Fiduciary Services

Wealth Management

Wealth Management is our premium, high-touch service for a limited number of select individual clients. We provide our Wealth Management clients with investment strategies personalized to match their specific goals and risk comfort zone. Our approach is grounded in long-term fundamentals and designed to provide steady growth by positioning portfolios to participate in market gains while reducing downside risk. Our strategies are personalized for you, responsive to change, and monitored often.

401(k) Plans

401(k) plans are a great way to attract and retain talent for business owners. EmeraldSpark operates under the fiduciary standard and has partnered with Ubiquity to provide small to mid-size businesses with a 401(k) plan that is simple to set up and easy to use, with straightforward and low costs.

How We Add Value

A Probabilistic Art

Investing is a probabilistic art; an arena where elements of skill and chance coexist. EmeraldSpark adds meaningful value to your investment experience by following a disciplined framework of proven strategies that aim to increase the probability of meeting your investment goals.

Asset Allocation

The most important determinant of returns in a portfolio is its asset allocation. We assess your specific financial circumstances and develop the appropriate investment policy statement (IPS) and corresponding asset mix to meet your goals within the level of risk you are comfortable with. We build robust, diversified portfolios that are designed to weather a number of varying market disruptions.

Cost-Effective Implementation

When we keep costs low, you keep more of your money regardless of what the market is doing. Low-cost portfolios are associated with better performance because they begin every day with a head start over more expensive strategies. That is why we keep our own fees below the industry average and are very selective about the funds we invest in on behalf of our clients.

Rebalancing

As markets move, the risk profile tends to drift away from the desired target and rebalancing is prudent at these times. This can be an emotional challenge for individual investors, however, as rebalancing involves taking money out of better performing assets and moving into those that are out of favor. We take a disciplined approach to rebalancing that does not allow emotion to cloud our judgement.

Behavioral Coaching

Markets are not always driven by fundamentals, but instead it is human emotions that are often guiding movements in price. EmeraldSpark’s investment process blends the mathematical foundations of Modern Portfolio Theory with the latest research in the field of behavioral finance. Helping our clients navigate the emotional side of investing is our largest single value-add.

Asset Location

Knowing which assets to buy, where best to park them, and the order of priority for funding different types of accounts can help minimize your taxes and therefore enhance your net returns during your wealth accumulation years. Likewise, knowing how best to order withdrawals from various accounts will minimize the total taxes paid over the course of your retirement.

Latest Blog Posts

Asset Location

“I’m proud to be paying taxes in the United States. The only thing is — I could be just as proud for half the...

Asset Location
Myopia and Robinhood’s Infinite Leverage Cheat Code

I spoke at the Trust Advisors Forum conference in Pinehurst earlier this year on the topic of Millennials and investing, and one of the...

Myopia and Robinhood’s Infinite Leverage Cheat Code
Using a DAF for Charitable Giving

I was up in Houghton, MI a couple weekends ago to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Applied Portfolio Management Program (APMP), a program...

Using a DAF for Charitable Giving
The Best Retirement Account May Not Actually Be a Retirement Account

There are two basic types or retirement accounts. The first is the tax-deferred type. This is your traditional 401(k) or traditional IRA. Money that...

The Best Retirement Account May Not Actually Be a Retirement Account
How Much Should You Have in Emergency Savings?

I recently received an email from Marcus—Goldman Sachs’ relatively new entrant into the online banking business—saying they increased the yield on my savings account...

How Much Should You Have in Emergency Savings?
Why You Shouldn't Invest in Your Employer's Stock

Now I am Become GE, the Destroyer of Wealth There was an article in the Wall Street Journal last month about a gentleman by the name...

Why You Shouldn't Invest in Your Employer's Stock
Can Money Buy Happiness and, if so, How Much do I Need?

“Can I ask you a question?” “Sure!” “Are you happy?” “Well, I got a boat, good friends, and a trampoline. You tell me.” That was a revelational series...

Can Money Buy Happiness and, if so, How Much do I Need?
Place Your Amazon HQ2 Bets!

To say Amazon — a stock I like, by the way — has disrupted the retail industry would be an understatement. They are gutting...

Place Your Amazon HQ2 Bets!