Inside the Rope: Karl Wellner Family Matters Managing the Wealth of Family Offices

Jul 1, 2022 | Karl Wellner

Inside the Rope with David Clark · Ep 110: Karl Wellner - Family matters - Managing the wealth of family offices

In this episode, David is joined by Karl Wellner of Papamarkou Wellner Asset Management, a US firm that provides investment solutions to some of Europe and the United States wealthiest individuals, family offices, endowments, institutions, and foundations.

David and Karl delve into the types of clients that Papamarkou manages, including the issues that they face. He goes on to discuss the relationship process and the "marathon" of investing money on behalf of these clients. Karl also explains some of the different investment opportunities they come across for clients, and how they differ from your traditional "Stocks & Bonds" portfolio.

Karl Wellner joined Papamarkou Wellner Asset Management in 2003 as President and CEO. Mr. Wellner was previously President and CEO of Key Asset Management (USA) Inc. Mr. Wellner is also Founder, partner/shareholder of KAWE Kapital, one of the first members of the Tallinn Stock Exchange in Estonia and one of the larger independent investment management firms in the country.

Check the background and experience of Papamarkou Wellner Perkin Capital, Papamarkou Wellner Perkin Advisors, and their brokers and advisers, on FINRA’s BrokerCheck and see the Firms’ Relationship Summary

This website is for informational purposes only, does not constitute investment advice, and is not intended as a solicitation to purchase or sell any security or separate account.

Asset Allocation does not assure a profit or protect against loss in declining financial markets. Keep in mind that investing involves risk. The value of your investments will fluctuate over time, and you may gain or lose money. Past performance does not guarantee and may not be indicative of future results.

Securities, options, futures related products offered by Papamarkou Wellner & Co., Inc. MEMBER: FINRA/SIPC/NFA/MSRB (d/b/a Papamarkou Wellner Perkin Capital). Investment advisory services offered by Papamarkou Wellner Asset Management, Inc., an SEC registered investment adviser (d/b/a Papamarkou Wellner Perkin Advisors). Papamarkou Wellner Perkin Capital and Papamarkou Wellner Perkin Advisors are control affiliates (collectively referred to herein as Papamarkou Wellner Perkin).

^*Any reference to Papamarkou Wellner Asset Management, Inc. being a registered investment adviser does not imply that the company or any of its management has achieved a certain level of skill or training.

ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING (“AML”) CUSTOMER IDENTIFICATION PROGRAM

United States Federal law requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify against various government lists, and record information that identifies each person, who opens an account. As a broker dealer registered with FINRA and the SEC, Papamarkou Wellner Perkin Capital will maintain on file copies of each investor’s new account information for brokerage accounts and subscription documentation for private placements, which include for:

Investors, who are natural persons, name, residential address, date of birth, and other verification information that will allow Papamarkou Wellner Perkin Capital to identify you;
Investors, which are entities or organizations, the name, physical location, and other official documentation identifying the entity’s existence.

PRIVACY POLICY NOTICE

SEC Regulation S-P requires Papamarkou Wellner Perkin to provide a statement to you at account opening and once each year regarding the use of your nonpublic financial information.

Papamarkou Wellner Perkin and its employees strongly believe in protecting the confidentiality and security of personal information we collect from you.

Papamarkou Wellner Perkin may collect nonpublic personal information about you from the following sources:

Information we receive from you on engagements, applications, and other forms
Information about your transactions with us, our affiliates, or others; and
Information we receive from a consumer reporting agency.

Papamarkou Wellner Perkin may disclose nonpublic information about you in order to process transactions in any account you may open; to respond to inquiries from you or your representative; or, to fulfill legal and regulatory requirements.

Papamarkou Wellner Perkin does not make any disclosures of information to other companies, which may want to sell their products or services to you.

Our employees are instructed to protect the confidentiality of information in the firm’s possession and are required to comply with Papamarkou Wellner Perkin’s established policies.

Papamarkou Wellner Perkin is firmly committed to protecting your privacy. We will continue to safeguard your privacy and the confidentiality of the information you provide to us.

SIPC NOTICE

The role of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”) is to return funds and securities to investors if the broker-dealer holding the assets becomes insolvent. You may obtain more information about SIPC, including the SIPC brochure, at SIPC's Web site at www.sipc.org, or, by calling (202) 371-8300.

MSRB NOTICE

Papamarkou Wellner & Co. Inc. is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (”SEC”) at www.sec.gov and the Municipal Securities Rule Making Board (“MSRB”) at www.msrb.org. The role of the MSRB in the U.S. financial markets is explained in a brochure available to investors on the MSRB website (www.msrb.org) that describes the protections that may be provided by MSRB rules and how to file a complaint with the appropriate regulatory authority.

FEE SHARING ARRANGEMENTS

Papamarkou Wellner Perkin has an obligation to all of its clients and customers to make full and fair disclosure with respect to all conflicts of interest, to act in the best interest of its clients and customers, and to place their interests before its own. In addition to transaction-based commissions, mark-ups/mark-downs, or other customary brokerage account revenue for effecting transactions in your customer account, including the margin interest as described herein, Papamarkou Wellner Perkin Capital shares in whole or in part with Pershing other fees charged to your account. For money market or other mutual fund positions held in your brokerage account, the mutual fund sponsor will often charge in the form of fund expenses 12b-1 fees and other marketing and management fees. Those 12b-1 fees are paid by Pershing to Papamarkou Wellner Perkin Capital. In addition, a portion of the money market interest earned on free cash in your brokerage account is retained by Pershing and shared with Papamarkou Wellner Perkin Capital. Please speak with your Papamarkou Wellner Perkin representative or adviser to find out more information about how fees are assessed in a brokerage account and shared with Papamarkou Wellner Perkin. Please also see the Papamarkou Wellner Perkin Customer Relationship Summary.

BUSINESS CONTINUITY POLICY SUMMARY DISCLOSURE

Papamarkou Wellner Perkin has created and implemented a joint business continuity plan (“BCP”) in an effort to mitigate the effects related to unforeseen business interruptions in the event of an emergency or significant business disruption (“SBD”). However, all risks of business interruption cannot be eliminated and Papamarkou Wellner Perkin cannot guarantee that systems will always be available or recoverable as a result of an SBD. Papamarkou Wellner Perkin has no control over, and must rely upon, the disaster recovery plans of its various critical business constituents (its clearing firm, vendors, and other counterparties). In the event of an SBD, contact your Papamarkou Wellner Perkin representative or adviser; find out more information from the www.papamarkou.com website; and/or please be advised that the facility to place orders directly with Pershing in accordance with the Pershing BCP may be available by following instructions on the Pershing website at www.pershing.com.

SEC RULE 606 (formerly SEC 11Ac1-6) DISCLOSURE OF ORDER ROUTING PRACTICES

Papamarkou Wellner Perkin Capital is currently able to claim an exemption from the quarterly reporting requirement of Rule 606 as a firm that has routed, on average, less than the minimum threshold of U.S. securities orders during the preceding calendar quarter. Covered securities include NASDAQ; U.S. Domestic exchange listed equities; and listed options.

In permitting the exemption, the Securities Exchange Commission has emphasized that firms eligible for this limited exemption would remain responsible to comply with Rule 606, which requires firms to provide interested customers with routing information about specific orders and to notify customers annually that such information is available.

Please be advised under Rule 606 that we will provide interested customers with routing information about specific orders when requested. In addition, as an introducing broker the entirety of the firm’s order flow is routed automatically through its clearing agent, Pershing LLC. A statistical analysis of the monthly order routing results for Papamarkou Wellner & Co., Inc. is readily available free of charge to interested parties by clicking on the link below.

OPTIONS TRADING

Options trading entails significant risk and is not appropriate for all investors. Certain complex options strategies carry additional risk. Before trading options, please read Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options.

MARGIN TRADING

Margin trading increases risk of loss and includes the possibility of a forced sale if account equity drops below required levels. Margin is not available in all account types. Margin trading privileges subject to Papamarkou Wellner Perkin Capital review and approval. Carefully review the Margin Disclosure Document provided to you at account opening.

Pursuant to an agreement between Pershing and Papamarkou Wellner Capital, the interest you pay on the margin loan to Pershing will be shared between Pershing and Papamarkou Wellner Capital on a negotiated basis. Speak to your PW&Co representative for more information.

Papamarkou Wellner Perkin Capital is furnishing this statement to you to provide some basic facts about purchasing securities on margin, and to alert you to the risks involved with trading securities in a margin account. Before trading stocks in a margin account, you should carefully review the margin agreement provided by Papamarkou Wellner Perkin Capital and its clearing firm, Pershing LLC. Consult your firm regarding any questions or concerns you may have with your margin account(s).

When you purchase securities, you may pay for the securities in full or you may borrow part of the purchase price from your brokerage firm. If you choose to borrow funds from Pershing, you will open a margin account with Papamarkou Wellner Perkin Capital, the introducing firm, which manages your customer relationship. The account itself is held in custody by Pershing, the clearing firm, which extends the actual margin loan. The securities purchased in the account are Pershing's collateral for the loan to you. If the securities in your account decline in value, so does the value of the collateral supporting your loan, and, as a result, the firm can take action, such as issue a margin call and/or sell securities or other assets in any of your accounts held with Papamarkou Wellner Perkin, in order to maintain the required equity in the account.

It is important that you fully understand the risks involved in trading securities on margin. These risks include the following:

You can lose more funds than you deposit in the margin account. A decline in the value of securities that are purchased on margin may require you to provide additional funds to the firm that has made the loan to avoid the forced sale of those securities or other securities or assets in your account(s).
The firm can force the sale of securities or other assets in your account(s). If the equity in your account falls below the maintenance margin requirements, or the firm's higher "house" requirements, the firm can sell the securities or other assets in any of your accounts held at the firm to cover the margin deficiency. You also will be responsible for any short fall in the account after such a sale.
The firm can sell your securities or other assets without contacting you. Some investors mistakenly believe that a firm must contact them for a margin call to be valid, and that the firm cannot liquidate securities or other assets in their accounts to meet the call unless the firm has contacted them first. This is not the case. Most firms will attempt to notify their customers of margin calls, but they are not required to do so. However, even if a firm has contacted a customer and provided a specific date by which the customer can meet a margin call, the firm can still take necessary steps to protect its financial interests, including immediately selling the securities without notice to the customer.
You are not entitled to choose which securities or other assets in your account(s) are liquidated or sold to meet a margin call. Because the securities are collateral for the margin loan, the firm has the right to decide which security to sell in order to protect its interests.
The firm can increase its "house" maintenance margin requirements at any time and is not required to provide you advance written notice. These changes in firm policy often take effect immediately and may result in the issuance of a maintenance margin call. Your failure to satisfy the call may cause the member to liquidate or sell securities in your account(s).
You are not entitled to an extension of time on a margin call. While an extension of time to meet margin requirements may be available to customers under certain conditions, a customer does not have a right to the extension.

ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT VALUATIONS

Investments such as direct participation program securities (e.g., partnerships, limited liability companies, and real estate investment trusts, which are not listed on any exchange), commodity pools, private equity, private debt, and hedge funds are generally illiquid investments and their current values may be different from the purchase price. Unless otherwise indicated, the values shown in this statement for such investments have been provided by the management, administrator, or sponsor of each program, or a third-party vendor without independent verification by Papamarkou Wellner Perkin and represent their estimate of the value of the investor’s participation in the program, as of a date of the statement. Therefore, the estimated values shown may not necessarily reflect actual market values or be realized upon liquidation. If an estimated value is not provided, valuation information is not available.