Lighthouse Financial Group Investment Style

Lighthouse Financial Group employs a disciplined, institutional-style approach to asset management on behalf of its clients in order to assist in navigating the sometimes rough and volatile waters of the market.  Oftentimes, retail investors allow emotions to dictate investment decisions, and in doing so, may find themselves in a cycle of investing at market highs and selling out at market lows. 

Each client who elects to engage in a planning relationship with Lighthouse Financial Group is afforded the option to benefit from active management at a cost that may be lower than industry averages and yet still have access ongoing research and active trading, when appropriate. 

Lighthouse Financial Group believes that the key to a successful client relationship is setting the appropriate expectation for all aspects of that relationship.  Setting that expectation is based on numerous factors, but includes discovering and understanding the client’s true tolerance for risk and market volatility, and well as establishing rational targets for returns, savings and growth based on time and risk tolerance, and any short-, mid-, or long-term liquidity needs of that client, as well as natural, non-media-driven market cycles. 

Lighthouse Financial Group’s institutional investment style begins with taking on the least amount of risk necessary to seek to achieve a client’s goals in keeping with the risk appetite of the client, researching and selecting investment professionals with clearly defined and understood investment philosophies, and diversifying investment portfolios by domicile, investment style, market cap, sector, and overall risk exposure, to name just a few. 

Manager Selection

It is the belief of our Investment Team that the best opportunity for long-term success lies in proper manager selection, and as such, considerable time and effort is put into interviewing portfolio managers.  While a manager may appear to have had success on paper, Lighthouse Financial Group’s Team feels that the manager should be able to explain the reasons for his/her success and to outline a clear philosophy for ongoing management that reflects consistency in management style over time, inclusive of buy/sell disciplines.  As a general rule, Lighthouse Financial Group’s Investment Team does not seek to achieve returns over and above true market targets and looks to reduce exposure to computer-based investing that may involve high frequency trading, algorithmic “research” and buy/sell strategies, and investments that cannot otherwise be statistically analyzed (i.e., some derivative investments). 

This research process is ongoing, in an effort to perpetually seek out new as well as established talent for the Lighthouse investment roster.  Industry partners (i.e., product representatives) provide additional ongoing due diligence by keeping our Team apprised of any potentially relevant changes which may affect tax consequences or trading decisions within client portfolios. 

With a researched investment roster in place, the Lighthouse Financial Group Investment Team then turns its attention to the overall U.S. and world economy and begins its assessment of current and forecasted market conditions.  The Team then positions the holdings within each given account strategy, based upon targeted returns and varied risk exposure, within the set parameters.  Accounts are then reviewed by strategy, as well as individually, on an ongoing periodic basis as dictated by the perceived speed of changes occurring within the economy and the overall market in general.  When warranted, due to changing market conditions, a shift or change in asset management or prospectus, or perhaps the closing of an established investment option to new investors, Lighthouse Financial Group’s Investment Team will reallocate some or all of the associated accounts in keeping with the terms outlined in the Discretionary Asset Management Agreement.  Trades are not performed to generate account activity and are instead based upon overall investment goals and strategies aimed at seeking the associated growth and/or income targets. 

Knowledge-Based Investment Management

Lighthouse Financial Group believes that not all accounts can be managed in similar ways, and has designed both model-based, as well as individually-tailored investment strategies.  It is further held by Lighthouse Financial Group’s Investment Team that different investment techniques are required to achieve different investment and income goals, and as such offers simple, blended and more complex “bucket” strategies geared towards more than simply the client’s investment objective and risk appetite.  Instead, the following is considered in designing an appropriate investment strategy for any given individual client or household:

• Is the client in a high-growth, accumulation stage of life, based on goals rather than age
• Is the client in need of tax consequence management
• Is the client highly risk-averse with no appetite for volatility, regardless of age
• Does the client need income with conservation of principal
• Does the client intend to spend down 100% of the assets of the account
• How long will the assets in the client’s account need to last
• How frugal or how much of a spendthrift is the client
• Is the client often in need of unplanned, lump-sum payouts

While all of these factors are taken into consideration when designing client portfolios, Lighthouse Financial Group places the highest priority on client education and understanding, and the Investment Team offers availability to spend whatever time necessary to clearly explain the types of recommended investments and investment strategies.  This is offered to all clients of the firm, regardless of whether they engage in a tiered financial planning arrangement. 

Lighthouse Financial Group appreciates the opportunity to earn and build upon the trust of each client of the firm.  Any and all questions are encouraged and welcomed.

Investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss. There is no guarantee that a diversified portfolio will enhance overall returns or outperform a non-diversified portfolio. Diversification does not protect against market risk.