Developing Your Investment Strategy
Once our team has determined the financial goals and risk tolerance for a client, we develop the appropriate investment strategy to pursue the goals and risk tolerance determined. In order to manage the investment strategy and any regulatory requirements, our team has developed a systematic approach to utilize the most appropriate investment choices available.
1) Initially, we determine if an investment utilizing a principal or income strategy is desired by the client or advisable as to the financial goal to be achieved. The options utilized are chosen based on the strength of the product they offer in the marketplace at the time the investment is made. Our analysis also includes a review of the strength of the insurance carrier backing the promise to pay and an analysis of the costs associated with the product.
2) After the need for any guaranteed principal or income has been met, the remaining investments are allocated based on the size of the investment to be made and the amount of diversification that is recommended. The investment managers are generally selected with an overweight emphasizing long-term investment results and cost effectiveness. LPL Financial has developed several investment platforms that meet the stringent requirements imposed on fiduciary relationships.
- MWP (Model Wealth Portfolio) provides several investment strategies to choose from, including American Funds, Dimensional Fund Advisors, Franklin Templeton, and MFS; these strategists may be combined in one investment account to provide a broad diversification of managers while utilizing one of several investment models.
- SAM (Strategic Asset Management) provides tactical models that can utilize a mix of the over 8,000 mutual funds and other investments available, based on research models constructed by LPL Research. These models change periodically and are meant to reflect the ongoing shifts in the investment market and changing economic situations. Our team determines the final decision regarding the mix of investments to be utilized.
- OMP (Optimum Market Portfolio) is a mutual fund program that consists of six multi manager mutual funds that includes access to a broad group of money managers to enhance diversification. The program is managed by LPL Research and is designed to take advantage of changing economic conditions.
- Alternative investments, such as REITs (real estate investment trust) or BDCs (business development company), among others, are utilized in the appropriate situation to further diversify the portfolio or provide required cash flow.
3) In all cases, an attempt is made to utilize the most cost efficient choices available that pursue the desired goal.