Meet Graydan Smith, AAMS™, CRPC™

Why did you decide to make this change to LPL?

Because I’m independent, I have choices as to what entities I use to help support us in my efforts to serve you, and I am constantly looking for ways to improve upon all of the services I provide.

Following extensive research and consideration, I are proud to announce that I am replacing Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (“Merrill”), the Broker Dealer firm that provides regulatory compliance and support, with LPL Financial (LPL), the country’s largest independent broker dealer firm.

LPL Financial is one of the leading financial services companies and is the largest independent broker/dealer in the nation, representing more than 22,000 independent financial professionals across the country (as reported by LPL on June 10, 2024). As an LPL Financial professional, I are free to choose the products and services that address your needs because LPL Financial does not offer any proprietary products. This commitment to objective financial advice helps to preserve the integrity of my investment advice. For decades, the firm has served as a partner to financial professionals, supporting them in their goals of helping to protect and grow clients’ wealth. I am excited about my new affiliation, and I’m confident that you’ll be pleased with the range of services you will receive as a result.

I firmly believe they will be valuable partners with us as I move forward.

Will my investments change?

Only if an investment is not transferable will it need to change. All other investments will electronically transfer to LPL. My advice and how I manage your portfolios will also remain the same. I will have access to additional services and capabilities I have not had previously.

Will my brokerage fees change?

You will likely see a different fee schedule for brokerage-related costs, such as trading costs, IRA fees, and Alternative Investment fees. Some account-specific fees may be higher or lower. I believe overall my clients will experience lower total costs.

Will my distributions change?

No. While you will need to sign new paperwork to update your distributions to my new broker dealer, no other changes will occur.

Will my advisory fees change?

Generally no. I have arranged for our portfolios to move to LPL as they are and negotiated similar client level fees.

Will I begin receiving information from LPL?

Yes. Once an account is established at LPL for you, you will begin receiving regulatory and disclosure notifications from LPL regarding the account(s) opened, your document settings, changes made to information on your account, the transfer of assets and more. You can review the information listed and contact us with any questions you may have. If you would like to have most notifications sent electronically, you can register for LPLs Account View and select paperless settings for statements, tax documents, trade confirmations or important documents.

How and when will my accounts be transferred over?

While some accounts will usually transfer within a week or two after you sign your paperwork, other accounts directly held with a mutual fund, annuity company, or other insurance company may take several months before updating the broker dealer. Additionally, any alternative investments held directly with the product sponsor will be transferred into an LPL account, and this transfer may take several months to complete.

While the transfer may take some time, it will NOT impact any of your underlying investments. For accounts directly held, the services you receive from that mutual fund or annuity company or other insurance company will not change. Please note that any costs or fees that may be charged to you in the transfer will be credited back to your LPL account once the transfer is complete.

Will there be a change to my monthly statements?

For your brokerage accounts, you will receive two account statements for the month your account is transferred — one from Merrill and one from LPL. Additionally, sometime very soon, you’ll be getting (or may have already gotten) two different tax documents for each non-qualified account that you have — one from Merrill, and one from LPL. So please make sure you have both sets when you do your taxes this year. For your accounts directly held, you will continue to receive statements from the mutual fund, annuity company or other insurance company.

Will I need to sign new documents?

Yes. I’m updating my account agreements with you so that I can continue to provide you with ongoing advice and management of your accounts. This account agreement update is very important, and I’ve made the process simple for you. You’ll receive several emails from DocuSign for your electronic signature and emails from me with documentation you will need to print, sign and scan back to me. The important part is you need to sign those as soon as possible, because I can’t open, transfer and manage your accounts at LPL until I have your signature.  Also, please note that you may see DocuSign requests from new members of my expanded team at Lucia Capital Group: most likely either Tiy O’Neal, Ann Quinn, or Monique Herrera-Chalker.  If you see a request from them, just know that it originated from me as well. Having this team available to help me is another one of the many new benefits of my move to LPL.

What if I have questions regarding the documentation I receive?

The information used to prepare the documents you receive is information I have in my files. If you have any questions or would like to make updates to any of the information, please let us know. In some cases, as in the case of your years of investment experience and your net worth percentage breakdown, I may round the years or percentages to the nearest 5 or 10 years or percent. If you have any questions, please let us know.

If I have set up a direct deposit or electronic funds to transfer from my bank account or elsewhere to my Wedbush account, do I need to do anything?

If I set the transfer up from Merrill, then the new paperwork I send you will change these instructions. If, however, you set this transfer up directly with your bank, using your banks forms, please contact me and we will discuss what steps should be taken to change the funds transfer to your new LPL account. If you are not sure, feel free to contact us to review the instructions.

Will I have online access?

Yes! I appreciate the fact that any time accounts are transferred, you may want to track them. Of course, I will be tracking them for you, but you’ll be able to do so as well with online access to your LPL accounts via their website and app called MyAccount View.

My team and I can help you establish your online access; or, if you’d like to set up access sooner, once one account has been opened for you, you can go to MyAccountViewOnline.com, click Sign Up, enter the information requested, and then simply follow the prompts to establish your account.

If you prefer to go paperless, there’s also an option for that within MyAccountView. Just go to the Preferences tab, click on the “Paperless Settings” section, and choose which option(s) and settings you want.