About Pantile

We built the firm we could not find.

Pantile started from a simple frustration: the people doing the most to build wealth were getting advice assembled from whatever their advisor happened to be able to see. We thought the whole picture should be the starting point, not the reward for having enough money.

Why we founded Pantile

Three things we were not willing to accept.

Each one is a constraint the industry treats as normal. The platform exists because we did not.

The whole picture
Advice was being given on a fraction of the balance sheet
Most advisors can only see the accounts they custody. The old 401(k), the outside brokerage, the private fund, and the cash never make it into the plan, so the plan is built on a slice. We started by integrating the whole chain instead, because everything downstream depends on it.
Depth for everyone
Real planning was reserved for the largest accounts
Estate structuring, tax strategy, equity comp analysis, and private markets were priced per engagement, so households below the threshold got a portfolio and a phone call. Building those tools into the platform is what makes the same depth affordable for a $400k household and a $40M one.
Risk and tax first
Returns are what survive risk and taxes
A strategy is only worth what a client keeps after volatility and the IRS. We built the platform around risk-managed construction and tax-aware decisions rather than around chasing a benchmark, because that is the part that compounds.

Our investing philosophy

Most advisors aren't trained in portfolio optimization. We are.

The standard advice in wealth management is to buy a diversified mix of index funds and hold. That advice is easy to give, easy to defend, and frequently leaves significant value on the table.

Passive funds don't manage risk: they just spread it across more names. They don't optimize taxes: they generate them indiscriminately. And they certainly don't adapt when the macro environment shifts.

Our team holds doctoral-level training in finance and quantitative methods. We apply the same portfolio construction techniques used by institutional investors to every client account, regardless of account size.

Risk-managed portfolio construction

Most advisors put clients in passive index funds because it is simple and defensible, not because it is optimal. We build portfolios using quantitative methods that actively manage factor exposure, correlation, and downside risk, reducing drawdowns without giving up meaningful upside.

Returns that hold up across market conditions

A passive S&P 500 fund works great in a bull market. It works terribly when volatility spikes, rates rise, or correlations break down. Our portfolios are designed to generate consistent returns across full market cycles, not just the easy years.

Tax strategy woven into every decision

The average investor loses 1 to 2 percent of annual returns to avoidable tax drag. We build tax efficiency into the portfolio from day one: asset location, tax-loss harvesting, and multi-year planning that treats your tax bill as a cost to be actively managed, not accepted.

The people behind Pantile

Experienced advisors and engineers, building the platform they wanted to use.

David Baines

CEO, Founder, and Chief Investment Officer

–MBA in Finance, Boston University
–Doctorate in Finance, Washington University in St. Louis
–PhD in Computer Science, University of Colorado Boulder
–Series 65 Licensed Investment Advisor
–10+ years in quantitative portfolio management
–Former Leader, Corporate Finance at Verizon
–Published researcher in portfolio optimization
–Founded Pantile Investments in 2021

Why I Started Pantile

I started Pantile Investments because I saw a gap in the wealth management industry. Most firms treat technology, and the client experience in general, as an afterthought: a clunky portal tacked onto an outdated advisory model. I believed that technology-forward professionals deserved an advisor who speaks their language and builds tools they actually want to use, with the ultimate goal of fully understanding their wealth and the strategies to grow and protect it.

Before founding Pantile, I spent over a decade building products in finance as well as creating and managing quantitative investment strategies for large institutional investors. That experience taught me that institutional-grade portfolio construction shouldn't be reserved for endowments and pension funds. It should be available to individuals who are serious about their financial future, who can use those techniques to optimize their wealth plans in ways that go far beyond the cookie-cutter strategies offered by most advisors.

At Pantile, we combine rigorous quantitative methods with genuine human relationships. Our platform expands on that focus to give you transparency, control, and insights, while our team provides the expertise and fiduciary commitment you deserve. Every decision we make for our clients is grounded in evidence and experience, not salesmanship.