4. A. Description of Your Advisory Firm:
GW Asena Pty LTD (“the Firm” or “the Adviser”) is an Australian Proprietary
Company 88-3159451 that is registered to do business as an investment advisory firm.
Note: The use of the phrase “registered investment adviser” or the term “registered” do
not imply a certain level of skill or training. The Firm’s President is Peter Harper
(CRD# 7618622) and its Chief Compliance Officer is Liza Janakievski (CRD# 7618619).
Our firm’s principal owners are Giles Wade Private Wealth Pty Ltd (50%) (an
Australian registered broker-dealer and advisory firm) and Asena Holdings LLC (50%),
privately held companies. The Firm maintains offices in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
and Florida.
The Firm requires that all of its investment adviser representatives have a minimum of
3-years of experience, a degree in finance or a similar field, or have held an appropriate
professional accreditation (e.g., CPA, ChFC, CFP, etc.) for at least a year.
Our hours of operation are Monday – Friday, 8:30am – 5:30pm, Eastern Time.
4.B. Description of Advisory Services Offered
The Firm offers the following services:
Financial Planning
Portfolio Management for Individuals, Businesses and Institutional Clients
Insurance Consulting
Retirement & Pension Consulting
Estate Planning
Tax Advice
Tax Compliance
Seminars
Company Restructuring Consultation
Selection of and referrals to other investment advisers
Financial Planning, Portfolio Management, and Insurance Consulting:
The Adviser supervises and provides recommendations for the investments of its
clients in accordance with the investment profile the client has communicated to the
Adviser. In such instances, the Adviser renders to the client, or causes the custodian of
the assets to render to the client, a quarterly inventory report.
In providing investment Advisory services, the sole standard of care of Adviser is to act
with the care, skill, prudence and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing
that a prudent Adviser in a fiduciary capacity and familiar with such matters would
use in the conduct of an enterprise of a like character and with like aims. The Adviser
does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of information furnished by any third
party to the client.
Clients may or may not make investment and insurance applications at the time of a
plan’s presentation. The Adviser does not obligate any client to implement any
recommendation or suggestion made by the Adviser or to make any transaction
through the Adviser or persons associated with the Adviser or through any other
particular broker-dealer.
The Adviser’s representative, in some instances, discusses interests in limited
partnerships; investing in private capital such as private equity, limited partnerships,
LLCs, corporations, separate accounts, and limited partnerships investing in private
equity funds; hedge funds and limited partnerships investing in hedge funds
(collectively, “Private Placements”). As discussed with other investment
recommendations, The Adviser does not obligate any client to implement any
recommendation or suggestion made by the Adviser or to make any transaction
through the Adviser or persons associated with the Adviser or through any other
particular broker-dealer.
Retirement and Pension Consulting
The Adviser’s retirement and pension consulting services typically include a review of
your financial goals, progress toward them, and possible strategies to employ in
pursuing them, typically focusing on financial independence as the primary objective.
For situations where analyses show less than the desired results, we may make
recommendations, including those that may impact the original analyses by adjusting
certain variables (e.g., working longer, saving more, spending less, taking more risk
with investments).
Estate Planning
This usually includes an analysis of your exposure to estate taxes and your current
estate plan, which may include whether you have a will, powers of attorney, trusts and
other related documents. Our advice also typically includes ways for you to minimize
or avoid future estate taxes by implementing appropriate estate planning strategies
such as the use of applicable trusts.
We always recommend that you consult with a qualified attorney when you initiate,
update, or complete estate planning
activities. We may provide you with contact
information for attorneys who specialize in estate planning when you wish to hire an
attorney for such purposes, some of whom are also investment adviser representatives
of the Adviser. With respect to the use of third party attorneys, from time-to-time, we
will participate in meetings or phone calls between you and your attorney with your
approval or request.
Tax Advice and Compliance
Many of our investment adviser representatives also specialize in tax laws. Through
these individuals, we are able to provide guidance with respect to state, federal, and
international tax laws and requirements set forth by government officials and other
taxing authorities both respect to those assets held by individuals or legal entities.
Seminars
The Adviser provides seminars to individuals or to groups of employees, associates
and other organized groups. The investment information our firm provides with this
service is not intended to meet the objectives of each individual client.
Company Restructuring Consultation
Services provided to companies include advising on business alterations such as
changes to jurisdiction, ownership structure, conversion to a different legal entity type,
mergers, acquisitions, business separations, or succession planning.
Selection of and Referrals to Other Investment Advisers
The Adviser, in some instances, recommends a third party investment adviser to
perform investment advisory services on behalf of the client. Adviser receives a
percentage of the Advisory fee charged to the client by the third party investment
adviser. The Adviser does not provide ongoing portfolio management services to
clients with respect to any assets that are referred to a third party investment adviser.
4.C. Client Tailored Services and Client Imposed Restriction
By their nature, all of our investment advisory services must be based on each client’s
specific needs to have any useful validity. As a fiduciary, an investment adviser is to
make only those recommendations that demonstrably are in the client’s own best
interests, which means that they, too, must be based on the client’s stated and/ or
established needs, goals, risk tolerance and investment time horizon. The firm seeks to
establish this personal dimension through a careful, fact-finding interview and
discussions with each client.
At the selection of the client, we engage in our advisory services either on a non-
discretionary basis (i.e., the client must approve every action we take on their behalf) or
on a discretionary basis (i.e., the client empowers us, through limited power of
attorney, to engage in transactions on their behalf, without seeking additional
permissions from the client).
Clients may impose reasonable restrictions on the adviser’s discretion to invest in
certain securities or types of securities if a client provides clear, written directions to
that effect. Clients may opt to have their account managed on a non-discretionary basis.
The client allows the power of discretion to an adviser by means of a limited power of
attorney included as part of the advisory contract, which the client may revoke at any
time. Where the account is managed on a discretionary basis, the Adviser’s
representative makes investment determinations and act upon such determinations
with respect to the assets in the account without further approval from the client,
subject to any restrictions placed on the account. Discretion does not allow the
Adviser’s representative to withdraw funds, transfer funds, or place assets in certain
classes of securities (e.g., private placements). In the event the client chooses to have the
account managed on a non-discretionary basis, the adviser contacts the client to request
approval for each transaction effected for the account.
A client’s ability to impose restrictions on any third party investment adviser’s discretion
occurs at the beginning of the process at which time a client accepts or chooses not to
engage the recommended adviser(s). Clients may withdraw from the adviser(s) at any
time as well, subject to the terms and conditions of the third party adviser’s advisory
agreement.
4.D. Wrap Fee Programs
The Adviser does not offer Wrap Fee Programs.
4. E. Client Assets Under Management
As of December 31, 2023, this firm does not manage any client assets.