The appropriate blend of risk and return is central to investment performance that supports a family’s financial plan. This is different for each individual investor and changes over time. For this reason, we concentrate on formulating the right balance for each client portfolio to promote ongoing stability and confidence.
As the greatest driver of appreciation and return, asset allocation serves as the primary influence in our portfolio management strategies. To achieve diversification while reflecting our preference for flexibility at each decision point, we strive to select investments that are sound, liquid, and cost effective.
asset allocation
When we build a portfolio for our clients, each investment fits into one of five sleeves:
equity
fixed income
alternatives
opportunistic
cash
A strategy built for you
Each fund, index, or strategy that fits into a sleeve is set to perform a particular role in response to different financial situations. This intentional portfolio management process ensures you are diversified according to your needs and goals as well as your risk tolerance.
EQUITY
We believe that our core stock strategy should be low-cost and well-diversified among global equities of all sizes. By combining Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and select active managers, we can capture equity market returns and apply layers of intelligence where we want to be selective in the stocks that we own.
FIXED INCOME
When it comes to bonds, we are careful with indexing because our goal is to primarily preserve capital and earn income. An ETF that is indexed to the U.S. bond market is going to reflect all the bonds in that index, regardless of credit quality and maturity. Low credit quality and high duration can lead to at-risk capital or high volatility. In our portfolio strategy, we prefer an active manager who can select bonds based on a profile that is consistent with the families we serve. When investing in bonds, our goal is to primarily preserve capital and earn income. Passive strategies with fixed income can sometimes lean heavily into credit quality and maturities that are inconsistent with our clients goals. We use a combination of passive and active strategies that can increase our confidence in the part of the portfolio designed for stability.
ALTERNATIVES
A great description of why we should include a sleeve of assets that perform differently from stocks and bonds: Alternative assets can “diversify our diversifier.” If bonds zig while stocks zag, what about when both underperform? This is where assets like commodities or real estate can help to address unique risks of different market cycles.
OPPORTUNISTIC
This is where we diversify the thinking behind our portfolio management by using strategies that can adapt to changing market conditions. We use managers that have a defined investment process that includes the flexibility to move between different asset classes. They are not going to look or perform like an index fund. But that is the point. Managers in this sleeve are tilting into different markets at different times to both seek opportunity and manage risk.
Portfolio Management Reports
Every family has unique circumstances. We work with you to keep each sleeve in proportion with what your situation requires. A part of our portfolio management process is to provide regular statements on performance. These statements are designed to reflect each sleeve so that clients can clearly understand their diversification.
We also provide periodic portfolio management reviews. During these meetings, our financial advisors sit down with you and present a report on how your investment strategy aligns with your financial plan. We use the sleeve framework in these reports. This provides an intelligent assessment of how effectively each piece of the strategy is doing its job. Our advisors understand that it is not just about what you own, but how your investments are working for you.
The Riskalyze service is offered for informational and educational purposes only. No information contained in your Riskalyze report should be considered as investment advice or an investment recommendation offered by Morton Brown. Riskalyze is an unaffiliated third party service and is not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment advisor or a broker-dealer. Neither Riskalyze nor Morton Brown make any representation as to the suitability of the Riskalyze services for any purpose and Morton Brown will not be liable for any consequences or damages that may arise through your use of Riskalyze. Information provided in connection with use of the Riskalyze service should be construed as a solicitation or offer to sell or recommend securities, financial advice, or insurance products.