Investment Philosophy
The following investment principles have informed and guided our investment decisions and portfolio structures since our founding in 1994.
Market Returns With Less Risk Managing risk is the key to our investment approach. We focus on managers who meet or exceed their benchmarks with less risk. Then we create diversified portfolios that provide downside protection as well as upside potential.
Buy the Manager, Not the FundTM When you buy an actively managed mutual fund, what you are really buying is the manager. But because managers change frequently, most published fund ratings don't consider who is behind the numbers. Our proprietary Manager Ranking System solves this problem by identifying the managers that have added the most value over time, while adjusting for differences in fund objectives and benchmarks.
Time "In" the Market, Not Market Timing The reason market timing has not worked historically is that it is all but impossible to catch every good day while avoiding only the bad ones. We believe that markets invariably reward patience and prudence, and that there will always be opportunities for profit for long-term investors.
Go-Anywhere Flexibility Many managers focus on specific investment styles, like growth or value. Problems arise when their particular style goes out of favor. We are style-agnostic, which allows us to take advantage of opportunities across all markets, both domestic and international, equity as well as fixed income.
Proprietary Research Risk analysis is plain hard work. Our unique access to the best and brightest managers provides us with insights not available to all investors. We deploy one of the largest private databases of mutual and exchange-traded fund information, which helps us to supplement our traditional research with trend analysis.