Meet an ETF Strategist: Michael Hadden

Evan Harp: What is the origin story of your firm and how did you get involved?

Michael Hadden: Arvada Wealth started fall of 2023. A couple of former Wells Fargo financial advisors were going the independent route. I was an ETF strategist in Omaha, and I wanted to get a little bit closer to the end client. They were looking to have an investment strategist on board. We connected through a mutual contact and I joined when their independent practice, Arvada Wealth, launched around Labor Day of 2023. 

Evan Harp: How would you describe your investment philosophy?

Michael Hadden: At the core of our philosophy we’re hyper-focused on asset allocation. With all of our clients, we really want to make sure we have a good understanding of the risk level that they’re comfortable with and what they need to meet their goals. From that point, we build globally diversified multi-asset class portfolios. 

My goal as the investment strategist is to add value through security selection. ETFs are all the rage right now in finance, obviously that’s the big part of the coming Exchange conference. Selecting the ideal ETFs in every asset class is a big part of what I do. I favor active and factor-based products to try and add some additional value. So, at a high level that’s our philosophy. We think we can drive alpha through the security selection and all the new solutions that are becoming available in the ETF wrapper.

Evan Harp: What’s something happening in the markets right now that not enough people are paying attention to?

Michael Hadden: We’re almost two months into 2025. There’s been a lot of talk on the Magnificent Seven not performing as strongly as it has the last two years, maybe not as much focus on the level of outperformance we’ve seen through international markets. Developed markets are up 8%. EM is up 5%*. You know, that compares to the S &P up one and a half.

Coming off the last couple years, there’s a lot of talk of U.S. exceptionalism and I think people have potentially over-allocated to the U.S. Seeing the tide turn and seeing international outperform maybe isn’t catching as many eyeballs as it should. I saw a chart that flows really haven’t picked up to international yet. Obviously it’s been a tough long period of U.S. outperformance, but the valuations are so attractive there.

You’re seeing the dollar roll over a little bit. I think potentially this trend could have some legs and maybe isn’t being as discussed as much thus far.

Evan Harp: What’s the biggest obstacle you had to overcome in your career and how did you do it?

Michael Hadden: Coming from a more institutional ETF strategist position and moving over to more of a retail-focused position with our client base has been exciting. I think a constant obstacle, if you will, is just that investing and finances are emotional to people. While maybe the statistical optimal scenario is right in front of you, it isn’t necessarily best for the client. That’s something I’m continually managing in this new role. I can build a “perfect portfolio,” but if the client can’t handle the volatility or isn’t comfortable with that portfolio, it truly isn’t the optimal solution. So, trying to mix some of that science and art, there are so many behavioral biases we struggle with as human beings that factor directly into our finances. 

I’m trying to nudge them towards those optimal solutions, but finding that balance point where we’re setting them up to meet their goals with a portfolio they’re comfortable with is key. Ultimately, that’s all that truly matters. Money is a means to an end. A lot of our clients have made their wealth. I want to set them up in a scenario that they’re comfortable with, where they can sleep easy at night. The last thing I want is a client sitting up worrying about their finances. 

Evan Harp: As an investment strategist, you are working with financial advisors. We’ve got the Exchange conference coming up, which is our financial services conference that is very advisor-centric. Given that, I wanted to ask you if there is a financial advisor who inspires you and why?

Michael Hadden: I think anyone in the advisor role to some degree inspires me. I certainly don’t know if I could do what they do. I guess I would maybe take a slightly different tilt and say an investment strategist that has inspired me or that I’ve taken a lot of thinking from is Meb Faber, with Cambria Investments. 

We share sort of a similar thought process when it comes to investment philosophy. He’s very globally oriented, very value minded. Being here in Omaha, obviously Warren Buffett and value is close to home, but Meb shares a lot of those same sentiments. Honestly, something that I really admire about him is just his willingness to disseminate information.

He’s written some books that you can download for free on his website. I think that’s really cool. He has a free newsletter once a week that’s just chock full of good research. It really seems his focus is helping people make better investment decisions. I think that’s pretty admirable in our industry, which can get a bit of a bad rap at times. 

I think arming people with the knowledge to make the best investment decisions is something we should all strive for and I hope I can help people with that throughout my career.

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*Morningstar returns as of 2/26/2025

**Investment products and services are offered through Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, LLC (WFAFN), Member SIPC.  Arvada Wealth is a separate entity from WFAFN.Michael