Investment Philosophy

Our investment philosophy reflects a practical, common-sense approach that has been refined with many years of experience. The following principles will provide some insight as to how we think about investing.

Select a principle below for more detail.

Would you rather be told that “your portfolio is up 8%” or that “you are still on track to achieve the kind of life you want for yourself and your family”? We believe the best performance benchmark is progress towards your individual goals.

Why would you want to take on more risk than is necessary to achieve your goals? Ironically, many people get caught up in trying to maximize their short-term returns and expose themselves to more risk than they realize. Often it is because they don’t have a plan for investing that is tied to their goals.

It is important to measure your investment performance in the context of your life’s goals. Otherwise, how can you achieve the proper balance between living today and preparing for tomorrow? Without that context, how does knowing “your portfolio is up 8%” give you any comfort? Our first step in investing is to help you define realistic goals based on your circumstances and desires.

We embrace a long-term perspective when making investments. Our approach is intended to help our clients achieve their lifetime financial goals – not to maximize quarterly performance.

A short-term perspective can lead to bad decisions. Markets rise and fall every day and investing fads come and go, but we have the confidence and the discipline to stick to our investment approach and position our clients’ portfolios for long-term success.

Asset allocation is the most critical determinant of portfolio returns – far more important than individual security selection or market timing. A properly balanced portfolio is not only positioned for long-term growth, but should also reduce potential short-term losses due to its multiple asset classes.

Yogi Berra said, “It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” Trying to consistently time the market or pick the next quarter’s top performers is an exercise in futility. Your best bet is to take a long-term approach and invest in a portfolio comprised of a balance of asset classes that is appropriate for your goals.

Have you ever waited on a losing investment to “come back” before you sold it? If you did not already own your current investments, would you buy them at today’s prices?

It is often very difficult for individuals to take a purely objective, unemotional view of their own investments. As an outside, third-party resource, one of the ways we add value is by actively and unemotionally evaluating our clients’ portfolios and making objective decisions as needed.

We are sensitive to how income taxes can impact your wealth. In fact, it is the after-tax returns that you are actually able to spend, so whenever possible, we position and manage portfolios in a tax-efficient way. Tax-loss harvesting lowers current and future capital gains tax liability. Positioning interest-bearing assets in tax-deferred accounts helps avoid current income tax liability. We can help you make charitable gifts in a tax-efficient way.

All that being said, we do not let the tax tail to wag the dog, for the highest priority can not always be to do whatever creates the smallest income tax bill. For example, while we often do accommodate low-cost basis stocks in our clients’ portfolios, we will also advise clients against holding too high a concentration in an individual stock.

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