$GOOGL fell 44% from Nov 2021 to Nov 20221

Diversify your concentrated stock without one huge tax bill.

We build a personalized index around your stock and diversify it with taxes in mind.

Talk to an advisor →
$GOOGL
401(k)
Home
Savings
Cash

Illustration, not a client.

Forward

With one big stock, most people assume there are two ways out:

  • hold and keep all the risk
  • sell it all and pay the tax at once

Illustration2

There’s a third way.

Concentration builds wealth. Diversification keeps it.

Forward helps you diversify with less tax.

Your advisor builds a Forward Personalized Index around your stock.

Talk to an advisor →

A few questions, then a free 30‑minute call.

Your stock Personalized Index Gains realized Offset by harvested losses Illustration3

How Forward works

Forward Diversify

Sells your stock down at the pace you set.

  1. Set the pace with your advisor

  2. Sell the lowest-tax lots first

Forward Personalized Index

Owns a broad index stock by stock, so losses can be harvested.

  1. Reinvest in your own index

  2. Harvest losses on an ongoing basis

Harvested losses can help offset gains on the next sale

Illustration of the process4

Who it’s for

Illustrative image: a man reviewing papers at a kitchen counter at night
Company
GOOGL
Position
$4.2M
Cost basis
$900K
If sold at once
about $1.2M in tax
Illustrative image: a woman at a table with papers, looking out at a city at night
Company
IBM
Position
$2.8M
Cost basis
$1.1M
If sold at once
about $630K in tax
Illustrative image: an older man reading papers at a dining table at dusk
Company
AAPL
Position
$1.6M
Cost basis
$60K
If sold at once
about $370K in tax

RSUs from a former employer. Wants to diversify without one huge tax bill.

Hypothetical profiles, not clients5

Getting started is easy

Bring over your concentrated stock. We build your index around it.

Account typeIllustration6
Individual
Joint
Trust
Select your brokerageIllustration6
Charles SchwabFidelityVanguardRobinhoodInteractive Brokers

And most other U.S. brokerages7

Your holdingsIllustration6
GOOGLDiversifying4.9%
AAPL6.1%
MSFT5.7%
NVDA3.4%
AMZN3.1%
META2.4%
  1. 1Create your account

    Individual, joint, or trust, at an independent custodian.

  2. 2Transfer stocks

    Shares move in kind, cost basis with them. Nothing is sold to start.

  3. 3Build your Personalized Index

    A broad index that leaves out your stock, holds less of its sector, and skips anything you’d rather not own.

Talk to an advisor →

A few questions, then a free 30-minute call.

Key facts

  1. HoldingsA few hundred U.S. stocks, in your name
  2. BenchmarkS&P 500®
  3. LiquidityDaily, no lock-up
  4. Tax-loss harvestingAutomated daily scanning8
  5. Advisory fee0.89% a year, $2,700 minimum9

How direct indexing works →Selling at a pace you choose →

Frequently asked questions

Forward Wealth is a registered investment adviser for people with a concentrated stock position. You work with an advisor who helps you diversify out of one stock while reducing the tax on your gains, using a personalized direct index with tax-loss harvesting where appropriate.

Most people weigh three choices: sell it all and pay the tax in one year, hold it and keep the risk, or sell in stages. Forward sells in stages, inside a personalized index whose harvested losses can offset part of the gains. Exchange funds and hedging strategies are other routes, and we’ll tell you if one fits you better.

You can’t avoid it entirely, but you can reduce what you owe now. Losses harvested inside a personalized index can offset part of your gains as you sell. Those losses also lower the cost basis of the stocks that replace them, so part of the tax is deferred, not erased.

Direct indexing means owning the individual stocks in an index instead of a fund that holds them. Because you own each stock, losses on individual names can be harvested to offset gains. Your Forward Personalized Index holds a few hundred U.S. stocks in your own account and leaves out your concentrated stock. How direct indexing works.

An exchange fund pools your stock with other investors’ shares in return for a slice of the combined fund, which usually has to be held for about seven years. It can suit investors who qualify and can leave the money locked up. With Forward, nothing is pooled or locked up: the stocks sit in your own account and you can leave whenever you want.

People with $250,000 or more in one publicly traded stock, held in a taxable account. Locked-up shares, unexercised options and company stock in a 401(k) don’t fit yet. We’ll confirm on the first call.

Yes. A fiduciary is legally required to act in your best interest. As a registered investment adviser, Forward Wealth owes you that duty: to put your interests ahead of ours and to disclose any conflicts. Our registration and Form ADV are public on the SEC adviser record.

0.89% a year of the assets we manage, with a $2,700 annual minimum fee, as described in our Form ADV Part 2A. Custodian and direct-indexing platform fees are separate. We walk through it all on the first call, before you sign anything.

Your account is held at an independent custodian, in your name, not at Forward. If Forward closed, your stocks would stay where they are, and you could move them to another brokerage or hire another adviser. How we safeguard your assets.

It’s free and takes 30 minutes. We talk through your position, your cost basis and how fast you want to diversify. If Forward isn’t a fit, we’ll say so.

Most people with one big position want the same thing. Get out at their own pace, without paying the whole tax bill in one year or locking the money up. Forward is built for that.

Dillon Ferguson, CFP® · Founder

Start with your stock.

Check us: SEC adviser record · CFP Board verification · How we safeguard your assets

Disclosures

  1. Ticker figures: largest peak-to-trough fall in daily closes over the dates shown, Financial Modeling Prep data, computed by Forward. Past declines do not predict future results. Examples were chosen to show declines; several of these stocks later recovered and passed their earlier highs. ↩

  2. Illustration, not a client or a projection. The tax piece is drawn to scale for the first hypothetical profile under Who it’s for: a $4.2 million position with a $900,000 cost basis, sold in one year by a California resident, owes about $1.2 million in tax, about 29% of the position (the $3.3 million gain taxed entirely at 2026 top long-term rates: federal 20% plus 3.8% net investment income tax, plus state, 37.1% combined). Selling part of a position taxes the gain on that part. The dashed part marked “can fall” on the stock still held is a schematic, not a measure or prediction of any loss. Your tax depends on your income, deductions and holding periods. ↩

  3. Illustration of the process, not a client account. Company names and logos are shown for illustration only and are not holdings or recommendations. ↩

  4. Illustration of the process, not a client account or a projection. Company names and logos are shown for illustration only and are not holdings or recommendations. Whether a loss is available to harvest depends on the market; losses may not occur. Harvesting lowers the cost basis of replacement stocks, so part of the tax is deferred, not avoided. Wash-sale rules apply. ↩

  5. Hypothetical profiles, not Forward clients. Images are AI-generated illustrations. Company names and tickers identify a stock only; Forward is not affiliated with these companies and is not recommending their shares. “If sold at once” taxes the whole gain at 2026 long-term rates for a gain that size (federal 20% plus 3.8% net investment income tax, plus state and city). In order, the profiles assume a California resident (37.1% combined), a New York City resident (37.3%) and a Florida resident (23.8%). Your tax depends on your income, deductions and holding periods. ↩

  6. Screens illustrate each step and are not a Forward app; holdings, percentages and dollar figures shown are hypothetical. Your account is opened at, and viewed through, an independent custodian. ↩

  7. Brokerage names and logos identify firms shares are commonly transferred from; Forward is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. is also one of Forward’s custodians. The sending firm may charge a transfer fee. ↩

  8. Tax-loss harvesting uses the custodian’s automated tax-management tools, which scan accounts daily; losses are harvested where appropriate. ↩

  9. Annual fee on assets Forward manages, with a $2,700 annual minimum, per Form ADV Part 2A. Custodian platform and direct-indexing fees are separate. Fees reduce returns, including any harvesting benefit. ↩