BLK’s investment style is founded on an adherence to discipline and building diversified portfolios. We do this primarily using a long term approach using ETF's, stocks, and mutual funds accross 12 potential asset classes. We consider an investment's historical performance, expenses and tax-eficiency as well as the client's objectives, risk tolerance and time horizon in determining suitability for a portfolio. Many of these investment basics have remained similar for decades. There are dynamics that exist today, however, that require much more proactive research than in the past. Listed below are a few of the more constant and more dynamic factors that impact our investment approach.
A few basics relatively unchanged over the years:
- Asset allocation, the resources allocated to various asset classes (i.e. stocks, bonds, commodities), is very important in the investment decision process. This truism remains, however the number of asset classes has grown and with opportunity comes caution.
- It is difficult to forecast future returns of any security (investment containing risk) or to time an investor’s entrance or exit from the markets.
- In an open market riskier investments generate larger returns over the long run, for example; small caps will outperform large caps, corporate bonds returns will exceed those of government treasuries, and short term cash investment returns will be relatively small. Investors’ ability to tolerate market volatility risks varies significantly due to having different goals with different time horizons.
- The Power of Compounding, whether in the form of interest, dividends, or capital appreciation, is a powerful force in investing. Compounding, which is earning a return on your return as well as the original principal, promotes investing early and keeping it invested as long as possible to take advantage of time. Delaying investing can be costly.
A few factors far more dynamic:
- Geopolitical, economical, and environmental threats as experienced in the past few years have made a “buy and hold” strategy much more challenging and potentially risky.
- We now live in a global economy. The U.S. now has less than 5% of the world population and contributes just over a fifth of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
This has created many new opportunities in both developed and emerging foreign markets .
BLK's Investment Style & Philosophy
Registered Investment Advisor
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