Our Nine Points of Delivery

1. An eye on fees - We know that fees within mutual funds and other investments reduce your return. That is one reason we don’t sell investment products.  They have hidden fees within these vehicles that eat away your returns, and you receive a lower rate of return than  you deserve with the amount of risk you are taking. It is a criteria in our research to utilize investment vehicles that have low and reasonable manager fees. We never benefit from any kickback fees within a fund.

 

2. Asset Allocation – Selecting the right security is only part of our responsibility – selecting the proper asset allocation is vital to your investment return. Asset allocation can contribute up to 90% of your return. Plus, proper asset allocation can actually reduce market risk by selecting different types of securities that have little to no correlation to each other.

 

3. Investment Policy Statement—The Investment Policy Statement is a key tool for both you and your money manager. This statement is developed together and is a reflection of your financial objectives, goals, and tolerances. It is a cohesive plan on how your assets are to be managed. It is the blueprint customized to your individual objectives and profile.

 

4. Diversification – Diversification is key to long term investing. Sure, everyone wants to hit a home run – and many forget about the dogs in their portfolio. But are you truly diversified? We look at correlation between different asset classes to reduce risk and improve your long term returns. You can never be "too" diversified, but at the same time, having too many sectors may not diminish your risk as much as you think. We utilize various sectors within your portfolio, as well as international equities and fixed income exposure. We also utilize a wide range of investment vehicles to deliver solid returns.

 

5. Portfolio monitoring – Portfolio monitoring is a constant process geared towards ensuring the securities you hold are the right ones for you. Unlike those who sell back-end loaded funds (cut and run type of investing), we monitor, evaluate, and adjust the securities based on performance expectations, style drift, and a number of other factors.

 

6. Reduction of emotional investing – No matter how we invest, everyone has some type of emotions when investing. This is one of the hardest things us humans do in investing. We lessen emotion based investing and focus strictly on a disciplined approach. Most investors agree with the philosophy of long term investing, but most invest with a short term mind set. We filter out the noise of the market and invest based on fundamental principals, not out of fear or wanting to chase a return.

 

7. Rebalancing, re-appropriation based on opportunities & threats – Although we take a buy and hold approach, we also look at current economic conditions and make the appropriate changes to our models. For example, we were bullish on intermediate term bonds in 2009 and 2010, but moved toward other income producing securities in a low interest rate environment. Also, gold can be used as an inflation hedge, and would normally be in our portfolio. However, when it appears that gold (or any assets) may have a bubble, we look at other alternative assets.

 

8. Diverse range of investments – It is our job to be familiar with all types of investment vehicles, and to know the risks and benefits of each type. We look not only at the mode of delivery (mutual funds, ETF’s, bonds), but also at the vehicle itself (market ETF’s, sector ETF’s, currency ETF’s, inverse ETF’s, etc.).

 

9. Performance Reports and Personalized Account Statements — Our quarterly reports are supplemental to your custodian statements. Performance reports will show you how your portfolio is performing vs. various market indexes and the performance of individual securities. You’ll know exactly how each of your investments is performing, and more importantly, be informed of the types of investments and how they are meeting your financial goals. We will also give you easy to read, client centric reports that show positions, transactions, and a snapshot of your overall portfolios.