Northland Capital Management specializes in discretionary portfolio management for individual investors, trusts, and pension plans. After we understand our clients’ unique circumstances, we develop and implement investment strategies designed to help our clients pursue their financial goals. As an independent fee-only advisory firm, we serve all of our clients in a fiduciary capacity. General information about our firm’s services, fees, etc. can be found in our Form CRS client relationship summary.
OUR FIRM
Firm Professionals
Chris Erickson
Chris earned a Phi Beta Kappa key and graduated summa cum laude from St. Olaf College. After working for IBM in the Twin Cities in various capacities, Chris joined Merrill Lynch in Duluth where he spent fourteen years as a financial advisor including six years as a portfolio manager. In June 2008, a few months before the onset of the global financial crisis, Chris resigned from Merrill Lynch and founded Northland Capital Management.
Chris’s family includes his wife Leane and children Kirsten, Brian, and Douglas.
Julie Johnson
Julie earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities with majors in Finance, Accounting, and Human Resources / Industrial Relations. She also has a master’s degree in Education and a CPA license (inactive). After working for Ernst & Young in the Twin Cities, Julie returned to her home town of Virginia where she taught Accounting, Speech, and Computer Science at Mesabi Range College. In August 2016 Julie decided to return to the business world and joined Northland Capital Management. Julie’s family includes her husband Kevin and children Leo, Clark, Alice, and Dean.
Julie is the lead advisor in the firm’s Virginia office.
Andy Rogers
Andy earned a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Michigan Technological University where he graduated summa cum laude. He also earned a Master of Business Administration from the Michigan Tech School of Business and Economics. After working for Cleveland-Cliffs in various engineering and management positions, Andy decided to make a career change and joined Northland Capital Management in June 2021. Andy’s family includes his wife Karla and son Jameson.
Andy is the lead advisor in the firm’s Duluth office.
Karla Rogers
Karla earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Corporate Communications from Finlandia University where she graduated summa cum laude. After working for other financial firms, Karla joined her husband Andy at Northland Capital Management in September 2021. Karla is responsible for client service and administrative functions in the firm’s Duluth office.
Harmony Tedman
Harmony joined Northland Capital Management in January 2022. Prior to joining Northland Capital Management, she managed a local memory care facility. Harmony is responsible for client service and administrative functions in the firm’s Virginia office.
Harmony’s family includes her son John, daughter Layla, and dog Axel.
Kevin Johnson
Kevin earned a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota where he graduated with distinction. He later earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management and a mathematics teaching license. Kevin began his career at Unisys Corporation in the Twin Cities as a programmer and then returned to his home town of Virginia to work at U. S. Steel in various technical, engineering, and management positions. In June 2021 he joined his wife Julie at Northland Capital Management to manage the firm’s technology and operations.
Our Difference
The process of choosing a personal financial advisor can be confusing. Stockbrokers, life insurance agents, and investment advisor representatives are often known to the public as “financial advisors.” However, not all financial professionals are fee-only investment advisor representatives.
Fee-only investment advisors are legally required to abide by a fiduciary standard of care in all of their recommendations. This has important implications for investors, and we believe every investor should understand this issue before working with a financial professional. The “Fiduciary Principles” page discusses this issue in more detail.
Independent Custodian – Fidelity
We recommend and request that our clients use Fidelity as their custodian for any accounts we manage.
We recommend Fidelity primarily because of its access to a wide variety of investments, competitive pricing, quality in executing large securities orders, and its status as a family-owned and employee-owned company. We believe Fidelity provides our clients with the best overall value.
OUR APPROACH
Fiduciary Principles
We are held to a different standard of care than many other financial professionals, and we believe investors should understand the difference.
There are various standards that govern how financial professionals may work with their clients. For example, some professionals are held to a fiduciary standard whereas others are not. As fee-only investment advisors, we are held to a fiduciary standard in all of our investment recommendations.
A fiduciary has a legal duty to act in their clients’ best interests when giving advice, to not place their own interests before those of their clients, to seek the best possible execution of clients’ transactions, and to provide ongoing advice and monitoring throughout the entire client relationship.
Transparency
We believe investors should understand all of the investment-related costs they bear, as well as how different types of financial professionals are paid. There are typically three compensation methods:
- Fee-only investment advisor representatives. Our clients pay us an advisory fee which is based on the value of their portfolio. Neither Northland Capital Management nor any of its personnel receive any other forms of compensation from any other financial industry activities. We are required to follow fiduciary principles at all times.
- Fees and commissions (“dually-registered” representatives). Some financial professionals wear many hats including investment advisor representative, broker, and/or life insurance agent. They may receive both fee and commission income. Some of their recommendations may be covered by the fiduciary standard and some may not.
- Commission-only brokers, securities representatives, life insurance agents, etc. These financial professionals are commissioned salespersons. Many of the investment products they may sell, such as annuities and mutual funds, have an imbedded expense from which they derive their commission.
We believe fee-only compensation promotes transparency. It also eliminates a conflict of interest inherent in commission-based investment recommendations.
Client Commitment
Staying connected to all of our clients is a priority at Northland Capital Management. Every three months we send each of our advisory clients a letter that discusses their portfolio’s performance. We also contact each of our advisory clients at least annually to review their portfolio in light of potential changes to their financial situation or investment objectives. We encourage clients to contact us at any time if they have any questions about their investments.
OUR SERVICES
Portfolio Management
We specialize in building diversified investment portfolios and managing portfolios with discretionary trading authority. Our portfolios typically invest in multiple asset classes, countries, and industries.
At the beginning of an advisory relationship, we work to understand each client’s financial situation, investment objectives, and stated risk tolerance. These factors ultimately determine a portfolio’s strategic asset allocation range. For example, a client with a moderate risk profile might have a portfolio consisting of 40-60% equities, whereas a client with an aggressive risk profile might have a portfolio consisting of 60-100% equities. Clients also may decide whether their portfolio should be invested with a focus on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) considerations.
We manage our clients’ investment portfolios on an ongoing basis by making adjustments based on ever-changing market conditions, valuations, and various other factors. As an independent firm we have access to investment research from a variety of sources to guide us in our portfolio management decisions. However, our portfolios must remain within our clients’ strategic asset allocation ranges to maintain long-term investment discipline.
Finally, investors incur a variety of fees and expenses when working with the financial services industry. Some of these costs are easy to find, whereas others are not. Because investment-related costs and taxes add up and can have a significant negative impact on a portfolio’s performance over time, we primarily use Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) for our discretionary-managed portfolios’ investments. ETFs also trade throughout the day which provides us the ability to take advantage of intraday investment opportunities.
The above discussion barely scratches the surface of our portfolio management process. We would welcome the opportunity to provide more information about our investment strategies and answer any questions you might have.
Financial Planning
Although portfolio management is our primary focus, we can help with certain financial planning activities. We can develop financial projections for clients who are accumulating wealth for retirement, as well as retired clients who are relying on investment income to support their lifestyle. We do not provide advice about estate planning and asset preservation strategies, as we recommend clients speak with an attorney who specializes in these areas.
Disclosure
General information about our firm’s services, fees, etc. is located in our Form CRS “Client Relationship Summary.” It can be viewed here or at adviserinfo.sec.gov by searching for “Northland Capital Management.”
More detailed information about our firm’s services, fees, etc. is located in our Form ADV Part 2 “Disclosure Brochure.” It can be viewed here or at adviserinfo.sec.gov by searching for “Northland Capital Management.”