Heidi Hukriede, CFA, Chief Operating Officer & Senior Portfolio Manager, Stonebridge Capital Advisors
Heidi Hukriede, CFA, COO and senior portfolio manager at Stonebridge Capital Advisors, spoke with Invest: about key aspects of the firm’s growth, and how customized attention to its clients is the core of its success. She also explained the need to educate clients to help them navigate and adapt their investments to economic changes.
Reflecting on the past year, what have been the main highlights and key milestones for Stonebridge Capital Advisors in the last 12 months?
The key is growth. It’s been a challenging investment environment with only a few companies leading the charge. We work to ensure our client portfolios are well-diversified and well-protected in case of any downturns. We’ve grown substantially to $2.3 billion in assets under management as of the end of 2024. One of the big areas of growth we achieved was the addition of $1.3 billion in assets under advisement – we’ve been contracted to manage the model portfolios for a third-party advisory firm we’ve worked with for 20 years. We’ve grown in assets, and we’ve grown in people. We’re up to 31 professionals in the firm, including CFAs, MBAs, and analysts. Over the last year, we’ve been concentrating on how we can most efficiently serve our clients, ensuring all their strategic goals are being met. We have been increasing the efficiency and timeliness of our client relations, as well as enhancing our technology. We love finding unique, strategic ways to improve our clients’ portfolios so they can rest, relax, and retire effortlessly.
What is your overview of the financial services industry in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, are there any trends we should be aware of or take into consideration?
Putting our clients’ needs first, above ourselves, has become more rarified. I see many clients coming to us because they’re unhappy with being put in a box or being told they don’t have enough assets. Our industry has lost a lot of customization: no two people, portfolios, or goals are the same. It’s hard to put clients in a box, so we try to customize all of our investment solutions because that has become a bit of a lost art. That would be the trend I’m seeing. We take much more of an organic approach of investing for our clients.
Has there been a shift in client and customer expectations in recent years and how is Stonebridge Capital Advisors adapting to address these shifting expectations?
Clients are expecting less, and they are pleased when they get more. It’s an under promise and overdeliver situation for us. We don’t want to promise the world, but we want to deliver that. Our clients respond well to that because they haven’t been getting a truly customized experience elsewhere. We make sure each client feels heard and gets a customized experience, regardless of wealth level.
To propose an abstraction, how would you say that the definition of ‘financial freedom’ has changed in recent years?
That’s a hard question to answer because all of our clients are so different. Educating our clients on the markets is one of the most important things we do, more so than managing their portfolios. Getting to know them intimately and getting to know what their goals are is key. What is their intention with their money? Is it only income for retirement, or a legacy they want to leave their children and grandchildren?
Are you promoting any financial literacy programs amongst your workforce or clients?
We host our annual Stonebridge economic forum where we invite our clients, their families and friends, and anyone interested in hearing our Chief Economist, along with one or two of our portfolio managers, speak to how the economy is doing and how we’re investing their portfolios to take advantage of it. We also help our clients better understand how portfolios can transition through generations, and why trusts are set up the way they are. We want to ensure the next generation is just as financially literate as the previous.
What are the primary challenges for the wealth management and financial services industry, and how is Stonebridge Capital Advisors working to address these challenges?
The main challenges are taxes, politics, and money. We explain to clients that when we’re investing in a company, we are looking at the management and how they deal with changes in regulations and the economy. The political environment affects the market, but the market will adjust. Companies will try to make the most money they can regardless of the political environment. Given the knowledge that there’s likely to be fewer regulations, certain sectors of the economy will likely perform better. Explaining to clients that one way or the other is not detrimental to their portfolio, we have to adapt and adjust how we invest. In the U.S., the political environment has become emotional for everyone. It’s important to navigate that from a neutral standpoint, and make our clients feel comfortable.
Are you paying attention to any changes in the legal or regulatory front that could impact the work that you do with your clients?
Few investment regulations tend to affect our clients, as we are registered with the SEC and uphold a high standard as a fiduciary. I don’t think there are many regulatory changes that will affect our clients, but they may affect the companies we invest in and how they react to those changes. For example, we expect the current administration to follow the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, bringing greater tax cuts.
Looking towards the future, what will be Stonebridge Capital Advisors’ top goals and priorities for the next two to three years?
Our goals are to continue to grow in a responsible way that always puts our clients first. We want to ensure that nothing we do from a growth perspective negatively affects our current clients. We are a family-oriented firm. We’ve grown substantially, but purposefully, and we want to continue that. We will continue to enhance our technology and adapt and change but always keep the clients and their needs at the forefront of our goals. We manage many assets for nonprofits, endowments, and foundations. We have a large commitment to our community, and one of our relationship managers concentrates solely on nonprofit work. It’s our duty to give back to all of the communities we serve. Being good corporate citizens in our community is always a priority.
