Our Investment Process

We start by getting to know you, your goals, and your comfort with investment risk. After we help you decide which account types to use, we’ll build your portfolio, automate contributions, and handle the details of asset management for you.

We actively adjust asset allocations based on risks and opportunities presented by market prices and economic conditions.

We begin with market capitalization weighting and then assign overweights and underweights to the component asset classes.
We do not make big bets with your money. By avoiding speculation, we allow your portfolio to benefit from the global economy’s long-term growth.
In our meetings we explain how the news (economic, political, geopolitical, etc.) is affecting your investments. Our Quarterly Market Update video provides a brief summary of these views:

You get personal and accountable portfolio management because decisions are made in house.

The Hilltop investment committee includes all of our advisors, along with members of our financial planning staff, each of whom contribute research and insight.
Our carefully designed process ensures continuous monitoring of your investments.
- Each day we monitor the news for macroeconomic trends and pricing dislocations relevant to your portfolio.
- Each week we review your holdings, tracking performance and notable fund updates.
- Each quarter we do a deep dive, dedicating two full days to economic analysis and investment selection.

There are many ways to build a portfolio. We believe:

A model portfolio approach enables efficient investment review. With a variety of models available, we can match each account with your risk tolerance and your goals:
- Accumulation
- Income
- Capital preservation
- Tax efficiency
- Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors
Performance is determined more by asset allocation than by individual security selection. Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) provides a valuable framework for building a diversified portfolio to minimize risk and enhance long-term returns.
Our time is best spent managing asset allocation and deciding whether to use an active or passive approach for each asset class.
- When an active approach makes sense, our fund evaluation emphasizes MPT statistics, asset class purity and style transparency, manager methodology and tenure, expense ratio, and performance relative to category. Individual securities are selected by the fund managers.
- When a passive approach makes sense, our fund evaluation emphasizes liquidity, expense ratio, and deviation from the corresponding index.
It is critical to understand what you are invested in. Although our universe of available investments is virtually unlimited*, you benefit from holdings that are simple, liquid, and inexpensive (typically mutual funds and exchange-traded funds).
*We also manage certain employer-provided plans where investment selection may be limited.