👉 4th Quarter 2024 Market Review

Highland Investment Advisors LLC is committed to helping families achieve prosperity and peace of mind through: 1️⃣ Investment advice 2️⃣ Integrated financial planning 3️⃣ Tax minimization strategies As fiduciaries, we are fully aligned with the families we serve. 🤝 Highland specializes in guiding families in the rapid accumulation phase toward financial independence and working with retirees or near-retirees on effective distribution strategies. 📅 Schedule a 30-minute discovery call today to learn more: https://meeting.levitate.ai/#/landing/e66ead-8x6v2g 

These are the cornerstones of our approach to portfolio management philosophy, ensuring your investments are aligned with your goals and built for long-term success. Simple, low-cost, and tax-efficient investing that focuses on long-term growth and minimizing unnecessary risks. Disciplined, diversified strategies designed to avoid costly mistakes and deliver consistent, market-based returns. Personalized portfolios that balance growth, risk reduction, and inflation protection to help you achieve your financial goals. Looking for a deeper dive on the principles that guide our investment philosophy? Continue below. Simple, Low-Cost, and Tax-Efficient We believe in keeping your investments simple, low-cost, and tax-efficient. By simplifying the process, you gain a clearer understanding of how your money is working for you. A highly diversified, low-cost strategy frequently generates better long-term results, allowing you to take on just the right amount of risk to achieve your goals. Avoid Costly Mistakes Successful investing is about avoiding common mistakes—chasing “hot” stocks, trying to time the market, or reacting emotionally to short-term news. Our disciplined approach helps you avoid these pitfalls and capitalize on long-term opportunities to grow your wealth. Reject Wall Street’s High-Cost Games We stay clear of Wall Street’s high-fee, complex products designed to generate profit for them, not for you. Our focus is on straightforward, transparent investment strategies that keep your costs low and your goals in sight. Passive Strategies Outperform Most active managers fail to consistently beat their benchmarks over time. We focus on achieving market returns through a passive, diversified approach, reducing unnecessary risk, costs, and taxes that eat into your returns. Maximize After-Tax Returns It’s not just about what you make—it’s about what you keep. Our strategies focus on maximizing after-tax returns by leveraging techniques like tax-loss harvesting, asset location, and rebalancing, all while minimizing taxable events. Smart Risk for Your Goals The right portfolio is one that takes on enough risk to help you meet your long-term financial goals, but not so much that it keeps you awake at night during market volatility. We carefully balance growth assets, risk reduction strategies, and inflation protection to match your risk tolerance and financial objectives. Know Your Investments’ Purpose Every investment has a role. Some aim for growth, some reduce risk, and others protect against inflation. We ensure that each piece of your portfolio serves its purpose, creating a balanced strategy that works for you over the long term. Global Diversification for Stability We invest globally to increase diversification and minimize risk. By holding a wide array of assets across geographies, your portfolio is less dependent on the performance of a few sectors or countries, providing a smoother path to growth. Risk Reduction Without Compromise Risk reduction strategies, like cash and bonds, form the foundation of your portfolio. These assets protect your wealth and help you weather volatility, but we carefully manage the risks associated with them, such as interest rate sensitivity and taxation. Use of Non-Correlated Strategies We include non-correlated assets and select alternative strategies when appropriate. These investments don’t move in line with traditional markets, providing additional diversification and stability. However, they come with tradeoffs, like tax inefficiency, so they are used thoughtfully.

We approach every client relationship with an open mind, free from preconceived ideas about what you should or shouldn’t do. That’s why we start by listening—taking the time to understand your situation through thorough fact-finding. By asking insightful questions, we gain clarity on your goals. Through open and honest dialogue, we help you prioritize what’s most important. During this stage, we also assess your ability and comfort with taking on risk. Next, we analyze your current investments and financial position to formulate a strategy tailored to you. From this, we create a purpose-driven, actionable plan. We ensure you are part of the process every step of the way—adjusting, confirming, and fine-tuning the plan until you’re completely comfortable with the recommendations. Only then do we move forward with implementation. Once the plan is in motion, our work doesn’t stop. We continuously monitor your progress, anticipate changes, and make adjustments as needed. Financial planning is an ongoing journey that evolves with you, ensuring you stay on track through every stage of life.

Successful ESTATE ADMINISTRATION means that your intentions are met and your family is cared for. Critical Questions Highland Can Help You Answer: What happens to my assets when I pass away? Who will oversee my estate and ensure my wishes are carried out? What does my Will actually specify, and does it reflect my current intentions? How should my accounts be titled to align with my estate plan? Who are my listed beneficiaries, and are my contingent beneficiaries up to date? Do I need a trust, and if so, what kind? How does life insurance factor into my estate plan? How can I approach conversations with my parents about their estate plan? Can my advisor work with my estate planning attorney to achieve better results? Smart TAX PLANNING Identifies Opportunities to Reduce, Defer, or Eliminate Taxes—Now and Over Your Lifetime Critical Questions Highland Can Help You Answer: How much am I currently paying in taxes, and where can I find savings? Are there strategies to reduce how much I owe? Am I contributing enough to my retirement accounts to maximize tax advantages? Are there any tax credits or deductions I qualify for? What does it mean to eliminate taxes, and how can it apply to my financial situation?

We are excited to announce the opening of our new office at 175 Patrick Blvd, Suite 120, in Brookfield, Wisconsin, effective December 1, 2024. This move unifies three previous Milwaukee metro offices into a spacious, modern location that enhances both client convenience and team collaboration. “This new Brookfield office is thoughtfully designed to serve our clients and provide a collaborative space for our entire team under one roof,” said Adam S. Drake, CFA, owner of Highland. “Our growth through strategic acquisitions, like Fund Management Corp. and Stoeckler Financial, along with our expanding advisory team made this new, combined office the next step in elevating our client experience.” Adam Stoeckler, CFP®, a financial advisor with Highland, added, “Our combined office builds a stronger in-person community among our advisors, fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation that ultimately benefits our clients and staff.” About Highland: Founded in 2006, Highland manages over $300 million in client assets. As a fee-only wealth management firm, Highland offers customized financial advice and solutions that cater to the unique circumstances and objectives of each client.

Highland Investment Advisors, LLC Assumes Advisory Business of Professional Management of Milwaukee, Inc. (“PMM”). Scott J. Keipper, CPA/PFS, formerly of PMM, Joins Highland Team. Highland will now manage nearly $300 million in assets for over 500 clients. Ponte Vedra, Florida & Brookfield, Wisconsin: July 1st, 2024 We are pleased to announce that, effective July 1st, 2024, Highland Investment Advisors, LLC (Highland), an SEC-registered investment advisor based in Ponte Vedra (Nocatee), Florida, will succeed to the investment advisory practice of Professional Management of Milwaukee, Inc.—a Wisconsin registered investment advisor in Brookfield, WI (PMM) previously served by Investment Advisor Representative Scott J. Keipper, CPA/PFS. Highland also has offices in Delafield, Wisconsin, and Brookfield, Wisconsin. Adam Drake, owner of Highland Investment Advisors, expressed enthusiasm about the new addition: “We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Scott to our team! His expertise, especially in 401(k) and retirement plans, aligns perfectly with our goals. We are eager to collaborate with Scott to continue providing excellent service to his clients and to expand our capabilities together.” Scott Keipper added, “I am very excited to join Adam Drake and his team of advisors who place their clients’ needs ahead of their own to provide impartial advice in the best interest of their clients. I look forward to helping clients plan for their financial goals and thereby live more productive lives with less stress. As a CPA/PFS with more than 35 years of faithful service to clients, I understand that financial relationships are all based on a high level of trust which I have developed with clients. I look forward to the future working with clients and combining my tax background with the enhanced software and shared experiences Highland offers to benefit our common clients.” About Highland: Highland was founded in 2006. The firm’s mission is “to promote our clients’ prosperity while protecting their peace of mind.” As a fee-only wealth management firm, Highland offers customized financial advice and solutions that cater to the unique circumstances and objectives of each client. Highland partners with independent financial advisors who want to continue building fee-based practices or who are looking for a succession plan. For more information, contact: Adam S. Drake, CFA Managing Director & CCO adrake@highlandinvestmentadvisors.com 414-755-2309 x101

Highland Investment Advisors, LLC Acquires Stoeckler Financial Advisory Services, LLC. The Combined Firm Will Manage Over $220 Million of Assets for Over 400 Clients. This transaction was Highland’s third completed acquisition.

Technology enables immediate access to everything wherever and whenever we want it. In many cases, such as staying in touch with friends and family, or learning about world events, that’s a good thing. However, when it comes to investing and money management, my fear is that faster and easier ways of investing will allow people to lose more money faster and easier. As access to investing expands, it becomes even more important to adopt an investment plan that doesn’t try to actively pick stocks or time the market. The purpose of having an investment plan is so you can relax. So you don’t look at the market every day, stressing out and asking, “How’m I doing? How’m I doing?” Investors actively trading are not just potentially missing out on the expected return of the market—they’re stressed out, worrying about how the news alert they just received will impact their long-term financial health, and whether they can or should do anything about it. I don’t blame people for this. The financial services industry has not done a good enough job educating investors that the best approach for their long-term financial well-being is to make a plan, implement it, and stick with it. But it has done a great job selling index funds. Over the past decade, the percentage of the stock market that is passively held has grown considerably, with equity index funds representing 52% of the US equity fund market at the end of 2021.1 And yet some investors appear to be using index funds to pursue an active investment approach. For example, the largest S&P 500 ETF had the highest average daily trade volume of US-listed securities in 2021, at $31 billion.2 So instead of picking individual stocks, people seem to be acting like stock pickers when buying and selling index funds and ETFs. Despite the overwhelming evidence and compelling story to the contrary. When economist Michael Jensen published his landmark 1968 paper, which showed that active stock pickers added no consistent value, other academics soon confirmed his insights. More than five decades and 50 years of data later, the theory still holds up. There are some stock pickers who experience success, but we don’t know how to identify them before the fact. We can’t separate skill from luck. Picking stocks is more like gambling than investing. This academic research inspired the invention of the index fund, which allowed investors not only to buy the broad stock market, but also to track the performance of the manager and compare costs. I worked on one of the first index funds. When I co-founded Dimensional, we built strategies that were informed by indices but weren’t limited by the same mechanical constraints. So I accepted this research early on and built a company based on it. I still believe it 50 years later. My colleagues and I weren’t sure at the beginning that it would appeal to a lot of people, but it did. I’m proud of the fact that we have always viewed marketing as a way to educate financial professionals and investors. In fact, we started by working with institutions and only expanded to individual investors by working with financial advisors who could help teach their clients how to think about the market and invest for the long term. We wanted to prevent people from making the mistake I still see too many people making. But I fear it will only get worse. ETFs make it easier to trade. So do free platforms that allow people to trade on their phones. There seem to be as many ETFs as there are stocks that make up those ETFs. I really like ETFs. They are another chapter in this 50-year story of creating safer and better financial products for investors. Our firm has been using them to give financial professionals and investors more choice in how they access Dimensional Investing. But they are tools, and they have to be used effectively. Which is why you may need an advisor more than ever—to help keep you from jumping from one thing to another. Our approach is to get you out of the game of worrying and guessing by having a plan that can provide peace of mind. It’s a sensible approach you can live with. Trust the financial advisor who trusts the market. The financial industry has made great strides improving the investment options available, but we have more work to do helping investors with those options. There are great solutions right in front of people. As an industry, we need to do a better job of educating current and potential clients. How the bulk of our society lives out their later years depends on it. Investments involve risks. The investment return and principal value of an investment may fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original value. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. There is no guarantee strategies will be successful. Diversification does not eliminate the risk of market loss. Data sourced from Morningstar; funds of funds are excluded. US dollars.