High Grade Investment Solutions

What High Grade Investment Solutions does

High Grade Investment Solutions, LLC is a privately held boutique investment management firm headquartered at 5 Fleetwood Avenue, Spring Valley, New York. The firm operates as a single-product manager of Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs) focused exclusively on actively managed municipal bond portfolios, with a stated objective of achieving superior risk-adjusted, after-tax absolute returns while controlling risk for tax-advantaged investors.

The firm's core product is a daily-managed SMA strategy that exploits inefficiencies in the tax-exempt municipal bond market through a labor-intensive quantitative valuation process emphasizing credit selection, active portfolio construction, and relative value trading of top-quality municipal bonds along the front-end of the yield curve. The strategy explicitly avoids market timing, interest rate forecasting, and leverage. The investment approach is described as a domain-specialization play in the $3.4 trillion municipal bond market, which is characterized by over 1.4 million distinct issues and 60,000+ issuer types. The firm is led by Principal and Head Portfolio Manager Michael A. Brown, who brings 31 years of investment experience including former roles at Kidder Peabody, Rauscher Pierce Refnes, George K Baum, and MD Sass Investment Services where he managed $2.85B in tax-exempt assets.

The firm operates a sales-led, relationship-based go-to-market targeting high net-worth individuals and corporate entities seeking tax-exempt income and principal preservation. Revenue is generated through recurring advisory and management fees on SMA mandates. Marketing channels are limited to direct referrals, word-of-mouth, repeat customers, and a downloadable PowerPoint presentation introducing the strategy. No digital marketing infrastructure, social media presence, or institutional distribution relationships are evident. Client contact is handled directly through phone, fax, and email by the principal.

Name

High Grade Investment Solutions

Legal name

High Grade Investment Solutions, LLC

Website

https://hginvestments.net

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

High Grade Investment Solutions, LLC is a privately held Spring Valley, NY boutique that actively manages municipal bond Separately Managed Accounts for high net-worth individuals and corporate entities, exploiting tax-exempt market inefficiencies through daily portfolio management led by Principal Michael A. Brown.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fixed Income Investment Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Institutional Separate Accounts & SMAs (Mandates) (FSAAAGAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Managed Accounts & Model Portfolios (SMA/UMA) (FSAAAAAG), Government Bonds & Agencies (Sovereigns, Supras, Munis) (FSAAAHAA)

Keywords

• Municipal bond management
• Fixed income advisory
• Separately managed accounts
• Active portfolio management
• Tax-exempt bond investing

Headquarters

HQ city

Spring Valley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations

Revenue model

1. Investment Advisory and Management Fees: Revenue generated through advisory and management fees on Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs) for municipal bond portfolios. The firm manages assets for high net-worth individuals and corporations seeking tax-exempt income.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

High Grade Investment Solutions provides actively managed Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs) focused exclusively on municipal bonds. The firm runs a labor-intensive, quantitative, model-based fixed income strategy that performs daily portfolio management to exploit pricing inefficiencies in the tax-exempt municipal bond market, targeting highest-quality but undervalued securities along the front-end of the yield curve without engaging in market timing, interest rate forecasting, or leverage.

Product overview

High Grade Investment Solutions offers a single unified investment management service focused on actively managed Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs) for municipal bonds. The firm implements a quantitative, model-based strategy that performs daily portfolio management to identify undervalued securities and exploit inefficiencies in the $3.4 trillion tax-exempt municipal bond market. Their approach emphasizes risk-controlled management without market timing, interest rate forecasting, leverage, or passive buy-and-hold strategies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs) - Municipal Bond Strategy

Quantifiable outcome

• Superior risk-adjusted after-tax absolute returns while controlling risk

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Lord Abbett: Privately-held U.S. asset manager with a long-standing municipal bond fund and SMA franchise serving HNW and institutional clients. Comparable as an incumbent fixed income player with active muni offerings, though at much greater scale.
• Western Asset Management: Large global fixed income manager (Legg Mason/Franklin subsidiary) offering active municipal bond strategies as part of a broad fixed income platform. Comparable as a broad incumbent in active fixed income with muni SMA capabilities.
• Nuveen Asset Management: One of the largest municipal bond asset managers globally, part of TIAA, offering muni-focused active strategies across mutual funds, ETFs, and SMAs. Comparable as a major muni-focused player with overlapping HNW/corporate client base, though much larger scale.
• DoubleLine Capital: Los Angeles-based active fixed income manager (founded by Jeffrey Gundlach) offering municipal bond strategies among other fixed income products. Comparable as an active fixed income specialist with muni exposure for HNW and institutional clients.

Emerging players

• GW&K Investment Management: Boston-based boutique active fixed income manager (Affiliated Managers Group subsidiary) offering municipal bond strategies including SMAs. Comparable as a smaller-scale active fixed income manager with muni SMA capability for HNW and institutional clients.

Direct peers

• Sit Investment Associates: Minneapolis-based boutique fixed income manager emphasizing active, fundamental strategies across taxable and tax-exempt bonds. Comparable as a privately-held boutique running active fixed income mandates including munis.
• Brandywine Global Investment Management: Philadelphia-based active fixed income manager (subsidiary of Franklin Resources) offering municipal bond strategies as part of its broader fixed income platform. Comparable as an active fixed income specialist with muni mandates for institutional clients.
• Thornburg Investment Management: Santa Fe-based privately-held investment manager offering actively managed fixed income strategies including municipal bond portfolios for HNW and institutional clients. Comparable boutique active fixed income manager with muni focus.
• Payden & Rygel: Los Angeles-based independent investment management firm offering active fixed income strategies including municipal bond portfolios for institutional and HNW clients. Comparable as a boutique active fixed income manager with muni SMA capability.
• Breckinridge Capital Advisors: Boston-based boutique investment manager specializing exclusively in investment-grade municipal bonds with a focus on active management and credit research. Directly comparable as a specialist muni active manager serving institutional and HNW clients via separate accounts.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/high-grade-investment-solutions

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about High Grade Investment Solutions