- 1. Goal Discovery
During your initial meeting(s), we’ll get to know each other at a deeper level. By listening first, then reviewing your confidential client profile, our Certified Financial Planner Practitioners™ will be able to recommend what to improve, develop or change as it relates to your wealth. These long-term financial goals and objectives will be identified to set the foundation of your WealthPlan.
Targeted risk is based on the principle of balance: the return you wish to gain, with the risk you're willing to take. Our cutting-edge techniques streamline the process of determining your “investment comfort zone,” then we build a portfolio designed to keep you and your assets within that target. Riskalyze software helps us pinpoint your acceptable levels of risk and reward with unparalleled accuracy, ensuring that your portfolio aligns with YOUR investment goals and expectations.
The result?
A risk score between 1 and 99 that pinpoints your exact comfort zone for downside risk and potential upside gain. Our team builds an investment portfolio in line with your Risk Number, charting a clearly-defined path to pursuing your goals.
Because real wealth is more than money, your unique aspirations and wishes are at the heart of your WealthPlan.
- 2. Plan Development
GraniteArch will conduct a portfolio stress test on your current investments and review your current statements. Our goal is to ensure your financial goals and objectives are in line with your level of comfort in taking on risk so we can design a personalized financial roadmap that meets your needs.
- 3. Mutual Commitment
By now you have been introduced to our comprehensive approach to financial planning and investing at GraniteArch Wealth Management. The next step is reviewing and signing our client engagement agreement. Once complete, you will have officially become part of the GraniteArch family. Moving forward you can expect our team to work tirelessly to help you reach your personal and financial goals.
• Confirm your Goals and Objectives
• Provide your custom Financial Planning Schedule
• Provide your Investment Recommendation
• Review and Sign your Client Engagement Agreement
- 4. Strategy Selection
Education is the key to transparency. We want to help you understand our investment process and strategies because these important financial decisions directly impact your life. Once you have a thorough understanding, we’ll make recommendations on strategy allocations and implement your personalized plan so you can live your life by design, not by default.
Our Investment Philosophy
We focus on designing portfolios, not “picking stocks.” Our approach involves broad diversification, low costs, and a combination of passive and active investment strategies. We design global multi-asset class portfolios with the goal of maximizing return within each portfolio’s unique risk environment.
Active Asset Allocation
Structure, or asset mix, determines most of the performance in a diversified portfolio. We take a disciplined approach to choosing asset classes to play different roles in your portfolio based on your specific risk tolerance and your goals. We adjust your allocation as your situation changes, always looking for a balanced portfolio. The exact mix of investments within each portfolio will depend on the individual client, taking into consideration factors such as age, net worth, income, rate of return objectives and risk tolerance.
A Non-Traditional Approach
Prudent investing is a rational process. It involves deciding how much risk to take, then choosing asset classes to match your risk-return trade-off. We take a slightly different approach to traditional managers. Rather than analyzing individual securities, we invest by deciding how much stock to hold versus bonds, how much small or large stock to hold, or how value or growth tilted the stocks should be. We structure strategies based on scientific evidence rather than speculation with a goal of achieving a more consistent portfolio structure.
Dynamic Portfolio Engineering
We take a flexible, innovative approach to investing to offer consistent, fully diversified exposure to the risks that drive long-term returns. We identify different types of risks, choose how much of these risks to take, and then strive to minimize the risks and costs traditional approaches impose. Many of our manager selections permit deviations from market cap weightings. This flexibility also allows us to reduce transaction costs from counterproductive trading.
Low-Cost Investing
We are very cost conscious when making investment decisions. Costs at all levels will negatively affect portfolio returns. One way to control “total” cost is through reduction of internally generated fees associated with many investment products. Here, we focus on fund expense ratios, attempting to provide the lowest possible expense ratios without sacrificing a fund’s quality. We also try to eliminate all other fund costs we believe add zero value, such as loads and 12b-1 fees.
A Focus On Tax Minimization
We are dedicated to preserving capital through proactive investment and tax management. We strive to maximize returns on an after-tax basis when allocating assets, distributing income and planning your estate.
Open, Ongoing Communication
To make sure your plan stays on track, we keep you informed about your portfolio and stay current on your objectives. We meet regularly with you for performance reviews and on an ad hoc basis as situations change. From our continuing discussions, we adjust our strategy and your portfolio accordingly, based on market dynamics and your evolving needs.
Investment Policy Statement
The guidelines used to manage your account are identified and agreed to in an Investment Policy Statement and Client Engagement Agreement for clarity purposes. If your objectives change with time, we simply agree to the appropriate adjustments and modify your account accordingly.
*Investing involves risk, including the risk of principal loss. Diversification and asset allocation do not ensure a profit or guarantee against loss.
- 5. Monitoring & Communication
Regularly Scheduled Review Meetings
Available at our office or online, we meet with you on a regularly scheduled basis to review your portfolio and update your financial plan.
Online Access
Cetera Advisor Networks - Your Personal Client Website to access performance reporting including a Secure Vault for your most important information. Here you may access Account Summary/Detail, Daily Performance, your Portfolio Risk Number, and more...
MoneyGuidePro - Your financial planning organizer and aggregation tool. With MGP you can view all of your held away accounts in addition to your managed portfolio. With this information, together, we have your complete financial picture to build and monitor your Financial Plan proactively. MGP also offers tools to help you monitor transactions, build budgets, plan a debt paydown strategy and much more...
