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American Trust - HCM Conservative Growth

Disclosure Statement All investment approaches have the potential for loss as well as gain. There is no certainty that any investment or strategy (including the investments and/or investment strategies recommended by the advisor), will be profitable or successful in achieving investment objectives. Please work with your financial professional to determine which investment program is consistent with your financial objectives and risk tolerance. From inception to present, the results of this HCM strategy reflect the historical model performance of funds offered through American Trust, rebalanced monthly. Performance results were achieved through the retroactive application of a model that was designed with the benefit of hindsight. Model results have inherent limitations, particularly the fact that these results do not represent actual trading and may not reflect the impact that material economic and market factors might have placed on the advisor’s decision-making if the advisor had actually been managing the client’s money. The backtesting used in the model involves a hypothetical reconstruction, based on past market data, of what the performance of a particular account may have been had the advisor been managing the account using a particular investment strategy. These hypothetical backtested results should not be viewed as indicative of the advisor’s skill and do not reflect the performance results that were achieved by any particular client. During this hypothetical period, the advisor was not providing advice using this model, and client’s results were materially different. The model that gave rise to these backtested performance results is one that the advisor is now using in managing clients’ accounts. HCM performance results: 1) are calculated monthly, 2) are net of the weighted average of the expenses of the underlying funds held in the portfolio at the time of publication, deducted monthly, and 3) reflect the reinvestment of all income, and 4) do not consider taxes and custodian fees. All performance results are unaudited and have not been independently verified. The actual performance of an individual client’s portfolio may be lower or higher than the performance of the HCM model portfolio strategy due to differences in timing of contributions and withdrawals, account start date and actual fees paid. No current or prospective client should assume that the future performance of any specific investment, investment strategy (including the investments and/or investment strategies recommended by the advisor), will be profitable or equal to past performance levels. Economic factors, market conditions, and investment strategies will affect the performance of any portfolio and there are no assurances that it will match or outperform any particular benchmark for measuring the performance of a portfolio. S&P 500 Reinvested is a gauge of the large cap U.S. equities market. The index includes 500 leading companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy, capturing 75% coverage of U.S. equities. Reinvested assumes dividends are reinvested. Visit http://www.standardandpoors.com/indices for more information regarding Standard & Poor's indices. HFRX Equity Hedge Index is constructed using a UCITSIII compliant methodology, which is based on defined and predetermined rules and objective criteria to select and rebalance components to maximize representation of the Hedge Fund Universe. HFRX Indices utilize quantitative techniques and analysis, multi-level screening, cluster analysis, Monte-Carlo simulations and optimization techniques to ensure that each Index is a pure representation of its corresponding investment focus. Full strategy and regional descriptions (multi-language), as well as the full "HFRX Hedge Fund Indices Defined Formulaic Methodology" may be downloaded at www.hfrx.com. Barclays Capital US Aggregate Bond TR Index is a broad-based benchmark that measures the investment grade, US dollar-denominated, fixed-rate taxable bond market, including Treasuries, government-related and corporate securities, MBS (agency fixed-rate and hybrid ARM passthroughs), ABS, and CMBS. The US Aggregate rolls up into other Barclays Capital flagship indices such as the multi- currency Global Aggregate Index and the US Universal Index, which includes high yield and emerging markets debt. The US Aggregate Index was created in 1986, with index history backfilled to January 1, 1976. Total Return (TR) assumes yield is reinvested. Visit https://ecommerce.barcap.com/indices for more information regarding Barclays Capital indices. Indexes are unmanaged investment measures and are not available for investment purposes. The returns of the strategy in certain years may be higher than the returns of its comparative benchmark index as a result of certain market factors and events that may not be replicated in the future. In addition, the strategy's holdings may differ significantly from the securities that comprise the benchmark. Historical performance results for investment indexes and/or categories generally do not reflect the deduction of transaction and/or custodial charges or the deduction of an investment-management fee, the incurrence of which would have the effect of decreasing historical performance results. The ability of the HCM strategy to position assets in cash and/or bond funds results in its returns exhibiting a considerable variation from, and lower volatility than, its benchmark returns during periods when the HCM-BuyLine® indicates higher risk for equities. During other periods, the HCM strategy returns will generally exhibit higher volatility than those of the benchmark. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss. There can be no assurances that any investment or strategy will match or outperform any particular benchmark. Past performance is not a guarantee of future investment success. Not every HCM-BuyLine® buy and sell will result in a profitable trade. There will be times when following the indicator results in a loss. However, there have been situations in the past in which HCM reduced clients’ exposure to equities during market downturns by following an HCM-BuyLine® signal, thereby preserving capital. An important goal of the BuyLine® is to outperform the market on a long-term basis. The reason is the mathematics of gains and losses. A 30% loss takes a 43% gain to return to the previous portfolio value. The HCM-BuyLine® is a reactive indicator, not a proactive one. It will not catch the first 5 – 10% of a bull or bear move. Ideally, it will avoid most of the downtrends and catch the vast bulk of the uptrends. There may be times when the use of the indicator will result in a loss when we re-enter the market. Other times there may be a modest positive impact. When severe downtrends occur, however, such as in 2000-2002 and 2007-2008, it has the potential to make a significant difference in portfolio performance. Naturally, there can be no guarantee that the HCM-BuyLine® indicator will perform as anticipated. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that any specific investment or strategy will either be suitable or profitable for a client’s investment portfolio. Investment returns will fluctuate and are subject to market volatility due to general market and economic conditions and perceptions, so that an investor’s shares when redeemed may be worth more or less than their original costs. The net asset value per share of this HCM program will fluctuate as the value of the securities in the portfolio changes. Since this HCM program is actively managed it may have an above-average turnover rate, which could have a negative impact upon the net after-tax gain experienced by an individual client in a taxable account. If applicable, to discourage short-term investing and excessive trading, many mutual funds impose short-term redemption fees that range from 0.5% to 2.0%. Although this HCM program seeks to avoid these fees, they may occasionally be incurred because of the active management strategy being utilized. This material has been distributed for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. No part of this material may be reproduced in any form, or referred to in any other publication, without express written permission of Howard Capital Management, Inc. Howard Capital Management is registered as an investment adviser with the SEC and only transacts business where it is properly registered or is otherwise exempt from registration. SEC registration does not constitute an endorsement of the firm by the Commission nor does it indicate that the adviser has attained a particular level of skill or ability.

Howard Capital Management, Inc. | 1145 Hembree Road | Roswell, GA 30076 | (770) 642-4902 | info@howardcm.com | www.howardcm.com

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