Short Overview of What We Do & Why

This is a portion of an email written to a client who had general questions about the mechanics of our portfolio management process:

We manage your accounts on discretion per our written Investment Policy Statement. In short, it is a very specific, personalized plan and our portfolio management is a very disciplined process. It is not an emotional process.

The way we see it, we are in the process of building your large portfolio and once we get it built, our job is to tweak it around the edges but not get in its way. In particular, we never make large changes based on a short-term idea or trend.

We have been in business for over 35 years and we have always gotten a good report. We have never had a complaint. We have never been sued or been to arbitration. I should add that we have never been in trouble, not because of the controls, but because we have way too much to lose.

There will always be a list of world events and market concerns that we are worried about. We should acknowledge that but remain committed to maintaining a diversified portfolio that will over time give us the return we will need to meet our retirement goals. When outside events do affect our investments, we should stay the course and continue to add to the portfolio (buy low).

While bonds have not done a lot lately, we own them for a reason. Stocks and oil leases can drop in value by 40%-50% like they did in 2000-2002. During that same period, bonds gained 30% in value. Bonds can add stability and reduce risk in your portfolio.