Happy 2019 to our clients and friends,
The past year was very good to Windward. We are fortunate to work with over 200 client families, to help them preserve capital, develop a plan and save taxes. We believe Windward’s future is bright and in good hands. We want to share several recent Windward staff developments.
Drew Osborne-Wealth Manager was named Windward’s President and will continue in his client Wealth Manager role. Darrell Tierney will continue to serve as a Senior Wealth Manager and serve on Windward’s Board of Directors. Brad Harrison, CPA joined our team providing additional tax and financial expertise. We’re excited about the future and believe we have the right team in place to meet the challenges.
As the new year dawns, we believe it is worth restating our overall philosophy of investment advice. Windward is goal-focused and planning-driven, as sharply distinguished from an approach that is market-focused and current-events-driven.
Every successful investor we’ve ever known was acting continuously on a plan; failed investors, in our experience, got that way by reacting to current events in the economy and the markets.
Windward neither forecasts the economy, nor attempts to time the markets, nor predict which market sectors will “outperform” which others over the next block of time. In a sentence that always bears repeating: We are planners rather than prognosticators.
Once a client family has a plan in place—and have funded it with what have historically been the most appropriate types of investments—we’ll hardly ever recommend changing the portfolio so long as their long-term goals haven’t changed.
As a general statement, Windward has found that the more often investors change their portfolios (in response to the market fears or fads of the moment), the worse their long-term results.
In sum, our essential principles of portfolio management are fourfold. (1) The performance of a portfolio relative to a benchmark is largely irrelevant to long-term financial success. (2) The only benchmark we should care about is the one that indicates whether you are on track to accomplish your financial goals. (3) Risk should be measured as the probability that you won’t achieve your goals. (4) Investing should have the exclusive objective of minimizing that risk.
We wish you and your family all the best for 2019.
This blog is provided by Windward Private Wealth Management Inc. (“Windward” or the “Firm”) for informational purposes only. Investing involves the risk of loss and investors should be prepared to bear potential losses. No portion of this blog is to be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell a security or the provision of personalized investment, tax or legal advice. Certain information contained in the individual blog posts will be derived from sources that Windward believes to be reliable; however, the Firm does not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of such information and assumes no liability for any resulting damages.
Windward is an SEC registered investment adviser. The Firm may only provide services in those states in which it is notice filed or qualifies for a corresponding exemption from such requirements. For information about Windward’ registration status and business operations, please consult the Firm’s Form ADV disclosure documents, the most recent versions of which are available on the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.