Determining Your Strategy
We're not going to swing for the fences with a high-risk investment strategy that puts everything on the line. Instead, we recognize that most of our clients want to safeguard their wealth with a conservative investment approach that balances the competing demands of risk and return.
We place the highest importance on the quality of investment advice we provide our clients. That's because most clients come to us as mature investors who have spent the better part of their lives building their wealth and have neither the time nor the temperament for risky approaches that put their entire fortune on the line.
At Patton Albertson & Miller, we design our advice to meet the unique needs of each client. Our goal is to do what's best for the client, not what's most convenient for us. We don't use a "cookie cutter" approach. Instead, we recognize that every client has different needs and objectives that must be reflected in their portfolio. We also pay very close attention to taxes in order to squeeze the best after-tax returns we can for our clients.
When it comes to buying stocks, we subscribe to the investment philosophy called "Value Investing," created by Benjamin Graham and his most famous student, Warren Buffett:
Buy solid companies at discounts from their true value.
Estimate true value by applying proven valuation methods.
Recognize that even the most careful analysis can turn out wrong, so be sure to buy cheaply enough to have a "margin of safety."
Emphasize quality. It's better to buy a great company at a good price than a merely good company at a great price.
When we select bonds, we emphasize safety of principle above yield. We purchase only investment grade individual bonds. For bond funds, we apply the same criteria.
When we purchase stocks, we look for capital appreciation, and we never buy junk bonds. We believe one of the most dangerous mistakes investors can make is to reach for yield by reducing the credit quality of their purchases.
Bottom line: We apply a conservative, consistently applied "value investment" approach to help our clients meet their long-term investment objectives.