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Customer Relationship Summary (Form CRS)

October 26, 2022

About us

American Century Investment Services, Inc. (American Century Investments), which is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a broker-dealer and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), delivers a full range of investment solutions directly to investors. Brokerage and investment advisory services and fees differ, and it is important for you to understand these differences. Free and simple tools are available to help you research firms and financial professionals at Investor.gov/CRS; this site also provides educational materials about broker-dealers, investment advisors, and investing.

What investment services and advice do you offer?

American Century Investments provides brokerage services to self-directed investors, including buying and selling securities, such as mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), stocks and bonds. You make the ultimate decision regarding the purchase or sale of investments. We do not monitor your account or investments. The minimum initial investment to establish a brokerage account with us is $2,500. That minimum amount is also required to maintain a brokerage account with us.

Conversation starters for any account type or service offering

Ask your financial professional:

  • Given my financial situation, should I choose a brokerage 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?

What fees will I pay?

Our principal fee is a commission charged on buying or selling securities in your account. The commission rate varies based on the type of account and the type of security involved in the transaction. You will pay the same rate but more overall when you make more transactions, so we have an incentive to encourage you to trade more often.

Commissions

  • Equity or stock transactions and mutual funds with a transaction fee – starting at $9.95 and generally up to $45.00, depending on your account tier and how you place the trade (online, automated phone system or with a representative).

  • No transaction fee (NTF) mutual funds – no cost to buy, sell or exchange shares of participating funds held for 6 months or longer.

  • Bond transactions in the secondary market (between investors and not directly from the debtor company or bank) – $3.00 to $5.00 per bond with a $35.00 minimum charge and $100.00 to $250.00 maximum charge, all depending on your account tier.

Account Fees

  • Account maintenance fee – begins at $50 for certain accounts under $10,000 in assets in the American Century family of funds, and is ultimately waived for accounts at and over $20,000 in assets in the American Century family of funds.

  • Annual IRA fee – $50, waived for accounts over $10,000.

Commissions for other security types, margin fees and other account or service fees

For more detail about any of the above fees and other fees associated with your account, please see Fees and Commissions schedule.

Important reminder: Commissions and account fees are separate and distinct from the fees and expenses charged with respect to the underlying investments, such as management fees and expenses charged by mutual funds, ETFs, closed-end investment companies or other managed investments. The specific fees and expenses are described in each fund’s prospectus.

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.

Conversation starter for any account type or service offering

Ask your financial 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?

What are your legal obligations to me when providing recommendations? How else does your firm make money and what conflicts of interest do you have?

We do not provide recommendations. The way we make money creates some conflicts with your interests. You should understand and ask about these conflicts because they can affect the services we provide you. Here are some examples to help you understand what this means.

Our primary source of revenue is commissions from transactions from our clients. Therefore, we have an interest in you making transactions that may conflict with your interests.

In addition, while we generally sell investor class or no-load funds, certain funds may pay us for selling their funds or for an investor continuing to own their fund, and therefore, we have an interest in having clients purchase or continue to own these funds, which may conflict with your interests.

Conversation starter

Ask your financial professional:

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

How do your financial professionals make money?

The compensation structure for financial professionals providing brokerage services is largely determined by job function and business unit. Brokerage financial professionals are compensated primarily with a base salary. In addition, they are eligible to participate in our company-wide incentive plan. Incentive compensation is calculated and paid annually based on individual and company performance and is not directly linked to sales, existing assets or differentiation among products, other than as one of many factors in company performance. Incentive plans are designed to encourage registered representatives to establish and maintain strong customer relationships, to align with their long-term interests and provide them with the best possible service.

Do your financial professionals have legal or disciplinary history?

  • American Century Investment Services, Inc. – Yes. The firm was fined for state securities registration violations in 1973 and 1994.

  • Financial professionals registered with American Century Investment Services, Inc. – Yes.

"Check Out Your Investment Professional" Tool
Visit Investor.gov/CRS for a free and simple search tool to research us and our financial professionals.

Conversation Starter

Ask your financial professional:

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

Additional Information

For information about our services, please visit our website at americancentury.com or call 888-327-2001. Download a copy of this disclosure.

Conversation starter

Ask your financial professional:

  • 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?

Brokerage Services are provided by American Century Brokerage, a division of American Century Investment Services, Inc., registered broker/dealer, member FINRASIPC.