TAO provides fiduciary financial consulting to our local communities, serving as caretakers and stewards of company retirement plans, endowments, and individual and family investment portfolios.
In Hawaiʻi, financial guidance means more than numbers. It means understanding the ʻohana, communities, and values that shape every decision. TAO Investments Hawaiʻi has served employers and families across the islands since 2004.
TAO provides integrity-driven financial consulting to our communities. In our capacity as investment advisor representatives and fiduciaries, we relish the role of caretaker and steward of our clients' assets, whether a company retirement plan, endowment, or family investment portfolio.
A transparent, client-centered process provides understanding about our services, investment strategies, and cost, improving our collective ability to make sound decisions together.
We are a local company and share the same values and aspirations as our clients. We serve our community and are accountable for our work.
As an independent fiduciary, our recommendations are guided by one standard: what is in the best interest of our clients. That is the commitment we make to every person and organization we serve in an advisory capacity.
Comprehensive fiduciary services for plan sponsors, including compliance oversight, investment menu design, vendor management, and participant education designed to raise the standard of care.
Independent fiduciary services as both ERISA 3(21) co-fiduciary and 3(38) investment manager, including fee benchmarking, plan assessments, and governance process design that puts participants first.
Financial education and tools designed to help local employees understand their benefits, increase deferral rates, and build confidence on their journey to retirement.
Distribution planning is one of the most important decisions in retirement, coordinating tax-efficient withdrawals, the sequencing of assets, and legacy planning to protect what you've built for the next generation.
Institutional-quality portfolio construction, managed in-house with direct accountability for portfolio oversight across all asset classes.
Holistic, customized investment planning for families and individuals, built on a deep understanding of each client's unique needs and goals here in the islands.
Every Hawaiʻi employer deserves an independent fiduciary partner for their qualified retirement plan. We work for your participants, and no one else.
We've built a forward-looking financial practice with a foundation of independence, technical skill, and creativity. This gives us a transparent, disciplined approach to serving our community with integrity. It provides us with a grounded philosophy to build upon in an ever-changing world.
To reduce various service errors, we created a process with Fiduciary Integrity, an overlapping system of responsibility designed specifically for qualified plan sponsors. This helps the plan sponsor in understanding the cycle of a fiduciary and governance process.
Raise the standard of care to better serve participants by pursuing prudence and integrity
Use a process that is coherent, cohesive, and compliant
Build key industry relationships to support our knowledge and vision
Perform in-house integration of vital services using best practices for clients
Leverage service providers to improve operational efficiencies, streamline processes, and decrease costs
The retirement plan landscape has become increasingly complex. Regulatory requirements continue to expand, service providers have multiplied, and fiduciary responsibilities placed on plan sponsors have never been greater. Navigating this environment requires experience, independence, and a fiduciary partner committed to the oversight and governance your plan deserves.
Our experience suggests that greater emphasis should be placed on participant deferral behavior, not solely investment selection. Younger employees possess the powerful advantage of time, yet despite significant advances in financial education and digital planning tools, higher participant engagement and deferral rates have not consistently followed.
TAO was established specifically to serve as an independent fiduciary partner for qualified plans, including 401(k) and 403(b) plan sponsors, acting as both an ERISA 3(21) co-fiduciary and 3(38) investment manager. We understand the high standard of care required to steward a company's retirement plan, providing the compliance guidance plan sponsors depend upon alongside the thoughtful, practical support participants value.
Every family in Hawaiʻi has a unique story shaped by island values, multi-generational relationships, and the realities of building and preserving wealth in one of the world’s most beautiful and most expensive places to call home. Our role is to understand yours and help build a plan worthy of it.
Our firm brings deep expertise in distribution planning, helping Hawaiʻi families navigate retirement income, tax-efficient withdrawal strategies, and generational wealth transfer by striving for clarity and discipline. Built on a foundation of proficiency, professionalism, and fiduciary responsibility, where your best interests guide every advisory recommendation. As a locally born Honolulu wealth management firm, we understand the unique financial considerations Hawaiʻi families face, from estate planning and concentrated real estate holdings to the complexities of island cost of living and multi-generational stewardship.
We view your financial picture holistically to pursue the best strategies for you and your portfolio. Our approach involves getting to know you and your family so that we may assess your needs, concerns, wishes and preferences to develop a lasting plan with flexibility for your changing needs.
Experience has taught our firm that every family and organization in Hawaiʻi has its own story and specific needs. It is our goal to understand those needs and build lasting investment plans designed around each client’s individual circumstances.
A collaborative financial plan requires coordination. We work alongside your CPA or tax professional and estate attorney to help align your investment strategy, tax planning, and estate documents toward a cohesive, comprehensive approach.
Investing is, in many ways, the discipline of preparing for uncertainty while building toward a desired future. As stewards of your portfolio, it is our responsibility to continuously assess the economic, market, and geopolitical landscape and position assets thoughtfully in response to changing conditions.
As caretakers of client assets, we maintain a constant focus on risk measurement, asset valuation, and portfolio resilience. With long-term financial goals as our guide, timely risk identification allows us to evaluate changing conditions, make disciplined portfolio adjustments, and seek to manage downside exposure.
Our investment team directly oversees investment selection and portfolio allocation, bringing deep institutional experience to every client relationship. This allows us to tailor strategies thoughtfully for each client's individual circumstances, financial priorities, and long-term goals.
Existing clients can access their portfolio and account information through our secure client portal.
Client LoginAll team members were born and raised in Hawaiʻi, so a local sensibility permeates the firm, leading to a better understanding of our clients' needs and goals. Our greatest reward is helping our clients find financial clarity and balance.
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