Helping You Understand Your Investment Choices

For many people, the idea of making the right decisions about where and how to invest your money can be intimidating and overwhelming. Your choices as an investor have exploded in recent years. There are many opinions, often contradictory, about the best ways to invest your money.

Our investment philosophy comes from our studies of the academic underpinnings of sound investing. The academic research we employ cuts through the noise and confusion that investors often face.  Our investment strategies focus on what drives investment return, reduces volatility, and simplifies the investment process so the process is more understandable for investors.

The fundamental tenets we believe when it comes to investment management:

1. Securities markets are efficient. It is very difficult to best the market itself. We harness the power of the securities markets to provide growth of wealth that has historically more than offset inflation. We design investment portfolios that align with your goals and tolerance for risk. Studies reveal that stock picking and market timing simply do not outperform the market as a whole.
2. Portfolios should be structured along the dimensions of expected returns. We focus on what drives returns. Academic research has helped identify certain characteristics that point to differences in expected returns. For example, equities have historically outperformed bonds. We provide institutional level portfolios that take advantage of these drivers of returns.
3. Diversification reduces risks. We believe diversification should be across asset classes on a global basis. Combining different types of investments is a little like having a flower garden. We don’t plant a garden full of the same type of flower, because it allows us to enjoy different flowers blooming at different times. Diversification can lower your exposure to risk, while still taking advantage of opportunities during a favorable market cycle. We construct investment portfolios that allow you to achieve the maximum return possible for least amount of risk possible.

4. Investment decisions must be objective. While your personal finances can evoke emotional feelings, investment decisions cannot be based on emotions. Discipline is essential when it comes to investing. Markets go up and down. Reacting to current market conditions may lead to making poor investment decisions at the worst time. That is why we are here to help you avoid the mistake of reacting to market conditions and keep you on track toward your long-term financial goals.
5. Focus on what you can control. We work to create an investment plan tailored to your personal financial needs while focusing on actions that add value. The ways we help you do this are by creating an investment plan to fit your needs and risk tolerance. Providing institutional class portfolios, diversifying broadly, reducing expenses and turnover, performing periodic rebalancing of asset classes within the portfolio, and minimizing taxes is all part of the value when you work with Gantt Financial Advisors as your investment manager.