HIGHLAND ASSOCIATES INC

In 1987, Highland Associates, Inc. (“Highland”) was created specifically to assist not-for-profit healthcare institutions and other mission-based organizations in the development, implementation, and maintenance of treasury and investment management programs. Our goal is to ensure that the investment portfolio reflects the needs of the organization as a whole. The company was founded in Birmingham, AL, as an independent, fee-based consulting firm. On August 1, 2019, Highland was acquired by Regions Bank (“Regions”). 

Our national client base consists of foundations and endowments, defined benefit plans, defined contribution plans, insurance portfolios and non-profit healthcare operating entities.

Principle Owner

Effective August 1, 2019, Highland became a subsidiary of Regions Bank, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Regions Financial Corporation. Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) is a regional financial holding company and is a publicly held reporting company under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. 

Types of Advisory Services

Since the inception of the firm, Highland’s focus has been to provide comprehensive consulting services to institutional investors. Those services include: 

Investment Services: Customized solutions crafted to lead our clients to desired goals based on their respective investment resources. These services include: 

-Determining portfolio and organizational objectives and constraints 

-Investment policy design • Asset allocation and investment manager recommendations 

-Capital market research or other topical research areas of focus 

-Traditional advisory consultant 

-Discretionary outsourced manager of plan assets 

Reporting Services: Serve to support and enhance our investment services including: 

-Routine monthly &quarterly reporting 

-Internal(staff)committee (governance)reporting 

-Presentations, meetings, ad hoc reporting to assist with audit & rating agency reviews and affiliate recommendations. 

Business Services: Specialty services customized to meet each client’s specific needs. These are typically defined as: 

-Interactions with third parties such as auditors, accountants, and rating agencies 

-Back-office administration tasks such as negotiating and preparing manager and subscription agreements

-Interfacing with custodians to process client approved trades, reconcile client reports and other operational duties and tasks 

-Providing client specific education 

Highland is pleased to offer our consulting services in three formats: 

Implemented Consulting: Highland will provide operational support for the back office administrative tasks of the client while maintaining a non-discretionary relationship. Implemented consulting customers review and approve all major decisions for their portfolio. Implemented consulting customers will implement investment decisions with their custodians and managers. 

Discretionary Services: Highland is pleased to offer our services in a discretionary format. Highland will work with each client to develop an Investment Policy Statement that serves as the overarching framework for the portfolio. Within the policy statement there will be established ranges for each approved asset class. Highland is then responsible for determining the target allocation within the ranges based on our capital markets outlook.

Designated Investment Services: Highland is pleased to offer a discretionary relationship for a portion of a client’s asset allocation. Under this agreement, a client would have access to Highland’s commingled investment program. Highland would interface with custodians to affect the commingled investment program transactions and provide performance measurement and reporting. 

Collective Investment Trust

Highland provides investment advisory services to the Cahaba Partners Collective Investment Trust (the “Cahaba Partners CIT”), for which Global Trust Company (“GTC”), a trust company organized under the laws of Maine, acts as trustee. The decision was made to wind-down the CIT vehicle in 2024 and the fund stopped making new investments while it distributes the remaining assets to the sole remaining investor.

LLC Fund

In addition to the above, Highland provides investment advisory services to the Cahaba Partners Investment Fund LLC, a Delaware series limited liability company (the “Cahaba Partners LLC Fund”) consisting of separate and distinct investment funds (each a “Cahaba Partners LLC Series”). GTC serves as the manager of the Cahaba Partners LLC Fund. Highland has discretionary investment authority over each Cahaba Partners LLC Series’ assets and is primarily responsible for the investment selection and positioning of each Cahaba Partners LLC Series. Highland utilizes sub-advisers to manage the assets of each Cahaba Partners LLC Series. Cahaba Partners LLC Series assets allocated to a sub-adviser will be either invested directly in securities and other assets consistent with the Cahaba Partners LLC Series’ investment objectives and guidelines or in an investment pool managed by the sub-adviser that invests directly in securities and other assets consistent with the Cahaba Partners LLC Series’ investment objectives and guidelines. 

Each client desiring to invest in a Cahaba Partners LLC Series will be provided offering documents related to such Cahaba Partners LLC Series, which will typically include a confidential private placement memorandum, an investor questionnaire, a subscription agreement, and a copy of the limited liability company agreement of the Cahaba Partners LLC Fund (collectively, the “Fund Offering Documents”). Highland does not have authority to invest client assets into one or more of the Cahaba Partners LLC Series on a discretionary basis. In order to invest, the client must make the decision to invest in the Cahaba Partners LLC Series and how much of the client’s assets to invest. The client must make those decisions on an independent basis, without using Highland as the primary source for making such decisions. 

Asset Management

As of December 31, 2024, Highland managed $6,766,548,800 of client assets on a discretionary basis and $13,370,761,000 of client assets on a non-discretionary basis. Assets managed on a discretionary basis and assets managed on a non-discretionary basis are included in computing “regulatoryassetsundermanagement”required for Item5F in Part 1Aof Highland’s Form ADV. With respect to assets managed on a non-discretionary basis, these assets are included in computing “assets under management” because Highland has continuing or regular supervisory or management responsibility.