How do we manage your portfolio in the framework of a coordinated financial plan?

Successful investing fuels your ongoing progress to financial security. It is not a sport. Because of this, our approach to portfolio management ignores the narrow approach of attempting to beat the performance of the index that happens to be "hot" at the moment. Neither does it attempt to time the movements of the financial markets. Instead, we apply a time-tested, disciplined process to design an investment strategy uniquely tailored to give you the greatest likelihood of achieving your lifetime financial goals. 

MSIA applies a rigorous process to ensure your investments start and stay consistent with your objectives. We take two approaches to ensuring your investments agree with your level of risk tolerance. 1) We apply a model that compares your time horizon for investing to your ability to endure volatility and your overall financial objectives. 2) We modify our measurements by examining risk and reward scenarios with you.

Considering your risk tolerance and objectives, we allocate investment funds over asset classes that are most likely to attain a reasonable return while subjecting you to the smallest amount of volatility in the short run. This combination is influenced by economic conditions, your personal income tax situation and our analysis of the specific areas of the financial markets that appear particularly attractive – either because of the opportunities they present or their undervalued price levels. 

While your portfolio is subject to several types of risk, it is the day-to-day short-term volatility of the financial markets that most concerns investors. 

A portfolio’s overall volatility is caused by two factors: 1) the fluctuations of each individual holding, and 2) the way in which the individual holdings behave in relation to the other holdings in the portfolio. We know that different economic events can cause certain assets to appreciate while the value of other assets goes down. Applying this to your portfolio can actually reduce its overall volatility. This knowledge helps us minimize the short-term volatility that we must accept needed to achieve your specific target rate of return. 

Each individual holding plays a specific role in the overall portfolio. We use a disciplined approach to evaluate, select and monitor each investment. Though we can utilize individual stocks for your equity holdings, we prefer equity mutual funds because that is where the best stock pickers with the most appealing track records can be found. Specifically, we consider manager tenure, consistent application of a well-articulated investment philosophy, short and longer-term returns relative to benchmarks and peer group, volatility relative to benchmarks, income tax efficiency and operating costs. For those clients that require an enhanced and/or specialized level of asset management services, we shall recommend that a portion of their assets be managed by certain independent institutional portfolio managers, based upon the stated investment objectives of the client. MSIA shall continue to render non-investment supervisory services to the client relative to the ongoing monitoring and review of account performance, asset allocation and client investment objectives.  

Our advisory team brings unparalleled expertise and experience to the task of managing your unique investment portfolio. We regularly monitor the financial markets and stay current with our regular research contributors. On a quarterly basis, we evaluate both your portfolio’s overall allocation as well as its specific holdings to determine if any changes should be made. These changes are influenced both by what has occurred in the past as well as by the emergence of trends that are likely to impact the future. 

We then communicate the changes we have made – and the thinking behind them – by email or letter, in your written quarterly performance report or at your next review conference.

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