When dealing with asset management companies, investors often pay attention to the wrong things when making investment decisions and evaluating the wisdom of prior choices.  The following principles guide our asset management advice provided to clients:

• All investment decisions should be goal-focused and planning driven (not solely based on market or performance-driven)
• A robust portfolio is low cost, tax-efficient, and diversified across many asset classes
• The short-term performance of a benchmark (index) is irrelevant to an investor’s long-term success
• Risk is not fluctuation. Risk is the probability we will not achieve our goals – and that is the primary risk we consider
• Investor behavior (choices and reactions) has the greatest impact on the long-term success of a portfolio