Improving the Quality of Your Life
Our Approach
We believe that a comprehensive well-diversified approach is the best way to accumulate wealth and achieve your goals.
We believe that timing the market cannot be done successfully over the long term. In all of our research and over 40 years in the financial profession, we have never found any proof that this can be accomplished.
Our investment philosophy maintains that an investment portfolio's asset allocation—the choice of asset classes and allocation of money across them—is a primary determinant of its long-term investment performance. Most investors understand that a more broadly diversified portfolio has less risk. Many investors are surprised to learn, however, that multiple-asset-class diversification tends to simultaneously improve returns over the long run. By designing portfolios that capture the benefits of broad diversification, we help our clients pursue their financial goals with safety in mind.
Independent Advice
We provide our clients with independent investment advice. As a Registered Investment Adviser firm, we also act as a fiduciary to our clients. We are intensely aware that we owe our clients our undivided loyalty to act in their best interests. We demonstrate our commitment to the highest standards of fiduciary responsibility through our strict policy not to create or suggest proprietary investment products. We receive fees solely from our clients and can therefore recommend, without any potential conflicts of interest, an appropriate mix of investment alternatives for implementing their portfolio strategies.
Needs Based Investment Portfolios
Investment portfolios are based on the long-term needs of each client while being sensitive to individual risk tolerances. With life expectancies stretching into the 80s and beyond, clients need to understand how hard their money needs to work so they do not end up like seniors they know who are blessed with good health but financially broke. The Comprehensive Financial Plan that we develop for each client will help maintain this balance between returns and risk, and between needs and wants.
Investment Education
We believe in getting clients meaningfully involved in the investment decision-making process. At each stage, we explain the concepts necessary to make sound investment decisions. Our collaborative process actively guides clients through a systematic series of portfolio decisions, resulting in their own customized investment strategy. This process is designed to match the created portfolio to the client's risk tolerance and financial goals. It also helps clients become more sophisticated, knowledgeable investors. A knowledgeable investor is more likely to avoid one of the greatest threats to long-term investment performance: abandonment of the investment strategy itself. The strategy that we design together is ideally an "all-weather" one that clients will live with through changing economic climates.
Investment Policy Statement
Every client has a written Investment Policy Statement (IPS) that is unique to his or her set of circumstances. This is based on your financial goals, needs, income tax circumstances (short- and long-term), knowledge of various investments, and risk tolerance. This IPS acts as the guideline for the investment decisions we suggest and clients request us to execute.