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Investment Management

Our Beliefs About Investing

Our Philosophy for Disciplined, Long-Term Investors

Long-term investing is a journey filled with perpetual hurdles, cognitive mistakes, nuances, hard analysis and constant change. It’s both a science and an art, with a rich history of brilliant ideas that have shaped the past and will influence the future. When it comes to investing, knowing what you believe helps to illuminate the path before you more clearly and supports the essential conviction that guides your ability to meet long-term investment goals. Before beginning any journey; before committing any of your money, wealth or time; before taking action that will change your life, know what you believe. A solid foundation will help you possess the clarity you need to persevere in your journey, your investment plan and your promises.


Our Investment Philosophy is shaped by 11 well-defined beliefs that guide our process, determine our actions, influence our investment management decisions, and serve as the truths and principles behind our investing philosophy.  We are committed to this philosophy as a journey of discovery and intelligence.  It supports our purpose to help clients honor the important promises they have made to their loved ones and to help enable intentional living:

Belief #1
Intellectual rigor, discipline, patience and faith in the future matter

Being thorough in understanding the truth behind your actions, staying the course when your emotions are trying to overcome your logical thoughts and reasoning abilities, focusing on your long-term promises and not letting fear overshadow your vision of your future are all essential in helping you make wise investment decisions.

Belief #2
Diversification, asset allocation and efficiency are separate and distinct concepts.

Though diversification, asset allocation and efficiency can be considered a single, comprehensive concept, it’s important to understand the possible distinctions between the three. Diversification allows investors to reduce business-specific risk by abiding by the “don’t put all of your eggs in one basket” adage. Asset allocation builds on the notion of diversification by looking at security or investment risks in the context of a broad portfolio rather than in isolation. Efficiency helps to produce the best possible asset allocation, given an investor’s unique risk tolerance.

Belief #3
Asset allocation matters more than product selection.

Taken together with the market, asset allocation decisions can account for the most significant amount or percentage of variation in return. Thus, an investor should leverage a dedicated Financial Professional to help design and select proper asset allocation prior to considering active portfolio management.

Belief #4
Disciplined and automated rebalancing improves results.

Rebalancing strategies are designed to realign a portfolio back to its initially established asset allocation model or the “target” weightings of individual investments within a portfolio. Such periodic and automated rebalancing is a recognized way to help control the emotional tendencies of investors to buy high and sell low.

Belief #5
Minimizing losses improves the compounding power of wealth.

The principle of compounding returns is one of the most powerful yet least-appreciated forces in investing. For asset allocation to achieve successful investment results over any meaningful period, an investor must have some sense of long-term perspective and purpose in order to maximize the “force multiplier” effects of compounding.

Belief #6
Investing in stocks has rewarded investors over the long term.

Ownership of stocks is important for the growth of capital for investors. Though past performance makes no guarantee of the results we will see in the future, U.S. stocks have historically rebounded after periods of negative performance.

Belief #7
Emotions influence investor behavior.

Emotions often guide our actions, and this includes the choices individuals make when it comes to their investments. Various cycles in the market cause fears or hopes for people, impacting the buying and selling of equity funds.

Belief #8
Market timing does not work over the long term.

Forecasting systematic risk factors is extremely difficult, and successfully timing the market is not probable, consistent over long-periods or proven through research. Unknown probabilities and magnitudes of various market risk scenarios added to regime changes can make even the most appealing market timing strategies quickly proven wrong.

Belief #9
Predicting the future is fraught with great uncertainty.

Human beings have not yet mastered the ability to predict the future accurately, but that does not always stop investors from mistakenly believing they know more than others about what’s to come. However, the events that will impact the future are not known, so there is still the ever-present lack of certainty about the future ahead of us.

Belief #10
Skillful managers can be identified.

With a disciplined process, it’s possible to find those investment managers who have the greatest chances of helping clients honor their promises. There are both quantitative and qualitative considerations in this process that will ultimately help to determine which individuals are best suited to serve as portfolio managers for clients.

Belief #11
Listening and advice are the most critical factors when guiding investors.

The most effective wealth management professionals know that they must listen carefully to their clients in order to fully understand their promises they want to keep for their loved ones and to provide comprehensive and competent plans for action.

Financial Planning and Wealth Management

Your life's journey. Your unique goals. Our commitment to getting you there.

Life is filled with many stages and major events, both expected and unpredictable. We believe that creating a well-defined financial plan around those investment goals important to you will allow you to enjoy the journey, no matter what comes your way. We focus on understanding your unique situation and goals — designing a plan that aligns with your vision and responsibilities now and in the future. We then provide recommendations based on helping you achieve your goals so you can fulfill the promises you have made to yourself and your loved ones.

  • Align your financial choices with your most important goals and most deeply held values.
  • Get your entire financial house in order, and keep it that way.
  • No matter what happens in the markets, the economy or the world, have confidence that your Financial Professional will be there to help you achieve your goals

The things we look at include

1) Retirement Planning - "Making sure you're set when the time comes"

2) Investment Management - "How can you make the money you have work for you"

3) Tax Planning (unique to our relationship)  - "Paying taxes is a certainty, but we help ensure it won't obliterate your finances"

4) Family Risk Management - "Protecting your finances and safeguarding your hard-earned money"

5) Cashflow and Debt Management - "Maintaining efficient oversight"

6) Legacy and Estate Planning - "What happens to your wealth after you're gone?"

7) Business Planning - "Keeping an eye on the future of your business" 

8) Education Planning - "Preparing for the rising cost of college for your loved ones"

9) Special Situations - "Asking those difficult 'What if?' Questions"

Tax Planning and Preparation

The Tax Difference

Tax law is complex and constantly changing.  We strongly believe that every financial decision at its core is a tax decision and that taxes should be treated as more than a once-a-year event.  Taxes are one of life's most complicated and largest expenses, yet most financial/wealth advisors treat taxes as an afterthought without regard to a client's situation.  If not properly planned for, taxes can unnecessarily erode the net result of all your hard work and what you take home.

We're dedicated to providing comprehensive tax - smart financial planning and utilize an array of ongoing tax - optimized strategies to maximize your wealth and meet your goals.  Combining our professional experience as tax and financial advisors allows us to identify strategies unique to your situation and help you achieve the best financial outcomes.


  • Tax Compliance - Ensuring your peace of mind knowing you are compliant with the tax code, while minimizing audit exposure and using all of the legal tax reduction strategies available.
  • Tax - Smart Investing - Our Goal is to use the right asset allocation, tax-efficient investment products/strategies,  and tax-conscious financial planning solutions to maximize your net return instead of focusing solely on market gains.  That means not only are we designing solutions to help you accumulate assets, we're also applying the right strategies to help you keep more of what you earned.
  • Annual Tax Management -  Tax-loss harvesting, proper asset allocation and investments that help minimize taxes on capital gains can all be used to offset your annual tax liabilities.
  • Social Security Planning - We’ll identify the most advantageous distribution of your social security benefits based on your income needs, accumulation of assets and how you manage your finances.
  • Pre-Retirement Income Planning – We can apply annual and long-term strategies to lessen the taxes you owe during the accumulation phase so more of your money can grow tax-free.
  • Retirement Income Distributions –  Careful planning of which accounts you draw from first during retirement can help ensure that your money goes toward paying for your lifestyle instead of taxes.
  • Leaving a Lasting Legacy – Focusing on tax mitigation for next-generation planning can avoid eroding family wealth and help ensure that your loved ones are provided for.

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