Careful investing for people who built their wealth the hard way.
We are Nova Gem Investments — a Boston-based firm managing $1.4 billion for individuals, family offices, and institutions. We charge one clear fee. We never take commissions. We do not sell products. Your money stays at your own bank.
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Who We Are
We help you grow your wealth without the guesswork.
Most people do not lose money because they pick the wrong stock. They lose money because they chase headlines, pay hidden fees, or work with advisors who sell products instead of advice. We built Nova Gem to remove those problems — so your money can do what it was meant to do: compound, quietly, for decades.
"The best investment decision is the one you can sleep with for thirty years."
Built by people who sat on the other side of the table
Nova Gem Investments was started in 2018 by former managers from Goldman Sachs, Bridgewater Associates, and a Boston family office. Together, our founders spent more than twenty years picking investment managers and writing checks on behalf of pension funds, endowments, and wealthy families.
From that seat, we kept seeing the same problem. Most investors were not hurt by a lack of products. They were hurt by a lack of honest advice. So we built a firm that does one thing: give clear, written, conflict-free advice — and then invest the money with the same care we used to manage institutional capital.
We are a fiduciary
The law requires us to put your interests first. Not sometimes — always.
No commissions, ever
We earn only the fee you pay us. We receive nothing from any fund or product.
Your money, your name
Your account stays at Schwab, Fidelity, or BNY Mellon — in your name.
Audited returns
A Big Four accounting firm checks our numbers every year.
Our Track Record
Numbers built over a decade of work.
Below is the performance of our main portfolio, the Flagship Balanced Composite. Returns are shown after all our fees and trading costs. An independent accounting firm audits them every year.
$1.4B
In assets we manage for 620+ client households
14.2%
Average yearly return, past five years, after fees
91%
Of our clients stayed with us over the past five years
0.72
Beta — meaning our portfolio moves less than the market
Past results do not promise future results. Every client's experience depends on their goals, tax situation, and when they joined us. Full details are in our audited GIPS report.
Built for people whose money has outgrown a single advisor.
We work best with households and institutions where simple answers no longer fit. If your situation now involves multiple accounts, trusts, businesses, or beneficiaries — we can help.
Individuals
From $1M · fee-only
Executives, founders after a company sale, doctors, and retirees who want one firm to handle their portfolio across taxable and retirement accounts.
Full financial plan
Company stock diversification
Charitable giving strategy
Family Offices
From $10M · customized
Families with several generations, multiple trusts, and a need for clear reporting across everything they own.
One view across all entities
Trust and estate integration
Programs for the next generation
Foundations
From $25M · institutional
Nonprofits and endowments that need help balancing yearly spending with growing the fund for future generations.
Spending rule design
Board-ready reporting
Mission-aligned options
Institutions
From $50M · discretionary
Pension plans, insurance reserves, and company treasuries that want a discretionary manager with institutional reporting.
Liability-matched design
Outsourced CIO services
Full compliance reporting
What We Do
Six strategies. One coordinated plan.
Each of our six investment strategies has its own team, research process, and risk controls. We then put them together into a single plan built around your goals, your tax situation, and when you might need the money.
01 / PUBLIC STOCKS Core
Focused Stock Portfolio
A careful selection of 20 to 30 quality companies we expect to grow for many years. Long holding periods. Low trading. No borrowed money.
Our onboarding is slow on purpose. We want you to know exactly what you are getting — and we want to know enough about you to do a good job from day one.
STEP 01
We Get to Know You
Two meetings where we learn about your goals, your family, your taxes, and when you might need the money.
2 meetings · ~3 weeks
STEP 02
We Send a Written Plan
A formal proposal in writing. It shows the portfolio, the fees, and the risks. You keep it even if you decide not to work with us.
~2 weeks
STEP 03
We Build the Portfolio
Your money moves to a new account at Schwab, Fidelity, or BNY Mellon — in your name. We manage it. You own it.
~3 weeks
STEP 04
We Stay in Touch
Quarterly letters on how your money is doing. A full review every six months. Your advisor is always one call away.
Ongoing
What Clients Say
The best proof is what our clients say when we are not in the room.
"
★★★★★
We spent two years checking eight firms. Nova Gem was the only one whose letters we read twice. And the only one that answered every question we had about fees before we even finished asking.
E. Kastner
CIO, family office · Greenwich, CT
"
★★★★★
Before Nova Gem, we paid three different firms to do one job badly. After bringing everything to them, our life got simpler, our fees dropped by nearly 40 basis points, and we have one advisor who actually knows our family.
M. Rosado
Retired founder · Palo Alto, CA
"
★★★★★
Our foundation board has seen every big bank. What Nova Gem gives us — written investment memos, real research, a team that picks up the phone — is institutional work at a price a small foundation can actually afford.
D. Fairchild
Chair, education foundation · Chicago, IL
In the Press
What the media says about us.
Barron's
March 14, 2026
"Nova Gem represents a new kind of boutique firm. It combines institutional research with honestly transparent fees — something still rare in an industry that runs on hidden payments."
"Few firms this size produce client letters this clear. The Q4 letter in particular was the best explanation we read this cycle of the case for owning real assets."
If you have $1 million or more to invest, one of our senior advisors will spend 30 minutes with you. No sales pitch. No pressure. If we are not a good fit for you, we will tell you — and we may even recommend another firm.
