Services
Investment Management
Alaska investment management built around your goals, your timeline, and your tax picture.
Our Approach
Steady, Intentional Investing With the Full Picture in View
There’s a version of investment management that’s reactive — chasing performance, timing the market, hunting for the next big opportunity. That’s not what we do at True North. Our investment approach is disciplined, long-term, and built around one question: does this move you closer to where you’re trying to go?
Every portfolio we manage is built around your specific goals and timeline — not a generic risk category or a benchmark we’re trying to beat. And because tax efficiency is built into every investment decision from the start, the strategy isn’t just about what your portfolio earns. It’s about what you actually keep.
What's Included
- A personalized investment strategy aligned to your specific goals, timeline, and risk tolerance
- Tax-efficient investing to minimize unnecessary drag on your returns year over year
- Tax-loss harvesting to offset gains and reduce your annual tax liability where opportunities arise
- Portfolio rebalancing that accounts for tax consequences before any trade is placed
- Custodial services through Altruist, a modern investment platform built for transparency and efficiency
- Ongoing portfolio oversight as part of your broader wealth management relationship — not a set-it-and-forget-it approach
WHY TRUE NORTH
The Best Time to Think About Tax Consequences Is Before the Trade Is Placed
Most investment managers make portfolio decisions and leave the tax implications for your accountant to sort out later. By then, the trade has already been placed and the gain has already been realized.
At True North, the tax picture is part of every investment decision before it happens. When a rebalance would trigger a significant taxable gain, that gets caught in advance. When tax-loss harvesting opportunities open up, they get acted on as part of an integrated strategy — not identified after the fact on a year-end statement.
That’s the practical value of working with an advisor who holds both credentials. The investment strategy and the tax strategy are built together from the start, and they stay coordinated throughout the relationship.
Frequently Asked Questions
Find Answers and Get Directions
What does investment management actually include?
Investment management at True North means building and actively overseeing a portfolio that’s aligned to your specific goals and timeline — not a model portfolio built for a generic risk profile. That includes the initial investment strategy, ongoing monitoring, rebalancing as your life and the market shift, and tax-efficient decision-making throughout. It’s managed as part of your broader wealth management relationship, so every portfolio decision is made with your full financial picture already in view.
Is True North's investment approach active or passive?
Neither label captures it precisely. We’re not day-trading or chasing performance, and we’re not simply buying an index fund and walking away. The approach is disciplined and long-term — focused on building a portfolio that moves you toward your goals steadily and efficiently, with tax consequences factored into every decision along the way. If you’re looking for someone to find the next big stock or make speculative bets on new IPOs, True North isn’t the right fit. If you want a thoughtful, coordinated investment strategy that works as part of a bigger financial plan, that’s exactly what we build.
What is tax-efficient investing and why does it matter?
Tax-efficient investing means structuring your portfolio to minimize the tax drag on your returns — not just maximizing what you earn, but managing what you keep after taxes. That includes decisions about which types of investments live in which account types, how and when gains are realized, how losses can be used to offset taxable events, and how portfolio changes are timed to avoid unnecessary tax consequences. Over a long investment horizon, the cumulative impact of tax-efficient decision-making can be substantial.
What is Altruist, and why does True North use it?
Altruist is the custodial platform True North uses to hold and manage client assets. A custodian is the licensed institution that physically holds your money — separate from your financial advisor. Altruist is a modern, transparent platform built specifically for independent registered investment advisors, offering clients clear visibility into their accounts and holdings. Your assets are held securely at Altruist while Mark manages the investment strategy on your behalf.
How does investment management fit into the broader True North relationship?
Investment management at True North isn’t a standalone service — it’s one component of an ongoing wealth management relationship that also includes financial planning, tax strategy, and retirement income planning. The portfolio is always managed in the context of your broader financial picture: your goals, your timeline, your tax situation, and where you are in your planning journey. That integration is what separates a True North engagement from simply opening a brokerage account.
Is this service right for someone who already has a financial advisor?
If you’re working with a financial advisor who doesn’t coordinate with your tax strategy, who manages your portfolio in isolation from your broader financial plan, or who you simply can’t reach when something important comes up — it may be worth having a conversation. A discovery call with Mark isn’t a commitment. It’s an opportunity to get an honest, outside perspective on where you stand and whether a more integrated approach would serve you better.
What types of investments does True North use?
The specific investment vehicles depend on your goals, timeline, and tax situation — but the overall approach favors diversified, evidence-based strategies over speculative or highly concentrated positions. True North is not focused on individual stock picks, sector bets, or alternative investments that carry outsized risk. The emphasis is on building a portfolio that’s durable, tax-efficient, and aligned to where you’re actually trying to go — not on chasing short-term performance.
How is Alaska investment management different from working with a national firm?
The practical difference isn’t geography — it’s access and integration. At a national firm, your portfolio is often managed by someone who has never met you, knows little about your tax situation, and follows a model built for thousands of clients at once. Alaska investment management through True North means working directly with Mark — one advisor who knows your full financial picture, manages your portfolio with your tax exposure in mind, and is available when your circumstances change. The relationship is built for the long term, not optimized for scale.
See the Full Picture Before You Make a Move
In 30 minutes, Mark can walk you through where you stand today and what a coordinated investment strategy could look like for you. Schedule a free discovery call — no commitment, no pressure.