Higher Ground

Reducing risk is intrinsic to our philosophy and our process. Risk management is embedded in everything we do — every analysis we complete, every plan we develop and every portfolio we build. It serves as a safety net to protect each client’s plan against contingencies — those events and changes that cannot be predicted and, in many cases, prevented. It is designed to protect the plan, guarantee family security, preserve capital and replace income. We take the position that should the phone ring with a client in distress, we have a strategy in place to provide a viable, immediate response to mitigate the contingency.

Completing the Plan

We have developed different types of risk management strategies to address each area of a client’s plan: cash flow, investments, estate and retirement. In most cases the strategy may involve investment portfolio safeguards, well-designed insurance coverage and properly drawn estate documents. We implement these risk-management strategies carefully and monitor them closely. Risk management is sometimes described as “completing the plan” because without it clients remain at risk and their plans are potentially in jeopardy. With older clients, there is a greater probability of certain contingencies (e.g., medical issues, death, long-term care expenses), so we are especially vigilant in securing these areas.

“The bottom line of wealth management is peace of mind. To achieve this level of comfort, a disciplined system must be put into place that manages risk to help preserve and stabilize assets. With a safety net in place, wealth can be viewed as a source of freedom and opportunity not as an unwanted albatross.” – James F. Relyea