Our Advantage

We serve your interests only. We are loyal only to you and have no conflict of interest because we are paid only by you. Loyalty solely to our client is the cornerstone of our service. Randy earned a PhD in Business Administration at age 25 and is a former CPA. So we understand many things to help you.

Our personal mission is to help people make money. Our dedication is to protect your assets and improve your returns. Our conservative investment strategies tailor your action level to your safety preference.

Results. With near-zero interest rates and the 2nd deepest stock bear market in US history (2007-09), our Value Strategy was down 7-9% in 2008 as the S&P500 fell 37.0%.

Solid account structure. Our typical account owns 8-10 assets for high quality; low cost; and real, statistical diversification. Many other managers put about 20 assets in an account, providing the illusion of diversification but they are often correlated.

Shared values. We eat our own cooking; our money is invested in the same places as yours.

Specialization. Managing money is the one thing we do.

Excellent client references. References are available

Guidelines To Consider

Look for a documented track record. Are the manager’s returns net of fees, as they should be? Are benchmark comparisons included?

Note the quality of the manager’s references.

Define the manager’s investment style. Has the style drifted? Excellent managers use a specific style and stay with it.

Is the manager a “closet indexer”? In any field of human endeavor, only 10% of the players blissfully run with inspired excellence – the others are doing a decent job, marking time. In money management many of the 90% who comprise the herd invest to approximate the indexes, without explicitly saying so, at higher cost than an index fund. They are closet indexers. They are managing relationships (with soothing words and leather chairs), not managing money.

What reason is there to believe a manager’s investment style that was successful in the past will be so in the future? To what degree were the returns affected, or even determined, by the market cycle just completed?

Choose an investment manager with a specific risk management method or sell discipline. No investment style works all the time and all managers have losses. How does the manager minimize them?

Understand what normal and high drawdowns the manager expects. If the manager believes a 20% periodic loss of capital (drawdown) is routine for its investment style and you feel a 10% loss would be an emotionally traumatic experience, don’t hire the manager. Avoid surprises by understanding this point and having your “ah-hah” moment in advance.

Reports

You receive from us a quarterly report, with a chart, of your investment results. We also send you a quarterly newsletter and more frequent client updates. You can view your account online at Schwab’s website.

Reasonable Fees

We are paid only by you, not by Schwab, not by any mutual fund or other source. Minimum new account size is $500,000.

1.0% of total assets if less than $1 million
0.8% of total assets if $1-5 million
0.7% of total assets if $5-10 million
0.6% of total assets if over $10 million