Equity
Our typical managed equity account will own a well-diversified portfolio of individual stocks or institutional-class mutual funds, depending on the client’s needs and portfolio size. We will typically use mutual funds for accounts that may not be large enough to achieve adequate diversification with individual stocks, or as a way to achieve exposure to smaller capitalization and international stocks in individual equity accounts. Our philosophy within individually managed equity accounts is to own companies we feel can earn high returns on capital, are expected to achieve above average long-term growth, and are trading at an attractive valuation. We also believe in giving the power of compounding time to work and therefore generally have low portfolio turnover.

We understand that each of our clients has unique needs and circumstances, and are flexible with our approach in order to meet those needs. Many of our clients are sensitive to taxes. Together, we work out a plan to minimize tax consequences while allocating the portfolio in a fashion that meets their risk and return needs. Income generation is a higher priority for others, in which case we’re able to invest a portion of their portfolios in income-paying stocks. Over the long term, dividends have made up over 40 percent of the total return of the stock market. A typical income-oriented portfolio is a concentrated group of above-market yielding equity and preferred stock securities, which gives investors a higher level of income while still offering potential for capital appreciation.

Fixed Income
Fixed income investments (bonds) are useful in portfolios to generate income, to improve diversification, and to preserve principal. Depending on the client’s risk tolerance, liquidity needs, portfolio size, and tax situation, we will select from U.S. Government obligations, governmental agencies, investment-grade corporate securities, tax-free municipal bonds or institutional-class mutual funds.