Tax-Smart Investing SMAs Tax Loss Harvesting

At Valuetree Financial...

We partner with Nuveen - one of the world's top asset managers - to offer clients a sophisticated yet highly personalized approach to reducing their tax burden without sacrificing investment performance.

More about Nuveen

What is a Separately Managed Account (SMA)?

An SMA is a professionally managed portfolio where you directly own the underlying investments, not units of a fund. That direct ownership is what makes SMAs uniquely powerful for tax management. Your advisor can customize your portfolio around your specific tax situation, values, and financial goals in ways a mutual fund or ETF simply cannot.

Nuveen is a top-10 SMA provider with over 125 years of market experience and top-20 standing among global asset managers.

The Strategy: Tax-Advantaged Long/Short

This is where SMAs take tax management to the next level. The Tax-Advantaged Long/Short strategy is designed to generate significantly more tax savings than a traditional investment approach, while keeping your overall market exposure the same.

How Does it Work?

In a standard portfolio, you have $100 invested long. In a long/short strategy, we extend that same $100 of net exposure by buying an additional $30 on margin ("going long" more) and simultaneously shorting $30 of other stocks. The result: 130% long, 30% short, net exposure still 100%.

Why does this matter? More dollars at work means more opportunities to harvest tax losses throughout the year. The short positions add another layer of loss-harvesting potential that a long-only portfolio simply doesn't have.

Three Ways This Strategy Can Help You

Diversify Concentrated Positions

Tax-neutrally reduce large, appreciated stock positions to lower risk and protect wealth without triggering a large tax bill.

Offset Liquidity Event Gains

Selling a business, real estate, or receiving private equity distributions? Rapidly generate tax losses to offset those gains.

Tax Transition Your Portfolio

Move into your recommended target allocation more efficiently, reducing tax drag along the way.

Built Around You, Not the Market

Every portfolio is customized to your specific situation. This isn't a one-size-fits-all strategy. We work with Nuveen's institutional-grade technology to tailor your account across multiple dimensions:

Tax Preferences - Set federal, state, and local tax rates; apply individual tax budgets
Concentrated Positions - Tax-neutral selldown programs; manage around existing holdings
Investment Restrictions - Exclude specific stocks, industries, or sectors (e.g. chemicals, media)
ESG Exclusions - Exclude tobacco, firearms, alcohol, gambling, oil/gas, faith-based, and more
Leverage & Market Exposure - Full market exposure (beta = 1) or market neutral (beta = 0) or anything in between

Our Three-Step Process

From the initial setup to ongoing management, every aspect is designed to keep your portfolio optimized for performance and taxes, year-round.

Step 1:
Strategy Selection & Tax Transition

• Choose your target allocation, market exposure, and leverage level

• Set personalized customization preferences

• Generate a tax transition analysis

Step 2:
Portfolio Implementation

• Implement a tax-aware transition plan

• Identify tax loss harvesting opportunities

• Reinvest proceeds in appropriate replacement securities

Step 3:
Ongoing Tax Optimization

• Continuously monitor for tax-saving opportunities

• Rebalance and manage risk on an ongoing basis

• Year-round automated tax-loss harvesting

Why We Partner with Naveen

Not all SMA managers are equal. We chose Nuveen because they bring institutional-grade infrastructure to individual investors:

Top 10 in overall SMA market share
125+ years of investment management experience
Top 20 largest global asset manager
Automated, year-round tax-loss harvesting — not just at year-end
On-demand advisor portal with after-tax performance reporting and tax transition analyses
Multi-asset capabilities across equity and fixed income in a single account

Getting Started

Minimum investment is typically $100,000 for equity strategies. Minimums may vary and can be waived based on circumstances. Contact us to find out if this strategy is right for you.

Important Disclosures

This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any security. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Long/short strategies involve additional risks, including short-sale risk, leverage risk, borrow risk, and tracking error risk. Tax-loss harvesting does not guarantee a profit or protection against loss. Wash-sale rules may limit the ability to realize losses. Tax treatment cannot be guaranteed and individual results will vary based on each client's specific tax situation. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Neither ValueTree Financial nor Nuveen provides tax advice — please consult your tax professional before making investment decisions. Separately managed accounts are not FDIC insured, carry no bank guarantee, and may lose value. Portfolio management for the Tax-Advantaged Long/Short strategy is provided through Brooklyn Investment Group, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nuveen, LLC, a subsidiary of TIAA.

Tax Smart Investing