We understand that most people measure risk not just by overall volatility, but also by the probability of losing money. Very few of us have the luxury to park our investments for thirty years in the expectation that over the long-term we will achieve the historical average return. It is for this reason that we first focus on understanding our clients' annual income needs. Once those needs are assessed, we can better design a portfolio that balances capital appreciation with stability by diversifying across asset classes.

Incorporating risk management in the security selection process is also important. We control for business risk by focusing only on those companies with strong balance sheets, a solid track record of generating earnings and cash flow, and who are leaders in their businesses. We seek to minimize valuation risk by being disciplined about the price at which we buy and sell securities. Our modeling process gives us a very good indication of the upside potential and downside risk of any security. We aim to maximize the upside/downside ratio.