If you stand straight, do not fear a crooked shadow."

~Chinese Proverb

Our value proposition is our statement of reality to you that explains:

1. What we do,

2. The probable value of what we do,

3. That the value of what we do is worth more than what you pay for it.
   

We are essentially a financial planner first, and a portfolio manager in the sense that our portfolios are funding vehicles for the plans.  A portfolio is never an end to itself but rather a tool to reach goals.

Our approach is goal-focused and planning driven, rather than being based on some attempt to outguess the economy or the markets, which can't be done anyway.  We do not sell quarterly performance.

 So the first thing we do is determine:

• What it is you are trying to accomplish.

• How much time you have in which to accomplish it, and

• What assets you bring to the table in the effort to accomplish your goals.

Then together we formulate an investment strategy, which is part of the plan to reach your goals.  Only then do we design a diversified portfolio of investments, which, at long-term historical rates of return, will get you to where you want to go.

Once we’ve created a high quality portfolio of investments that are well-suited to your goals, we become, in a very real sense, your behavioral coach—helping you to continue to make good decisions and avoid bad decisions, about what to do—and what not to do—regarding the portfolio.

We don’t say that the investments I recommend will always outperform other investor’s investments.  We certainly don’t rule it out; we just can’t promise it—nor can any other advisor—and it has almost no connection with what we do for our clients & the value we bring to the table.

We do say that by using the principles we practice, you should end up with a far better lifetime return than do other investors; because--and we guarantee this--other investors will not behave appropriately.

• They will speculate at the top of the market.

• They will panic at the bottom of the market.

• They will act upon advice from the media, which preaches what is working today instead of what has always worked.

• They will make the big mistakes.

• They will compound the problems already created by the 2008 stock market.

• They will proceed without a plan.

They will do this--not always through improper selection and timing--but through bad investment behavior fueled by emotions.  This is as predictable as the sun will shine tomorrow.

For as long as you are our client, we will keep you from making the mistakes.  The pickup in return from not making those mistakes should be huge and an enormous force in your long-term returns.

We ask our clients to “trust the messenger more than the message,” because sometimes the advice is counterintuitive.  It’s counterintuitive because it’s countercultural.  Wall Street has created a “performance culture,” over the decades, which makes Wall Street more money but is not in investors best interests.

~Bill Bowers