Designing portfolios people can actually live in
One of my core beliefs as an advisor is that your portfolio should function in real life, not just on paper.
Liquidity isn’t about how fast you could sell something; it’s about aligning your capital with how you live, spend, and make decisions. True liquidity planning supports both confidence and long-term performance.
That’s why I design portfolios using intentional liquidity tiers daily, quarterly, and long-term.
Daily liquidity supports lifestyle needs, emergencies, and peace of mind. Quarterly or semi-liquid structures provide access while still offering exposure to higher-return opportunities. Long-term allocations fuel the durable growth that private markets are uniquely positioned to deliver. This layering makes portfolios both usable and resilient.
A critical part of this design is distinguishing between liquid alternatives and true private market exposure.
Liquid alternatives provide daily access but often track public market behaviour more closely than clients expect. Private credit, private infrastructure, and private real estate have independent return drivers, meaning they behave differently from public equities and bonds.
Understanding this distinction is essential for achieving real diversification rather than accidental overlap.
Private credit holds a special role in this architecture by offering reliable, contractual income while remaining accessible through periodic liquidity windows. Clients gain stable yield without surrendering flexibility, and that combination aligns perfectly with real-life needs.
To keep portfolios adaptable over time, I use liquidity maps, pacing models, and structured rebalancing. These ensure that capital deployment and redemption cycles stay aligned with upcoming spending, tax planning, and major life events. And when secondary markets provide attractive pricing, we use them strategically to adjust exposure or improve liquidity.
In the end, a well-designed liquidity structure turns your portfolio into something you can live in confidently, not something that feels restrictive, fragile, or theoretical. It’s about transforming capital into a system that works with you, through every cycle and every stage of life.
