Our Investment Philosophy
Your investments should fit you. If they don’t, you are unlikely to stick with them, and you become vulnerable to the very common mistake of timing the market incorrectly. To help avoid this, your portfolio construction will rely on not only the return objectives that match up with your financial plan but also a personalized risk number.
We believe your portfolio should have a few simple yet key investment principles. With these in place, you will know what you own at all times, what your actual fees are, and have the emotions taken out of your investment decisions.
Portfolio Principles
Expensive Doesn’t Mean Good
This is one industry where you don’t always get what you pay for. Wall Street might tell you otherwise but expensive and complicated investments do not automatically equate to better returns. In fact, it’s often the opposite.
Less Is Often More
Infrequent trading minimizes transaction costs, potential taxes, and the chance of making a mistake. Trades should only be made with a purpose.
Asset Allocation Models
For risk management, we diversify your portfolio amongst different asset classes such as stocks, bonds, and real estate—and then those across the globe.
Buy and Hold Isn’t Easy
Even with diversification and a long time horizon, market fluctuations are too hard for most people to tolerate. We understand this and have tactical portfolios to attempt to avoid extreme drawdowns.
The Trend Is Your Friend
Academic research has shown that technical trend following can reduce a portfolio’s volatility. We mathematically smooth price action to quantify the momentum and direction of the market.
Rules-Based Strategies
Eliminate media noise or speculation and begin utilizing our durable portfolios. They are not meant to beat the market but to participate in the good times and limit exposure to big bear markets. We also offer a tolerance band overlay for rebalancing.
Stock Picking Is Hard
We prefer broad-based index funds that aim to put you in positions to succeed and not where the odds stacked against you.
Multiple Levels of Diversification
Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. We use different assets classes, geographic locations, and model strategies.