We believe in the value of comprehensive financial planning. Financial planning is one of the most important services that successful people use to create an extraordinary business career and personal life. We expect to build a trusted advisory relationship with you over your lifetime.
It is not our view that “Life is too short,” but rather that “Life is too long not to be doing fun and rewarding things,” and that the majority of people in our society and culture don't spend enough time examining these issues.
We believe that money is “the means, not the goal.” While money can assist the achievement of these goals, often there are other ways which may have little to do with personal finance, and which are instead related to astute lifestyle choices.
We also believe that in our society there are certain activities, undertaken by professionals and financial consumers, that are usually harmful to a person’s financial health. Financial publications, chat rooms and many television programs promote investment habits which we believe—and which the most respected financial research confirms—are, at best, unproductive and, at worst, destructive.
At our firm, we do not believe in the concept of “hot” stocks or in seeking short-term returns from any investment.
Nor do we believe in attempting to “time” the market, which usually means moving investments out of the markets when we think they are going to go down, and/or moving back in when we think the markets are going to move up.
We also believe that if your time horizon is greater than seven years, you should accept some of the volatility risks of the stock market. For those financial needs that are fewer than seven years in the future, we believe you should invest in ways that do not accept this risk.
Our investment activities are generally defined by principles that are collectively known as Modern Portfolio Theory. Based on the work of Harry Markowitz, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1990, one of the primary tenets of Modern Portfolio Theory is that a portfolio composed of numerous low-correlation asset classes will experience fewer price movements and volatility than more concentrated portfolios—even though the more diversified portfolio will inevitably include some losing asset classes at any given time.
Despite the scientific underpinnings, we believe that the investment discipline that we provide is not rocket science. Many of our clients have the intellectual ability to practice it without us. Yet our investment services are valuable to them because we take the emotions out of their decisions, and because we handle the messy paperwork associated with maintaining and monitoring an investment portfolio, including calculating and minimizing taxable gains.
We believe that much of the “financial advice” people receive comes in the form of advertisements, suggesting in powerful images that happiness and/or fulfillment can be achieved by the purchase of this or that advertised item. Our goal is to help people recognize their individual view of happiness and/or fulfillment, so they can determine which personal expenditures further their progress toward that goal.
Finally, we believe in the value of synergy—of the team approach to financial planning. Effective communication and exchange of data and ideas between all related advisors is essential to creating an exceptional plan for you. That means that we expect to routinely share your financial information, as needed, with our professionals on staff. We will not share your financial information with outside persons unless and until we receive direction from you to do so.
