Our Process

We have developed a proprietary process that helps us thoroughly understand your needs and create fully customized strategies that are unique to you. The Portfolio By Design process thoroughly evaluates your goals in relation to your overall picture, allowing us to find any gaps, identify risks, and highlight opportunities. We believe that it is our job to pay attention to the details and let you get back to your life, confident that you have left nothing to chance.

Our process follows six distinct steps:

Discovery Phase:

Every new client begins with a thorough discovery process designed to explore his or her personal history, family, needs, goals, dreams, values, and attitudes about risk. Through a series of ongoing discussions, we gather detailed information about you and review your entire financial situation.

Analysis & Recommendation Phase:

Once we have gathered the initial information we need to develop a clear understanding of your needs and goals, we will meet as a team to review your situation. We use sophisticated software and rigorous research to repeatedly test your goals using a wide range of variables and conditions. Through our detailed analysis process, we will identify opportunities, weaknesses, and red flags in your current strategies.

Design Phase:

No single investment approach can be effective for every investor. This is why we offer no boilerplate or cookie-cutter strategies. Instead, we thoroughly analyze every aspect of your current situation and build a fully customized portfolio based around your individual goals.

Our proprietary Portfolio by Design process minimizes risk and maximizes return according to your specific attitude toward risk. We include a mix of investments, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and cash to help you pursue your goals. Research shows and our experience supports that successful investors share one defining characteristic. They are able to “weather” markets by using techniques like asset allocation and diversification to withstand down markets and flourish during growth periods.

In order to protect your life savings, generate income, and allow your wealth to grow, we build portfolios using two forms of capital: Foundation Capital and Opportunity Capital. Foundation Capital is the base of your portfolio and is invested to minimize market volatility and loss. By creating a foundation, we help you achieve peace of mind by knowing that you will have enough income to support your desired lifestyle.

Once we have created a foundation of income, we use the remaining Opportunity Capital to pursue growth opportunities in up markets and reduce losses in down markets. We use time-tested asset allocation models and high-quality investments in every portfolio. Our research evaluates securities using 37 individual data points, performance, risk, and expense to produce the Legacy Focus List, a list of high-quality investments from all asset classes. To improve your net return, we pay close attention to the impact of fees, trading commissions, and taxes on your portfolio.

Presentation Phase:

When we are completely satisfied that every strength, weakness, opportunity, and red flag has been identified, we will present our findings and recommendations in simple, clear terms. Every plan we create is presented in written format to help solidify your understanding. We support every recommendation with detailed facts and rigorous research backed by decades of experience helping clients achieve their goals in many kinds of market environments. Your written portfolio strategy will contain a roadmap that explains what actions need to be taken and present a timeline for implementation. We may also consult outside experts to advise you about any critical legal or estate issues. In this phase, we will meet with you as often as you need to feel comfortable with the recommendations we have made.

Implementation Phase:

Once you fully understand and are comfortable with our recommendations, we can begin to implement your personalized portfolio strategy. We work closely with your old firm and advisors to smoothly move your assets to our platform. Our team will obtain all necessary information and follow up, making the transition as fluid as possible. We will check in with you weekly with updates on your progress.

Management Phase:

Once we have implemented the initial steps of your personalized portfolio strategy, we shift into proactive management mode. We continuously monitor markets and review your strategy with you regularly, making any changes necessary to keep allocations on track. During our quarterly or semi-annual reviews we address current and future needs and adjust recommendations as required.