Retrograde vs. Forward                  Thinking

“XYZ, Wealth management”.

What exactly is “Wealth Management”? Who decides what is considered “wealth”? We understand it means different things to different people. At big banks and brokerages, “Wealth Management” generally means a clunky combination of products that are probably not in tune with each other, difficult to adjust, and have fees and commissions that are too high. It might also mean they don’t think you are wealthy enough to be in their Private Bank – or maybe they are trying sell you their credit cards, mortgages and other bank products. As a Registered Investment Advisor, Pivot eliminates all these conflicts of interest.

“RELAX, WE HAVE A FINANCIAL PLAN.”

We understand that Financial Planning is an important part of what we do, but we also believe the most important job we have is managing your investments. We believe if we do this well, and understand your financial situation, financial planning will evolve in a dynamic way that is right for you. In our opinion the “Financial Plan” can be a veiled excuse for mediocre investment management and can create a false sense of security. Many of our clients have come to us because they know this from experience. Mike Tyson is perhaps the greatest boxer of all time. While he is flawed in many ways, he has prepared for many battles, and we are ever mindful of his famous quote: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face”. Understanding this leads to our next two core beliefs.

“Trying to beat the market doesn’t work and is a waste of time. just put your money in the index.”

At Pivot, we believe there is a certain amount of truth and wisdom to this, and if one were to pick a single strategy, indexing could be the best approach. That said, there are many indices and knowing how to arrange them requires knowledge and experience. More importantly, we believe indexing (also known as passive investing) and active management can work side-by-side. At Pivot, we use the index as a starting point, and manage our strategy with respect to it. We concentrate your money in certain stocks, sectors and asset allocations in an active way. We are doing all we can to look for better returns while keeping risk lower than the index.

“DON’T TIME THE MARKET. JUST RIDE IT OUT.”

We don’t believe this attitude is good enough, and it is central to why our company is named “Pivot”. The big banks know that the vast majority of wealth managers do not have the skill, focus or courage to effectively use market timing. We believe we SHOULD be doing this for you in a disciplined and measured way. This DOES NOT mean frequently moving large portions of your holdings in and out of the market. It is about making course corrections for market and economic conditions and requires finesse, skill, and also humility to quickly recognize a wrong decision. We manage risk and understand that volatility is part of the investment process – we embrace it and look for opportunities that it creates.

“YOU NEED A CUSTOM PORTFOLIO.”

We believe a custom portfolio is NOT good for clients. We do not believe Advisors can effectively monitor multiple different custom portfolios. We focus like a laser on our strategy on both stocks and bonds and want our clients to all benefit from our approach. Our clients have the same holdings. Where they differ is in the ratio of holdings which is how we make sure risk levels are appropriate for each client.

“WHen markets get volatile, it is because of ‘emotional investors’.”

WRONG. It’s the smart, and large money managers that move first. This line of thinking is somehow meant to make investors feel wise by doing nothing. When markets move in a significant way, it is usually for important and real reasons. The true “emotional” investors typically don’t move until it’s too late and tend to harm themselves by selling at the lows and missing recoveries. At Pivot we do all we can to prevent clients from hurting themselves in this way.

“We are value managers” or “We are growth managers”

In our opinion, clients should own both. Warren Buffet is famous for “Value Investing” which resonates with people and sounds wise. We respect this and use it for part of our approach. That said, being soley committed to this attitude has meant missing out on some of the greatest investments of all time. Growth stocks are often “expensive” because they are in the middle of powerful and profitable trends. Pivot believes investors should own both, but in different ratios for different times. Being completely out of one or the other has serious implications for investment returns.

“The market is rigged“

At Pivot, we do not believe the market is truly “rigged,” but we do believe it is “stacked” in favor of the very large exclusive funds. Dan learned early in his career that when the big smart money moves, any opinions about what investments should be worth is not immediately relevant. We believe one of our main differentiators is recognizing when and why the smart money is making changes. We do all we can to make sure we are in line with their thinking and getting out of positions that are in their way.

“Bringing it all together – why you need to pivot and join us”

Pivot was established by an industry veteran who became disenchanted by the messaging and management used by big banks and brokerage companies. Pivot believes hard-working people have been sold centralized, retrograde investment programs that are commoditized, passive and mediocre. The big banks and brokerages are coming from a “CYA” mindset (look it up if you don’t know it) which is a sure path to mediocrity. We offer an approach that is more in line with the sophisticated smart money. We want to take care of you and believe you deserve more than average and mainstream. We look forward to you joining us.

Note: we offer discounted fees for military, first responders, and teachers.