Wealth Management

Hillview provides a broad range of capabilities associated with a dedicated family office. One of our differentiating characteristics in the industry is our approach to creating customized solutions for clients.

Our focus on the delivery of holistic planning services—a deep understanding of a client’s situation, including tax, philanthropy, wealth transfer and personal objectives—enables us to develop comprehensive wealth management plans that align a client’s objectives with appropriate wealth management strategies.

Our approach differs in the simple but seldom-practiced notion that only a deep and personal understanding of an individual can lead to the perfect fit in a custom-tailored financial plan.  Each of our clients works directly with a partner of the firm, supported by a  dedicated client service team.

We understand the complexities that come with managing substantial wealth and believe that close coordination and thoughtful collaboration with other professional advisors is essential to achieving our clients’ goals. In those instances we are able to provide customizable portfolio  aggregation, secure document management, consolidated portfolio and performance reporting, and support coordinated interactions and communications on our clients’ behalf. Hillview’s philosophy, culture and process have been seamlessly integrated to put clients’ interests first.

Services include:

WEALTH PLANNING

– Preparation of Comprehensive Wealth Management Plan

– Cash Flow Management

– Tax Management

– Estate Planning and Wealth Transfer Strategic Advice

– Insurance Review and Oversight

– Coordination with other Professional Advisors

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

– Development of Investment Policy Statement

– Asset Allocation and Investment Execution

  • Strategic Asset Allocation
  • Ongoing Monitoring
  • Tactical Rebalancing

– Investment Strategy Research

– Manager Due Diligence and Selection

– Risk Management

– Fee and Liquidity Analysis

REPORTING & ADMINSTRATION

– Consolidated Performance Reporting

– 24/7 Online Account and Document Vault Access

– Quarterly Asset Allocation Updates

– White Papers

– Wealth Education

– Family Meeting Facilitation

– Multigenerational Advice

Outsourced CIO

At Hillview, we understand the investment challenges that face institutional clients. We offer foundations and endowments customized asset management solutions that are aligned with each organization’s unique mission, performance objectives and management culture.

Our firm has a long history of providing clients with cost-effective investment guidance and execution, as well as ongoing portfolio risk management.

Each of Hillview’s institutional clients is serviced by a team, led by a partner of the firm, that is dedicated to assisting trustees execute their fiduciary responsibilities. The principals of our firm have extensive experience in the nonprofit sector and actively devote their time and resources as board members and as advisors to national and local charitable organizations.

Our offerings include:

PLANNING

– Mission and Goal-based Planning

– Preparation of Comprehensive Annual
Budget and Spending Plan

– Development of Investment Policy Statement

– Spending Policy Assessment and Guidance

– Asset-Liability Alignment and Cash Flow Management

– Coordination with other Professional Advisors

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

– Outsourced Chief Investment Officer or Investment Consulting

– Asset Allocation and Investment Execution

  • Strategic Asset Allocation
  • Ongoing Monitoring
  • Tactical Rebalancing

– Proprietary Investment Research

– Manager Due Diligence and Selection

– Risk Management

– Fee and Liquidity Analysis

REPORTING & ADMINSTRATION

– Consolidated Performance Reporting

– 24/7 Online Account and Document Vault Access

– Quarterly Asset Allocation Updates

– White Papers

– Wealth Education

– Family Meeting Facilitation

– Multigenerational Advice

ADVISORY & SERVICES

– Peer-based Perspectives on Foundation and Endowment Management Best Practices

– Consultation on Socially Responsible and Impact Investments

– Family Foundation Governance

– White Papers on Fiduciary Standards, Investment Policies and Asset Management

Philanthropic Advisory Service

At Hillview, we engage our clients in value-based conversations about philanthropy early on in our relationship. This is to clearly understand their intentions, assess all available options, analyze the benefits and potentials of each element, and finally create a custom-tailored plan that addresses their specific needs.

Philanthropic objectives are becoming increasingly important to both individuals and families who are looking for a cohesive strategy to reach their goals and leave a lasting legacy.

Our primary objective is to ensure each client’s charitable activity has the desired impact on the causes that interest them the most, but more importantly, that in the end our clients have a means to achieve their philanthropic aspirations.

We have a full suite of philanthropic services including strategic planning, asset management, administrative and advisory services.

We work closely with you to provide:

PHILANTHROPIC ADVISORY SERVICES

– Philanthropic Asset Management

– Philanthropic Strategic Planning

– Guidance on Vehicle Selection (Private Foundations vs. Donor Advised Funds)

– Integration of Charitable Aspirations in Legacy and Estate Planning

– Peer‐based Perspectives on Multigenerational Philanthropy

– Annual Charitable Gift Planning

– Consultation on Socially Responsible and Impact Investments

Case studies

Family Foundation vs. Donor Advised Fund

Estate Planning

Socially Responsible Investment Portfolio

A second-generation member of a wealthy family stewarded her family’s private foundation which served as their primary giving vehicle for over a decade. The family began to realize that the foundation’s management and administrative costs were an increasing burden and wanted to explore alternative options.  Hillview conducted a detailed cost/benefit comparison of the private foundation and donor-advised fund models.

This assessment took into account the overall management requirements, administrative expenses, and payout requirements associated with each option.  We also confirmed that each option would provide sufficient flexibility in how she executed the family’s giving strategies. After extensive consultation with family members Hillview recommended that they establish a donor advised fund as a highly cost-effective solution requiring minimal changes to the family’s philanthropic aspirations.

Prompted by a client’s request to comment on his and his wife’s life insurance, Hillview assessed the policies’ role with respect to the family’s income replacement needs and wealth transfer objectives.  In the course of our consultation, Hillview found that the client was “over-insured” and that his wife’s policy was both costly and misaligned with the family’s needs.  More importantly, we uncovered several material shortcomings with the family’s estate plans.  These red flags indicated the need for a comprehensive and coordinated estate planning assessment and design.  Hillview assumed the role of quarterbacking a team-oriented approach involving the client’s life insurance professional, T&E attorney, and accountant.

The outcome of our work was: 1) an updated estate plan aligned with the client’s wealth preservation and transfer goals; 2) establishment of revocable trusts to avoid probate and to maintain family’s privacy; 3) replacement of existing life insurance with more suitable policies that had preferential pricing and flexible terms; 4) increased and segregated funding for the children’s educational expenses. The most significant outcome, however, was our client’s expressed “peace of mind” that his wealth will transfer, upon his passing, in a manner that provides for long-term financial security for his family.

Our client was interested in aligning her investments with her values and asked us for guidance. She completed a survey to establish socially responsible investment (SRI) screens. After several consultations, a prototype portfolio was designed using both positive and negative screening methodologies, while targeting a risk/return profile aligned with her custom benchmark. The prototype SRI portfolio was benchmarked against a custom global benchmark – 80% S&P 500 Index + 20% S&P ADR Index.

The recommended portfolio excluded oil, gas and coal companies that are major suppliers of fossil fuels and companies that facilitate the production and transportation of fossil fuels. Major chemical companies, tobacco companies, weapons manufacturers and nuclear power generators were among the exclusions beyond the fossil fuel universe. The portfolio also favored companies that receive high scores in an environmental, social and governance ranking system, with emphasis placed on companies that contribute to improving the sustainability of the global economy.