Firm Description
BIP Wealth, LLC ("BIP”) was founded in 2007.
BIP offers personalized investment advisory services to investors that include investment and
financial planning for retirement, estate planning, funding for education, charitable gifting and other
financial goals. A BIP representative meets with a prospective client to discuss the prospective
client’s financial situation, their investment goals, risk tolerance and investment time horizon to
develop an overall plan. BIP’s services include ongoing monitoring and management of client
accounts. BIP managed portfolios are reviewed at least quarterly but may be reviewed more often
due to a client request, or if material information is received that changes the client’s financial
situation.
BIP charges an annual fee, charged quarterly, for its investment advisory services, and is based
on the value of the client assets BIP has under management. The firm does not sell annuities or
insurance, or invest in any mutual funds, stocks or bonds that pay a commission to the firm.
BIP may recommend other professionals such as estate attorneys, accountants, and insurance
professionals who engage directly with BIP clients on an as-needed basis. Conflicts of interest will
be disclosed to the client in the unlikely event they should occur.
The initial meeting between a BIP representative and prospective client, which may be in person
or by telephone, is free of charge and is considered an exploratory interview to determine the
extent to which financial planning and investment management may be beneficial to the
prospective client.
Principal Owners
BIP Managing Partner, LLC, which is owned by Mark A. Buffington and William J. Harris, is the
principal owner of BIP Wealth. Mr. Harris is the CEO of BIP Wealth. Mr. Buffington is not an
employee or manager at BIP Wealth.
Types of Advisory Services
BIP provides comprehensive financial planning and investment management services.
BIP may provide advice on limited partnerships and other entities that invest in common equity,
preferred securities, or debt of private companies. BIP or its related persons may have a financial
interest in these partnerships.
With respect to any account for which BIP meets the definition of a fiduciary under Department of
Labor rules, BIP acknowledges that both BIP and its Related Persons are acting as fiduciaries.
Additional disclosure may be found elsewhere in this Brochure or in the written agreement between
BIP and Client.
BIP also acts as an investment advisor to retirement plans.
BIP also provides investment advisory services to pooled investment vehicles. BIP Bay Point
Fund I-QP, LLC and BIP Bay Point Fund I-AI, LLC (collectively, the “BIP Bay Point Funds”) are
exempt from registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940
Act”), and state securities laws. BIP Holdings, LLC, an affiliate of BIP Wealth, LLC, is the Manager
of the BIP Bay Point Funds and is responsible for making investment and withdrawal decisions for
the BIP Bay Point Funds. The BIP Bay Point Funds are managed in accordance with the
investment objectives and strategies described in the private placement memoranda.
BIP provides investment advisory services to 401k plans. A separate fee schedule is applicable
Brochure 6 of 21 04/24/2024
to these types of clients and can be found in Item 5 – Fees & Compensation.
Assets Under Management
As of December 31,2023, BIP managed $2,833,854,777 in assets for approximately 1,444 clients.
Of this total $1,831,288,843 was managed on a discretionary basis, $1,022,565,934 was managed
on a non-discretionary basis through clients’ participation in private market investments.
Tailored Relationships
The BIP advisory relationship is initiated with a consultative meeting, or series of meetings,
between a BIP Personal Wealth Advisor and the client to determine the prospective client's
financial situation. Summary information is documented in our client information and portfolio
management system called BIOS. More detailed information may also be recorded in
MoneyGuide Pro, which is financial planning software.
BIP analyzes a prospective client’s financial situation at two levels. The household level is the basis
for financial planning analysis and is the most comprehensive view of the client’s needs. Within
the household the client may have several portfolios, each consisting of several accounts that are
managed to a specific level of risk. For instance, the husband may be more risk tolerant, allowing
for a more aggressive portfolio for his accounts, while the spouse is less risk tolerant and requires
a more conservative approach.
Portfolios primarily consist of public market securities, and the most common vehicles are mutual
funds and exchange traded funds (“ETFs”). Some portfolios may utilize individual bonds, including,
but not limited to, corporate bonds, government bonds, municipal bonds, and CDs.
Individual stocks may be used to a small degree, based on client preference. Common stock
holdings are usually limited to legacy holdings that the client owned before becoming a client of
BIP. Some portfolios may utilize stock options, usually to reduce risk by protecting against
downside market movements or to generate income.
BIP manages two “buy-write” strategies, which are run as separately managed accounts and block
traded at Charles Schwab and Co., Inc. (“Schwab”). BIP Hedged Equity is a global equity strategy
that owns index ETFs intended to provide coverage of the global equity markets. It sells options
against a portion of the underlying equity with the goal of reducing the volatility by about one-third
when compared to owning the underlying index ETFs alone. BIP Hedged Yield is a domestic
equity strategy that owns a large cap U.S. equity ETF and sells call options against the entirety of
the underlying equity with the goal of reducing the volatility by about three-fourths when compared
to owning the underlying index ETFs alone.
For investors who are a Qualified Investor (“Accredited Investor”, “Qualified Client”, or “Qualified
Purchaser”) under the SEC guidelines, portfolios may also consist of alternative investment
opportunities, also known as private
market securities or alternative investments. Private market
securities may be of several types including equity and debt investments. BIP or one of its affiliates
may serve as General Partner for private market investments. Private market securities are not
bought on a discretionary basis. There are additional risks including illiquidity and lack of disclosure
when compared to public market securities. These risks are described in the offering documents
of each investment. The investor agrees to bear such risks by executing the subscription
documents.
Our general guideline is that private market equities, based on their “fair value” as determined by
the entity managing such private market equities, should represent approximately one-third of the
total investment in equity for most households. Exceptions to the rule will be common and will be
made based on individual client circumstances, such as a high projected income or previous
experience with private investments. Some clients may not own any private securities, either
because they are not Qualified Investors or because they are not willing to accept the additional
Brochure 7 of 21 04/24/2024
risks.
Each portfolio is customized on several dimensions to be most appropriate for the client’s individual
situation, goals, and risk tolerance. The first dimension of customization is the allocation between
equity and fixed income investments in the portfolio. This allocation decision is the most important
determinant of risk and volatility.
The second dimension is the public market equity style. We call these Accumulation, Balanced,
or Distribution. This style is chosen by assessing whether the portfolio will be receiving cash in
excess of 3% per year for additional investment, be somewhat stable in terms of deposits and
withdrawals, or will be distributing cash in excess of 3% per year.
Different public market equity styles should have similar returns, but different levels of tax
efficiency. They could also be rebalanced more or less frequently to keep liquidity at the target
levels.
Finally, the third dimension is the public market fixed income style, which is also chosen based on
whether the portfolio will be receiving cash, be somewhat stable, or be distributing cash. Different
public market fixed income styles should have similar returns but may have different levels of
short-term volatility from credit risk, currency risk, and inflation risk. Portfolios will also be managed
based on an asset location analysis that places more tax-efficient investments in taxable accounts
and less tax-efficient investments in tax-deferred or tax-free accounts.
Once the public market equity and fixed income investments have been determined, a decision
as to the appropriateness of private market securities will be made. If it is determined that a client
is ineligible to invest or is not interested in investing in private market securities, the needs of the
portfolio will be met through public sector investments only.
Restrictions and guidelines imposed by a client may impact the composition and performance of
portfolios. As a result, performance of portfolios within the same investment objective may vary
slightly. The client should not expect that the performance of his/her custom portfolio(s) will be
identical to any other individual portfolio performance.
BIP presents the investment plan/portfolio design for the client’s individual circumstances. The
fees associated with the portfolio are outlined and reviewed. Clients are provided assistance in
completing the required paperwork to establish the necessary accounts with a qualified custodian.
All the household and portfolio design choices are reviewed in detail with the client in a face-to-
face or telephone meeting at least once per year, or however often the client prefers. The
performance of each portfolio and the chosen risk levels are documented each quarter and
distributed to clients via email or mail, and then reviewed with the client as necessary throughout
the year.
BIP has a strategy, BIP Institutional Reserve, that gives companies an additional solution to
keeping assets at a traditional bank. The strategy consists of a portfolio of U.S. Treasury securities
with maturities of six months or less, in addition to securities investing in Floating Rate Treasury
Notes. Cash balances are invested in the Fidelity Treasury Money Market Fund. The minimum to
open an account with this investment objective is $250,000. For assets invested in the BIP
Institutional Reserve strategy, there is a separate fee schedule that is applicable and is disclosed
in Item 5.
Types of Agreements
Prior to engaging BIP to provide investment advisory services, the client will be required to enter
into an Investment Advisor Agreement (IAA) with BIP. The IAA will set forth the terms and
conditions of the engagement. It will also describe the scope of the services to be provided and
the fees for such services.
BIP’s Client Relationship Summary (Form CRS), a copy of this Brochure and the firm’s Privacy
Policy will be provided to clients prior to, or contemporaneously with, the execution of the IAA
between each client and BIP. The client’s custodian account documents include an authorization
Brochure 8 of 21 04/24/2024
that allows the custodian of any of his/her accounts to debit the account(s) the amount of BIP’s
advisory fee and remit the fee to BIP. The authorization will remain valid until a written revocation
of the authorization is received by BIP or the account custodian. In connection with this fee
deduction process, the custodian will send to the client a statement, at least quarterly, indicating:
• all amounts dispersed from the account, and
• the amount of advisory fees paid directly to BIP.
Termination of Agreement
Either the client or BIP may terminate the services described above with a written, ten (10)-day
notice to the other. Any charges incurred prior to termination will be charged pro rata based upon
the period covered. Termination requests may be sent to BIP at the following address:
BIP Wealth, LLC
3575 Piedmont Road NE, Building 15, Suite 730
Atlanta, GA 30305
Attention: Bill Harris, Co-Founder, CEO