Form CRS - Client Relationship Summary
ITEM 1. INTRODUCTION
Cooper Financial Services, Inc. (CFS) is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment adviser firm. The selection of an appropriate type of firm to work with is key as brokerage and investment advisory services and fees differ and it is important for you to understand the differences.
Please ask us for more information. Free and simple tools are available to research firms and financial professionals at www.Investor.gov/CRS, which also provides educational materials about broker-dealers, investment advisors, and investing
ITEM 2. RELATIONSHIPS AND SERVICES
WHAT INVESTMENT SERVICES AND ADVICE CAN YOU PROVIDE ME?
Services: We provide financial planning and investment management services to individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, corporations, and business entities. CFS offers ongoing portfolio management services based on the individual goals, objectives, time horizon, and risk tolerance of each client. CFS creates an Investment Policy Statement (IPS) for each client, which outlines the client’s current situation (income, tax levels, and risk tolerance levels) and then if requested, constructs a plan to aid in the selection of a portfolio that matches each client’s specific situation. Investment Supervisory Services include, but are not limited to, the following: investment strategy, personal investment policy, asset allocation, asset selection, risk tolerance, and regular portfolio monitoring.
Monitoring: We offer you advice on a regular basis as a part of our standard services. We will discuss your investment goals, design with you a strategy to achieve your investment goals, and regularly monitor your account. We will contact you when we become aware of a significant change in the market or to your individual circumstances.
Investment Authority: For those client accounts where CFS provides ongoing supervision, those clients have given CFS written discretionary authority over the client’s accounts with respect to securities to be bought or sold and the amount of securities to be bought or sold. We make a full disclosure of this relationship to each client before the advisory relationship commences. The client provides CFS discretionary authority by executing a limited power of attorney as part of the Investment Advisory Agreement (IAA) and in the contract between the client and the custodian. A client can revoke the Discretionary Authority granted to CFS at any time by sending a written notice of termination to CFS, termination effective upon receipt.
Investment Offerings: CFS limits its investment advice and/or money management to managed accounts, mutual funds, equities, bonds, fixed income, debt securities, ETFs, real estate, REITs, Annuities, and government securities.
Account Minimums and Other Requirements: CFS does not have a minimum account size nor does it require Clients to open an account with the Firm.
Additional Information: CFS is a Corporation organized in the state of Connecticut. The firm has been in business since May 1985, and the principal owner is Michael James Butler.
Clients may impose restrictions in investing in certain securities or types of securities in accordance with their values or beliefs. However, if the restrictions prevent CFS from properly servicing the client account, or if the restrictions would require CFS to deviate from its standard suite of services, CFS reserves the right to end the relationship.
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?
ITEM 3. FEES, COSTS, CONFLICTS, AND STANDARD OF CONDUCT
WHAT FEES WILL I PAY?
We disclose in our written Investment Advisory Agreement the fees we will charge a client. Fees are charged quarterly in advance as a percentage of the client’s assets under management, calculated at the close of each calendar quarter. Our standard fee is 1% of assets under management per year. We routinely negotiate lower fee arrangements for clients at our sole discretion. Some clients, such as religious endowment funds or other special accounts, may be charged no fee.
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. Because we charge an asset-based fee, the total fees you pay us will increase with the size of your account. This creates an incentive for us to recommend that you increase the assets in your account.
Other Fees and Costs: CFS financial professionals may also be licensed insurance agents with independent insurance firms. Occasionally when it is deemed in the client’s best interest, they may offer products or services from these insurance companies and receive commissions from these efforts.
Our advisory fees are separate and distinct from fees and expenses charged by mutual funds or ETFs, which fees and expenses are described in the fund’s prospectus, and are exclusive of all fees paid to third parties, such as custodians and brokers (transaction charges). Additional fees and costs can also include deferred sales charges, odd lot differentials, transfer taxes, wire transfer and electronic fund fees, and other fees and taxes on brokerage accounts and securities transactions. CFS may also utilize third-party money managers (separate accounts) and the corresponding investment management fees would be exclusive of, and in addition to, CFS’s fee.
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.
Conversation Starter – 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?
STANDARD OF CONDUCT:
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.
Examples of Ways You Make Money and Conflicts of Interest:
The more assets there are in your advisory account, the more you will pay in fees, and the firm may therefore have an incentive to encourage you to increase the assets in your account.
CFS will accept compensation for the sale of insurance or other investment products, including asset-based sales charges or services fees from the sale of Annuity products to its clients. This presents a conflict of interest and gives the supervised person and CFS an incentive to recommend products based on the compensation received rather than on the client’s needs. When recommending the sale of securities or investment products for which its Advisors or CFS receives compensation, CFS will document the conflict of interest in the client file and inform the client of the conflict of interest.
Conversation Starter – 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 compensated through a combination of salary and bonus. Salary is tied to the amount of client assets that the professional manages and services. Bonuses are discretionary and reflect the overall success of the firm and the individual. Our financial professionals receive no product sales commissions or other forms of payment other than the potential compensation for the sales of insurance-based products (Life, Long Term Care and Annuities).
ITEM 4. DISCIPLINARY HISTORY
DO YOU OR YOUR FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS HAVE LEGAL OR DISCIPLINARY HISTORY?
No, CFS and our financial professionals have no legal or disciplinary history to report. For more information, visit investor.gov/CRS for a free and simple search tool to research us and our financial professionals.
Conversation Starter – Ask your financial professional:
- As a financial professional, do you have any disciplinary history? For what type of conduct?
ITEM 5. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For more information on our firm and services, please visit the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website at https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/ and our website at www.cfs-incorporated.com. You may also contact Michael J. Butler at (203) 248-1972 with specific questions, concerns, or complaints, to request up-to-date information, or to request a copy of the Firm’s current Customer Relationship Summary.
Conversation Starter – Ask your financial professional:
- Who is my primary contact person? Is he or she a representative of an investment adviser or a broker-dealer? Who can I talk to if I have concerns about how this person is treating me?
Our first priority is helping you take care of yourself and your family. We want to learn more about your personal situation, identify your dreams and goals, and understand your tolerance for risk. Long-term relationships that encourage open and honest communication have been the cornerstone of my foundation of success.