Valla
Haven
Illustrative and educational. Not an offer or a guarantee. Please read the honest footnote below.
Start here
What every other firm will show you.
One idea, played at five different volumes.
Walk into almost any wealth management office and you’ll be handed the same five folders. Open them and they’re made of the same two ingredients — stocks and bonds — mixed in different ratios.
Here’s the problem. When markets fall hard, those portfolios tend to fall together; the “conservative” one just falls somewhat less. The potential protection you’re being sold isn’t a promise. It’s a hope that bonds rise when stocks fall. In 2022 they didn’t: both fell at once, and many “conservative” investors lost double digits.
Haven works differently
We don’t allocate to hope. We buy contracts.
Every dollar you entrust to us is assigned a job across seven Haven models. Six use bank-issued market-linked notes with a payoff formula written into their terms; Reserve is the liquid exception. At maturity, the bank pays what each formula says. The boundary or participation rate isn’t a statistical tendency. It’s in the paperwork — and you see the deal in writing before a dollar moves.
Losses hurt worse than gains help.
Lose 30% and you need a 43% gain just to get back to even. Lose 50% and you need 100%. The surest way to compound wealth is to never dig the deep hole in the first place.
Your seven models
Seven jobs. Seven written tradeoffs.
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I
Reserve
0–1 yrDaily-liquid fundsYour near-term needs are untouchable.
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II
Shield
1–3 yrs1-year notesSleep is the product.
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III
Income
2-year product2-year notesA defined return when the basket stays above its barriers.
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IV
Core
2–5 yrs2-year notesPotential for significant upside participation with reduced downside exposure.
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V
Growth
5–10 yrs3-year notesMarket compounding, left tail trimmed.
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VI
Legacy
5-year product5-year SPXFP notesSeeks to limit a portion of market losses while providing participation in market gains.
Valla Haven Alt
Not tied to a time horizon DAILY LIQUID FUNDSHard assets, modern mix.
How much can I lose in a bad year?
Each note model states, in writing, how index losses are treated at maturity. Some absorb a defined range, Horizon absorbs none, and Income’s higher conditional return comes with deep barrier risk. The exact formula belongs to the product—not to a forecast.
What do I give up to get that?
The tradeoff changes with the job: a share of the gain in shorter-horizon models, dividends in some note models, easy access before maturity, full downside in Horizon, or deep barrier risk in Income. Reserve is built for access. The six note-based models are built to be held to maturity.
The Haven Seven
How each model works.
I Money you need in the next 12 months
Reserve
“Your near-term needs are untouchable. ”
Your spending money takes no stock-market risk and doesn’t sit in a note. It lives in a sleeve of daily-priced, easily sold funds — Treasury bills, top-rated floating-rate credit, and a fund that earns a Treasury-like rate through a fixed-payout options technique. Boring on purpose.
Short-term yield with daily liquidity. No participation in gains; no exposure to S&P 500 losses.II Money you’ll need in 1–3 years
Shield
“Sleep is the product. ”
This bucket’s job is peace of mind. It holds one-year notes. If the S&P 500 is lower at maturity, the bank absorbs the first half of the decline before you lose a dollar. If the index is higher, you receive half of the gain. The trade is honest: you give up half of the good years so that ordinary bad years can’t touch you. For near-term money, we think that’s worth paying.
One-year term. The first 50% of any S&P 500 decline is absorbed at maturity. Participates in one-half of any gain.III Capital assigned to a conditional-return objective
Income
“A high conditional return, with the tail risk stated up front. ”
Income is a purpose-built sleeve, not a defensive bucket. Its two-year note is linked to the worst result among the S&P 500, Russell 2000 and Nasdaq-100 price indexes. It pays a defined return when that basket finishes within stated ranges, but deep losses can become your losses. The trade is explicit: meaningful conditional return in ordinary markets in exchange for real barrier and tail risk.
Two-year term. Current design: 19% if the worst index finishes better than −25% at maturity; 9% from −25% through better than −50%; one-for-one loss at −50% or lower. Exact terms are set at pricing.IV Money for 2–5 years out
Core
“Potential for significant upside participation with reduced downside exposure. ”
Core is built to never dig the deep hole that demands a heroic recovery. It holds two-year notes. The bank absorbs the first 30% of any decline at maturity; below that, you share in the loss. On the upside you receive three-quarters of the gain — a bigger share than Shield, because this money can stay invested longer.
Two-year term. The first 30% of any S&P 500 decline is absorbed at maturity. Participates in three-quarters of any gain.V Money for 5–10 years
Growth
“Market compounding, with the left tail trimmed. ”
Now you’re compounding one-for-one with the market’s price gains, with the worst outcomes softened. Growth holds five-year notes. The bank absorbs the first quarter of any decline at maturity. There is no bond allocation here doing the protecting — the buffer is written into the note itself.
Five-year term. The first 25% of any S&P 500 decline is absorbed at maturity. Participates one-for-one in gains.VI Long-term capital seeking hard protection and leveraged upside
Legacy
“Seeks to limit a portion of market losses while providing participation in market gains. ”
Legacy is a five-year note linked to SPXFP, the S&P 500 futures index. The bank provides 50% hard protection against a decline at maturity and pays 200% of any positive index return. SPXFP reflects futures-based market exposure and a financing component, so it can behave differently from the familiar cash S&P 500 index.
Five-year term. 50% hard protection at maturity. Participates in positive SPXFP returns at 200%.VII Assets historically non-correlated to equities
Alt
“Hard assets, modern mix. ”
The Valla Haven Alt sleeve combines gold, bitcoin, and real estate, three assets whose value rests on scarcity and tangibility rather than corporate earnings or interest payments. Because each responds differently to inflation, interest rates, and confidence in financial systems, together they may broaden a portfolio's sources of return.
Exchange traded funds with daily liquidity. Participates in historically non-correlated returns to equities.Plain talk
What it is. And what it isn’t.
It is
For note-based models, a note issued by a large bank, held in your own account at Schwab or Fidelity, with the payoff formula written into its terms.
A boundary you can read before you sign — the first stated percentage of any decline absorbed at maturity.
Transparent: every note appears on your custodial statement with its issuer, maturity date and terms.
Laddered where notes are used: maturities are spread across dates, so no single pricing day decides your outcome.
It isn’t
A guarantee, insurance, or a bank deposit. It is not FDIC insured. Each note is an unsecured promise of the bank that issued it; if that bank fails, the protection fails with it.
Protection during the term. Buffers apply at maturity; a note’s value can sit below the buffer in between.
Cash. Notes are built to be held to maturity. Selling early means accepting a dealer’s price, which can be less than the formula would pay.
Protection for everything. It covers the S&P 500 portion; other holdings carry their own risk.
Free. Shield and Core receive only part of the gain; Shield, Core and Growth receive no dividends; Income accepts substantial barrier risk; and the terms a bank will offer change with interest rates and market volatility.
Ask us anything before you sign. We would rather you understand this fully than move quickly.
Start a conversationWhat to expect
A year as a Haven client.
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Term sheet —
Before any note is bought for a bucket, you receive its issuer, maturity date, buffer and participation in writing. - 02
Quarterly retrospective —
What the plan said versus what happened. We re-date the buckets. - 03
Maturity notice —
When a note matures, the outcome is calculated by its formula. Proceeds roll into the next note for that bucket — or come back to you if the plan says it’s time. - 04
Wait notice (occasionally) —
If no bank will offer a note that meets a bucket’s rules, the rules don’t force a worse trade — the bucket sits in a cash-like position and re-checks at the next pricing. - 05
Quarterly retrospective —
Same review, new quarter. - 06
Tax statements —
Notes have their own tax rules, which can differ from stocks and funds and may create taxable income before maturity. Share your statements with your preparer.
Before any of this, your custodian will confirm your account is eligible to hold structured notes, and you’ll receive each issuer’s offering documents. Please read them.
An honest footnote
The note-based structures described are issued by banks and linked to the S&P 500, SPXFP (an S&P 500 futures index), or—within Income—the worst-performing index in a stated basket. Notes may be purchased at different times, and exact protection, barriers, participation, conditional returns and any cap depend on the terms the issuing bank offers when a note is priced; those terms are shown on your term sheet before you invest. The shapes and percentages describe current designs, not results, and are not projections. Notes are senior unsecured obligations of the issuing bank and are subject to that bank’s credit risk. Contractual outcomes apply only at maturity according to each note’s formula; market value between purchase and maturity fluctuates. Notes are intended to be held to maturity; sales before maturity, if available, occur at prevailing dealer prices, which may be less than the amount the formula would pay. SPXFP includes a futures financing component and can differ materially from the cash S&P 500. Real-world investing involves issuer pricing, custodial fees and other costs.
Structured notes involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. Downside limits apply only at maturity, only to the index-referenced portion of a portfolio, and are not guaranteed. Before investing, please read the issuer’s prospectus and pricing supplement for each note.
Valla’s advisory fee is 1.00% of assets under management, negotiable at Valla’s discretion. For clients who meet the SEC’s qualified-client standard (Rule 205-3), the fee accrues each period but is collected only when the account exceeds its prior high-water mark, net of fees and adjusted for contributions and withdrawals; fees accrued in periods at or below the mark are deferred and collected when a new mark is reached, only to the extent the account remains at or above the mark after payment. Account values used for this purpose include notes at their custodial valuations, which may differ from maturity value. Performance-based fees create an incentive for the adviser to take greater risk. Valla welcomes clients who do not meet the standard; SEC rules do not permit a performance-based fee for them, so they pay a conventional 1.00% asset-based fee billed quarterly in advance. Custodial, note and fund expenses are separate. See Form ADV Part 2A.
This material is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal or tax advice, an offer, or a recommendation of any security or strategy. All investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. No strategy can guarantee against loss.
Investment advisory services offered through The Invictus Collective, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. Valla Wealth is a trade name of The Invictus Collective, LLC. SEC registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.