Stegent Equity Advisors Q4 2024 13F Filing Analysis Report

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Stegent Equity Advisors, Inc. is a registered investment advisor firm based in Houston, Texas. As of December 31, 2024, the firm manages approximately $208 million in client assets [1]. The firm employs an investment approach based on Modern Portfolio Theory, emphasizing long-term investing, diversification, and avoidance of emotional decision-making [2].

Metric	Q3 2024	Q4 2024	Change
Number of Holdings	88	90	+2 (+2.3%)
Total Portfolio Value	$90.55M	$98.54M	+$7.99M (+8.8%)
Filing Date	October 18, 2024	February 5, 2025	—

According to official SEC filing documents, Stegent Equity Advisors significantly increased its equity portfolio in Q4 2024, with an overall value growth of nearly 9% [0].

Metric	Q3 2024	Q4 2024	Change
Market Value	$4,436,146	$5,439,030	+$1,002,884 (+22.6%)
Number of Shares Held	88,652	109,086	+20,434

TBIL is a US short-term Treasury bill ETF that holds US government bonds with approximately 3 months to maturity. The significant increase in holdings in the fourth quarter reflects Stegent Equity Advisors’ strategic focus on liquidity and safety at year-end. In Q4 2024, the market experienced significant volatility – market sentiment was mixed following the US presidential election, while the outlook for Federal Reserve interest rate policy remained unclear. Increasing holdings of high-quality short-term Treasuries indicates the firm is adopting a defensive strategy, seeking stable short-term returns while maintaining capital flexibility [0].

Metric	Q3 2024	Q4 2024	Change
Market Value	$3,226,053	$4,406,173	+$1,180,120 (+36.6%)
Number of Shares Held	50,828	66,953	+16,125

FTLS employs a long/short strategy, seeking absolute returns by going long on undervalued stocks while shorting overvalued stocks. The significant 36.6% increase in holdings in the fourth quarter indicates Stegent Equity Advisors’ emphasis on market-neutral strategies. This strategy is particularly attractive in environments with increased market volatility or unclear market direction, as it has lower dependence on overall market trends. The firm may expect increased market volatility in 2025, and thus positioned in advance to hedge systemic risk [0].

Security	Q3 Market Value	Q4 Market Value	Change Magnitude
SGOL (Aberdeen Gold ETF)	$3,243,915	$3,211,648	Slight decline in value but increase in share count
SPYG (SPDR S&P 500 Growth)	$2,775,504	$2,950,368	+6.3%
COWZ (Pacer US Cash Cows)	$2,420,070	$2,891,152	+19.5%

The number of SGOL shares held increased from 152,225 to 169,528, reflecting the firm’s continued preference for gold as a safe-haven asset. Amid geopolitical uncertainty and inflation expectations, gold allocation provides effective tail risk protection [0].

Metric	Q3 2024	Q4 2024
Market Value	$2,560,242	$0
Number of Shares Held	55,803	0

This was the most notable portfolio change in the fourth quarter – a full exit from URNM holdings. The uranium mining industry experienced extreme volatility in 2024, despite the continued long-term narrative of nuclear energy revival. The exit from URNM may be based on the following considerations: short-term price volatility risks, supply chain uncertainty, and the firm’s active management of risk exposure. Considering Stegent Equity Advisors’ emphasis on a “time horizon” investment approach, reducing exposure to cyclical industries (such as mining) is reasonable if its clients have shorter investment time frames [0].

Metric	Q3 2024	Q4 2024	Change
Market Value	$2,740,791	$2,382,109	-$358,682 (-13.1%)
Number of Shares Held	116,903	103,480	-13,423

HIGH is an actively managed option income ETF that generates returns by selling options. The approximately 13% reduction in holdings may reflect the firm’s re-evaluation of the yield potential of option strategies in a low-volatility environment. Market volatility increased in Q4 2024, and option premiums rose accordingly, which may have prompted the firm to shift to direct allocations to short-term Treasuries (TBIL) to obtain more stable, low-risk returns [0].

Security	Q3 Market Value	Q4 Market Value	Change Magnitude
GOOGL (Alphabet Class A)	$1,551,527	$1,284,974	-17.2%
GOOG (Alphabet Class C)	$381,193	$434,203	+13.9%
HIGH	$2,740,791	$2,382,109	-13.1%
AVES (Intl Small Cap Value)	$1,197,927	$998,132	-16.7%
IWM (Russell 2000 ETF)	-	New Position	New Holding

The reduction in Alphabet holdings may reflect concerns over stretched valuations or regulatory risks for large-cap tech stocks. Notably, the firm simultaneously increased its holdings of GOOG (Class C), indicating its stance on Alphabet is more of a position adjustment rather than a bearish outlook [0].

Stegent Equity Advisors’ portfolio has the following notable characteristics:

1. High Concentration in ETFs:
   A large portion of the holdings consists of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), covering multiple asset classes such as US large-cap stocks, small-cap stocks, international stocks, bonds, and commodities. This aligns closely with its stated “Modern Portfolio Theory” philosophy – reducing portfolio volatility through diversified, low-correlation asset classes [2].

2. Value Investing Bias:
   Increasing holdings of value-focused ETFs such as AVLV (US Large-Cap Value ETF) and AVES (US Small-Cap Value ETF) reflects the firm’s preference for the value factor.

3. Increased Fixed Income Allocation:
   The significant increase in TBIL holdings reflects an emphasis on high-quality fixed income amid changing interest rate environments.

4. Alternative Asset Allocation:
   Maintains exposure to alternative assets via ETFs such as SGOL (gold), URNM (uranium), and NLR (nuclear energy) [0].

Rank	Q4 2024	Q3 2024
1	TBIL ($5.44M)	TBIL ($4.44M)
2	FTLS ($4.41M)	FIW ($4.32M)
3	DGRO ($4.10M)	RDVY ($4.30M)
4	PIO ($4.08M)	FTLS ($3.23M)
5	FIW ($4.06M)	TPL ($3.44M)
6	TPL ($3.45M)	GLTR ($3.41M)
7	GLTR ($3.39M)	GOAU ($3.26M)
8	GOAU ($3.21M)	SPYG ($2.78M)
9	SPYG ($2.95M)	COWZ ($2.42M)
10	COWZ ($2.89M)	HIGH ($2.74M)

FTLS rose from 4th to 2nd place, representing the most notable allocation change of the quarter [0].

Based on Stegent Equity Advisors’ investment philosophy and Q4 holding changes, the underlying investment logic can be inferred as follows:

Stegent Equity Advisors explicitly rejects “market timing” and “chasing hot stocks” in favor of a time-horizon-based risk management approach. For clients with investment time horizons exceeding 7 years, the firm is willing to tolerate stock market volatility; for clients with shorter time horizons, it avoids stock market risks [2]. The Q4 increases in holdings of TBIL and FTLS, two relatively low-risk strategic tools, reflect its core risk management principles.

Based on Modern Portfolio Theory, the firm reduces overall portfolio volatility by allocating to low-correlation asset classes. The Q4 portfolio includes various asset types such as stock ETFs, bond ETFs, commodity ETFs, and thematic ETFs, covering multiple dimensions including US and international markets, large-cap and small-cap, and value and growth [2].

Although the firm makes extensive use of ETFs, it achieves investment objectives through dynamic allocation between different ETFs rather than simple buy-and-hold strategies. The full exit from URNM and significant increases in TBIL and FTLS holdings all reflect active adjustment characteristics [0].

According to its ADV document, Stegent Equity Advisors calculates and minimizes taxable gains when managing portfolios. Q4 position adjustments may have considered tax factors, such as realizing losses at year-end to offset capital gains [1].

Combined with market background analysis, Stegent Equity Advisors’ Q4 allocation changes reflect a “cautiously optimistic” attitude toward 2025 – increasing holdings of liquid short-term Treasuries to address potential volatility, while using long/short strategies such as FTLS to seek absolute returns amid uncertainty [0][3].

Stegent Equity Advisors’ Q4 2024 13F filing reveals the following core characteristics:

1. Portfolio Size Growth:
   Increased from $90.55M to $98.54M, an 8.8% increase
2. Most Notable Increases:
   TBIL (+22.6%), FTLS (+36.6%), SGOL (increase in share count)
3. Most Notable Reductions/Exits:
   URNM (full exit), HIGH (-13.1%), GOOGL (-17.2%)
4. Consistent Investment Strategy:
   Allocation changes are highly aligned with its stated investment philosophy of long-term investing, diversification, and prioritizing risk management
5. Defensive Shift:
   Amid rising market uncertainty, increased holdings of high-quality liquid assets and reduced exposure to cyclical industries

Stegent Equity Advisors’ Q4 portfolio adjustments reflect the prudent response of an institutional investor focused on risk control and adhering to Modern Portfolio Theory in a complex market environment.

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[0] SEC EDGAR - Stegent Equity Advisors 13F Filings (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1908976/000108514625000765/0001085146-25-000765.txt)

[1] Stegent Equity Advisors ADV 2A Brochure (https://www.stegentequity.com/files/sea_adv_2a_brochure_3.2025_final.pdf)

[2] Stegent Equity Advisors - Investment Philosophy (https://www.stegentequity.com/our-philosophy)

[3] Optionar - Stegent Equity Advisors 13F Filings (https://www.optionar.com/sec-13f/manager/0001908976-stegent-equity-advisors-inc)