LeafHouse Financial Advisors

Under ERISA, a 3(38) investment manager assumes full fiduciary responsibility and discretion for selecting and monitoring the investments in a retirement plan. This differs from a 3(21) advisor, who provides non-binding recommendations but leaves the final decision — and the residual legal liability — with the plan sponsor. By serving as a 3(38) fiduciary, LeafHouse removes the employer from the investment-selection chain, which can reduce the sponsor's fiduciary exposure.

LeafHouse focuses primarily on 401(k) and 403(b) defined-contribution plans. The firm's model is built for small to mid-sized employers — companies that may lack in-house investment expertise but still carry the full fiduciary obligations of a plan sponsor. The strategy is designed to function seamlessly with third-party administrators and recordkeepers commonly used in that segment of the market.

Large payroll-company 401(k) providers typically bundle recordkeeping, administration, and proprietary investment funds into a single package, often using a 3(21) advisory arrangement that keeps certain fiduciary responsibilities with the plan sponsor. LeafHouse unbundles the investment-management function, acts as a 3(38) fiduciary, and selects investments without a proprietary-fund bias, maintaining what it describes as an open-architecture process.

LeafHouse's investment decisions are executed by an internal investment committee operating under the firm's 3(38) fiduciary authority. The specific names and professional backgrounds of committee members are not publicly detailed in a consolidated manner, consistent with a privately held firm that transacts through intermediary distribution channels rather than marketing individual portfolio-manager brands.

Public records classify LeafHouse under a bank/wealth/trust subtype, which suggests a possible structural affiliation with a trust or custody platform that supports its fiduciary model. However, the precise corporate ownership structure and any formal bank or trust-company ties are not disclosed in the firm's public-facing materials.