Investment Philosophy

Many other financial service firms offer an approach based on "active management." Active management assumes that the markets are generally inefficient, allowing clever individuals to regularly exploit and profit from the anomalies. And yet, there is overwhelming academic evidence that the collective wisdom of all market players - especially in today's electronic era - results in highly efficient markets. Markets reflect fair pricing almost instantaneously upon release of any good or bad price-related news.

In offering a "passive management" approach, we heed the academic wisdom. We assume that the opportunities to exploit market inefficiencies are too few and far between to effectively and affordably pursue. Many investors realize that a passive investment approach offers many benefits when compared with an active investment approach. Passive investing involves buying and holding market components, whereas an active investor or fund manager tries to pick the next winning stock or time where the market is headed next. A passive approach offers these major benefits:

• By holding entire market components, one maximizes the benefits of diversification.
• By "tilting" the portfolio to riskier or less risky components, the investor can expect to capture the highest market return given his or her risk tolerance.
• The investor maintains control over his or her own portfolio's components (by avoiding active funds' tendency to style drift without the investor's knowledge).
• Expenses can be minimized.
• Tax efficiency can be maximized.

Building Your Wealth Strategy

As we build our advisor relationship with you, our focus remains on you, and on resolving complex issues within the following four life planning components:

• Enhancing wealth
• Protecting wealth
• Transferring wealth
• Donating wealth

Each component is addressed when - and if - it plays an integral role in your life. We help you balance and identify changing needs within your career and creative aspirations, charitable goals, family sharing time, and social and leisure activities. When changes are warranted, we help ensure smooth transitions: for you, or for multiple generations and branches within your family.

Enhancing Your Wealth

For managing your financial portfolio, we offer a prudent approach based on our fiduciary relationship with you as your trusted investment advisor.

Fiduciary duty is generally considered the highest legal duty one party can have to another. As a Registered Investment Advisor firm, we have a legal responsibility to always act in your best interests - and we take that responsibility very seriously.

We apply a passive investment approach, tailoring your portfolio's level of risk (and its expected returns) according to your personal preferences, goals and circumstances. In addition to seeking broad global diversification according to the tenets of Modern Portfolio Theory, we assist with appropriate asset location between taxable versus tax-advantaged accounts.

We apply these techniques for individual investor, retirement plan sponsor and institutional client relationships alike.

Protecting Your Wealth

Many of your financial goals can span a lifetime, or even generations, so it's important to prepare for uncertain events that could otherwise derail your overall strategy. Once we've defined your long-term objectives, our role also includes identifying potential threats to your success, and implementing protection against them.

Our approach to wealth protection is thoughtful, deliberate and highly individualized. Planning comes first: exploring concerns related to managing the effects of taxes, inflation and market fluctuations; privacy, security, and legal actions; property and casualty losses; business continuation; and legacy creation and protection. Next we consider procedures, documents and similar techniques that can offer the protection required. As a final option, we might incorporate insurance or related tools - but only as required for clearly defined roles.

Transferring Wealth

While many identify leaving a legacy as among their most important life goals, research indicates that only about one-third of wealth transfers succeed after transition! Equally interesting, a common trait among those who succeed is the ability to sustain a smooth and open flow of internal communications among family members. (Source: The Williams Group, thewilliamsgroup.org)

That's why we have the resources in place to assist with financial management and estate planning details, but we also offer guidance on the critical personal dynamics that represent the key to success in multigenerational wealth transition.

Donating Wealth

The true value of philanthropy lies in the meaning it brings to those both giving and receiving. For example:

A pleasant by-product for a family engaged in charitable pursuits appears to be the value it adds to effective communication of family values among generations. (Source: The Williams Group, thewilliamsgroup.org)

Ongoing legislative reform may afford existing and new opportunities for charitable giving to play an increasing role within your tax planning efforts. Keeping up with the latest regulations in this area can add value to your charitable pursuits. If your goals include a philanthropic component, we carefully integrate it within your overall strategy.