Our Core Investment Philosophies

  • Keep it simple
  • Focus on people, not products
  • Identify the appropriate mix of assets
  • Have a plan and follow it
  • Invest in quality securities
  • Emphasize time in the market, rather than market timing
  • Invest with tax consequences in mind
  • Lever moments of difficulty and
    confusion as opportunities
  • We believe in the personal touch - face-to-face or a telephone call as opposed to texting or emailing

Why Take a Balanced Approach

It has been our experience that wealthy individuals really do not appreciate losing money. Also, negative returns have a much greater impact on your overall performance than any positive return can have. Although we cannot always promise a positive return in any given calendar year, it remains our goal to keep losses at a minimum for clients. The speed and degree to which financial markets can change course should give investors reason to pause and reflect on the dangers of taking an extreme market view – both bullish and bearish.

We encourage a balanced approach to guard against market volatility. The goal should be to increase the odds of long-term favourable results relative to investment goals (i.e. retiring with sufficient funds) rather than maximizing short-term expected returns.

Portfolio Drift occurs when natural shifts in the market change your asset allocation, or the ‘weighting’ of different asset classes within your portfolio. For example, when the markets are very strong and are at all-time highs, this can result in your overall equity weighting being higher than you are comfortable with and can expose you to more risk. Portfolio rebalancing helps to get your portfolio back in line with your investment objectives and comfort level.

It takes great discipline and some hand holding at times, when rebalancing a client’s holdings. In the long term, though, it usually always ends up being the right decision. This has been a key driver in the success of our business, historically, and has provided our clients with peace of mind.

Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.
Franklin D. Roosevelt