Active management of long-only portfolios

Strategically tilted portfolios of equities, fixed income and real assets.

EQUITIES

Stocks, ETFs, Preferred Shares

FIXED INCOME

Treasuries, Corporates, Specialty, Convertible Securities

REAL ASSETS

Commodities, Real Estate

HOW WE SERVE AND HELP:

We assist both individual and institutional investors in the field of traditional investments with a structured, multi-layered top-down approach put at work for determining portfolio structures at the asset class, industry, sub-industry and issuer level. We strategically tilt your portfolio towards aggressive or defensive investments based on the position in the overall market and economic cycles.

We evaluate the merits of investments both on an absolute and relative basis so that we select potential top performers out of pre-determined universes of suitable investments. The inclusion – exclusion criteria are based on a combination of analysis of market behavior, analysis of market fundamentals and analysis of relative strength based on our proprietary relative strength methodologies.

WHAT WE DO FOR:

 

We use a simple, structured approach to efficiently manage your assets in all market environments:

 

1. We employ a consultative approach to understand key facts about your investment profile and we recommend an appropriate asset mix;

 

2. We manage and re-balance your portfolio on our discretionary platform using a combination of technical and fundamental criteria. We attempt delivering positive returns in good and bad times alike;

 

3. We constantly monitor your portfolio results and we periodically review the suitability of your investment program. This helps us identify changes you may need or want us to apply to your overall investment process;

 

4. Whenever needed, we apply changes and adjustments to your program after consulting with you and after explaining you all implications of such changes. 

 

We take a holistic view on your family's finances and then use our simple, structured approach to efficiently manage assets in all market environments:

 

1. We employ a consultative approach to understand key facts about your family's investment profile and we recommend appropriate portfolio structures for each account you hold. This, in essence, will determine your asset mix at the group and account level;

 

2. We manage and re-balance your portfolios on our discretionary platform using a combination of technical and fundamental criteria. We attempt delivering positive returns in good and bad times alike;

 

3. We constantly monitor your portfolio results per account and at the group / family level. We periodically review the suitability of your investment program(s) to identify changes you may need or want us to apply to your overall investment process;

 

4. Whenever needed, we apply changes and adjustments to your program after consulting with you and after explaining you all implications of such changes.  

 

 

We account for your naturally high level of risk aversion and tilt your portfolios towards safety and income. We then use our simple, structured approach to efficiently manage your assets in all market environments:

 

1. We employ a consultative approach to understand key facts about your investment profile and we recommend an appropriate asset mix;

 

2. We manage and re-balance your portfolio on our discretionary platform using a combination of technical and fundamental criteria. We attempt delivering positive returns in good and bad times alike;

 

3. We constantly monitor your portfolio results and we periodically review the suitability of your investment program. This helps us identify changes you may need or want us to apply to your overall investment process;

 

4. Whenever needed, we apply changes and adjustments to your program after consulting with you and after explaining you all implications of such changes. 

 

We account for your appetite to accumulate wealth in your prime years to build a better retirement base and tilt your portfolios towards growth and capital gains to an extent you're comfortable with. We then use our simple, structured approach to efficiently manage your assets in all market environments:

 

1. We employ a consultative approach to understand key facts about your investment profile and we recommend an appropriate asset mix;

 

2. We manage and re-balance your portfolio on our discretionary platform using a combination of technical and fundamental criteria. We attempt delivering positive returns in good and bad times alike;

 

3. We constantly monitor your portfolio results and we periodically review the suitability of your investment program. This helps us identify changes you may need or want us to apply to your overall investment process;

 

4. Whenever needed, we apply changes and adjustments to your program after consulting with you and after explaining you all implications of such changes. 

 

Financial advisory should extend beyond your investment needs and should include guidance regarding the prospects in your employer's sector or industry as well as the larger economy.

We account for this plus your appetite to accumulate wealth at a faster pace to build a better retirement base; we thus tilt your portfolios towards growth and capital gains to an extent you're comfortable with. We then use our simple, structured approach to efficiently manage your assets in all market environments:

 

1. We employ a consultative approach to understand key facts about your investment profile and we recommend an appropriate combinations asset mix;

 

2. We manage and re-balance your portfolio(s) on our discretionary platform using a combination of technical and fundamental criteria. We attempt delivering positive returns in good and bad times alike;

 

3. We constantly monitor your portfolio results and we periodically review the suitability of your investment program. This helps us identify changes you may need or want us to apply to your overall investment process;

 

4. Whenever needed, we apply changes and adjustments to your program after consulting with you and after explaining you all implications of such changes. 

 

Financial advisory should extend beyond your investment needs and should include guidance regarding the prospects in your firm's sector or industry as well as the larger economy.

We account for this plus your appetite to accumulate wealth at a faster pace to build a better retirement base; we thus tilt your portfolios towards growth and capital gains to an extent you're comfortable with. We then use our simple, structured approach to efficiently manage your assets in all market environments:

 

1. We employ a consultative approach to understand key facts about your investment profile and we recommend an appropriate asset mix;

 

2. We manage and re-balance your portfolios on our discretionary platform using a combination of technical and fundamental criteria. We attempt delivering positive returns in good and bad times alike;

 

3. We constantly monitor your portfolio results and we periodically review the suitability of your investment program. This helps us identify changes you may need or want us to apply to your overall investment process;

 

4. Whenever needed, we apply changes and adjustments to your program after consulting with you and after explaining you all implications of such changes. 

 

We account for your appetite to combine capital appreciation and income strategies. We then use our simple, structured approach to efficiently manage your assets in all market environments:

 

1. We employ a consultative approach to understand key facts about your investment profile and we recommend an appropriate asset mix;

 

2. We manage and re-balance those portfolio models on our discretionary platform using a combination of technical and fundamental criteria. This ensures we consistently deliver absolute return in good and bad times alike;

 

3. We constantly monitor your portfolio results and we periodically review the suitability of your investment program. This helps us identify changes you may need or want us to apply to your overall investment process;

 

4. Whenever needed, we apply changes and adjustments to your program after consulting with you and after explaining you all implications of such changes. 

OUR HYBRID INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK

There is no shortage of evidence, over any time horizon, that nothing ever moves in one direction in the universe around us. Absolutely all activities known to man are cyclical in nature and are subject to specific up and down phases of various magnitudes. This includes all natural phenomena, such as day, night, seasons, weather, seismic or sunspot activity; but also includes all socio-economic phenomena, such as trends in the economy, the stock markets, monetary expansion and contraction and even cultural trends or trends in regional or global armed conflict.

Despite this, the public and the investment management industry favors passive over active investment management by a huge margin. Passive management cannot explain, however, why investors should suffer in devastating bear markets or protracted consolidation phases. It does also have no tool to cope with ever more correlated prices for assets belonging to different asset classes or geographies – which is what we’d expect in today’s globalized world. Passive management, in the long-run achieves at best mediocrity – and that’s a fact!

Yet, passive management is still main-stream for two reasons. In part this has to do with the fact that over the past 4-5 decades stock market corrections, while at times severe or at least significant, have been generally short-lived. There is more to it than that, though. We do know that active investment management delivers better risk-adjusted returns for somebody that has a method, an investment plan and the discipline to apply it. But the problem is a lot of times one or more of these ingredients are missing – and the results end up being anything but the proverbial “trip to the promised land”. And it is also true that getting too cocky with the market swings has its disadvantages as you will inevitably end up falling into a trap at some point.

Mathematically, a 5% compounded yearly return requires the doubling of asset prices every 14.3 years. Over a 50 year period the required growth is more than 10 fold - or 1000%. If the purpose is to maintain or improve living standards of future generations, most of whom will spend 20-50 years in the job market before retiring, this is simply unsustainable. This in turn means that achieving investors’ objectives from this point on will require a fundamentally different model to emerge.

We believe the problem with the active vs passive management debate is the nature of the question asked, i.e. people wonder “whose religion is better”. We believe long-term success is reserved to those who can skillfully combine the two approaches and extract their benefits while isolating their weaknesses. Passive management is a good thing to have at some decisional level simply because it naturally deals with issuer risks. But active management is absolutely essential for asset mix and big picture decisions in order to remove the impact of major macro events and improve the long-term risk adjusted returns of portfolios. Tactically combining the passive and active approaches yields, in our experience, the best results.

AVAILABLE ASSET CLASSES

Our top-down investment approach requires we slice asset classes by geography and other risk and liquidity factors in order to obtain investable / permissible asset classes.

Your investment universe is then built as a subset of permissible asset classes that would best reflect your needs and preferences.

EQUITIES - Developed Markets

AMERICAS
United States
Canada

EUROPE
EU ex Eurozone
Eurozone
non EU

ASIA-PACIFIC
Japan
Asia-Pacific ex-Japan

MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA
GCC
non GCC

EQUITIES - Frontier Markets

GLOBAL
BRIC Group

AMERICAS
South America
Caribbeans

EUROPE
Southern Europe
Eastern Europe

ASIA-PACIFIC
Central Asia
South-East Asia
Pacific

MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA
GCC
non GCC
North Africa
Central & South Africa

EQUITIES - Emerging Markets

AMERICAS
Central America
South America
Caribbeans

EUROPE
Southern Europe
Eastern Europe

ASIA-PACIFIC
Central Asia
South-East Asia
Pacific

MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA
North Africa
Central & South Africa

FIXED INCOME - Treasuries

AMERICAS
United States
Canada

EUROPE
EU ex Eurozone
Eurozone
non EU

ASIA-PACIFIC
Japan
Australia
Hong-Kong
Singapore

FIXED INCOME - Corporate Bonds

AMERICAS
United States
Canada

FIXED INCOME - Specialty

AMERICAS
United States

COMMODITIES - Cash Commodities

PRECIOUS METALS
Gold
Silver, Platinum, Palladium

INDUSTRIAL METALS
Ferrous industrial metals
Non-ferrous industrial metals

ENERGY
Oil & gas
Other fossil energy
Alternative energy

SOFTS & FIBERS
Softs
Fibers

AGRICULTURE
Grains
Meats
Dairy

COMMODITIES - Commodity Specialty

COMMODITY SPECIALTY
Leveraged Commodities
Inverse Commodities

COMMODITIES - Commodity Producers

PRECIOUS METALS PRODUCERS
Gold
Silver, Platinum, Palladium

INDUSTRIAL METALS PRODUCERS
Ferrous industrial metals
Non-ferrous industrial metals

ENERGY PRODUCERS
Oil & gas
Other fossil energy
Alternative energy

SOFTS & FIBERS PRODUCERS
Softs
Fibers

AGRICULTURE PRODUCERS
Grains
Meats
Dairy