Form ADV Part 3: Customer Relationship Summary

Cairn Wealth Management

Form ADV Part 3: Customer Relationship Summary

March 5, 2025

Item 1: Introduction

Cairn Wealth Management is an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) offering advisory accounts and services. The fees and services provided by brokerage companies and investment advisory services differ, and that difference is important for the retail investor to understand. Free and simple tools are available to research firms and financial professionals at www.investor.gov/CRS, which also provides educational materials about broker-dealers, investment advisers, and investing.

Item 2: Relationships and Services

What investment services and advice can you provide me?

We offer investment advisory services to retail investors, including discretionary portfolio management, nondiscretionary portfolio guidance, financial planning, and consulting services. We monitor retail investors' investments on an ongoing, continuous basis and report on them quarterly. We formally review each client account quarterly and compare the account allocation targets to the clients' stated investment objective. All such monitoring and review is part of our standard services. As a fiduciary, we are required to act and provide advice that is in your best interest, putting you, the investor, first.

When we accept discretionary authority, we place trades in retail investors' accounts without contacting them prior to or obtaining their approval of such trades. There are generally no material limitations on our discretionary authority, although clients may impose restrictions on investing in certain securities or types of securities, in which case we obtain those clients' approval before each transaction that may be inconsistent with those limitations.

When we provide non-discretionary investment advisory services, the retail investor makes the ultimate decision regarding the purchase or sale of investments. Our investment models consist of an allocation of stocks, bonds, and cash, using ETFs to provide additional diversification and access to specialized market sectors. Some smaller accounts may hold mutual funds to achieve clients' objectives. Although we only make available or offer advice with respect to these types of investments, there are no limitations on which stocks, bonds, ETFs, or mutual funds we make available to our clients or offer advice with respect thereto.

We have no stated minimum account value.

For additional information, please see Items 4 and 7 of our Form ADV Part 2A.

Questions to ask us:

Given my financial situation, should I choose an investment advisory service? Why or why not?
How will you choose investments to recommend to me?
What is your relevant experience, including your licenses, education, and other qualifications? What do these qualifications mean?

Item 3: Fees, Costs, Conflicts, and Standards of Conduct

What fees will I pay?

The principal fees and costs incurred by retail investors who receive our investment advisory services are ongoing asset-based fees. Clients without assets with us may choose to pay fixed fees for financial planning or hourly fees for consulting services. Asset-based fees are assessed as a percentage of a retail investor's assets under our advisement. Our fees are assessed quarterly in advance. Because of the asset-based fee structure, the more assets there are in a retail investor's advisory accounts, the more he or she will pay in fees, and we may therefore have an incentive to encourage retail investors to increase the assets in their account. In addition to paying the principal fees and costs described above, a retail investor will also pay custodial transaction fees and the internal cost of mutual funds and ETFs expressed as an expense ratio.

You will pay fees and costs whether you make or lose money on your investments. Fees and costs will reduce any amount of money you make on your investments over time. Please make sure you understand what fees and costs you are paying.

For additional information, please see Item 5 on our Form ADV Part 2A.

Questions to ask us:

Help me understand how these fees and costs might affect my investments. If I give you $10,000 to invest, how much will go to fees and costs, and how much will be invested for me?

What are your legal obligations to me when acting as my investment adviser? How else does your firm make money and what conflicts of interest do you have?

When we act as your investment adviser, we must act in your best interest and not put our interest ahead of yours. At the same time, the way we make money creates some conflicts with your interests, so we operate under a special rule that requires us to act in your best interest and not put our interest ahead of yours. You should understand and ask us about these conflicts because they can affect the investment advice we provide you.

When we provide investment advice to you regarding your retirement plan account or individual retirement account, we are fiduciaries within the meaning of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and/or the Internal Revenue Code, as applicable, which are laws governing retirement accounts.

Questions to ask us:

How might your conflicts of interest affect me, and how will you address them?

For additional information, please see Item 14 on our Form ADV Part 2A.

How do your financial professionals make money?

Our financial professionals are paid an annual salary and can receive discretionary bonuses and profit sharing. Some of our financial professionals are owners of the firm and receive some portion of the net profit that we generate. Because of the asset-based fee structure, the more assets there are in a retail investor's advisory accounts, the more he or she will pay in fees, and we may therefore have an incentive to encourage retail investors to increase the assets in their account. We have no compensation connected to investment products.

Item 4: Disciplinary History

Do you or your financial professionals have a legal or disciplinary history?

No, we have no legal or disciplinary history.

Please visit www.investor.gov for a free and simple search tool to research us and our financial professionals.

Questions to ask us:

As a financial professional, do you have any disciplinary history? For what type of conduct?

Item 5: Additional Information

For additional information about our services, please visit our website, cairnw.com. If you would like additional, up-to-date information or a copy of this Form CRS, please call 503.241.4901.

Questions to ask us:

Who is my primary contact person? Is he or she a representative of an investment adviser or a broker-dealer?
Who can I talk to if I have concerns about how this person is treating me?

[1] Please note that registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training.