Investment Management
We offer our clients discretionary portfolio management. Our investment philosophy is to keep investment costs low, and to construct simple yet diversified portfolios that offer sufficient risk-adjusted returns for meeting clients’ goals. We tend to limit the use of mutual funds because of their high costs and tax implications. For equities, we prefer low-cost ETFs for broad market exposure, augmented by individual stocks or sector ETFs that have been selected by our security selection process. For fixed-income portfolios, we prefer to invest directly in individual bonds, Treasury bills or CDs. Fixed-income ETFs may not be suitable in some cases as they do not have maturity, so market risk may be more pronounced for them. Exceptions could be some ETFs in niche asset classes such as high-yield bonds. The asset allocation structure will depend on clients' goals and risk tolerance.
Do we believe financial markets are efficient? Yes, markets are more or less efficient. On average and over time, they do get it right. It is not easy to outperform the market consistently, although it can be done. At times, markets can be manic-depressive, i.e. they can reflect extreme greed or fear. They do that for various reasons – economic cycles, excessive leverage, policymakers’ mistakes, investors’ psychology, natural disasters, geopolitical events. Thus, while the final destination is correct, the journey there can be volatile, so it is important to be able to stay the course. Volatility, however, can create attractive long-term investment opportunities. To be clear, what we have in mind here is different from "get-rich-quickly" speculative market timing which is hazardous to your financial health. We believe investing is a marathon, not a sprint.
Financial Planning
A well-designed and detailed financial plan is important to help you feel secure about your finances and lead a life you enjoy. Every client is unique, and so is every financial plan. Our approach is to start by understanding what makes you unique – your values, lifetime goals, assets, liabilities, employee benefits, cash flow, tax situation, and more. Once we have the entire financial picture in place, we develop a personalized plan designed to meet your priorities and goals. We collaborate with you every step of the way. You will receive a written statement that will be your guiding document for your financial future and a baseline against which to assess your progress. Beyond your initial plan, we are here to provide guidance and to help you make the best choices.
Tax management is an integral part of our financial planning services, and we strive for tax-efficient portfolio management and income generation. We all have to share our income with the government; but when we share it and how much we share matters. Maximizing contributions to tax-advantaged savings platforms, tax-loss harvesting, optimizing asset location and withdrawals are some of the options available to you. We can work with your accountant or attorney to identify ways to help you minimize taxes.
Retirement Income Strategies
Generating sufficient income in retirement is one of the key objectives of financial planning and wealth management. But limiting your portfolio to generating income only may be detrimental in the long term. Taking a total return approach to your financial needs – subject to risk capacity and safety considerations – may result in better outcomes for you.
