Financial Advice & Planning

Overview

Portfolio management and financial advice go hand in hand. For instance, perhaps the most important financial advice output is the recommended asset allocation that is consistent with a client's risk and return objectives and any relevant constraints. As is the case when performing an analysis of a given security, the most effective financial advice or financial planning services incorporate both quantitative and qualitative (e.g., psychological) considerations. Further, margin of safety, a key tenet of C.E.C. Wealth Management's investment approach, is a highly transferable concept for financial advice and planning services.

C.E.C. Wealth Management's advice and planning services are customized to each client's unique circumstances. Simply put, we aim to be a strategic partner and to help you work through financial issues, both business and personal.

Individual Investors

Advice and planning services for individuals covers a broad spectrum of categories.

Whereas education planning is likely to be of keen interest to high earning young professional parents, philanthropic giving and estate planning strategies may be of greater interest for high net worth retirees. Assistance with establishing a company retirement plan could be of value to a small business owner, while managing around a concentrated stock position is a likelihood for a public company executive.

Other categories relevant to many individuals include: Debt & Emergency Savings, Liquidity Management, Expense Management, Insurance Planning, Social Security Planning, Tax Planning and Retirement Planning.

Institutional Investors

No doubt, there are unique nuances associated with advising institutional investors such as non-profits, foundations and endowments. However, the base principles remain the same.

As with individuals, likely the most important financial advice output is the recommended asset allocation, which is driven, in part, by risk tolerance. The time horizon of capital is a primary determinant of the ability to take risk. While the time horizon for the average individual is typically driven by assumed drawdowns in retirement, the same basic concepts can be applied to an organization planning its cash flows to meet its philanthropic purpose. However, the ability to take risk must be distinguished from the other aspect of risk tolerance, the willingness to take risk. Whereas the ability to take risk is a more quantitative judgment, the willingness to take risk is more in the qualitative realm.

Understanding and incorporating an individual client's risk tolerance into asset allocation considerations is of extreme importance. However, it must be acknowledged that all individuals have unique preferences and experiences, and institutional investors are steered by committees of individuals. As a result, excellent communication skills are an imperative part of advising institutional boards. A roadmap to guide those communications is provided by an adequate and clearly stated Investment Policy Statement, which the firm can assist in crafting.