At North Castle Advisors, LLC (NCA), much of what we do is meant help our clients become at ease with their investment programs, with the understanding that they're doing the right things to further their own interests. Here's how we do it:
We're fee-only. The only compensation we receive comes from fees paid directly by our clients, based on the assets we manage. No commissions. Our clients know exactly what they're paying us and we keep our fees reasonable. Our interest lies in the long term success of our clients' investment programs.
We guarantee a no pressure relationship. We never use high pressure sales techniques, common tricks such as creating unnecessary fear or quoting short term performance numbers when they're favorable, or pressuring clients into acting before they're ready. It's an ethical issue with us... clients should be comfortable with what we do before we move forward.
We work hard to understand our clients' needs. We spend a lot of time working to understand our clients' investment objectives and attitudes towards risk. From this we recommended a portfolio which we think best meets the clients' needs.
We want clients to have realistic expectations. Along with a recommended portfolio, we present realistic estimates of long term returns and volatility for that portfolio. While there can be no guarantee of investment performance, we want our clients to find the right mix of expected return and risk for them and have a good idea of what to expect over the years.
We're long term investors. Since 1926, about 29% of the years exhibited negative performance for US equities, while only about 14% of the five year periods and 5% of the 10-year periods were negative. Because of this, we recommend that clients employ a long term (minimum of five-years) time horizon for portfolios with significant equity exposure. This reduces the risk of loss and helps clients maintain their investment discipline during the inevitable bear markets.
We view our clients as true partners. We maintain an ongoing dialogue with clients and meet with them annually to determine whether a change in asset allocation is in order. And naturally, if a change in the client's situation happens at any time, we stand ready to determine whether a portfolio reallocation is necessary.
For a discussion of the other key element in NCA's investment relationship, see Investing for Perforemance.
