Featured entries from our Journal

Details Are Part of Our Difference

Embracing the Evidence at Anheuser-Busch – Mid 1980s

529 Best Practices

David Booth on How to Choose an Advisor

The One Minute Audio Clip You Need to Hear

The LongView Process | Step 4: Review

Before heading into the final stage of The LongView Process—Review—I thought it would be helpful to remind you of the top three things that we look for in a new relationship:

1) Are they pleasant and nice to be with? We’ll be together for a long time. Does it feel right?

2) Does a prospective client understand and truly believe in our evidenced-based investment approach?

3) Is the future client willing to delegate day-to-day investment decisions to Hill Investment Group? If someone is a micro-manager or has done it themselves for decades, we are not going to be a good fit. Highly successful families, executives, and businesses owners often understand that they benefit by delegating responsibility for all kinds of activities, at home and at the office, to those that have a unique ability in a particular area. Doing so usually leads to a much better result and increased peace of mind while freeing them to do what they do best…whether it’s lead people, perform surgery or donate their valuable time to organizations that they are passionate about. In the end, leveraging time and talent are key difference makers.

These three traits are all present in our most successful, long-term relationships.

In stage 4 of The LongView Process—about 45 days after The Commitment Meeting—we sit down with our clients and review all that has gone on during the previous six weeks. This is one of the first tests for Hill: Did we do what we said we were going to do, and what does it all look like? This highly practical meeting includes ensuring that all of the investment assets and cash have successfully transferred to their new accounts, answering any pending questions, reviewing service expectations, and providing an overview of regular communications. This includes walking through our client’s first Hill Investment Group statement to provide a clear understanding of the information available there.

We’ve provided a simple visual of the overall process below, and click here to read a detailed description of the entire process.

The LongView Process

 

Tax Management — Location, Location, Location

For the final post in our tax management series, we’ll take a look at asset location. Everybody knows the three rules of real estate, but most don’t know that the same rule also applies to investment portfolio construction.

Asset location is the practice of positioning tax-inefficient assets in tax-advantaged accounts. For example, fixed income and REITs should first be held in tax-deferred accounts like an IRA, 401(k), or 403(b) while tax-free municipal bonds and equities should be positioned in taxable accounts.

A recent study by Vanguard estimated that professional advisors can add up to .75% annually to investment returns by utilizing proper asset location in client accounts. It is all too frequent that we find new clients coming on board with poor use of asset location, but with a few simple tweaks we can align your investments to maximize your after-tax return.

Featured entries from our Journal

Details Are Part of Our Difference

Embracing the Evidence at Anheuser-Busch – Mid 1980s

529 Best Practices

David Booth on How to Choose an Advisor

The One Minute Audio Clip You Need to Hear

Hill Investment Group