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When asked about our typical client, our response is always that we do not have a typical client. Our clients come from all walks of life from individuals who have inherited money to executives who have succeeded in climbing the corporate ladder. We handle trusts and charitable foundations, individual accounts, as well as pension plans and IRAs. With this in mind, it is essential that we maintain flexibility in implementing investment strategies. Each portfolio is guided by our general outlook but uniquely constructed to reflect each client's different needs, time horizons, risk tolerance and tax situation.
Our investment decisions are based on an analysis of long term fundamentals. With this approach, we look beyond the typical investment horizon to identify structural changes and major trends before they become apparent. Our goal is to achieve positive real capital returns after adjusting for inflation. Portfolio strategies are designed to provide consistent annual returns with modest volatility and to minimize downside risk. Unlike many advisors today, we do not allocate assets to outside managers. All research is done in-house and security selections are reviewed on an ongoing basis.
As an asset manager, we remain flexible in our choice of investment vehicles and will seek the most attractive long-term opportunities consistent with a modest level of risk. This may include investments in non-financial assets, global securities, specialty funds and alternative investments. Primarily however, our investment approach consists of selecting individual equity and fixed income investments. Our approach to equity selection focuses on both the risk and opportunity involved with each investment. Fixed income securities are utilized in those portfolios where appropriate to provide cash flow to balance the typical volatility experienced in stocks.
While portfolio management is certainly a driving influence for our clients, we also serve as trusted advisors. Once clients become familiar with our investment approach and results they tend to rely on us for non-investment decisions to an even greater extent. The background of our staff has always served our clients well when needing advice on a broad array of financial matters.
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