Our Investment Approach

The key to a successful investment plan is making sure it puts you in the best position to succeed, regardless of media hype and market fluctuations. We do not try to pick market “winners.” Rather, we draw upon Nobel Prize-winning research to design well-diversified portfolios that help you achieve returns in the long term.

Investment portfolios are only as strong as the investments they contain, and as independent, fiduciary investment advisors, we are not beholden to off-the-shelf investment products.  Instead, Highland Financial Advisors’ investment portfolios are made up of low-cost, best-of-breed investments.


At HIGHLAND Financial Advisors, we believe no investor is the same, which is why we do not believe in a cookie-cutter approach to investment management. By custom tailoring an evidence-based investment strategy to fit your unique needs and value systems, we bring meaning to your money while increasing your odds of success.

A Tailored Approach

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HIGHLAND Financial Advisors’ CORE                   

The CORE portfolio is the engine that will drive your investment plan. Taking a targeted approach to risk management, the primary goal of the CORE portfolio is to deliver long-term returns while minimizing risk. The majority of your risk will come from your allocation to equities, therefore so will the majority of your return. By allocating capital to fixed income and diversified alternative strategies, we can effectively manage the risk of your portfolio to fit your unique goals.

The herd of investors efficiently and effectively sets prices using real-time information. The efficiency of the market works against investors who try to outsmart other market participants through stock picking or market timing. The CORE portfolio focuses on capturing market returns across all asset classes—fixed income, equities, and alternatives. 

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HIGHLAND Financial Advisors’ Tax Managed

No client is the same, no financial plan is the same, no tax situation is the same. The HIGHLAND Financial Advisors’ Tax Managed approach has the same fundamental asset allocation strategies as the CORE portfolio, but instead selects certain tax-efficient investments to help increase after-tax returns.

Utilizing tax-managed equity holdings, as well as municipal bond holdings, the HIGHLAND Financial Advisors’ Tax Managed portfolio can increase a client’s after-tax returns simply by reallocation of assets. The primary goal is to deliver the client the exact risk/return profile while minimizing realizing unnecessary tax liabilities throughout the year.

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HIGHLAND Financial Advisors’ Disruptive Innovations Satellite

HIGHLAND Financial Advisors believes every client has a different appetite for risk as well as capacity to take risk. It is also no secret that innovation is disrupting our world at an accelerated rate through new technologies, robotics, artificial intelligence, digital assets, and advances in medicine. These innovations are creating multiple platforms that impact every sector of the economy, enabling industry growth and the potential for long-term investment opportunities.

The Disruptive Innovations Satellite is an optional investment strategy that can be added to the HIGHLAND Financial Advisors’ CORE Portfolio in certain client situations where it is appropriate. 

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HIGHLAND Financial Advisors’ Sustainable Impact

We believe investing responsibly does not have to come at the expense of sacrificing long-term investment returns or compromising core investment principles. In this effort, we have developed the HIGHLAND Financial Advisors’ Sustainable Impact Portfolios that are founded on our core investment philosophy while addressing the environmental, social, and governance issues important to investors looking to align their personal values with their investing dollars.

The strategies comprising HIGHLAND Financial Advisors’ Sustainable Impact Portfolios integrate environmental, social, and governance research with fundamental analysis to help deliver strong performance alongside social value. 

When investing for impact, it is critical to monitor and quantify the impact of your investment portfolio. In addition to the traditional performance reporting, you will receive a tailored “Impact Report” quarterly to quantify the impact of your investment capital.