SCS Capital Management, LLC Relationship Summary
July 12, 2024
Introduction
SCS Capital Management, LLC (“SCS”) is registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment adviser.
Brokerage and investment advisory services and fees differ, and it is important for you to understand the differences between them. Free and simple tools are available to research firms and financial professionals at Investor.gov/CRS, which also provides educational materials about broker-dealers, investment advisers, and investing.
Relationships and Services – What investment services and advice can you provide me?
SCS provides investment advisory and wealth management services to retail investors. SCS’s financial planning professionals work with clients and their SCS relationship team to develop a wealth management strategy, income and cash flow planning, tax planning, and philanthropic strategy. SCS seeks to provide an integrated wealth management program whereby investment portfolios reflect not only SCS’s financial market outlook, but integrate the client’s strategic long-term goals, including income and spending needs, as well as tax and estate planning objectives. Services provided to these advisory clients include identifying investment objectives, including preferences or restrictions, and risk tolerance, developing and documenting asset allocation, investment policy and investment strategy, implementing the investment strategy, performing regular administration, monitoring and reporting of financial assets and performing due diligence on traditional, hedge and alternative fund managers. Investment advisory and wealth management services are based on the Investment Advisory Agreement (“IAA”) entered by an advisory client and SCS. The IAA typically provides SCS with the discretionary authority to recommend and retain other investment advisers and invest in SCS funds and in other funds that are not affiliated with SCS for certain portions of a client’s assets. SCS may also provide services on a non-discretionary basis to clients where the client would retain the ultimate decision-making authority for transactions within the portfolio. We generally require new clients to have a minimum of $30,000,000 in investable assets aggregated at the family relationship level but reserve the right to waive this minimum under certain circumstances.
For additional information, please refer to our ADV Part 2A brochure, especially Item 4 (services), Item 7 (clients and account minimums), Item 13 (account monitoring) and Item 16 (discretionary authority).
Ask us:
- “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?”
Costs, Conflicts, and Standard of Conduct – What fees will I pay?
Description of Principal Fees and Costs – All family relationships are aggregated to determine the blended fee rate. Fees are payable quarterly in advance on the first day of each calendar quarter based on the market value of assets under management on the last day of the preceding quarter, unless an alternate arrangement is mutually agreed upon. SCS charges a minimum annual fee of $225,000. For certain wealth management clients, SCS charges a performance fee consisting of a percentage of the accounts net realized and unrealized profits. Clients who have agreed to pay performance fees are typically charged lower asset-based fees. SCS, in its discretion, may negotiate asset-based fees but such fees will generally fall within the below range.
Assets Under Management Annual Rate
First $30 million 0.75%
$30 million to $100 million 0.50%
$100 million to $100 million 0.40%
Greater than $250 million 0.35%
Description of Other Fees and Costs – Fees charged by the external investment managers selected by SCS to manage portions of the client’s assets are separate from and in addition to SCS’s asset-based fees described above. These fees are set out in each investment manager’s investment advisory agreement or, in the case of mutual funds or private funds in the prospectus or offering memorandum. When able to negotiate fees that are lower than an investment manager’s standard fee schedule, SCS passes these savings directly through to clients. In addition to asset based advisory fees, clients will incur charges for custody services, brokerage, and other transaction costs associated with the buying and selling of securities within their accounts.
For additional information, see Item 5 (Fees and Compensation) and Item 12 (Brokerage Practices) of our Form ADV Part 2 brochure.
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.
Ask us:
- “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?
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.
For example, SCS has arrangements with certain broker-dealers pursuant to which SCS receives research or software from those broker-dealers when client securities transactions are executed through those broker-dealers. SCS has also entered into agreements with certain custodians we recommend to hold your account assets, through which the custodian pays for certain support services and products received by SCS to help manage and administer client accounts and to help SCS manage its client business. SCS may charge different fees or a performance fee for certain client relationships which may create an incentive for SCS to make investments that are more speculative than would be the case if such arrangements were not in effect. In addition, these differences in fees may create an incentive for SCS to favor certain client accounts that charge a different fee or a performance fee over other client accounts in the allocation of investment opportunities. To mitigate this conflict, SCS has internal procedures which aim to fairly allocate investment opportunities amongst eligible client accounts.
For additional information, please refer to Item 6 (Performance-Based Fees and Side-by-Side Management), Item 12 (Brokerage Practices) and Item 14 (Client Referrals and Other Compensation) of our Form ADV Part 2 brochure.
Ask us:
- “How might your conflicts of interest affect me, and how will you address them?”
How do your financial professionals make money?
SCS’s financial professionals receive a base salary and a discretionary bonus based on the overall performance of the firm as well as the individual’s contributions to the firm. Some of our financial advisors are eligible for additional compensation from our indirect parent company, Focus Financial Partners, LLC (or one of its affiliates), depending on the performance of SCS. This potential for increased compensation provides an incentive for these financial advisors to encourage you to maintain and even increase the size of your investment account with us. See Item 5 of your financial advisor’s Form ADV Part 2B Brochure Supplement for more information about your individual financial advisor’s compensation. No SCS financial professionals receive compensation that is tied to sales or the types of investments that they recommend.
Disciplinary History – Do you or your financial professionals have legal or disciplinary history?
No for our firm. Yes for our financial professionals. Investors may visit Investor.gov/CRS for a free and simple search tool to research our firm and our firm’s financial professionals.
Ask us:
- “As a financial professional, do you have any disciplinary history? For what type of conduct?”
Additional Information
For additional information about our investment advisory services, or to request a copy of Form CRS, please contact us at 617-204-6400.
Ask us:
- “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?”