Tax Economics is a mind-set and approach to making investment decisions focused on maximizing after-tax returns. Investors can reap enormous financial benefits by considering the tax implications of their asset allocations at the outset, rather than as an afterthought.
Q:
Why is it important?
A:
Investors are often paying more taxes than necessary. This is because most financial advisors are measured on pre-tax earnings and are not tax experts. And tax accountants often evaluate the tax implications of investments after the fact. This gap between investment expertise and tax expertise can lead to suboptimal investment decisions.
Q:
Where does this methodology come from?
A:
This strategy takes a page from corporate finance. Corporations include tax analysis as an integral part of their planning because it’s the after-tax cash flows that matter. However, that expertise hasn’t yet become widely available within the investment industry. Tax Economics gets left out because taxes are too often viewed as a variable that can’t be controlled, which is simply not true.
Q:
Why is Tax Economics so often ignored?
A:
Historically, taxable investors haven’t focused much on the impact of taxes, but they’re becoming much more sophisticated. Investment advisors can sometimes view an emphasis on after-tax returns with ambivalence, since the "sexiest" strategies can trigger the worst tax bills for their clients, even though those strategies are where the advisor may be perceived as adding the most value.
Q:
How can advisors incorporate this approach?
A:
Here are a few ways that Tax Economics can provide insights as advisors think about how they might help their investors maximize after-tax returns:
For most taxable investors, advisors should consider designing asset allocations that reflect an investor’s tax status. Investment advisors sometimes recommend the same portfolios for their taxable and tax-exempt clients, which by definition, may ignore the different needs with respect to taxability and its effect on the different investors’ portfolios.
Similarly, taxes can affect the best way to diversify concentrated stock holdings. For example, in a portfolio we analyzed recently, an advisor for a retired CEO faced the challenge of a heavy concentration in a single position, in this case a combination of common stock and nonqualified stock options. In this particular situation, our analysis showed that exercising the options rather than selling the stock would likely result in higher after-tax returns, which seems like a counterintuitive outcome. However, if the circumstances had been different, say the strike price on the options were much higher, then the resulting recommendation might have been different, or the tax treatment might have made no difference. The lesson here is that incorporating the tax impact rather than ignoring it can frequently improve a taxable investor’s outcome.
Optimize tax benefits of charitable donations. Investors often believe that they should generate additional income to get the tax benefit of a charitable donation. However, tax rules limit charitable deductions to a percentage of adjusted gross income, so most of the time generating more income actually makes the taxpayer worse off.
Due to the complexity of tax law, not every single taxpayer will face the situations described herein exactly as calculated or stated, i.e., the examples and calculations are intended to be representative of some but not all taxpayers. Since each investor’s situation may be different in terms of income tax, estate tax, and asset allocation, there may be situations in which the recommendations would not apply. Please discuss any individual situation with tax and investment advisors first before proceeding. Taxpayers paying lower tax rates than those assumed or without taxable income would earn smaller tax benefits from tax-advantaged indexing or even none at all compared to those described.
This material is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to be relied upon as a forecast, research or investment advice, and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy. The opinions expressed are subject to change at any time without notice. References to specific securities, asset classes and financial markets are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to be and should not be interpreted as recommendations.
This material may contain “forward-looking” information that is not purely historical in nature. Such information may include, among other things, projections, forecasts, estimates of yields or returns, and proposed or expected portfolio composition. Moreover, any historical performance information of other investment vehicles or composite accounts managed by BlackRock, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries (together, “BlackRock”) included in this material is presented by way of example only. No representation is made that any performance presented will be achieved, or that every assumption made in achieving, calculating or presenting either the forward-looking information or the historical performance information herein has been considered or stated in preparing this material. Any changes to assumptions that may have been made in preparing this material could have a material impact on the investment returns that are presented herein by way of example. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
The information and opinions contained in this material are derived from proprietary and nonproprietary sources deemed by BlackRock to be reliable, are not necessarily all-inclusive and are not guaranteed as to accuracy.
Aperio is providing this link to a third-party website that displays a research report, article, webcast, video, or other content that we believe may be informational or educational for you. This linked content is presented by a source that we believe to be reliable, but we do not guarantee its accuracy or completeness, including any associated disclosures. Aperio has no control over the nature of the content on, or the availability of, this third-party website.
The inclusion of this link on our website also does not imply a recommendation or endorsement of any views expressed in such linked content and should not be considered: investment, tax, or legal advice; a solicitation; a recommendation of Aperio or any third-party’s services; or an offer to buy or sell any securities or related financial instruments in any jurisdiction.
Your subscription to the Aperio Blog has been confirmed. You will receive an email notification when a new blog is posted.
Your password is now updated.
Thank you for setting the security questions for your account.
User Must Be Logged In
You must be logged in to perform this action.
Invalid token. Please reload the page and try this action again.
You Currently Do Not Have Portal Access
You do not have access to the Aperio Client Portal.
Please note that if you just registered, it may take up to 24 hours after your registration form has been approved before you are able to log in.
That answer does not match our records. Note that responses to security questions are case sensitive. Please try again or contact Aperio at operations@aperiogroup.com or 415.339.4590.
Your portal user profile does not have provide access to this page. Please contact your administrator if you believe you have receieved this message in error.
Please select a request type.
Your account is temporarily locked because you repeatedly entered wrong answers to security question. Please try again in an hour.
There was an error sending the email to your new user. Please try again.
There was an error sending your email. Please try again.
There was an error sending the email to reset your password. Please try again.
There was an error sending the verification email for your portal account. Please press “Send Verification Email” to retry.
There was an error sending your Contact Us form to Aperio. Please try again.
Would you like to set up Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for your account? If yes, click here. If not, you are able to enable MFA for your account at anytime in your Profile by clicking Edit Profile.
With Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), an extra layer of security is added to your account to prevent unauthorized users from logging in, even if they have your password. This extra security measure requires you to verify your identity using a randomized code we will send you each time you attempt to log in. MFA reduces the risk of unauthorized requests from your Aperio Client Portal account and provides extra security for your data.
You can choose to receive your security code through one of three ways: by text message/SMS, voice call, or the Okta Verify app. Through Aperio’s partnership with Okta, you can access their free Verify app to receive your MFA token on your Apple or Android device.
Are you sure you want to remove this factor from your account?
The factor has been successfully removed from your account.
You are enrolled in SMS MFA.
You are not enrolled in Text/SMS MFA. To learn how to enroll, click here.
To enroll in SMS MFA, please enter your mobile phone number.
Enter the code received on your mobile phone below.
You have successfully enrolled in SMS MFA.
This phone number was previously set up for SMS MFA for this account. The number and your portal account are now re-enrolled in SMS MFA. If this is incorrect, please contact Aperio at 415.339.4590.
You are enrolled in Voice Call MFA.
You are not enrolled in Voice MFA. To learn how to enroll, click here.
To enroll in Voice MFA, please enter your number and extension if applicable.
Enter the code from the automated voice call you just received.
You have successfully enrolled in Voice MFA.
You are enrolled in Okta Verify MFA.
You are not enrolled in Okta Verify MFA. To learn more on Okta Verify MFA, visit the Okta Verify enrollment guide here.
Please ensure you have downloaded the Okta Verify App prior to clicking Enroll.
After opening the Okta Verify App on your mobile device, press Add Account and scan the QR code shown on the screen. Enter the code shown in the app in the box below.
You have successfully enrolled in Okta Verify MFA.
Confirm Subscription
Patrick Geddes
Senior Advisor and Chief Tax Economist
What are your key responsibilities? I analyze cash flows for complicated tax situations facing our clients and their tax advisors, including charitable donations, incentive options, and estate/gift tax scenarios.
Describe your key previous work experience. Prior to co-founding Aperio, I was the Research Director and CFO at Morningstar. I also taught graduate-level portfolio theory, which has proven quite applicable to constructing client portfolios at Aperio. Likewise, I’ve applied learnings from building complex, risk-adjusted after-tax cash flow models at an oil company to my work here, doing the same thing for taxable investors.
What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you? As I try to help taxable investors understand how their pre-tax returns aren’t relevant, I continuously observe how resistant the investment industry remains to focusing on after-tax returns. It’s fascinating how much the industry’s stance reflects financial incentives—particularly from the lucrative revenue streams of the least tax-efficient strategies. More generally, the challenge of complicated investment problems continues to stimulate and satisfy my intellectual curiosity.
Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients. I’ve been closely involved in a wide range of new strategies and portfolio features, and often meet with many of our clients. I’ve particularly enjoyed balancing how to operate a for-profit business while emphasizing the fair treatment of clients and providing an exacting level of transparency and honesty, including taking full ownership when we make mistakes.
What do you like most about working at Aperio? It’s an incredible honor to work with such smart people who take pride in doing the right thing.
What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio? Before assuming the roles of CEO and Chief Tax Economist in 2014, I was Aperio’s Chief Investment Officer for 15 years.
What are some non-work-related things we should know about you? I love to cook, which proves gratifying since I spend so much of my work time in my head and cooking is such a physical experience, especially the olfactory delights of spices. My other interests include reading, bicycling, hiking, and listening to Renaissance/early baroque music.
What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess? BA in History from Yale University; MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago.
As direct indexing offerings have matured, advertised promises of great economic benefit have proliferated. To distinguish hype from opportunity, advisors and their clients considering this approach over traditional equity indexing strategies should review the four key drivers that make direct indexing worthwhile for tax purposes...
In the past 18 months, we’ve witnessed some extraordinary changes in how retail stock investors trade, from the broad shift for many brokerage firms toward zero commissions to the jump in trading by individuals in 2020, presumably a result of the pandemic...
At Aperio, we’ve been asked by many wealth advisors and family offices about our views on opportunity zones (OZs), a tax incentive that allows for deferral and even elimination of some capital gain for taxable investors. In our view, the best way to look at these structures requires incorporating three different angles...
Published Articles
"What Would Yale Do If It Were Taxable?" – Financial Analysts Journal, July/August 2015
"Restoring Value to Minimum Variance" – Journal of Investment Management, Second Quarter 2014 (received a Harry M. Markowitz Special Distinction Award)
"The Pursuit of After-Tax Returns: Indexed Exchange-Traded Funds vs. Indexed Separately Managed Accounts" – Investments & Wealth Monitor, September/October 2011