Investment Management

Successful investors know that the only way to ensure they achieve their personal financial goals is to regularly review and monitor their investments. Not having your investments regularly reviewed can cost you thousands of dollars in unnecessary taxation, poor performance and missed opportunities.

At Northstar, we customize investment portfolios that are passively managed, broadly diversified, goal based, tax aware, and generally comprised of both stock and bonds. Our clients include individuals, trusts, endowments, retirement plan sponsors and business entities. All have direct access to our expertise and
advice.

Northstar is among a select group of advisors qualified to provide access to Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA), a leader in passive investment research and fund offerings (Read why DFA is our preferred fund partner). We also recommend Vanguard funds and selected Exchange Traded Funds as well as CDs and other fixed-income options. We deliver the advantages of a disciplined investment strategy with access to
Institutional Markets.

Structured Investing Is More Than a Style of Investing.

We share a fundamental way of looking at markets, and thinking about the realities of economics as well as human behavior. You don’t have to have an advanced degree in finance to understand and benefit from these fundamentals. It’s our goal and passion to help you apply them effectively toward your financial future. We do so by managing your investment portfolio according to these essential characteristics:

• Long-term outlook — Creating generational wealth requires consistent, disciplined exposure to the long-term growth the markets are expected to deliver over time. But this is often easier said than done! In the short-term, the market is a noisy, distracting place. We help you replace reactionary, emotion-based decision-making with the stable context of a long-view, customized investment plan.
• Expected risks and rewards — Over time, the markets are expected to reward investors for taking on market risk. But that risk can be very real and very painful, especially if you take on more than makes sense for your needs. To meet your risk-exposure requirements while dampening the discomfort, we apply two important, academically guided strategies: diversification and discipline.
• Diversification and discipline — When it comes to building a portfolio, too often the focus is on selecting the right manager. A better approach is to understand that portfolio construction is actually a structured and disciplined process, of which manager selection is a small component.  We spread your risk by widely diversifying your holdings worldwide, steering clear of the avoidable risks inherent in over-concentrating your holdings on any one “bet.” We then help you stay put. We believe (and the evidence demonstrates) that attempts to move in and out of the market in reaction to current events is not only emotionally unsatisfying, but can detract from your long-term returns. Instead, we adopt a “be there” strategy for expected long-term growth.   
• Cost controls — It is intuitively and empirically clear that the fewer dollars you sacrifice in the form of trade costs, taxes and other fees, the better chance your investments have to accumulate — for you. By paying sharp attention to this important factor, we help increase your odds for success.

Read a short article about how we apply our structured investment management