Investment Philosophy

Our firm specializes in a long-term, value-oriented approach to investing. When evaluating and selecting possible investments, we focus on what we consider to be undervalued companies with good long-term growth potential. In particular, we identify companies that meet our criteria based upon classic value investing techniques. For example, we look for companies with good business models, strong management teams, and other promising fundamentals that are also trading at a reasonable price in the marketplace. Often, the securities we select temporarily may be out of favor due to economic, market, or cyclical reasons.

Unlike many other investment managers, we individually manage each client's portfolio. Every one of our clients has a unique set of circumstances, financials needs, and goals. Often, this situation changes over time as does each client's ability and desire to tolerate varying levels of investment risk. We do not believe that a "one size fits all portfolio" suits many clients, if any. Accordingly, we individually craft and adapt each client's portfolio to suit them. In so doing, we employ a thoughtful and disciplined three-pronged approach to investing:

Preserving Capital: When a client entrusts us with assets to invest, our primary goal is to protect these assets and not expose them to undue risk. When making investments, we aim to purchase securities that are trading at a discount or in a value price range. By attempting to not overpay for securities, we often gain some protection in client accounts should equity markets turn negative.

Generating Income: Our secondary goal is to build each client's portfolio so that it provides a steady stream of income. Thus, many of the companies we select pay a dividend, which helps to increase portfolio performance and also may offer some protection in volatile markets.

Building for Growth: Finally, we aim to develop portfolios containing securities that exhibit positive growth characteristics. By selecting companies that we believe have the potential to grow in value over time, we help build a client's long-term financial security. This is especially important in order to offset the negative effect that inflation can have on a portfolio's long-term value. Ideally, over the long-term a client's portfolio performance will exceed a multiple of the rate of inflation on an annualized basis.

Another important component of our firm's philosophy is our commitment to providing each and every client with a high level of customer service. We consider it a privilege to have the faith and trust of each of our clients and we seek to develop and maintain close client relationships. We encourage and promote an ongoing dialogue to ensure we fully understand each client's priorities and goals. Also, we take this information into consideration with each portfolio decision we make in an account.

By developing individual portfolios specifically tailored to the needs of each client with companies that exhibit a variety of characteristics, as described above, and by maintaining a close personal relationship with each of our clients, we believe that you will be well served.