How Your Accounts are Protected

National Financial Services, LLC [Member NYSE, SIPC]

National Financial Services, LLC (NFS) serves as the custodian for clients who choose to direct their investment advisory and brokerage transactions through Groh Wealth Management and J.W. Cole, Inc. and/or J.W. Cole Advisors, LLC. NFS, a Fidelity Investments ® company, is one of the nation’s largest providers of brokerages services. NFS has been an industry-leading clearing firm in the United States for 35 years. NFS offers a comprehensive clearing platform, trading capabilities, and business process and operations consulting to broker-dealer firms. Fidelity Investments, NFS’ parent company, is one of the world’s largest financial services providers with custodied assets of more than $7.4 trillion as of March 31, 2019. NFS, as custodian for J.W. Cole brokerage and J.W. Cole investment advisory accounts, is responsible for the following:

The execution, clearing, and settlements of securities transactions
The preparation and delivery of periodic client account statements
The preparation and delivery of client transaction confirmations
Tax reporting
Custody (safekeeping), receipt, and disbursement of funds and securities
The extension of margin credit upon approval

J.W. Cole, Inc. [Member FINRA, SIPC]

Groh Wealth Management, an independent financial services company, maintains a relationship with J.W. Cole, Inc. which serves as a dual-registered broker-dealer/registered investment advisor. Through this relationship, Groh Wealth Management offers clients asset-based advisory and brokerage account trading platforms. J.W. Cole, Inc. performs the following functions:

Approves, opens, and monitors client accounts
Ensures that GWM maintains compliance with all regulatory authority requirements
Responds to any customer complaints that may arise

Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC)

SIPC is a nonprofit membership corporation that was created in 1970 to protect customers of member broker/dealer firms in case of broker/dealer liquidation. SIPC is funded by broker/dealers, and by law protects their membership. National Financial Services, LLC (NFS) and J.W. Cole, Inc. are members of both the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities Investors Protection Corporation (SIPC). The SIPC fund is supported by $1 billion line of credit with a bank consortium and borrowing power of up to $1 billion from the U.S. Treasury through the SEC.

Securities held in NFS accounts are protected in accordance with SIPC up to $500,000. The protection includes cash claims up to $100,000. These limits, as defined by the Securities Investor Protection Act, are on a per-customer basis. Most types of securities held in a NFS brokerage account are protected, including stocks, bonds, notes, mutual funds, and certificates of deposit (CDs). For a more detailed explanation, consult the definition of “security” in the Securities Investor Protection Act, section 78lll(14):

NFS has arranged for additional protection for cash and securities to supplement its SIPC coverage. The extra protection carried by NFS covers total account net equity in excess of the $500,000/$100,000 coverage provided by SIPC. Note: Neither SIPC nor the additional coverage protects against loss of market value of the securities.

SIPC coverage does not extend to assets held in FDIC insured bank sweep deposits. Protection for these deposits is afforded by FDIC. For information on FDIC coverage limits, please go to http://www.fdic.gov.

Regarding SIPC information, according to the FINRA Conduct Rule 2342, you may contact SIPC for additional information at 202-371-8300 or visit them on the Web at http://www.sipc.org.