Dustin Norris
About Dustin Norris
Dustin Norris (DOB 1/6/1984) serves as Executive Vice President of Highland Global Allocation Fund (HGLB) with an indefinite term and has held this office since April 2019 (age 41) . He is Head of Distribution and Chief Product Strategist at NexPoint Advisors, L.P. (since March 2019) and President of NexPoint Securities, Inc. (since April 2018), and has served as an officer in the NexPoint/HGLB fund complex since November 2012 . As a closed-end fund, HGLB’s officer compensation is not paid by the Fund (executive officers receive no direct remuneration from HGLB), so pay-for-performance linkages are not disclosed at the Fund level; alignment should be assessed via fund performance and officer share ownership . Over Norris’s tenure period, HGLB’s NAV total returns by fiscal year were -19.92% (2020), 35.13% (2021), 5.31% (2022), 6.30% (2023), 12.90% (2024), and 9.20% for the six months ended March 31, 2025 (annualized), with net assets increasing to $282.2M at 3/31/2025 .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact/notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| HGLB (Fund Complex) | Officer of the Fund Complex | Since Nov 2012 | Senior officer role across funds in the complex |
| HGLB | Executive Vice President | Since Apr 2019 | Fund officer with indefinite term |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact/notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| NexPoint Advisors, L.P. | Head of Distribution and Chief Product Strategist | Since Mar 2019 | Oversees distribution and product strategy at adviser |
| NexPoint Securities, Inc. | President | Since Apr 2018 | Leads affiliated broker-dealer |
Fixed Compensation
- Executive officers of HGLB receive no direct remuneration from the Fund (i.e., no salary/bonus paid by HGLB) .
- Trustee compensation (for context): Independent Trustees receive a $150,000 annual retainer allocated across the fund complex; Chair of the Board +$20,000 and Committee Chairs +$10,000; no pensions .
Performance Compensation
- Not disclosed at the Fund level. As HGLB executive officers are compensated by the adviser, the proxy does not provide salary/bonus targets, equity awards, options, vesting schedules, or performance metric weightings for Dustin Norris .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Dollar ranges of HGLB share ownership are disclosed for Trustees, not for officers; as of Feb 28, 2025, Trustees and officers of the Fund as a group owned less than 0.01% of outstanding common shares (indicating minimal insider “skin in the game” at the Fund level) .
- Large nominees/custodians owned >5% of shares as of Feb 28, 2025 (e.g., Charles Schwab 18.38%, Raymond James 15.65%, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney 11.36%, National Financial Services 10.70%, Northern Trust 6.11%, LPL 5.07%), all as nominees, which does not reflect beneficial ownership by Dustin Norris .
- Pledging/hedging: No disclosures regarding pledging or hedging of HGLB stock by officers in the proxy .
Employment Terms
- Office/tenure: Executive Vice President since April 2019; indefinite term; officers serve at the pleasure of the Trustees .
- Contracts/severance/CIC: The proxy includes no employment agreement, severance, or change-in-control provisions for HGLB executive officers; no non-compete/non-solicit or garden leave terms disclosed .
Performance & Track Record
HGLB NAV performance and financial highlights across Norris’s tenure window:
| Metric | FY 2020 | FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | 6M Ended Mar 31, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAV – Beginning of Period ($/sh) | 13.09 | 9.45 | 11.76 | 11.49 | 11.21 | 11.61 |
| Net Investment Income ($/sh) | 0.43 | 0.38 | 0.29 | 0.43 | 0.38 | 0.24 |
| Net Realized/Unrealized Gain (Loss) ($/sh) | (3.00) | 2.82 | 0.38 | 0.29 | 1.00 | 0.83 |
| Total from Investment Operations ($/sh) | (2.57) | 3.20 | 0.67 | 0.72 | 1.38 | 1.07 |
| Distributions from NII ($/sh) | (0.61) | (0.28) | (0.33) | (0.44) | (0.37) | (0.51) |
| Distributions from ROC ($/sh) | (0.46) | (0.61) | (0.61) | (0.56) | (0.61) | — |
| Total Return (NAV) | (19.92)% | 35.13% | 5.31% | 6.30% | 12.90% | 9.20% |
| NAV – End of Period ($/sh) | 9.45 | 11.76 | 11.49 | 11.21 | 11.61 | 12.17 |
| Net Assets End of Period ($000) | 205,462 | 259,472 | 256,748 | 253,955 | 266,976 | 282,212 |
Additional risk/structure context:
- As of March 31, 2025, 52.8% of net assets were Level 3 fair value securities; 66.4% were affiliated assets; and the portfolio focused on energy, telecommunications, and utilities sectors (heightened concentration risk) .
- The Fund highlights that distributions may include return of capital under its level distribution policy; shareholders should not infer performance from distribution amounts .
Board Governance (context for compensation oversight)
- Committees: Audit; Governance & Compliance (oversees Trustee compensation and governance matters); Administration & Operations; all chaired by or including Independent Trustees .
- Executive officers (including Dustin Norris) report operationally to the Board but receive no direct pay from the Fund .
Investment Implications
- Pay-for-performance transparency: Because HGLB’s executive officers are paid by the adviser, the proxy provides no salary/bonus/equity metrics or vesting schedules for Norris, limiting direct assessment of incentive alignment at the Fund level .
- Ownership alignment: Officers and Trustees as a group own <0.01% of HGLB shares, indicating limited insider ownership-based alignment within the Fund itself; pledging/hedging is not disclosed in the proxy .
- Retention risk: Officers serve at the pleasure of the Trustees with indefinite terms; no disclosed severance/CIC protections for Norris at the Fund level—retention incentives likely sit within adviser-level compensation structures (undisclosed here) .
- Performance context: Mixed but positive recent NAV returns (FY2024 12.9%; 6M 3/31/25 9.2% annualized) alongside material exposure to Level 3 and affiliated assets and sector concentration increases execution/risk-management demands on the adviser; distribution policy may include ROC, affecting market perceptions and trading dynamics .
- Trading signals: Lack of disclosed officer-level ownership or Form 4 activity in the proxy limits read-through on insider buying/selling pressure; Section 16 compliance is noted, but individual officer holdings are not itemized .