Founded in 2005, Unison Advisors LLC (referred to as “we,” “our,” “us,” or “Unison”) is an independent
investment manager and registered investment advisor. Nir Kaissar is Unison’s founder and principal
owner.
Unison manages multi-asset portfolios for long-term investors. A multi-asset portfolio is one that includes
more than one asset class. Our portfolios are free to invest across the full spectrum of foreign or domestic
asset classes, including stocks, bonds, cash, currencies, commodities and real assets. We do not tailor our
advice to the needs of the client. Clients may impose restrictions on our investments, but if a significant
number of restrictions on an account exist, we may refuse to manage it.
Investment Philosophy
Our investment philosophy is founded on the belief that valuation is the principal driver of risk adjusted
returns. Our objective is to outperform traditional diversified portfolios on a risk adjusted basis over the
long term. We attempt to achieve our objective by strictly applying our quantitative, valuation-based
approach to portfolio construction.
We believe that the contraction and expansion of an investment’s valuation is a significant driver of its
risk adjusted returns. This leads us to two core beliefs regarding valuation:
1. The change in an investment’s valuation may overwhelm all other sources of an investment’s
return, resulting in net losses when valuations contract and net gains when valuations expand.
These net gains and losses can be particularly high when valuations start from extreme levels.
2. Risk, as measured by an investment’s volatility, is “sticky.” It does not meaningfully change over
time. It is based on an investment’s inherent characteristics, such as size, geography, duration
and quality. It does not meaningfully adjust to fleeting characteristics such as valuation. Small
cap stocks, for example, are more volatile than large cap stocks irrespective of valuations.
If, as we believe, changing valuations drive returns without meaningfully changing risk, expanding
valuations should result in higher risk adjusted returns and contracting valuations should result in lower
risk adjusted returns. Over time, we seek to capture higher risk adjusted returns by favoring asset classes
with below average valuation.
Our multi-asset approach gives us the freedom to take advantage of changing valuations across the full
spectrum of asset classes (stocks, bonds and hybrids), across the globe (U.S. and
abroad), across market
capitalizations (large companies and small), and across styles (value, quality and momentum).
Process and Risk Factors
Please see Item 8 below for a detailed description of our process and a discussion of the risk factors
associated with the strategies.
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Investment Structure
We will assist investors with establishing their own separately managed accounts. Please see Item 12
below for a detailed description of our brokerage practices. Unison will have discretion over the accounts
and will enter trades such that investors’ portfolios will closely track their chosen strategies.
Investors receive monthly statements, trade confirmations, and an annual Form 1099 directly from the
custodian. In addition, investors have daily access to their accounts through the custodian’s secure web
portal. Separately, as of each quarter end, Unison will report on the performance of the strategies and
communicate in detail the valuation data that informs our decisions. Unison does not charge any
additional fees for such reporting.
Subadvisory Services
Unison offers subadvisory investment management services to SEC and state registered investment
advisers (referred to as the “primary advisor”) who maintain ongoing relationships with clients. When
these arrangements exist, Unison will enter into an agreement with the primary advisor to provide
investment management services to clients it accepts (referred to as the “subadvisory client”) from the
primary advisor. Unison reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to not accept a client account under a
subadvisory arrangement. Under the subadvisory arrangement, the primary advisor remains responsible
for determining each subadvisory client’s investment objectives and whether one or more of our
strategies are suitable to meet such investment objectives. Unison is responsible for the discretionary
management of the assets that the primary advisor has instructed us to invest in accordance with one or
more of our strategies.
We do not tailor our advice to the needs of the subadvisory client. The primary advisor may impose
restrictions on our investments, but if a significant number of restrictions on an account exist, we may
refuse to manage it.
Assets under Management
As of March 7, 2024, Unison manages assets of $1,868,625,000 on a discretionary basis. We do not
manage assets on a non-discretionary basis.