Simple beats complex. Portfolio complexity can lead to unintended consequence, so we strive to simplify the process. But simple doesn’t mean easy or thoughtless. A simple approach just requires more up-front work to build in the right decision-making systems.

Successful long-term investing can be accomplished through a straightforward, uncomplicated, operationally efficient investment program.

Asset allocation trumps stock picking. We build diversified, low-cost portfolios across asset classes, strategies, market caps and risk factors. While many investment organizations focus on beating the market, we believe the most important tenets of the investment process are portfolio construction and on-going risk management.

Strategic and tactical asset allocation both play important roles. Markets generally “work” over the long term. A strategic asset allocation with broad diversification can help reduce risk and protect against outlier events. While the long term is the only timeframe that truly matters, we recognize that individuals and organizations are forced to make financial decisions in the short to intermediate term. That is why our proprietary, low-cost risk management strategy is specifically designed to help ensure investors can handle periodic volatility without abandoning their investment plans.

You must invest in the markets as they are, not as you wish them to be. Risk and return go hand in hand, regardless of how you invest. Risk never completely goes away, it just changes shape. In the current low interest rate environment, this means investors must be willing to accept some form of volatility for the potential to achieve returns above the rate of inflation. It’s our job to help clients gain exposure to those areas where they are being paid to take risk.