Monitoring Portfolios

Maintenance of your account occurs on both a macro and a micro level. When we closely analyze your portfolio(s), we scrutinize the investments you hold, checking not just for consistent performance, but also for any changes in the products' management, style drift, and risk relative to their benchmarks. The reason we buy an investment may be different from the reason we keep it, and I consider it my duty to ensure that all of my clients' investments stay on track with their goals and objectives.

We also look at the big picture, considering your account as a whole. In part, this means that we chart the changes in asset allocation that occur naturally over time. Due to economic factors, such as interest rates and the business cycle, various elements of your portfolio will grow more rapidly than others. Because asset classes do not move in lock-step, your portfolio may look very differently years after its initial implementation.

Portfolio shifts are problematic for two reasons. First, your portfolio may end up taking on substantially more risk than you originally intended. Second, if your portfolio is overweighted in certain positions and asset classes, you will be relatively poorly positioned to take part in a market rally that underperforming asset classes may experience.

Monitoring your account also requires that I remain in reasonably close contact with you. As time passes, your risk tolerance and income needs are likely to change, and your portfolio needs to reflect those changes.

For these reasons,  we are just as careful about monitoring your portfolio as we are about the initial investment selection. We continually track the assets in your account and provide reports on a quarterly basis.  We rebalance your account when it deviates from its original allocation and from your current goals.

We meet with you periodically to address any changing life situations, financial goals, and needs. It is also important for you to proactively communicate these life changes to me.