Those of us who offer professional financial advice call themselves by a variety of names.

Financial advisors, financial consultants, investment advisers, financial planners and wealth managers all essentially do the same basic thing – they market and give financial advice. Unfortunately, all these different titles make it difficult to determine just exactly what a particular financial professional actually does and, more importantly, whether they are qualified to perform those duties.

Our practice revolves around two specific areas: personal investment management and portfolio-focused financial planning. After an initial consultation, we decide together which of these two basic directions, or client models, our relationship will take. We have developed a process that has the flexibility to address numerous personal financial topics while remaining relatively simple and easy to understand. This process is comprised of 6 steps applied within the 2 basic models. The 6 steps are: relate, reveal, recommend, realize, refine and renew and they are used with either the Personal Investment Management Model or the Portfolio-Focused Financial Planning Model.

The Personal Investment Management Model focuses almost entirely on investment management while the Portfolio-Focused Financial Planning Model is much more comprehensive.

A Global Approach

U.S. equity markets comprise about 30% of the world’s overall equity allocation. When we first started in this business 20 years ago, that number was closer to 60%. Today it’s often possible to find great opportunities outside the United States that can help to add diversification to a portfolio.

Our approach to investing is always global and since our firm has a specialty in this area we often go much deeper than simply using an international mutual fund.   We will often use individual securities and will go directly to a foreign market to make investments. This ability to utilize specific individual securities instead of just a fund is a benefit that appeals to many of our clients as there are many times when it’s preferable to buy a few of the best stocks or bonds in a particular country or region rather than an entire index.

International Disclaimer

International investing involves additional risks such as currency fluctuations, differing financial and accounting standards, and possible political and economic instability. Also, investing in emerging markets can be riskier than investing in well-established foreign markets. There is no assurance any of the trends mentioned will continue in the future. Investing involves risk and investors may incur a profit or a loss, including the loss of all principal.

Professional Partners

We are not tax professionals, attorneys or a bank officer but as believers in advisor synergy we regularly try to partner with the best professionals we can find. If you have someone you already work with, we treat them as a valued colleague. If you need some additional help then we will be glad to suggest a few options. Either way, we will happily coordinate with your other advisors as much as needed to best address your circumstances and reach your goals.

“Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

Albert Einstein