Throughout every stage in life we help you with your financial priorities by taking a personalized, unbiased approach that encompasses all aspects of wealth management: investment planning, wealth advisory, retirement and succession planning, estate and insurance services, tax planning, and philanthropic giving.
 

Getting To Know You.

Everyone has a story. To provide effective counsel, we will take the time upfront to learn about you and hear your story. It is this fascinating story that shapes us as individuals and determines our attitudes toward risk, tolerance for volatility, life goals, and unique investment objectives. We strongly believe in a multi-generational approach and actively encourage all family members to become comfortable with seeking our advice on financial matters.  We very much enjoy the initial process of getting to know you, what you value most, your dreams and successes, and what lets you sleep peacefully at night.

We Are Unique.

We are not salespeople or representatives of investment products. As Portfolio Managers, we are the decision makers. With your input, we customize your asset allocation, choose the individual stocks and bonds that will form the foundation of your risk-adjusted portfolio, and hold ourselves completely accountable for its performance. We have the track record that attests to our successful long term navigation of many different markets and economic cycles – including the most intellectually stimulating one of all, and the one no one can forget– the “2008-2009 credit crisis”. 

Creation and Preservation of Wealth.

Our focus is on managing discretionary investment portfolios that create and preserve your wealth in a tax efficient manner. While getting to know you we build a comprehensive picture of you as an investor which not only informs how we design your portfolio but also determines how you might benefit from any other financial, estate and tax planning advice we can offer in-house. We constantly monitor your portfolio performance and most importantly, its progress towards your financial goals. We only ask that you keep us up to date regarding inevitable changes in your life circumstances that may trigger a necessary review of the suitability of your investment portfolio toward your revised goals. Actively balancing the risk return paradigm that governs your portfolio is an integral part of what we do on an ongoing basis.

Communication.

We provide transparent, independent guidance and maintain open and regular collaborative lines of communication. Some clients come to see us quarterly, while others have not seen us in years even though we encourage a face to face meeting in our office at least once a year. Life, it seems, gets in the way.  It really is entirely up to you. We make it our mission to be the first people you want to call when you have any questions about markets, finance, economics, and how any of it might affect you and your peace of mind. We stay very well informed, level headed, and do our best to ensure you feel well taken care of.
 
You will receive a full combined portfolio and performance review semi-annually, and you will also have the option to receive monthly statements electronically. We will also minimize income tax time hassles by providing you with all the information you will need to file your taxes including annual summaries of capital gains and losses, dividends and interest earnings, management fees paid, and contribution receipts for RRSP’s.

Conservatism.

We are very clear about what we can and cannot do, as well as what we will and will not do. Our approach will not suit everyone. We are not speculative traders and we believe it is time in the market, not timing the market that produces the best, consistent long term results on a risk-adjusted basis. In other words, “slow and steady wins the race”.  This ensures that we do not get distracted by the demands of practices such as short term trading. Instead we work to maintain a razor sharp focus on how domestic and global issues may affect your investments and financial plan.  Certainly there is no crystal ball that accurately predicts market reactions to inevitable micro and macro events. Therefore, our investment portfolios are built on a solid strategic framework of unwavering discipline and process specifically designed to prevail throughout the market cycles.

Objective Advice and Perspective.

Every year we attend research conferences in Toronto and New York to hear leading analysts, economists, and strategists talk about their views, opinions about the future, and ideas about how to position portfolios accordingly. We particularly enjoy when they disagree with each other; the learning is fantastic. There is so much to be said for face to face communication – sometimes body language tells us everything we need to know. These conferences include professionals from BMO, J.P. Morgan, Cornerstone Macro, and CEOs of individual companies.  It is these conferences that inform most of our decisions on the companies we buy and sell.
One of our key success factors is our understanding of market volatility and its effect on investor psychology. An integral part of our work is to “hold your hand” through the inevitable ups and downs in the markets, economic cycles, and albeit rare “black swan” events. 

Financial Planning.  

We take the confusion out of financial planning to simplify your life and help you make better informed decisions about your future. Utilizing comprehensive financial planning software, we can create a fully customized plan unique to your retirement and/or personal goals. Depending on the complexity of your situation this process may highlight any need to draw upon other professional services. We will determine if we need to call in our in-house experts to address particularly complex estate, tax planning, insurance, succession planning, or bank financing needs, and/or outside lawyers and accountants to collectively work for you. We often act as “quarterback” as we collaborate with other professionals to service your needs.
Our clients discover this to be a very empowering exercise and an important benchmark on which to measure progress against personal financial goals.

Fees.

A managed portfolio provides you with predictability and transparency with respect to the fee you pay for the advice and services you receive. One fee covers the cost of portfolio management, trade execution, administration, reporting and wealth management.

Who We Work With.

We accept new high net worth clients primarily through referrals from existing clients, and a network of accountants, lawyers, and other professionals. We strongly believe the “like-mindedness” we discover in referrals goes a long way to building and enjoying mutually successful long term relationships – something we strive for and take pride in. As a result, our clients come from a broad range of backgrounds:

Retirees who need income strategies, preservation of capital, estate planning, and charitable giving guidance;
Individuals who have acquired significant wealth from any number of sources - inheritance, selling expensive real estate, downsizing, a company buy out, or converting “play” money (speculative wins) into lower risk long term investments that can be counted on for retirement;
People who have worked hard and diligently saved over the years to build a substantial nest egg that needs to be managed prudently; and
Young professionals who are building their network and seek counsel around home ownership, debt management, stewardship of family wealth and saving and investing for retirement. 
 
To review what our clients have to say about us click here.

To learn more about our team please click our names under the “Who We Are” tab.