Fiduciary Disclosure

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF OUR FIDUCIARY STATUS WITH RESPECT TO RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS   The U.S. Department of Labor issued a rule pertaining to investment advice provided to retirement investors, called Improving Investment Advice for Workers & Retirees. The rule applies to retirement accounts governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) and/or the Internal Revenue Code (“Code”), including Individual Retirement Accounts (“IRA”) and Education Savings Account (“ESA”). Pursuant to the rule, we are providing the following acknowledgment: When we provide “investment advice,” as defined under Title I of ERISA or the Code, to you regarding your retirement plan account, IRA, or ESA, we are fiduciaries within the meaning of ERISA and/or the Code. The way we make money creates some conflicts with your interests, so when we operate as a fiduciary for your retirement account(s) we operate under a special rule, PTE 2020-02, that requires us to act in your best interest and not put our interest ahead of yours. To the extent that particular communications to you or activities are considered “investment education” or otherwise non-fiduciary under ERISA, we are not a fiduciary in connection with such communications or activities. The Department of Labor has published a guide titled Choosing the Right Person to Give You Investment Advice: Information for Investors in Retirement Plans and Individual Retirement Accounts, which can be found at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/about-ebsa/our-activities/resource-center/faqs/choosing-the-right-person-to-give-you-investment-advice.