To select the right advisor you must ask yourself two questions:

Can I trust my advisor to exercise sound judgment in building, managing, and distributing my wealth?

And,

Am I confident that my advisor can select the right investments to meet my needs?

Clients trust us to preserve and grow their investments because we:

• Combine Wall Street investing experience with local personal service
• Are compensated for preserving and growing their financial assets
• Offer a rare, simple, and sensible approach to managing money

Here’s how our approach benefits you:

Rare – Most investors are “overdiversified.”

The reason 80% of mutual fund managers underperform the market average* is due to simple and convincing arithmetic − the probability of doing better than average decreases as the number of stocks in the portfolio increases. Numerous studies have proven that a portfolio can be effectively diversified with as little as 15 stocks. Yet the average mutual fund owns about 140 stocks.**

There is strong evidence that a concentrated investment strategy is superior to this “overdiversification” strategy. Examine some of the most successful investment managers − Warren Buffett, Phil Fisher, Peter Lynch, and Bill Miller. Their track records demonstrate that their performance resulted from relatively few investments (typically 15 - 20 stocks), not equal contribution from hundreds of stocks.

Similarly, we construct a concentrated portfolio of stocks for you. We carefully select 15-20 stocks, each of which we believe offers superior return potential and limited risk; and we expect to own those stocks for a long time. An analogy to our approach exists in education: teachers with fewer students per class are able to give those students more attention, which results in higher student test scores. In the words of Warren Buffett, we prefer a "lumpy 15% return to a smooth 12% return."

Simple − Clear, effective, and appropriate investment management.

Clients benefit from our get-rich-slow strategy in three ways. First, with our approach you know what stocks you own, why you own them, and how they are doing. A hodgepodge of mutual fund statements, brokerage statements, and bank statements can be murky and confusing. We simplify things for you.

Second, all stocks are not created equal, and opportunities change over time. We think that clients benefit the most when they own the money manager's best ideas - those that have been rigorously researched and are available at attractive prices. You own our top 20 stocks, not those ranked 21-100.

Third, concentrated portfolios aid in managing risk. Overdiversifying with 50, 100, or 200 stocks is not optimal. Not only is performance more likely to be average (or worse), but the more stocks one oversees, the less one understands about each of the stocks. We believe that the most effective way to manage risk is to own more fixed-income securities like government bonds, not by owning hundreds of stocks. We utilize bonds to reduce risk, generate income, and meet near-term cash needs. We invest in stocks to grow and protect the purchasing power of client assets.

Sensible − Concentration produces better results.

Watch Tiger Woods' eyes as he accelerates the club into a golf ball − you see and feel his intense focus. Performance at high levels requires concentration − in sports, at work, in school, and especially in managing your assets. The unavoidable fact is that all of us are more efficient and make fewer mistakes when we concentrate.

Similarly, we believe that concentrating one’s investment portfolio by patiently holding a select number of quality companies should more effectively meet client objectives. High-quality long-term investment ideas are uncommon. The chances of finding only 15 – 20 stocks that can outperform the market are much higher than finding 100 stocks that can. We focus on the fundamentals − hit the greens and make the easy putts. The odds of finding 100 above-average investment ideas are probably similar to the odds of sinking 100 chip shots from the sand trap.

*John C. Bogle, Common Sense on Mutual Funds;
New Perspectives for the intelligent Investor
**The Power of Concentration; Fortune Magazine/Morningstar