DFA and Navigoe: Your Partners for Smart Investment Strategies

"The goal is not to sail the boat, but rather to help the boat sail herself."
- John Rousmaniere

A good investment strategy is not the destination, but rather, a mode of transportation to help you reach your unique goals. At Navigoe, one of the best modes we’ve discovered is Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) mutual funds, which our team has been using for over 20 years.

In the 1990s, Navigoe Founder Scott Leonard developed and taught a course for UCLA Extension titled “Passive Investing; Beyond Index Funds.” Scott started Navigoe concurrently to extend this academically sound investment philosophy to the public, and when he discovered that DFA shared his philosophy, he knew their partnership would help deliver smart investment strategies to Navigoe’s clients.

The Two Principles That Guide Us

DFA’s and Navigoe’s successes both stem from having similar guiding principles: Follow the academic science of investing, and manage all costs. These also serve as the core principles we use to manage your total financial picture.

As part of our comprehensive wealth management solutions, Navigoe is proud to provide our clients with access to DFA, as well as a unique approach that ensures your investment strategy is fully integrated with your financial plan and executed effectively to help achieve your goals.

What Sets Navigoe Apart

Low cost, passive funds are just the beginning. The best financial outcomes are the result of a financial plan that considers taxes, transaction costs and cash-flow, while balancing the forces of risk and return. Navigoe was founded over 20 years ago to share this holistic approach, while providing peace of mind that you’re working with a fee-only fiduciary that has your best interests in mind at all times. It’s this marriage of sound, passive investment strategy with comprehensive, unbiased advice that sets Navigoe apart for other money managers and financial planners.

Custom Portfolio Implementation

First, Navigoe gathers the best fund “ingredients” in the industry, starting with DFA. Then, rather than using a cookie-cutter recipe for each portfolio, our team customizes your allocation across all account types, integrates with your 401(k) and considers the potential tax liability of current assets before selling in order to ensure your ongoing portfolio management is just as strong as the initial fund selection.

Fee-Only, Fiduciary Wealth Management

Every investment decision can have a massive impact on your financial future. Navigoe’s team serves as a truly unbiased partner, whose sole goal is to help you make the right decisions. Our fee-only (not fee-based), fiduciary model instills confidence that your CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional will always put your needs ahead of their own and help you safely navigate to your destination.

Fully Integrated with Your Financial Plan

Investing always involves tradeoffs between risk, reward, complexity and illiquidity, among others. Balancing these tradeoffs is a difficult process that can’t be completed in a vacuum. Rather than making ad-hoc portfolio or investment decisions, Navigoe works with you to define your goals first, then develop a strategy and Investment Policy Statement that align with your financial plan.

Low Cost

Many investors focus on minimizing fund fees but fail to consider taxes, brokerage fees, the opportunity cost of bad decisions and other factors that reduce returns. Studies show that working with a fee-only financial fiduciary (like Navigoe) can increase returns by approximately 3 percentage points each year.1 Our goal is to manage all costs and not only increase fund returns, but also total returns after fees and expenses.

Our Services

Comprehensive Wealth Management

Live the best life possible by collaborating with us to design a strategy, implement those plans and monitor your progress.

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Investment Consulting

Protect and grow your wealth with a partner who carefully manages your portfolio to minimize risk and maximize returns.

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Tax Planning

Develop an integrated tax strategy to minimize taxes over your lifetime.

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Estate Planning

Work with an estate partner who can help develop a estate plan that represents your financial legacy and continues your financial plan.

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Clients We Serve

We serve clients throughout the Los Angeles area, and even in different states. Being based in Redondo Beach, our clients are primarily in the South Bay cities of Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Torrance and the Palos Verdes Peninsula area.

See If We’re a Match

How we work

Navigoe works closely with you to achieve true prosperity, focusing just as much on building your wealth as building our relationship with you. With our team by your side, you can look forward to feeling confidence and clarity every step of the way.

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Meet the team

Much like sailing, having a smooth financial voyage requires having the right crew. Each member of our team has a unique reason for choosing this profession, but we all share a common goal: to help you navigate to the financial life you always wanted.

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