Our Investment Philosphy
Planning for Enough Money To Live OnOver our approximately 25 years of experience with investments generally matching or exceeding market averages after all expenses, we have developed preferences and investment philosophy:
Entire Fund Universe Available
We believe that for the best and safest return that all funds must be available for investment, not just one fund family or any other limited arrangement which does not afford complete choice but compromises selection unnecessarily.
Separate Less Fluctuating Fund from which to Take Distributions
When withdrawals are needed periodically or regularly from a fund, there should be a separate allocation to a fund which fluctuates little so that funds can be distributed even during a market downturn. Taking such withdrawals out of a “balanced” fund which contains both equities and debt investment can put the portfolio at risk.
No Unjustifiably High Minimum Investment Requirements
The overall investment or individual funds to which amounts are allocated should not be subject to high minimums which may distort the ability to invest with adequate and appropriate diversification. Having the entire market of mutual funds available for investment is necessary to ensure that this is possible on a regular basis.
No Unusual Fees or Redemption Charges
There should not be any additional fund based fees to get into a fund, or first year fees, or any other type of additional fund fees or surrender charges. Institutional shares should be made available which do not have fees other than fund management expense charges.
Lower Fees Generally
While searching for the best returns with least risk in keeping with the portfolio plan document stated guidelines according to all documentation of the endowment, those funds with the least fees should be made use of as a priority rather than funds with higher fees and similar return metrics.
Allocation Diversification
The allocation of funds should reasonably cover different market segments ensuring that any individual market segment is not overly or under represented. For example, the portfolio should not be almost all large cap, or almost all international. Correct diversification should serve the purpose of lessening the comparative chances of portfolio volatility.
Not Overly Diversified
A fund or portfolio holding can be over diversified such as in fund of funds where the total number of investments included reaches a number that may preclude the likelihood that the overall fund will do better returns than average. It is important to ensure that funds are appropriately diversified but not to a degree that defeats the purpose of the investment.
Equity Funds Rebalancing
Equity fund rebalancing should be included to allow for possible enhancements of return. If this feature is not included funds may become disproportionately allocated with the possibility of “selling high and buying low” neglected if funds allocation is not periodically rebalanced within the portfolio. This may be automatically or manually done.