Cabana Asset Management

Cabana Asset Management

Lance founded Cabana Asset Management in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 2016, starting with a single hedged-equity strategy before layering on six additional sub-portfolios that now constitute the firm's core 'Seven Sleeves' framework. The structure is unusual for an asset manager of Cabana's scale — each sleeve targets a different risk/return zone — and the aggregate portfolio currently holds roughly 400 individual ETF and equity positions. The firm did not spin out of a bank platform or a large RIA aggregator; it was built independently by Lance, a former Northwestern Mutual advisor, with a heavy emphasis on process automation and daily mark-to-market position management. Cabana's strategy does not rely on fundamental single-stock research. Instead, the firm operates a systematic top-down model — nicknamed the 'Volatility Navigator' — that assigns each sleeve a risk exposure level daily, scaling equity beta up or down to keep portfolio volatility contained within predetermined bands. Asset-class exposure spans domestic large-cap equities, fixed-income via bond ETFs, defensive alternatives such as long-volatility and gold, and tactical cash allocations that swing materially during risk-off conditions. The model covers US and international developed-market exposure, though domestic instruments historically dominate the sleeve composition. Lance has emphasized that the model is backward-looking by design, reacting to realized market conditions rather than attempting to forecast them. As of early 2025, the firm operates from a single office in Fayetteville with a team of roughly 11 professionals, the majority dedicated to trading and portfolio operations rather than distribution. Cabana's assets are sourced primarily through a network of independent RIAs who white-label or sub-advise the firm's strategies, alongside direct client relationships in the high-net-worth and mass-affluent channels. October 2024: Lance publicly restructured the firm's market-commentary practice, launching the 'Cabana Chats' series to deliver weekly audio dispatches covering how the risk model is rebalancing portfolio sleeves in response to rate and equity moves (per the firm, October 2024). Cabana's structural differentiator is the transparency it provides into its risk-overlay engine. Most multi-asset managers in the $100M to $500M AUM band treat the allocation model as proprietary black-box IP; Lance instead publishes a daily 'Cabana Target Drawdown Professional' dashboard showing the model's current sleeve exposures and the probability cone for forward drawdowns, updated every market close. This level of disclosure functions as a client-retention mechanism and a marketing wedge — the firm effectively puts its entire investment logic in the open.