Join Jake Tomes to learn innovative ways to build true partnerships and attract quality CPA firms through CPAdvisor. See how you can promote NEXT LEVEL business development and growth to accounting practices through incorporating wealth management services.

This series will occur on the 2nd Friday of each month beginning May 13th. Register now!

Have achievements to celebrate? Email jhuddleston@levelfourfinancial.com to let us know!

On March 29, 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives passed HR 2954 (SECURE 2.0) which has a heavy focus on retirement savings and plan administration. It will now be sent to the Senate for possible action later this year. The bill passed the House with a bipartisan vote of 414-5 and similar legislation appears to have strong bipartisan support in the Senate. See the main points from the House bill that are widely expected to be part of the final legislation. For Advisor use only, not approved for use with clients or plan sponsors.

What does our Private Client Services practice offer and how are they providing white-glove service to Ultra High Net Worth clientele? See the client brochure and reach out to Matt Craig for more details and how to engage.

We are in the final testing phase of our enhanced Laserfiche workflows. Our goal was for these workflows to be fully functional by mid-march, but it is looking like the 1^st of May. 

What is the take-away/Impact on our advisors and branch offices? increased efficiency in paperwork processing and additional communications when paperwork is not in good order. You’ll receive emails from workflow that tell you what is missing and how to ‘fix’ or resolve the issue. The closed communication loop will allow you to provide the information and get the process moving again without necessarily starting all over (ie. submitting entire packet/attachments again). 

LFAS100 - Investment Advisory Agreement (formerly LF100)

 LFF182 - Limited Power of Attorney will be retired on April 30, 2022

LFAS200 - Risk Tolerance Questionnaire (formerly LF200)

 We have seen increased use of this email address and are hearing very positive responses! Please direct general requests and inquiries to AdvisorSupport@levelfourfinancial.com as these emails will create a case in Salesforce. These cases are monitored throughout the day and assigned to the appropriate team/department/associate for handling. By using this system, you will receive communications as status’ change, notes are added, resolution is found. You’ll be able to respond to questions posed and your responses will go to the case owner directly. By using this process, you don’t have to know “who to go to” because the case gets assigned to the right person in a very timely fashion. You’ll be assured of receiving expectations on resolution times and connection with the appropriate person. 

In a similar vein, questions or requests related to LFCM managed accounts should be directed to LFCM@levelfourfinancial.com (not directly to a person, please!). Emails to this address will create cases that go directly to the LFCM team.

If you have any questions please contact Claudia Martin.

We continue to hold monthly calls on the 3^rd Wednesday of the month, at 12 pm CST. Last month we had Gregg Overstake from Compliance join us to answer questions and give an update on the current requirements. Join us! (Contact Jena Blue for questions about this monthly call)

Jotform - Based upon feedback received, the client Jotform Disclosure form has been updated to further define which advisory brochure must be delivered to your client(s) based upon advisory platform. Hopefully, the descriptions added will make it easier for you to identify which advisory brochure should be delivered to your client(s).

Form ADV updates - Level Four Advisory Services, LLC (“LFAS”) and Level Four Capital Management, LLC (“LFCM”) have recently filed their annual Form ADV amendments. The updated documents are available on the firm Intranet and are connected to the current version of the Jotform Disclosure form.

Annual Form ADV offer - LFAS/LFCM will be emailing/mailing the annual offer of Form ADV and firm privacy policy to all advisory clients on or around April 30, 2022. We will circulate a copy of the letter that will be sent to clients ahead of client distribution. As we tend to get a lot of calls from clients as a result of this required mailing, it may be a good idea to let your clients know that they will be receiving this communication. This is a regulatory requirement and informational only so there is no action required by the client.

Variable Annuity business – A “shell” account with Raymond James is required for all variable annuities. This is required so that the firm can properly supervise annuity business in accordance with regulatory obligations and standards.

Foreign Accounts – Please refer to the recent Compliance Alert issued with respect to new restrictions imposed by Raymond James on foreign brokerage accounts. As a reminder, LFAS does not permit foreign advisory accounts.

Alternative Investments – The firm (both Level Four Financial, LLC (“LFF”) and LFAS) must approve all products offered through the firm. In particular, alternative products are subject to a comprehensive due diligence review conducted by compliance and firm management and require additional client disclosures. Please contact your designated Branch Manager in the event you need to discuss a product.

Annual Rep Questionnaire – You should have received your annual rep questionnaire via Orion Inform via an email from noreply@orion.com. You must access the questionnaire in your Inform dashboard within Orion. https://login.orionadvisor.com/ If you haven’t already completed the questionnaire, please take a few minutes (that is all it takes!) to complete the questionnaire. Questionnaires are due no later than Friday, April 22.

Level Four Financial professionals (“We”) are committed to acting in our retail client’s best interest. For important Regulation Best Interest information, including Form CRS and other disclosures please click here.