Customized investment strategies are powered by proprietary quantitative research and AI-driven analytics, combining institutional rigor with personalized attention and unwavering fiduciary commitment. Our portfolios are structured to integrate risk control, diversification, and disciplined execution across market environments.
At the core of our portfolio construction process is the Ad-Star® System—an AI-driven analytical framework that synthesizes real-time data, signal recognition, and cross-disciplinary insight. Quantitative in nature but distinct from pure factor investing, Ad-Star® supports consistent decision architecture, risk calibration, and portfolio adaptability across asset classes.
Our proprietary research platform employs multi-LLM cross-validation and model distillation to identify emerging sectors, structural trends, and investment inflection points. This process enables deep, thematic analysis across industries and geographies, informing portfolio design and capital allocation with machine-learning enhanced analysis.
Preserving family wealth across generations requires sophisticated architecture that balances tax efficiency, asset protection, and legacy continuity. We design comprehensive estate frameworks that safeguard what you've built, diminishes transfer tax exposure, and helps your values and intentions guide wealth distribution for decades to come.
Our approach emphasizes structural integrity over complexity. We employ proven legal and fiduciary strategies—trusts, partnerships, and corporate entities—aligned with each client's ownership profile, liquidity needs, and succession objectives. Plans are reviewed for consistency with current law, jurisdictional considerations, and evolving family circumstances to maintain both flexibility and compliance.
Implementation extends beyond design. We help guide trustee selection, valuation review, and coordinate administration to ensure each strategy functions as intended. Ongoing monitoring, communication among advisors, and disciplined documentation safeguard the estate plan's purpose through regulatory change, market cycles, and generational transitions.
Business continuity demands forward planning that extends beyond operational strategy. We work with business owners to design succession frameworks that preserve enterprise value, facilitate smooth leadership transitions, and align ownership structure with family objectives and tax efficiency. Whether transitioning to the next generation, selling to management, or engaging strategic partners, we’ll assist with the legal, financial, and operational elements to protect what you've built.
Our integrated approach recognizes that business succession cannot be separated from estate planning, tax strategy, and wealth transfer objectives. We help arrange transitions to minimize tax exposure, provide liquidity for estate obligations, and ensure operational continuity during ownership changes.
Implementation requires disciplined execution and stakeholder alignment. We facilitate buy-sell agreements, assist with management transitions, and can help governance structures that balance family control with operational expertise.
Managing multi-generational trust structures requires specialized expertise that extends beyond routine compliance. We provide comprehensive fiduciary guidance for dynasty, grantor, and generation-skipping trusts. Our role is to ensure trust assets are protected, distributed according to intent, and positioned to serve beneficiaries across decades.
Trust administration intersects directly with investment strategy, tax planning, and estate objectives. We will assist with trust accounting issues, the preparation of fiduciary tax returns, and help the fiduciaries manage multi-jurisdictional complexities for families with beneficiaries and assets across state lines. When trust terms require updating—through decanting, situs changes, or trustee modifications—we will help evaluate options, assess fiduciary implications, and the implementation of changes designed to preserve the settlor's intent while adapting to current circumstances.
Effective trust management balances legal compliance with family sensitivity. Regular accounting, tax coordination with investment teams, and proactive identification of modification opportunities ensure trusts remain aligned with both legal requirements and family objectives through generational transitions.
Life insurance at the wealth transfer scale serves objectives far beyond income replacement. For ultra-high-net-worth families, advanced insurance structures provide estate liquidity, fund succession obligations, and create tax-advantaged wealth accumulation across generations. Private placement life insurance offers access to institutional investment managers and alternative assets while eliminating K-1 reporting complexity. Survivorship policies address estate tax obligations at passing of the surviving spouse, while premium financing strategies leverage institutional lending to fund large policies without depleting liquid capital. We coordinate irrevocable life insurance trust implementation, evaluate split-dollar arrangements for business owners, and structure 1035 exchanges to optimize existing policy performance.
Implementation requires integration across estate, investment, and tax disciplines. We analyze coverage needs based on estate tax projections, business valuations, and wealth transfer objectives—not generic income multiples. Policy design, ownership structure, and beneficiary coordination align with trust frameworks and succession plans. Annual performance reviews examine premium funding efficiency and policy trajectory relative to original illustrations, ensuring coverage adapts to legislative changes and family transitions.
Real estate represents both a strategic asset allocation component and a tax-advantaged wealth transfer vehicle for high-net-worth families. We evaluate direct property investments, private real estate funds, and publicly traded vehicles within the context of each client's broader portfolio objectives, tax profile, and estate planning framework. Our approach integrates investment analysis with tax-efficient structuring—examining how properties fit both portfolio diversification needs and legacy preservation goals while managing concentration risk and liquidity constraints.
Tax strategy drives many real estate decisions at the wealth transfer scale. We will assist with 1031 exchanges to defer capital gains on property sales, evaluate opportunity zone investments for tax deferral and potential basis step-up, and implement qualified personal residence trusts (QPRTs) to transfer primary or vacation homes at reduced gift tax values. Each strategy requires coordination across investment performance, tax efficiency, and estate planning objectives to optimize long-term outcomes.
Implementation requires disciplined investment evaluation and ongoing oversight. Private real estate fund investments undergo manager due diligence, fee structure analysis, and alignment assessment with portfolio objectives. Periodic reviews examine property performance, tax strategy effectiveness, and whether holdings remain consistent with evolving family circumstances and market conditions.
Alternative investments extend beyond public market diversification—they provide access to return streams, risk profiles, and structural advantages unavailable through traditional equity and fixed income allocations. We evaluate and allocate to private equity, private credit, hedge funds, venture capital, infrastructure, commodities, and specialty strategies within the context of each client's liquidity constraints, tax considerations, and long-term objectives. Access to institutional-quality managers, co-investment opportunities, and fund structures designed for qualified purchasers distinguishes ultra-high-net-worth portfolios from conventional wealth management.
Manager selection and due diligence form the foundation of alternative investment success. We will conduct operational and investment due diligence on private fund managers, analyzing track records, investment processes, team stability, fee structures, and alignment of interests. Portfolio construction balances vintage year diversification, strategy exposure, and concentration across the broader portfolio. Ongoing monitoring tracks fund performance, manager changes, valuation methodologies, and exit timing to ensure alternatives continue serving their intended portfolio role.
Implementation requires coordination across investment, tax, and estate planning disciplines. Alternative investments generate complex tax reporting (K-1s), require entity structuring decisions, and present unique estate planning considerations regarding illiquidity and valuation.
Charitable giving at the wealth transfer scale serves multiple objectives—tax efficiency, family values transmission, and enduring social impact. We design philanthropic structures that align giving strategies with estate plans, investment portfolios, and multi-generational family governance. Whether through private foundations, donor-advised funds, charitable trusts, or direct giving, each vehicle offers distinct tax advantages, control mechanisms, and legacy implications. Strategic philanthropic architecture transforms giving from reactive annual donations into integrated wealth transfer and family cohesion strategies.
Structure selection depends on control preferences, administrative capacity, tax optimization, and family involvement objectives. Private foundations provide maximum governance control and multi-generational engagement but require ongoing compliance and excise tax management. Donor-advised funds offer simplicity and immediate tax deductions with lower administrative burden but limited family governance structures. Charitable remainder and lead trusts integrate philanthropic intent with income planning and estate tax mitigation, while qualified charitable distributions and complex asset donations (private stock, real estate, partnership interests) maximize tax efficiency when properly coordinated with investment timing and estate structures.
The portfolios of the ultra-high-net-worth individuals often concentrate their wealth in illiquid assets—private businesses, investment funds, real estate, and restricted securities—creating tension between long-term growth objectives and near-term capital needs. Liquidity solutions extend far beyond the binary choice between asset liquidation and borrowing. Business recapitalization structures extract value while preserving ownership control. Concentrated position hedging and monetization strategies provide downside protection and capital access without triggering immediate tax events. Credit facilities offer flexible capital while maintaining investment exposure. Each approach carries distinct tax consequences, estate planning implications, and long-term wealth impact requiring comprehensive evaluation within the context of broader family objectives.
Private business ownership and concentrated equity positions demand specialized monetization strategies. We evaluate dividend recapitalizations that may extract business value through institutional lending, minority equity placements that provide liquidity while maintaining family control, and ESOP structures that offer tax-advantaged exits. For concentrated public or private stock positions, we coordinate equity collar strategies, prepaid variable forward contracts, and exchange fund participation to manage risk and access capital while deferring recognition events. Business exit planning integrates sale structure, rollover equity decisions, earnout optimization, and transaction timing with estate transfer objectives and tax efficiency goals. Our role centers on evaluating alternatives, coordinating specialist providers, and ensuring monetization strategies align with multi-generational wealth preservation.
Credit facility evaluation requires understanding both lending mechanics and strategic integration. Analysis should address fundamental questions: does borrowing or selling better serve tax efficiency given current basis positions and holding periods? How should leverage integrate with estate structures and trust ownership? What debt levels remain prudent given portfolio volatility and capital call obligations? Ongoing monitoring ensures borrowing remains appropriate to portfolio risk, debt service stays manageable through market cycles, and liquidity strategies adapt to evolving business transitions, investment opportunities, and family circumstances.
Families reaching the scale where dedicated office infrastructure becomes appropriate face critical decisions about structure, staffing, service provider selection, and governance frameworks—often with limited unbiased guidance. Banks and brokerage firms offer family office solutions designed to capture assets under their management platforms. Independent consultants often lack operational insight into what actually works in practice.
We advise families on architecture decisions that determine long-term effectiveness. Should you build a single-family office, partner in a multi-family office, or coordinate best-in-class independent providers? What governance structures balance family control with professional oversight? How should investment management, tax preparation, bill payment, concierge services, and philanthropy administration integrate or separate? We can help evaluate service provider options across investment managers, custodians, tax advisors, trust companies, and specialty vendors—assessing capabilities, fee structures, and alignment with family objectives without the bias of firms seeking to capture your entire relationship.
SLG is an independent investment management and advisory firm serving ultra-high-net-worth individuals, families, and institutions.
