When we manage investment portfolios for our clients, we are especially attentive to minimizing costs, and thereby increasing returns. We recognize that if we are able to reduce costs even by just 1% each year, then this will significantly add up over time. We have found that other companies typically do not disclose ALL the costs associated with investing. For example, an actively managed stock mutual fund may have an internal expense ratio of 1.2%, which is never disclosed, as it is not required by law.

We believe that you should understand ALL the costs of investing and so we make it a point to disclose these costs. And again, we make every effort to minimize these costs. In the case of the mutual fund with an internal expense ratio of 1.2%, what if we could use a comparable Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) with an internal expense ratio of 0.07%? In fact, this is a real example of how we have cut the costs of investing for our clients. We have found that on average an investor can spend 2.5% - 3.5% or more on investing costs. We make every effort to keep TOTAL costs below 1.5%.

Another strategy which sets us apart is the use of “portfolio insurance”. We can use simple hedging strategies to insure against the risk of a portfolio losing value beyond a certain point. Clients find it easier to sleep at night when they know that no matter how much value the markets lose on any given day, they are protected. In short, they set a “floor” to the downside but enjoy the benefits of the upside.

Finally, we believe that only Chartered Financial Analysts (CFAs) are qualified to manage our clients’ investment portfolios. For more information, please go to www.cfainstitute.org.