Investment Process - Our 10 Point Integration Process

Investment Policy

Policy guidelines include the various factors affecting a portfolio's performance along with the means of determining whether the manager has provided added value.

Risk Management

Objective and subjective measures of risk and the importance of establishing performance goals that consider risk, as well as return. Evaluation of quantitative measures of standard deviation, beta, covariance, and correlation as measures of volatility and risk.

Historical Returns

Places "real" returns into historical perspective through risk/return trade-offs and the benefits of diversification.

Measuring Return on a Portfolio

Considers the interest rate theory to measure the importance of active strategies.

Due Diligence and Manager Selection

Examine both quantitative and qualitative issues relating to due diligence work on money managers, and such aspects as risk-adjusted performance analysis, benchmark choices, and appropriate risk measures. Evaluate the qualitative issues including size and structure, as well as the personnel and investment philosophy of a firm.

Asset Allocation

Employs the concept of "Efficient Frontiers" to analyze the means by which a portfolio's asset allocation can be adjusted for the appropriate risk/return levels to maximize efficiency.

Beta Coefficients

Looks at the risk/return relationship in the marketplace by utilizing the Capital Asset Pricing Model and the Security Market Line.

Duration and Convexity

Measuring and evaluation of fixed income securities.

International Financial Markets

Participate of returns in foreign markets, international diversification, and currency hedging strategies.

Performance Measurement and Attribution

Analyzes the performance evaluation procedure in three steps:
1. determination of basic asset allocation
2. evaluation of asset class weight selections, and
3. evaluation of specific security selections within each class.