Portfolio Management & Trading Desk
An alternative to a TAMP that gives you outsourced execution while maintaining investment flexibility. You can keep your models, your custodian, and your technology.
Most successful RIAs reach a point where they need help implementing their investment recommendations for clients. It doesn’t indicate a lack of skill or ability, just a lack of time. If you have a strategic, long-term view of markets and you want the hours spent trading and rebalancing back, whether you want to remain the portfolio manager or not, I built this for you.
Who This Is For
$250 per account, per year. No basis points. Billed in arrears, monthly or quarterly.
One-time setup fee. $400/hour if you also engage Strategic CIO Coaching, a 20% discount off the standard hourly rate. $450/hour if you’re just interested in the Portfolio Management & Trading Desk, a 10% discount. Billed in arrears once onboarding is complete.
The setup fee is transparent from the start of our relationship. It’s based on my estimate of the time required to set up your clients’ accounts and preferences in HPM’s portfolio management system. The level of customization you choose impacts how long it takes. As you grow, new accounts come on board without a setup fee and trade at the flat rate.
HPM does not draw fees from your clients’ accounts. Your firm receives the bill.
What It Costs
Two tracks. You can choose one track or both.
Advisor-Owned Models. You remain the portfolio manager and keep responsibility for security selection. HPM acts strictly as your outsourced execution desk by monitoring drift bands, cash flows, and tax opportunities and placing appropriate trades on your behalf. When you make a portfolio change, HPM implements the change for you.
HPM Proprietary Models. You outsource portfolio management and trading to HPM. HPM handles rebalancing, model adjustments, and trading. You still choose drift bands, cash targets, and any tax-loss harvesting thresholds.
You can still be your RIA’s portfolio manager even if you outsource trading. HPM offers the same flat-fee pricing whether you use my models, HPM trades yours, or you choose a bit of both.
Customization your clients expect. Portfolio management and trading activities are often focused on rebalancing, managing cash flows, and tax opportunities. Outsourcing these essential tasks can be expensive and clunky. Many advisors struggle to delegate this role because getting these details right is a top priority.
HPM runs on best-in-class portfolio management and trading software, and these customizations are included in your setup fee. Together, we built it right the first time. If your clients’ needs change, no problem. Account settings get updated when needed.
Proactive documentation. Drift and rebalance execution logs, tax-loss harvesting summaries when applicable, and an annual best execution analysis delivered to your inbox.
What HPM Offers
Throughout my career, especially as a Regional Director at Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA), I spoke with hundreds of RIAs. I’ve seen advisors agonize over the decision to outsource any part of their investment process. They feared they would be replaced as the investment authority with their clients.
I’ve spoken with some RIAs who want to outsource portfolio management, some just trading, and some both. In my career, I’ve been fortunate to see the inner workings of asset managers large and small. Most institutions I’ve seen view portfolio management and trading as separate functions. It makes sense that RIAs would want to structure themselves the same way. Traditional TAMP and OCIO options are either too restrictive or not cost-effective to customize.
I’ve found that more strategic portfolio management methods, such as evidence-based approaches, applied with a long-term view of markets, create fundamental economies of scale in implementation by their very nature. I’ve built HPM to work with RIAs who share this view and to share in the economies of scale it creates with flat-fee pricing.
When you outsource portfolio management or trading to HPM, you remain front and center as the investment authority with your clients.
Why I Built It This Way
HPM's discretionary trading authority is granted through a written Master Subadvisory Agreement and a Limited Power of Attorney executed at the qualified custodian and is limited strictly to executing the model parameters, tolerance bands, and instructions specified by the advisory firm. The advisory firm selects the custodian, which constitutes a form of directed brokerage: HPM cannot negotiate commission rates or compare execution quality across venues, and directed brokerage may cost more or result in less favorable execution than if HPM selected the venue. Standalone use of the Trading Desk requires a minimum of 30 active accounts, which HPM may waive for firms also engaged for Strategic CIO Coaching. Individual accounts require a $25,000 minimum balance at onboarding.
The setup fee is subject to a $1,000 baseline minimum.