Notes About Our Investment Process

Markets go up and markets go down, sometimes violently.

Sometimes they stay down for months at a time. No one can time, predict, influence or control them and I won’t insult your intelligence by suggesting that I can or that I will try.  Beware of those who do.  We’re opportunistic but we won’t attempt to predict.  There is a difference.

Volatility is an uncomfortable, albeit normal, part of investing and a large part of my job is helping you understand and cope with that volatility. The two biggest determinants of long term investment performance are behavior (how we respond to good and bad volatility) and asset allocation (how your money is diversified).

Depending on the your goals, we will invest for growth or total return (growth and income as needed) and believe in diversification and asset allocation. Market timers and Jim Cramer followers may dislike me for not reacting to every piece of news. Gold bugs will hate my optimism in the future.

I do not recommend investments that are complex, ill-liquid, lack transparency, have surrender penalties, high fees or any commissions. This typically eliminates annuities, Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs), Business Development Companies (BDCs), Managed Futures and alternative investments. Portfolio’s are constructed with low-cost, tax-efficient, mutual funds and ETFs (electronically traded funds) from select fund families like Dimensional Funds, Vanguard, American Funds and iShares.  

Many of our clients are preparing for, transitioning into or in retirement.  You can see our process for creating retirement income here. Each client portfolio will include a globally diversified stock assets with complimentary satellites that may consist of bonds, real estate, and/or individual sector strategies. 

Each client’s investment portfolio is customized and designed to meet their particular plans goals including income needs, investment goals, preferences, age, distance until asset use, need for income and tolerance/capacity for risk.   

Portfolios are re-balanced and tax-losses harvested, as possible and when appropriate.  Portfolios offer daily liquidity and no “exit” charges.

Appropriate pre-existing holdings may be incorporated into client portfolios. Accounts not managed by Compass are often included during retirement, allocation and income planning.

If this information was helpful, you might want to check out this post on Retirement Planning Terms…https://johnbubello.com/terms-report/