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Karl H Graf

Karl H. Graf

MODERA WEALTH MANAGEMENT
CHARLOTTE, NC 28209
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CRD#: 1888675
Karl H Graf

Professional summary


Karl H Graf, CFP® is a registered financial advisor currently at MODERA WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC located in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Karl is registered as an IAR (Investment Advisor Representative) and started their career in finance in 1988. Karl has worked at 3 firms and has passed the Series 63 and Series 7 exams.

Biography


Karl is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) and holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification with broad experience in financial counselling and wealth management services. He has been certified by various courts as a financial expert and has provided such testimony in court on several occasions. In addition, he has been published on various personal financial planning issues and has been a frequent speaker on financial planning issues. Karl has been interviewed on national and local television, including CNN’s “Your Money.” Karl is an honors graduate of Upsala College. He is a member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and the New Jersey Society of CPAs (NJSCPA). He has served as a director of the Bergen County Chapter of the New Jersey Society of CPAs and as chairman of the Personal Financial Planning Committee of the New Jersey Society of CPAs. Outside of Modera, Karl has devoted considerable time and energy to charitable endeavors, primarily as a volunteer for the American Cancer Society. He spent several years serving in various roles including as Chair of the Board of Directors of the North Jersey Chapter. Additionally, he was co-chair for planned giving activities for its New Jersey Division. This role involved speaking to potential donors about estate planning and how they could benefit charities while also remembering their heirs. In his spare time, he enjoys being outdoors (hiking, biking and kayaking) and travel. (CAM 3034)
top-8-questions

Question & Answer


What are your service offerings?
Comprehensive Financial Planni...
Investment Planning
Estate Planning
Retirement Planning
Insurance Planning
Budgeting
Divorce Planning
Tax Planning
Do you have an area of expertise or specialization?
Alternative or Private Investm...
Entrepreneurs
High Net Worth Client Needs
Medical Professionals
Real Estate Investments
Retirement Plan Investment Adv...
What is your minimum asset requirement?
1M
Are you a "fiduciary"?
Yes

Aliases


None

Other business activities


Outside business activity is any business or activity undertaken by an advisor that is outside the scope of their relationship with their firm (e.g., consulting services, real estate, freelance work, teaching, etc.). Investors should stay informed about these activities to ensure no conflicts of interest.
The advisor shows no other business activity.

Blog Corner


CRS (Client Relationship Summary) - RIA


MODERA WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC - Registered Investment Advisory firm

MODERA WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment adviser. Fees for brokerage and investment advisory services differ among brokerdealers and investment advisers and it is important that you understand the differences. Free and simple tools are available to research firms and financial professionals at Investor.gov/CRS, which also provides educational materials about broker-dealers, investment advisers, and investing.

Types of Services Offered:

  • As a registered investment adviser, we offer financial planning, wealth management and portfolio management services to retail investors.

  • When you hire us for financial planning and wealth management services, we provide advice and recommendations regarding your investment goals and objectives, personal balance sheet, tax planning, risk management, retirement, education, cash flow and investment planning. Portfolio management services are included when we provide financial planning services and we will continuously monitor your investments.

  • When you hire us solely for portfolio management services, we will provide investment advice and continuous monitoring of your investments.

  • When you engage us for either of these services, you will sign an agreement that gives us discretionary authority to determine the investments to buy and sell in your account. You may impose reasonable restrictions on the management of your account, which must be both provided in writing and accepted by us. If you prefer, you may retain discretion and make the ultimate decision about the investments we will then buy or sell in your account.

  • For legacy clients we may also provide investment monitoring, consulting or real estate or business coaching services.

  • Our services may include the recommendation or selection of other investment advisers when appropriate.

  • We do not require a minimum initial or ongoing account size.

  • Our investment advice is not limited to proprietary products or to a limited menu of products or types of investments.

More detailed information regarding our services and investment advice can be found in our Form ADV, Part 2A Brochure.


Questions to ask your Professional:
  • 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?
  • We charge the greater of a minimum fee or a percentage of assets under management for our wealth management, portfolio management and retirement plan services. These fees are assessed quarterly, in advance. The more assets your account has, the more you will pay in fees. This gives us an incentive to encourage you to increase the assets in your account.

  • We also charge fixed fees for our monitoring, consulting and coaching services which we invoice quarterly in advance. When you pay us only an hourly or fixed fee, it will be assessed in two installments and it will not include fees for implementing recommendations. This creates an incentive to recommend additional advisory services to you for which additional fees would be charged.

  • In addition to our fees, you will incur additional fees and costs related to the investments in your account, such as custodian fees, account maintenance fees, transaction costs, surrender charges, wire transfer and electronic fund fees, internal management fees of mutual funds and variable annuities, and other product related fees such as redemption fees.

  • 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.

More detailed information regarding fees can be found in our Form ADV, Part 2A Brochure.


Questions to ask your Professional:
  • 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?
  • When we act as your investment adviser, we have to 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. You should understand and ask us about these conflicts because they can affect the investment advice we provide you. Here are some examples to help you understand what this means:

  • We receive client referrals from third parties and employees to whom we pay referral fees. This is a conflict of interest because we have an incentive to pay referral fees so that the third parties or employees will refer clients to us that they otherwise might not refer to us.

  • We only make money from the fees we are charging clients.

  • We are fiduciaries to you. That means we are required to act in your best interest throughout our entire advisory relationship.

More detailed information regarding our conflicts of interest can be found in our Form ADV, Part 2A Brochure.


Questions to ask your Professional:
  • How might your conflicts of interest affect me, and how will you address them?

Our financial professionals are paid a salary and may also be paid a bonus. Any bonus is based not only on the firm’s overall profitability and attainment of pre-set metrics but also when they obtain new clients for us. This is a conflict of interest because it creates an incentive for our financial professionals to recommend our investment advisory services to you.

Certified licenses


Advisors may have various certifications and credentials from different organizations. AdvisorCheck highlights these seven certifications - AIF®, CFP®, ChFC®, CFA, CLU®, CIMA®, CPWA®
CFP®

Start date: 1996

Experience


Current

January 19, 2016 - Present

MODERA WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC

Office #1: 6101 Carnegie Blvd Suite 220, Charlotte, NC 28209
RIA
CRD#: 155649
CHARLOTTE, NC
Past

January 2, 2008 - July 20, 2016

GRAF FINANCIAL ADVISORS, LLC

RIA
CRD#: 124388
WAYNE, NJ
Past

December 20, 1988 - October 29, 1993

STRATEGIC CAPITAL CORPORATION

BD
CRD#: 16623

Primary Firm SEC Registration


This SEC-registered firm can serve clients nationwide. Some states may require the firm to submit a notice filing if the firm has more than 5 clients or a physical office there. You can view these state-level filings under the section titled "State Registrations and Notice Filings".
MODERA WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC
MODERA WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC
MODERA ADVISORS OF CRYSTAL RIVER, LLC | MODERA WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC

CRD#: 155649 / SEC#: 801-71973

RIA
Registered Investment Advisory firm - (11/16/2010 Approved)

State Registrations and Notice Filings


Listed states reflect where the advisor is authorized to serve clients under state regulations.

IAR
means the advisor is registered as an Investment Advisor Representative in this state and is authorized to provide investment advice to clients there.

Highlighted states indicate IAR registrations

IAR
New Jersey
(1/19/2016)
IAR
North Carolina
(12/1/2017)

Exams


State Security Law Exam
RR
Series 63
Date: 1/5/1989
Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination
General Industry/Product Exam

Current Firm


MODERA WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC
MODERA WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC
MODERA ADVISORS OF CRYSTAL RIVER, LLC | MODERA WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC

CRD#: 155649 / SEC#: 801-71973

RIA
Registered Investment Advisory firm - (11/16/2010 Approved)
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Contact information


Main Address
56 Jefferson Avenue, Westwood, NJ 07675
Mailing Address
Phone number
(201) 768-4600
Established
Firm type
Fiscal year end
# of Employees
219

SEC notice filing (43 States and Territories)


Blank US states mapAlaskaHawaiiAlabamaArkansasArizonaCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaIowaIdahoIllinoisIndianaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMassachusettsMarylandMaineMichiganMinnesotaMissouriMississippiMontanaNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaNebraskaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNevadaNew YorkOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVirginiaVermontWisconsinWest VirginiaWyoming

Documents


Customer Relationship Summary (CRS / SEC)Latest Form ADV

Part 2 Brochures

03 24 2025 MWM FORM ADV PART 2A FINAL (3/24/2025)

Regulatory assets under management


Total Number of Accounts20,833
AUM (Assets Under Management)$ 15,510,482,152

Accountant surprise examination report


Filing DateForm ADV-E CoverForm ADV-E Report
12/20/2024
Cover Page
01/26/2024
01/25/2023

Red Flags


Disclosures can be potential red flags, including customer disputes, regulatory fines, employer terminations, bankruptcies, judgments, liens, or certain criminal activities.

Check for any disclosures as part of your thorough research when choosing an advisor.

Company Information


MODERA WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC

MODERA WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC

CRD#: 155649Charlotte, NC 28209

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