Individuals and Families
Private clients benefit from our comprehensive fee-only approach built around the coupling of investment management and financial planning. We learn about your goals and then create a plan around them, so you can do what you want (and need) to do in life. The plan is then mated to a recommended investment program designed to provide you with clarity, comfort and confidence in your financial future. Our work is provided on a fee-only basis and we do not sell any products or receive any type of commission or finder’s fees. As a result, our interests are aligned with those of our clients.
What We Do
Investment Management
We specialize in publicly traded individual equities. Customized client portfolios utilize our core institutional equity strategy, an effective bottom-up, concentrated approach to stock investing, led by an experienced team of investment professionals. Our Investment Process is active, disciplined, time-tested, and repeatable.
To this “core,” we add mutual funds and exchange traded funds to achieve portfolio exposure and diversification in specific asset classes.
The defensive portion of our portfolios is invested in mutual funds and exchange-traded funds investing in investment-grade corporate and government bonds. Other fixed income mutual funds and exchange-traded funds investing in areas such as foreign bonds, high-yield bonds and inflation-protected securities may also be used to supplement income or to enhance total returns.
When constructing your portfolio, we formulate an investment policy and strategy that is in sync with your objectives, income and liquidity needs, time horizon, and tolerance for risk. We monitor your portfolio continuously and provide clear, comprehensive, and customized appraisal and performance reports.
Looking at the Whole Financial Picture
We create custom financial plans for our clients that create the context for a long-term strategy, guiding decisions and providing the framework for every financial decision.
The plan we create encompasses a lot. It anticipates and answers questions like:
- Can I do what I want to do with my money?
- Can leave my career and retire or pursue another passion?
- If I do, will my standard of living or investment profile need to change?
- When, how and to what extent can I draw sustainable income from my investments?
- If I live to be 105, will I have enough money?
- If the market tanks, will I have enough money?
- How do I keep taxes from taking a big bite out of my assets?
- Will my family be okay if I get hit by a bus?
- How will I fund my children’s’ or grandchildren’s education?
- How can I leverage my stock options and 401(k)?
- How can I transfer my wealth to the next generation?
Planning does not stop at the initial plan. Needs change. Wants change. Wishes change. Building on the foundation of your plan, we typically meet with you every year – and when life’s milestones happen – for an in-depth planning review. We update and reevaluate to make sure your strategies are aligned with your goals. We then revise any courses of action, as appropriate.
Behavioral Counseling
We believe that one of the most important aspects of the advisory relationship, is the behavioral guidance we provide. We are emotional beings and our impulsive response to bad news is to panic and sell after the fact. We respond to good news and higher prices in a similar fashion, by panic buying after the fact (fear of missing out). Needless to say, this is not an effective long-term investment strategy. To that end, we are here to help bridge the behavior gap – the difference between the higher returns that investors might potentially earn and the lower returns they do earn. This gap exists because of the all-too-human tendency to allow emotions to overwhelm rational thinking when making investment decisions. While we obsess over financial planning and investment management, our unique value proposition will always be in behavioral counseling to help clients guard against unforced errors and big financial mistakes.