Once we have a clear idea of our clients’ goals and objectives and have examined your risk tolerance and personal preferences, we are able to develop a customized asset allocation strategy. Our asset allocation strategy spreads your assets over a number of asset classes. An asset class is a categorization of securities, such as Large Cap Growth, Small Cap Value, and Intermediate Term Government Bonds. These are some of the different flavors of possible investments in the portfolio management candy shop.
“Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.”
— Henry David Thoreau
By selecting multiple asset classes, we are able to recommend a diversified portfolio tailored to your needs. Having a diversified portfolio is critical, because it manages risk. As many people learned in the late 90’s, having too much money invested in one asset class, namely technology stocks, is a bad idea. However, having your money spread out over a number of classes would have made the downturn in the technology more palatable, because your other investments would have been positioned to limit your downside risk.
Asset Allocation
We believe, as do the prevailing academics in the field, that asset allocation is even more critical than the specific investments selected and that a broadly diversified portfolio set up to achieve clients’ goals is the best approach to take. We believe in long-term investing and do not attempt to time the markets. With an asset allocation strategy in hand, we consider classes, such as domestic US, international, and emerging markets. We also consider the size or market capitalization of the investments as well as value and growth slants. We further examine specific industries and the companies within them. We consider risk tolerance, taxes, and fees when selecting recommendations for your investments.
Passive Management
We believe primarily in a passive investment strategy. We are strong believers in the efficient market hypothesis, a Nobel Prize-winning hypothesis which states that all information is immediately factored into the markets and that it is not possible to beat the market by picking stocks or market timing. Because of this, the best option is to invest in index funds, funds designed to emulate a specific market index, such as the S&P 500 Index. This is the opposite of active management, whereby a mutual fund manager receives a hefty fee for her attempts to outperform the indices. This usually increases the expenses passed on to investors by way of management fees, an issue to which we are sensitive. The majority of our clients’ equities are in no-load and no-transaction fee mutual funds and ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds).
Tactical Asset Allocations
We believe in strategically allocating client assets more heavily to specific asset classes based on our team’s knowledge and investment acumen. We take great care to examine the financial markets and the economy to add customized investments based on the sectors and industries. We believe that our combined philosophy of predominantly passive investments with strategically selected tactical asset classes gives our clients the best of both worlds.
Monitoring Performance
Once the asset allocation strategy is transformed into a specific investment plan and implemented, our team monitors your portfolios regularly. We provide detailed quarterly performance reports that provide you with detailed information about your investment returns and are much more informative than the basic statements most investment companies provide because they actually compare your returns to the selected benchmarks, the best-fit indices chosen to compare the performance of the asset classes being examined. We are available to review performance reports with you and require at least annual performance review meetings in person or over the phone. We monitor the markets and rebalance portfolios on an as-needed basis.
The Bottom Line
There are many ways and investment philosophies out there. Our combined strategy of primarily passive investments with active accents is a strategy that has made our clients money over the years and has protected their assets during market downturns. We do the hard work of selecting and monitoring your investments, so you can spend your time focusing on your strengths and areas of interest. If you are ready for a professional team to take over the management of your portfolio so you can get some rest, we look forward to helping you realize your financial dreams.
Asset Management Fee Schedule
Here is the fee schedule for our portfolio management service:
Annual Fee Assets under Management
1.150% $ 0 - $ 99,999.99
1.100% $ 100,000 - $ 249,999.99
1.000% $ 250,000 - $ 799,999.99
0.875% $ 800,000 - $1,399,999.99
0.750% $1,400,000 - $1,999,999.99
0.675% $2,000,000 - $2,999,999.99
0.625% $3,000,000 - above
Note that unlike most advisors who manage assets, once you reach a certain asset threshold, we charge that percentage on all your assets not just those in the highest tier attained. For example, if you have $2,000,000 under our management, you would pay 0.675%, for a total of $13,500 per year. Traditionally, investors may pay 1.25% on the first $250,000, 1.15% on the next $250,000, 0.875% the next $500,000 and 0.675% on the last $1,000,000 for a total of $17,125 per year.
