Saturday, October 25, 2008

ALPHA MATRIX PORTFOLIO MANGEMENT

LOOK Forward.....MANAGE Risk.......Seek Returns......Deliver Performance......REPEAT

The Modular World explains a "Next Generation" approach in Investment Management and why investors are upgrading to a Modular Framework.

Our Service is designed to expand Your World to create and provide a more productive environment to Succeed in the 21st Century.

Friday, October 24, 2008

THEORY AND REALITY ARE OFTEN TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS....

People are Demanding a More Robust, Proactive, Transparent and Reliable Approach...We Always Believed that Day would Come...

WHY THE SMART MONEY USES A MODULAR FRAMEWORK...

There is no better example of the limitations of traditional portfolio management then what most people are seeing happen to their investment portfolios and 401k plans right now. The traditional Approach, MPT ( Modern Portfolio Theory) which was developed in the 50's and has been adopted by the industry for the mass market, offers diversification among asset classes and market segments but offers little to manage market risk or multiple time horizons, mainly because it is backward looking. Therein lies the problem. Take a minute to read: "Passive is not enough - Charlie Needs Cash Flow", written by a very astute advisor, it illustrates this point well. (Written in 2006, this is clearly not Monday morning quarterbacking). The current environment and changing needs of todays investor just bring to light the need for a more forward looking and flexible strategy.

The Modular Approach is simply more adaptive to your personal circumstances, return requirements, time horizon and appetite for risk then the traditional approach.
It does not abandon the benefits of diversifcation, it uses MPT as it's foundation, but takes portfolio construction and risk management to another level. It provides us with the ability to adjust your portfolio as market conditions change or warrant. Successful investment management is about managing risk, not avoiding it. This is not a revolution, it's evolution, pure and simple, dictated by the demands of the 21st century. By separating the components of risk and return, we are better able to seek returns and manage risk at the same time, with the goal of compounding positive returns and minimizing the volatility. That is the essence of portfolio management and the advantage of the MODULAR APPROACH.

While new to the MAIN STREET investor, this framework has been used by the leading Ivy League Endowment funds and other professional investors for years. Our approach has been adapted to deliver the benefits to the private investor, without incorporating the use of hedge funds, private equity or other opaque structured products. The Modular approach is beginning to appear on Main Street, but very slowly and from specialized providers. The reason you have not seen this at the retail level and probably won't for quite some time is that it is not geared for the mass market. (See the Main & Wall Story). The Modular approach is more collaborative in nature, is more robust on the front end, requires an open platform and a different mind set, skill set and fee structure then the one most large financial institutions have in place for the individual investor. That's why people come to MAIN & WALL... to upgrade to a Modular Approach and move ahead of the crowd.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

HOW A MODULAR APPROACH BENEFITS YOU:

  • It allows us to build and manage a portfolio for you with the potential for increased risk-adjusted returns.
  • We can go beyond traditional approaches in an effort to take advantage of all investments including those that fall outside of traditional portfolio systems.
  • It helps us construct a potentially better portfolio for you that aligns with your goals , risk tolerance and time horizon.
  • It provides us with the ability to adjust your portfolio as market conditions change or warrant.
  • It gives us a way to evaluate, select and categorize a range of investments beyond traditional models.
  • It gives us the framework to keep you above the MENDOZA Line.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

TO UNDERSTAND MODULAR - LET ME TELL YOU A MAIN STREET STORY

Several years ago I was working for a firm headed by an old friend. This was right after the internet bubble burst. People were starting to lose money and many of the "reps" were unclear on what to do next. He wanted me to help set up a system of alerts so they could monitor their accounts and better manage risk. As I looked at the accounts and the holdings they were what I would call typical retail accounts; fad stocks and popular funds, A shares, B shares a little of this and a little of that. Where do you start? I took a piece of paper and drew three large boxes and labeled them, FIXED INCOME, INDEX FUNDS, EVERYTHING ELSE. I then went through each holding and put it in one of those boxes. When I was done I had a better picture of what I was looking at and where the damage was coming from. Were they overexposed to small cap growth stocks, holding underperforming mutual funds, too heavy in emerging markets, underweight in the fixed income area, overweight in one industry or stock. Were they sitting on dead money? The questions I had to ask were, Was the mix right for the client and the changing investment climate, and were there better choices available among the various holdings. Working together we were able to upgrade the mix to better reflect the profile of the client and upgrade specific holdings where we found better choices. We were able to identify the sources of risk and return and rebalance the portfolio to create a more stable posture in that environment. We then added an active component - some tactics and strategies to provide a proactive way to adjust to future developments.
That was Modular Portfolio Reconstruction. For a technical description go to the sidebar.>>

THAT was THEN and THIS is NOW!

Our Approach has been Decades in the Making and has Evolved over Time.

Today we use FIVE Boxes:

  1. FIXED INCOME/
  2. CORE EQUITY/CORE PLUS
  3. TACTICAL/ALTERNATIVE
  4. REAL RETURN/
  5. OPPORTUNITY/Special Situations

We collaborate with specialty managers to provide ALPHA and use attribution analysis to analyze performance. We provide comprehensive reporting to keep you informed and up to date. We call it MW/AMPM/ (ALPHA MATRIX Portfolio Management). MAIN & WALL provides account management and acts as an overlay manager to coordinate the various components. Our approach combines both passive and active management styles. It incorporates and coordinates multiple strategies, multiple markets and works in multiple time frames to deliver a more customized and dynamic out-come focused solution. Many of these tactics can be applied to the investment universe available in your current 401k or IRA account.

To see how this can work for you,

Jump in the cab and go to the next appointment>>>

Saturday, October 18, 2008

In the MODULAR World, There is a TIME and a PLACE for Everything

That's why our investment universe is expanded to encompass and analyze the full spectrum of available choices and investment tactics and why our Model is called the MW/AMPM-System. In the Modular World, Time is Money. Managing the MATRIX is about finding the right investments for the right time. The traditional approach, MPT, is often a broken clock and professes to be nothing more. It only promises to be right every 20 years. You can't change the wind but you can adjust the sails as they say. The Modular approach provides us with the tools to sail a smoother and swifter course. Changes can be subtle or dramatic as required. The point is, there are always options and adjustments that can be made as circumstances change or conditions warrant. This is not the rudderless ship the traditional approach sails into the future. The MODULAR Approach is forward looking. It's about setting clear goals, and return requirements, simply investing for the long term in our view is both nebulous and meaningless. Successful long term investing is about compounding positive returns over time not about having a long time to get even. Long term investing means different things to different people at different times and consequently produces random results. Diversify buy and hold requires very little thought and even less work on the part of both the advisor and client and over the last 10 years has produced results commensurate with that effort. Set it and forget it?... forget it.
We believe the next five years will be especially challenging for investors, as the Global economy contracts, consolidates and evolves. The World is Changing. The length, depth, and result of this transformation, remains to be seen, only time will tell. In the Modular World there's a time and a place for everything. We believe the need to adapt to a more flexible and proactive strategy to succeed in this environment is more than compelling, the times demand it.