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Live Freely.
Our investment philosophy
Nobody likes surprises with their money, that’s why we approach investing with a risk budget….
Most people are used to the concept of budgets. Budgets for the dollars you spend, the assets you acquire. What’s unfortunate is when you’re caught off-guard because your budget was impacted by an unforeseen expense. Similarly, investments often get into trouble because of an unforeseen risk. When you look at the market today, being “diversified” generally means allocating to a wide range of assets. At Foundations, we dive deeper. We believe in approaching asset allocation with a risk budget and dig into how much risk that asset class is vulnerable to. We make sure our diversification is in risk, as opposed to asset class. Our goal, ultimately, is to maximize return and limit any unforeseen surprises.
Being diversified doesn’t always mean you are diversified from risk. Take a look at our material below outlining the different risk factors based on asset class. Then compare a “well diversified” portfolio with the actual risk it has visibility to.
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Now that you have familiarized yourself with our risk budget approach, take a minute to view the video below explaining how our advisors might find your risk tolerance to match the Foundations portfolio’s risk score.
Are your portfolios GIPS® verified?
The Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®) is a set of standardized, industry-wide ethical principles that guide investment firms on how to calculate and present their investment results to prospective clients. GIPS® Verification is the review of an investment management firm’s performance measurement processes and procedures by an independent third-party verifier. It also tests whether the firm’s policies and procedures are designed to calculate and present performance in compliance with the GIPS®standards. We are proud that our portfolios are GIPS® verified.
It’s important to know our Advisors are…
independent advisors and are held to a fiduciary standard with your best interest in mind. What does that really mean? The fiduciary standard is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or state securities regulators, both of which hold advisers to a fiduciary standard that requires them to put their client’s interests above their own. The act is pretty specific in defining what a fiduciary means, and it stipulates that advisers must place their interests below that of their clients. It consists of a duty of loyalty and care. For example, advisors cannot buy securities for their accounts prior to buying them for clients and are prohibited from making trades that may result in higher commissions for themselves or their investment firms. This foundational principal guides our investment solutions and advice.
We pride ourselves on our core philosophies listed below. Together, they provide an experience that encourages you to live freely.
Risk-Managed approach
Based on your risk tolerance and risk capacity, we work to minimize drawdowns, allowing your portfolio to maximize compounding returns in various market conditions. Using our diverse network of experienced advisors and portfolio managers, we continually monitor the markets, the economy and the business cycle to make timely adjustments as needed with the goal of keeping your portfolio on track. Our portfolio options are diverse to help weather wide range of different market cycles.
Easily accessible
We understand the number one reason investors become dissatisfied with advisors is lack of communication. We know being able to discuss your portfolio at any time is important to you. That’s why we make ourselves available at your convenience, in person or by phone and email. In addition we provide weekly portfolio updates, weekly market commentary, event driven market commentary, and monthly market commentary to keep you informed and up to date.
Transparency
Our firm’s advisory services are fee only. This means you will get complete, unbiased advice that is in alignment with your investment goals. In this model our values are aligned with yours and we focus on growing your accounts in the manner you expect. When changes need to be made, we make them with the goal of keeping you on track with your long term investment plan. More importantly as your account grows, we grow.
Reporting Made Simple
Reporting and portfolio accounting shouldn’t be confusing. Which is why we provide each investor their own private online account portal where you can view all of your accounts in one place and measure performance over any specified time period. In addition, your private investor portal has bank level security and allows you total transparency into fees and any transaction costs.