Client Service
&
Education

1. Every wealth management strategy begins with a thorough understanding of the client's unique needs, investment experience, risk tolerance, return expectations, wealth goals, income needs, time frame to retirement, stability of current income sources, tax situation and other special circumstances.

2. Most money management firms give little or no weight to the economic big picture and where in the business cycle the economy is at the present time. That is, they make client investment recommendations that would be the same regardless if the economy was at the peak of an 18 year bull market or at the beginning of one. As you can see by looking at the history of the stock market, there are long periods of time to be in the stock market and also long periods of time where other asset classes performed better.

3. Based upon information from the Discover Client Profile and Consider the Economic Big Picture, Wealth Objective are then identified and prioritized. For example, for some, the priorities could include income guarantees, for others obtaining a certain net worth, others tax reduction, estate maximization, and/or asset protection.

4. Based upon the Prioritized Wealth Objectives, we review and Select Strategies to Meet Objectives. This is an interactive process with the client and sometimes the interaction helps clarify or refine their Wealth Objectives. Strategy selection will be driven by the client profile, due diligence and risk management, and potentially asset allocation components that includes investments not correlated to the stock market.

5. Tools are chosen from our toolbox to Implement Strategies. These could be tax reduction tools, income or cash flow planning, business planning, arranging legal structures or specialized documents with our world class legal team, life insurance or annuity tools, or securities. Securities could include alternative investments not correlated to the stock market, such as collateralized notes, petro bonds, niche areas of real estate, equipment leasing, 1031 Exchange, and energy programs. Other alternative toolsets include managed futures, PIPE strategies (Private Investment in Public Equity), hedge funds, market linked CDs. Equity and bond strategies could include adaptive managed accounts, and select stock, bond, and mutual fund strategies.

6. A significant benefit of our approach is its ability to measure performance on an absolute return basis rather than in relative terms. Typically, alternative investments found in our portfolios have the ability to deliver solid absolute returns, regardless of how the markets perform in general .

7. Change happens, including client priorities and situation, new investment opportunities, government taxes and regulation. As these change we Update as Needed strategies.

Our Process centers around the client. Our objective is to provide referable service to each of our clients. We provide context driven education. This means that just before clients reach a particular situation or opportunity, we provide context-specific education on those situations or opportunities as appropriate for each client.