
company's business plan and the success of its operations. Business risks encompass broad
categories of risks, including those arising from the people, systems, and processes through
which a company operates. It also includes other categories such as fraud risks, legal risk,
physical, or environmental risks. Economic risk includes the impact of general economic
conditions and industry specific conditions on an issuer or a sector of issuers. Political risks, are
the problems and issues businesses and governments may face as a result of political decisions
and the political climate. Mutual funds and ETFs have additional risks. Mutual fund and ETF
investment values will fluctuate, and shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than
original cost. Some funds invest in international securities, which can involve different risks
than U.S. investments. These risks include political and economic instability, changing
currency exchange rates, foreign taxes, and differences in financial accounting standards. ETFs
traded funds are subject to risks similar to those of mutual funds and stocks. However, an
additional risk with ETFs is that unlike mutual funds, shares of ETFs are not bought from and
sold to the ETF fund company. ETFs are bought from and sold to other investors and traders.
Therefore, the value of the ETF may fluctuate not only based on the value of the underlying
securities, but based on supply and demand for the actual ETF.
Options trading involves different risks; however, we use options to attempt to enhance our
clients’ underlying portfolios. Our options strategies involve covered call writing, options
spread trades and on occasion, naked option positions. Options involve shorter term trading as
the options have limited time to expiration. Short calls can be exercised which will result in
your stock being called away. You may not want your stock position to be called away. Any
short option position, prior to or on an expiration date, may be exercised at a time when you
would rather retain the option. Options can expire worthless. You can lose unlimited amounts
of money on naked short call position and large amounts of money on naked short put
positions. Risks of options trading may increase in volatile markets. We do not trade over the
counter options or derivative contracts for our client portfolios.
CMOs have special risks. Although CMOs entitle investors to payments of principal and
interest, CMOs differ from CDs, corporate bonds, and Treasury securities in significant ways.
CDs, corporate bonds, and Treasuries are issued with stated maturities and fixed interest rates.
When a CD or bond matures or is called, the issuer returns the face value to the investor in a
single principal payment. In contrast, while CMOs have stated final maturity dates at which all
principal must be returned, they can make principal payments throughout the life of the
security. In addition, the timing of these payments may vary significantly depending on interest
rate changes and other factors, including speed of default.
Principal payments on CMOs arise from both the regular amortization of the underlying
mortgages and from prepayments of those mortgages due to sales, defaults, or refinancings.
When interest rates decline substantially, many homeowners choose to refinance their
mortgages. This activity can result in CMOs paying off principal more rapidly than had been
anticipated. Thus, a CMO investor may be faced with reinvesting his or her principal at a current
lower rate. In a rising interest rate environment, homeowners may not refinance or sell their
houses as quickly; thus, CMO investors may face holding their investment for longer than
anticipated. While principal payments may be quite predictable for certain tranches or classes
of a given CMO, other tranches of the same issue may be significantly less predictable. The
prices and yields and other factors of CMOs are influenced by the prepayment assumptions of
the particular CMO.
Different traunches of CMOs are structured differently. Certain tranches may be structured in
such a way that, depending on interest rates and prepayments, investors are at substantial risk
and may lose all or a substantial portion of their principal. Further, while there is a sizable
secondary market for CMOs generally, there is less of a market for the more risky and complex
tranches. CMOs are less uniform than traditional mortgage-backed securities and more
expensive to trade. It is also harder to obtain current pricing information. We will evaluate the
suitability of such high-risk tranches for each client portfolios based upon such client’s
individual risk tolerance and investment objectives.
CMOs may be purchased at a premium or discount. However, any guarantees on those
securities will only apply to the par value of the security and not to any premium paid.
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We have never been disciplined. None of our management personnel or supervised persons
has been involved in a legal or disciplinary event that is required to be disclosed to you or that
would be material to your evaluation of our firm.
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We generally recommend TD Ameritrade Institutional as a broker-dealer to our clients. We
place orders with TD Ameritrade Institutional for our clients’ accounts. For some clients we
have discretionary authority to choose the broker-dealer and for other clients the decision
whether the client will become a customer of TD Ameritrade is made by the client, not us.
We have chosen TD Ameritrade Institutional because of the quality executions we receive at a
competitive price. We believe our recommendation of TD Ameritrade is consistent with our
obligation to receive “best execution” for our clients. For more information about our use of
TD Ameritrade, see our response to Item 12 below.
We have a strategic relationship with Sawtooth Asset Management whereby they provide
administrative services related to portfolio management and performance reporting. We pay a
fee to Sawtooth for the accounts they administer.
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Trading We have adopted a Code of Ethics that governs the conduct of our personnel. Our Code of
Ethics requires that all of our personnel observe the highest ethical standards and resolve any
situation involving the potential for a conflict of interest in favor of our clients. Our Code of
Ethics requires all of our management and other personnel that have access to our client
portfolio recommendations or that are involved in portfolio management to place the interests
of our clients first, to avoid taking inappropriate advantage of their positions and to conduct all
personal securities transactions in full compliance with the Code of Ethics. Although we
generally do not restrict the securities our personnel may purchase and sell, we may restrict our
personnel from purchasing or selling certain securities. We generally do not require pre-
clearance of the personal securities transactions of our personnel, however, we may in our
discretion require pre-clearance of most of the personal securities transactions of a specific
person or persons. Our Code of Ethics prohibits trading on inside information and requires all
personnel to report all personal securities transactions to us on a quarterly basis. Our Code of
Ethics includes our firm policies on gifts, confidentiality, company opportunities and the
reporting of violations of the Code of Ethics. A copy of our Code of Ethics will be provided to
any client or prospective client upon request.
At times our management and advisory personnel may invest in the same securities (or related
securities such as options or warrants) that we or our advisory personnel recommend to our
clients. Similarly, our management and advisory personnel may recommend securities to
clients, or buy or sell securities for client accounts, at or about the same time that our
management or advisory personnel buys or sells the same securities for their own account
accounts. We understand that these situations involve conflicts of interest and have policies
designed to protect our clients interests. We review the securities transactions of our
personnel. That review would flag any situations in which our personnel are consistently taking
the opposite position in a security that is being recommended for our clients’ portfolios. We
would check to make sure such actions were consistent with the investment strategies of both
parties. None of our management or advisory personnel are permitted to trade ahead of our
clients. When our management personnel buy or sell securities at the same time as our clients,
the trades are entered as bunched orders and all participants, including our management and
advisory personnel, receive the same average price. If the trades occur at different times, the
prices are different. However, as stated above, we review the personal securities transactions
of our management and advisory personnel to check for conflicts of interest and to make sure
that none of them is taking advantage of our clients in any way.
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M1 Capital participates in the institutional advisor program offered by TD Ameritrade
Institutional. TD Ameritrade Institutional is a division of TD Ameritrade Inc., member
FINRA/SIPC, an unaffiliated SEC-registered broker-dealer and FINRA member. TD Ameritrade
offers to independent investment advisors services, which include custody of securities, trade
execution, clearance and settlement of transactions. Advisor receives some benefits from TD
Ameritrade through its participation in the Program. (Please see the disclosure under Item 14.
below.)
We generally recommend that our clients open brokerage accounts at TD Ameritrade. In this
respect we may be deemed to routinely direct our clients to execute transactions through a
specified broker-dealer. In making this decision, we take into account, commission rates,
execution quality, service and other factors regarding TD Ameritrade. Not all advisors require
or recommend that their clients direct brokerage to specified broker-dealers. By directing
brokerage to TD Ameritrade we may be unable to achieve the most favorable execution for our
clients’ transactions. We take these conflicts of interest into consideration when we
recommend TD Ameritrade, and we believe our recommendation of thinkorswim by TD
Ameritrade is consistent with our best execution obligations.
TD Ameritrade may send your orders to another broker-dealer for execution. TD Ameritrade
accepts payment for order flow from executing broker-dealers and may receive payment for
order flow on your orders.
thinkorswim by TD Ameritrade was rated #1 overall online broker and “best for options
traders” in Barron’s ranking of online brokers, 3/15/10 and 3/16/2009; “best software-based
online broker” and “best for options traders,” 3/6/2006 and 3/5/2007. thinkorswim by TD
Ameritrade was evaluated by Barrons versus others in eight total categories, including: the
types of tradable investments; the quality and ease-of-use of screeners that help investors
choose stock, options or funds; and the site’s startup process, overall functionality and
potential for customization; thinkorswim by TD Ameritrade topped the list in 2006, 2007, 2009
and 2010 with the highest weighted-average score and was runner-up in 2008. TD Ameritrade
has been rated by Barron’s as the top brokerage firm for Long Term Investing in 2013, 2014 and
2015.
We permit our clients to direct brokerage to firms other than TD Ameritrade. If clients direct
brokerage to a firm other than TD Ameritrade, we may be unable to achieve most favorable
execution of such clients’ transactions. Directing brokerage may cost clients more money for
executions. In a directed brokerage account, the clients may pay higher commissions because
we may not be able to aggregate orders to reduce transaction costs, and we may not be able to
negotiate favorable or competitive commission rates, all of which means those clients who
choose to direct brokerage may receive less favorable prices.
Paul Dunbar, Partner of M1 Capital is a registered representative of Purshe Kaplan Sterling
Investments (“PKS”). PKS is not involved in the investment management aspects of M1 Capital
and M1 Capital and PKS are not affiliated companies. M1 Capital may place clients in
investment products sold through PKS and receive a usual and customary commission for doing
so. Clients should be aware that the recommendation of PKS products may constitute a conflict
of interest in that the receipt of commissions by M1 Capital or personnel of M1 Capital may
provide an incentive to recommend investment products based on commissions.
We aggregate the purchase and sale of securities for various client accounts on a regular basis.
We often purchase and sell the same securities for the accounts of multiple clients at the same
time. In such event we enter aggregated orders. Each client pays or receives the average price
for the purchase or sale his securities. If we did not aggregate these orders, some clients would
receive more favorable prices and other clients would be disadvantaged. Our procedures are
designed to treat all clients fairly. In order to execute these large orders at a more favorable
price to our clients, we may occasionally make use of a third party liquidity provider to execute
block trades. Such a provider would charge a per share commission which would slightly
increase the average purchase price and decrease the average sale price.
We also aggregate the purchase and sale of Collateralized Mortgage Obligations. Aggregating
these purchases may benefit our clients due to more favorable purchase prices and availability
of small lot trades. Due to the many variables involved in allocating these securities, we have
developed the following CMO Allocation Guidelines:
CMO Allocation Guidelines
Given the different nature of the CMO purchase and allocation process, general guidelines are
used when allocating to client accounts. M1 Capital maintains a list of clients accounts that wish
to purchase CMOs along with a target amount of CMOs that each account is looking to hold.
Over the course of a month, previously purchased CMOs will often return principal which
necessitates the purchase of additional CMOs to maintain the target holding amount. CMOs
that are available for purchase during the course of a month will vary in several ways.
Differences include, but are not limited to: price, yield, WAM, duration, collateral, extension
risk, coupon, price sensitivity, and commissions. Certain characteristics may be more suited to
one account than another. In addition, M1 Capital is selective when choosing CMOs based on
these characteristics to suit the objective of the CMO strategy.
Uncertainty exists each month in the amount of desirable CMOs that will be able to be
purchased. Also, it is usually not possible to simply allocate each CMO purchase prorata to
each account on the list. M1 often receives attractive offers for odd lot CMOs that are too
small to be split or receives an offer to purchase an amount of CMOs that would not be
sufficient to be allocated prorata. In addition differences between accounts with larger
amounts of cash for purchase and smaller make certain kinds of purchases more beneficial to
one than the other. All of these factors create the need for allocation guidelines that provide a
process to ensure as equitable a distribution as reasonably possible over the course of a month
of CMO purchases. It must be clearly understood that regardless of the allocation processes
used there will always be differences in the securities purchased, the timing of the purchases
relative to interest rates, and the timing of the known cash flow. Therefore, the following
considerations must be taken into account when determining the allocation of each purchase.
(Please note that this list is not intended to be in order of priority):
1. Security diversification (GNMA, FNMA, FNR, FHR):
When possible if there is a large
enough dollar amount to invest, an attempt will be made to diversify by underlying
collateral and or CUSIP number.
2. Duration:
The expected duration will be considered in light of the client’s investment
objectives, risk tolerance, potential future cash needs, and existing holdings.
3. Coupon (for taxable vs tax exempt accounts
): In some circumstances a higher coupon
CMO will be considered favorably over a lower coupon CMO in tax deferred accounts to
optimize the tax ramifications.
4. Amount requested:
An attempt will be made to fill the entire amount of cash targeted
for CMO’s. This may not always be possible given availability of desirable CMOs or the
size of the amount being requested. 5. Liquidity:
Generally CMO’s will not be allocated for less than $10,000 due to liquidity
issues if the position ever had to be sold in the future. Exceptions to this rule are
permissible if the perceived probability of a future need to sell the position is remote.
6. Interest Rates:
The amount of CMOs purchased as a percentage of cash identified for
CMO purchases may vary based on interest rate outlook at the judgment of the portfolio
manager.
7. Clients Investment Objective: Each client has investment objectives specific to their own
risk/return tolerance. Consideration will be given to the individual’s specific short
term/long term outlook when determination is made regarding a given allocation.
8. Commissions Charged: Commissions may vary depending on the broker from whom
each CMO is purchased. Larger commissions will have a larger impact on the return
possibilities for smaller accounts making smaller purchases so this factor may be taken
into account when determining allocations.
When possible, an attempt will be made to average the prices of multiple purchases of identical
securities. When this cannot be done, or if there are multiple collateral issues, the above
criteria will be used during the allocation process. In some instances the allocation may be
based solely on a proportion of the identified need verses the available amount of CMOs.
To document the allocation process, a CMO needs list will be created at the beginning of each
month once last month’s cash flows are known. The list will include: the clients name, account
number, cash available for CMO purchase, date of identified cash availability. As each offer to
purchase is received, the list will be consulted to see which accounts need CMOs and a running
tally will be kept of CMOs purchased so far and remaining cash needs. Taking the above factors
into account, each purchase will be allocated to one or more accounts. Every effort will be
made to do so fairly over the course of a month of purchases, but there will be times when
some accounts may not receive any or all of their available cash amount in a given month. This
could be due to unavailability of desirable CMOs, differences in suitability to different kinds of
accounts or other factors. If an account does not receive any CMOs in a given month, an effort
will be made to give priority to that account in the following month.
This is intended to be a guideline for the allocation process. While every effort will be made to
make the process as equitable as possible, there may be differences from one account to the
next.
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We review some of our client accounts on a daily basis and others on a weekly basis. All
accounts are reviewed at least on a quarterly basis. Our Managing Partner and our Chief
Compliance Officer conduct our client account reviews. Additional reviews may be triggered by
client requests for information or review of their account.
We also make available to our clients written reports on a quarterly basis, as well as additional
oral or written reports as our clients request. These reports may include profit and loss,
annualized return, account holdings, and other information pertaining to the account that the
client may request. In addition, clients have online access to performance reports through our
performance reporting website. Clients also have online access through the brokerage firm to
view account status.
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As disclosed under Item 12 above, M1 Capital participates in TD Ameritrade’s institutional
customer program and we may recommend TD Ameritrade to clients for custody and brokerage
services. There is no direct link between M1 Capital’s participation in the program and the
investment advice we give to our clients, although M1 Capital receives economic benefits
through our participation in the program that are typically not available to TD Ameritrade retail
investors. These benefits include the following products and services (provided without cost or
at a discount): receipt of duplicate client statements and confirmations; research related
products and tools; consulting services; access to a trading desk serving advisor participants;
access to block trading (which provides the ability to aggregate securities transactions for
execution and then allocate the appropriate shares to client accounts); the ability to have
advisory fees deducted directly from client accounts; access to an electronic communications
network for client order entry and account information; access to mutual funds with no
transaction fees and to certain institutional money managers; and discounts on compliance,
marketing, research, technology, and practice management products or services provided to
advisors by third party vendors. TD Ameritrade may also have paid for business consulting and
professional services received by M1 Capital’s related persons. Some of the products and
services made available by TD Ameritrade through the program may benefit M1 Capital but
may not benefit our client accounts. These products or services may assist us in managing and
administering client accounts, including accounts not maintained at TD Ameritrade. Other
services made available by TD Ameritrade are intended to help M1 Capital manage and further
develop our business enterprise. The benefits received by M1 Capital or our personnel through
participation in the TD Ameritrade Institutional program do not depend on the amount of
brokerage transactions directed to TD Ameritrade. As part of our fiduciary duties to clients, M1
Capital endeavors at all times to put the interests of our clients first. Clients should be aware,
however, that the receipt of economic benefits by M1 Capital or our related persons in and of
itself creates a potential conflict of interest and may indirectly influence our choice of TD
Ameritrade for custody and brokerage services.
M1 Capital may receive client referrals from TD Ameritrade through its participation in TD
Ameritrade AdvisorDirect. In addition to meeting the minimum eligibility criteria for
participation in AdvisorDirect, we may have been selected to participate in AdvisorDirect based
on the amount and profitability to TD Ameritrade of the assets in, and trades placed for, client
accounts maintained with TD Ameritrade. TD Ameritrade is a discount broker-dealer
independent of and unaffiliated with M1 Capital and there is no employee or agency
relationship between them. TD Ameritrade has established AdvisorDirect as a means of
referring its brokerage customers and other investors seeking fee-based personal investment
management services or financial planning services to independent investment advisors. TD
Ameritrade does not supervise M1 Capital and has no responsibility for our management of
client portfolios or our other advice or services. We pay TD Ameritrade an on-going fee for
each successful client referral. This fee is usually a percentage (not to exceed 25%) of the
advisory fee that the client pays to M1 Capital (“Solicitation Fee”). M1 Capital will also pay TD
Ameritrade the Solicitation Fee on any advisory fees received by M1 Capital from any of a
referred client’s family members, including a spouse, child or any other immediate family
member who resides with the referred client, and who hired M1 Capital on the
recommendation of such referred client. M1 Capital will not charge clients referred through
AdvisorDirect any fees or costs higher than its standard fee schedule offered to its clients or
otherwise pass Solicitation Fees paid to TD Ameritrade to its clients. For information regarding
additional or other fees paid directly or indirectly to TD Ameritrade, please refer to the TD
Ameritrade AdvisorDirect Disclosure and Acknowledgement Form.
M1 Capital’s participation in AdvisorDirect raises potential conflicts of interest. TD Ameritrade
will most likely refer clients through AdvisorDirect to investment advisors that encourage their
clients to custody their assets at TD Ameritrade and whose client accounts are profitable to TD
Ameritrade. Consequently, in order to obtain client referrals from TD Ameritrade, M1 Capital
may have an incentive to recommend to clients that the assets under management by M1
Capital be held in custody with TD Ameritrade and to place transactions for client accounts with
TD Ameritrade. In addition, we have agreed not to solicit clients referred to us through
AdvisorDirect to transfer their accounts from TD Ameritrade or to establish brokerage or
custody accounts at other custodians, except when our fiduciary duties require doing so. Our
participation in AdvisorDirect does not diminish our duty to seek best execution of trades for
client accounts.
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We are deemed to have custody of our clients’ funds because we deduct our advisory fees
directly from our clients’ accounts.
You will receive account statements not less than quarterly as of the end of each calendar
quarter from the brokerage firm that maintains your funds and securities. That brokerage firm
is deemed to be your qualified custodian. We do not send separate account statements to our
clients.
You should review account statements you receive from your brokerage firm carefully.
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We have investment discretion over all of our clients’ accounts under management.
Investment discretion means that we have the authority to purchase and sell securities for your
account without obtaining your authorization to make the trade.
We enter into advisory agreements with all of our clients that specify the types of advisory
services the clients desire to receive from us and the clients’ investment objectives. The
advisory agreements specify that we have discretionary authority to manage our clients’
accounts. Our clients may place restrictions on our investment discretion. Such restrictions
may include limitations on the types of investments we may make for their accounts or
restrictions on investments in specific securities. Any restrictions on our investment discretion
must be set forth in writing, generally in the advisory agreement.
Our clients sign a limited power of attorney form that is given to the clients’ brokerage firm.
The limited power of attorney form gives us the authority to enter transactions for the clients’
account.
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Proxy Voting
M1 Capital will not vote or accept authority to vote proxies on behalf of its clients. Clients
retain the responsibility for receiving and voting proxies for any and all securities maintained in
client accounts. However, M1 Capital may, in their discretion, provide advice to clients
regarding the voting of proxies.
Class Actions, Bankruptcies and Other Legal Proceedings
Client's should note that M1 Capital will not advise or act on behalf of the client in legal
proceedings involving companies whose securities are held or previously were held in the
client's account(s), including, but not limited to, the filing of "Proofs of Claim" in class action
settlements.
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Because we have discretionary authority over clients’ funds, we are required in this section to
disclose to you any financial condition that is reasonably likely to impair our ability to meet
contractual commitments to our clients. We are not aware of any financial conditions nor do
we have any financial commitments that are reasonably likely to impair our ability to meet our
contractual commitments to our clients.
Item 19. Requirements for State Registered Advisers We are registered with the SEC. We are not required to include any special disclosures required
for state registered investment advisers.
For Robert Stapleton Robert Stapleton
36800 Woodward Avenue, Suite 101
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304
(248) 647-1780
Name of Firm
M1 Capital Management
36800 Woodward Avenue, Suite 101
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304
(248) 647-1780
This brochure supplement provides information about Robert Stapleton that supplements the M1 Capital Management brochure. You should have received a copy of that brochure. Please contact Kristy Reynolds at (248) 647-1780 if you did not receive M1 Capital Management’s brochure or if you have any questions about the contents of this supplement. Additional information about Robert Stapleton also is available on the SEC’s website at Name: Robert Stapleton Date of Birth: October 22, 1954
After High School: B.A. (1977) in Business from
Michigan State University
Business Background
For the Preceding
Five Years: Managing Partner
M1 Capital Management
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
June 2011 - Present
Chief Executive Officer
thinkorswim Advisors, Inc.
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
April 2002 – September 2011
Director
Birmingham Bloomfield Bancshares, Inc.
Bank of Birmingham
33583 Woodward Ave
Birmingham, MI 48009
July 2006 – October 2007
President and CIO
Independence One Capital
Management Corp.
Farmington Hills, Michigan
January 1995 - March 2002
Sr. Vice President and Bond Trader
Independence One Capital
Management Corp and
Predecessor (Prima)
Farmington Hills, Michigan
September 1988 - December 1994
Trading Manager
Michigan National Bank
Farmington Hills, Michigan
March 1986 – September 1988
Trader, First National Bank Chicago, Illinois
March 1985 - March 1986
Trading Manager American National Bank
Chicago, Illinois
April 1982 - March 1985
Assistant Bank Examiner U.S. Treasury,
Comptroller of Currency
Chicago, Illinois
January 1978 - April 1982
There is no legal or disciplinary event material to a client’s or prospective client’s evaluation of Robert
Stapleton.
Partner, Stapleton LBI Investments - an investment-related limited partnership that invests in real estate
and real estate related investments. Partner since 4/14/11. There are no ongoing duties or
responsibilities involved, nor anytime spent during the month devoted to this partnership.
Partner, CART – this is the successor partnership to Stapleton LBI investments which is an investment-
related partnership that invests in real estate and real estate related investments.
Partner, Hawk Partners LLC – an investment-related LLC that makes residential and commercial loans.
Partner, Hawk Real Estate Partners LLC – an investment-related LLC that purchases real estate for future
development.
Board of Directors, Sawtooth Asset Management – a company which provides a wealth management
platform to advisors as well as investment management services.
Item 5. Additional Compensation Mr. Stapleton does not receive any compensation other than partnership distributions from M1 Capital
Management. He may receive investment income from the investment partnerships in which he is
partner.
Item 6. Supervision Robert Stapleton is the Managing Partner of M1 Capital Management. Supervision of Mr. Stapleton is
performed by the Paul Dunbar, Partner. Mr. Dunbar’s telephone number is (248) 647-5232.
Item 7. Requirements for State-Registered Advisers Not applicable.
For Paul Dunbar Paul Dunbar
36800 Woodward Avenue, Suite 101
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304
(248) 647-5232
Name of Firm
M1 Capital Management
36800 Woodward Avenue, Suite 101
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304
(248) 647 – 1780
This brochure supplement provides information about Paul Dunbar that supplements the M1 Capital Management brochure. You should have received a copy of that brochure. Please contact Kristy Reynolds at (248) 647-1780 if you did not receive M1 Capital Management’s brochure or if you have any questions about the contents about this supplement. Additional information about Paul Dunbar also is available on the SEC’s website at Name: Paul Dunbar Date of Birth: July 16, 1964
After High School: Arizona State University
B.A. Finance (1987)
Business Background
for the Preceding
Five Years: Partner
M1 Capital Management
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
June 2011 – Present
Registered Representative
Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments
Albany, NY
July 2011 - Present
Director of Sales-Relationship Manager
thinkorswim Advisors, Inc.
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
December 2002 - September 2011
Manager - Private Banking Brokerage
Bond Trader - Michigan National Bank
Farmington Hills, Michigan
1988 - December 2002
Investment Advisor Representative Paine Webber
1987-1988
There is no legal or disciplinary event material to a client’s or prospective client’s evaluation of Paul
Dunbar.
Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments, Registered Representative – Paul Dunbar is a registered
representative of Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments. In this capacity he may provide brokerage
services to client accounts that are not under management of M1 Capital Management. In his
brokerage representative capacity, Mr. Dunbar is also licensed to sell variable annuities through ING.
Kidd & Levy, Independent Contractor – Mr. Dunbar works part time as an independent contractor to real
estate firm of Kidd & Levy selling and listing houses.
Up North Property Sales LLC – Mr. Dunbar has an LLC the purpose of which is to receive the
compensation from his independent contractor activities with Kidd & Levy.
Item 5. Additional Compensation In addition to partnership distributions from M1 Capital Management, Mr. Dunbar may also receive
compensation through his activities at Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments in the form of commissions.
He may also receive compensation for by Kidd & Levy for selling and listing houses.
Item 6. Supervision We supervise Mr. Dunbar’s activities. An officer of our firm reviews the accounts managed by Mr.
Dunbar. Mr. Dunbar is supervised by Robert Stapleton, Managing Partner. Mr. Stapleton’s telephone
number is (248) 647 - 1780.
Item 7. Requirements for State-Registered Advisers Not applicable.
For Steve Rashis Steve Rashis
5250 Old Orchard Road
Suite 345
Skokie, IL 60077
(847) 983-3547
Name of Firm
M1 Capital Management
36800 Woodward Avenue, Suite 101
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304
(248) 647 – 1780
This brochure supplement provides information about Steve Rashis that supplements the M1 Capital Management brochure. You should have received a copy of that brochure. Please contact Kristy Reynolds at (248) 647-1780 if you did not receive M1 Capital Management’s brochure or if you have any questions about the contents about this supplement. Additional information about Steve Rashis also is available on the SEC’s website at Name: Steve Rashis Date of Birth: April 1, 1965
After High School: Indiana University
B.A. Finance (1987)
Business Background
for the Preceding
Five Years: Chief Option Strategist
M1 Capital Management
Skokie, Illinois
September 2013 – Present
Institutional Option Strategist
thinkorswim by TD Ameritrade
Chicago, Illinois
July 2011 – September 2013
Trade Desk Manager
thinkorswim by TD Ameritrade
Chicago, Illinois
June 2009 – July 2011
Co- Account Manager, Lead Option Strategist thinkorswim Advisors, Inc.
Chicago, Illinois
December 2002 – June 2009
Market Maker Chicago Board Options Exchange Chicago, Illinois
1987 - 2002
There is no legal or disciplinary event material to a client’s or prospective client’s evaluation of Steve
Rashis.
There are no other business activities material to a client’s or prospective client’s evaluation of Steve
Rashis.
Item 5. Additional Compensation Mr. Rashis does not receive any compensation other than that which he receives from M1 Capital
Management.
Item 6. Supervision We supervise Mr. Rashis’s activities. An officer of our firm reviews the accounts managed by Mr. Rashis.
Mr. Rashis is supervised by Robert Stapleton, Managing Partner. Mr. Stapleton’s telephone number is
(248) 647 - 1780.
Item 7. Requirements for State-Registered Advisers Not applicable.
For Mark LaBlance Mark D. LaBlance
4724 Camelot Drive, #3
Harbor Springs, MI 49740
(630) 780-0482
Name of Firm
M1 Capital Management
36800 Woodward Avenue, Suite 101
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304
(248) 647 – 1780
This brochure supplement provides information about Mark LaBlance that supplements the M1 Capital Management brochure. You should have received a copy of that brochure. Please contact Kristy Reynolds at (248) 647-1780 if you did not receive M1 Capital Management’s brochure or if you have any questions about the contents about this supplement. Additional information about Steve Rashis also is available on the SEC’s website at Name: Mark LaBlance Date of Birth: February 11, 1970
After High School: Walsh College
Masters Accounting (1997)
Michigan State University
B.S. Finance (1993)
Business Background
for the Preceding Investment Advisor
Five Years: M1 Capital Management
Harbor Springs, MI
June 2015 – Present
Financial Advisor
First Midwest Securities
Bloomington, Illinois
2009 – June 2015
Financial Advisor
Voyage Financial
Lisle, Illinois
2009 - 2011
Branch Manager Advance Capital Southfield, MI
1998 - 2009
There is no legal or disciplinary event material to a client’s or prospective client’s evaluation of Mark
LaBlance.
Mr. La Blance runs LaBlance Financial Group which provides tax preparation services.
Item 5. Additional Compensation Mr. LaBlance does receive compensation from his tax preparation business through LaBlance Financial
Group.
Item 6. Supervision We supervise Mr. LaBlance’s activities. An officer of our firm reviews the accounts managed by Mr.
LaBlance. Mr. LaBlance is supervised by Robert Stapleton, Managing Partner. Mr. Stapleton’s telephone
number is (248) 647 - 1780.
Item 7. Requirements for State-Registered Advisers Not applicable.
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Open Brochure from SEC website