Alterra

Alterra is a state-registered investment adviser that provides portfolio management and a specialized options-based borrowing service, implementing short box spread strategies to help clients borrow against their securities as an alternative to margin loans or securities‑based lines of credit. Its client roster is described to include individuals and small businesses as well as other investment advisers, and—uncommonly for a firm of this type—extends to institutional and corporate counterparties such as sovereign wealth funds, banks, insurance companies, pension plans, municipal governments, and charitable organizations.

The firm implements short box spreads using exchange‑traded, European‑style, cash‑settled S&P 500 index options to eliminate early assignment risk and to manage implied borrowing exposures, and it provides both discretionary and non‑discretionary management subject to a suitability questionnaire on experience, income, liquid net worth, requested borrow size, and duration. Alterra defines assets under management for its box‑spread strategy by the gross repayment notional (box width) rather than net proceeds, and executes trades through client custodians while charging percentage‑of‑AUM advisory fees.

What distinguishes Alterra from many peers is its narrow, derivatives‑centric service offering delivered to a broad mix of institutional and other adviser clients—an uncommon client profile for a small independent adviser—along with operational choices like using S&P‑index options to mitigate early assignment and counting gross box notional for fee purposes. The firm also highlights structural and tax complexities of the strategy (including Section 1256 mark‑to‑market treatment and potential asset‑liability mismatches and margin convexity) and directs clients to consult tax and accounting professionals rather than providing tax advice itself.