Integrated Portfolio Implementation® allows investors to combine separately managed accounts, mutual funds, ETFs, and other vehicles across a variety of asset classes into a single portfolio within an open architecture environment. Built on a sophisticated investment platform and overseen by an experienced team of investment professionals, the service delivers optimal execution and monitoring of investment portfolios. Centralizing the implementation of all investments into a single account, traded and monitored by one team acting in a fiduciary capacity, delivers many benefits:
- Our suite of proprietary overlay systems can provide tax loss harvesting, managed distributions, unified managed household approaches and custom overlays
- We work with more than 30 different intermediaries and 90 asset managers
- Ability to implement over 150 investment strategies
- One investment team centrally coordinates, executes and monitors portfolios in real time
What we do
As an overlay manager, we work with clients to design diversified investment programs and portfolios that meet the complex needs of institutional and high net worth investors. Our goal is to improve investors' experience and outcome.
Clients select their investment managers and vehicles, define parameters such as target allocations and tolerance ranges, and select any restrictions and overlays that may be applied. For most clients, this is detailed in an investment policy statement (IPS) or similar document. Once defined, this becomes the model for executing the investment plan and we coordinate with selected SMA managers to arrange for real-time replication of each manager’s investment strategy in the client account.
When an account is invested, our investment team purchases the securities, mutual funds, and other investment vehicles per the allocations and investment models specified, while adhering to any restrictions.
- The portfolio trades in real time as investment actions and allocation changes are communicated.
- Manager transitions are easily executed.
- Account allocations are monitored and automatically rebalanced when triggered.
- Cash management techniques may be applied to optimally distribute or invest cash.
- For taxable accounts, tax management techniques may be applied including our tax loss harvesting overlay with an established track record of maximizing clients’ after-tax returns.
The benefits of integrated portfolio implementation®
- Allows clients to build and deliver customized and differentiated portfolios
- Addresses and minimizes fiduciary risks
- Provides portfolios not available in off-the-shelf systems
- Minimal impact on overall fees
- Transfers a great deal of trading and operational risks while preserving resources
- Agility to adapt to changing needs and react to market trends
- Additional risk management through increased transparency, reporting and oversight
- Administrative and legal resource savings
- One relationship to optimally serve all client types
- Valuable partner in the investment process from development to execution
Client benefits
Institutional investors
Advisory program sponsors
Family offices
Registered investment advisors
Consultants
Asset managers
Banks
Integrating and trading SMAs
We provide a robust process for integrating SMA models into client portfolios, providing clients with the same experience they would get investing directly with the manager. To achieve this, we offer SMA managers a measure of flexibility in the way the portfolio is implemented and traded, rather than forcing managers to conform to a standardized process that may not align with their approach. Results are measured and monitored through formal processes to ensure we optimally implement each investment strategy. Our ability to adapt to the managers' processes expands the available universe of managers and delivers clients accurate exposure to their selected managers.
Tax management
Active tax management is one of the key benefits of using Integrated Portfolio Implementation®. We offer a range of techniques for maximizing after-tax investment returns in portfolios that allocate to actively managed equity SMAs. We also offer Unified Managed Household accounts that seek to optimally locate assets based on the expected tax liability and the taxable status of the accounts held in the household, in an effort to maximize after-tax return. In addition, we can incorporate tax-managed, index-based separately managed accounts which offer the potential benefits of increased tax control and lower fees, relative to actively managed portfolios. Our proprietary tax loss harvesting system facilitates systematic tax loss harvesting across equity SMA allocations in client accounts. Taxable accounts are generally tax loss harvested every 31 days in a risk-controlled manner that keeps the investment on track, while seeking to maximize after-tax return. In addition to routine loss harvesting, other tax management techniques include:
- Short-term gain deferral
- Tax-sensitive transitions
- Optimal tax lot selection across all account holdings
- Protecting against wash sale violations
- Strategic gain realization
- Coordination with client's tax plan
We maintain a large and growing data set of tax-managed accounts, which allows us to continuously analyze and refine our tax management techniques. This data helps us summarize and quantify the value of tax management.
Institutional services
Centralizing the implementation of all investments in a single account that is traded and monitored by one team, acting in a fiduciary capacity, delivers distinct benefits and potential savings for institutional clients. We can smooth account transitions by acting in a fiduciary capacity, and there are no additional costs for transition management.
- Coordinated management of multiple investment sleeves
- Portfolio is managed and monitored in its entirety for Investment Policy Statement guideline compliance
- Holistic view of entire portfolio facilitates better risk management
- Daily monitoring of allocations and systematic rebalancing
- Faster implementation of decisions
- Socially Responsible Investing screens may be applied
- Real time and coordinated implementation of underlying investment manager decisions
- Rebalancing, allocation and manager changes all implemented in client’s single existing custodial account
- Aids in cash flow management and simplifies reporting
- Potential to reduce operational costs and improve client returns from coordinating portfolios
- Acts as an intermediary between clients and SMA managers
- Simplifies the contract and agreement process