Investment Process

Our investment advice and financial planning process consist of five steps that result in a comprehensive investment strategy that takes into account your financial goals, market and economic conditions, as well as regulatory and tax considerations. For many people, the most important consideration when it comes to investing their savings is not whether they outperform a benchmark or index – it is whether they ultimately reach their financial goals. These goals might pertain to retirement planning, providing for loved ones, safe-guarding a family legacy, or other important personal issues.

Our process is designed to ensure that your portfolio does well compared to a suitable benchmark, but we understand that the primary consideration should always be that you receive a personalized, high standard of care and that you meet your financial goals. On-going supervision, yearly consultations with your financial advisor and quarterly updates ensure that your investment strategy remains on track to meet your goals even as market conditions and your financial needs change over time.

With EAFA, you always have access directly to your advisor if you require guidance or if your situation changes between consultations, and you are never locked into any investment, so if you need to liquidate an investment to meet a sudden financial need, you can do so.

EAFA’s five step investment process:

In this initial stage we gather information regarding your current and future financial situation as well as your investment profile. Your investment profile is determined by your tolerance for risk as it relates to your portfolio investments, any constraints you might like to place on your portfolio holdings, and special considerations such as concentrated stock positions, business liquidity events, or saving for specific major purchases such as a home.

A financial plan takes your current and expected financial situation and projects it into the future based upon a number of assumptions including inflation rates, rates of return on investments, and your future income and expenses. The plan incorporates any goals you might have such as funding liabilities, large purchases, etc.

The financial plan will help estimate the rate of return on your investments necessary to fund your future goals and lifestyle and results in a current and projected personal balance sheet, and income and cash flow statements. This provides valuable input into how your investments should be allocated. 

In addition to providing insight into investment decisions, the financial plan is also useful for planning future lifestyle events for you and your family. Important considerations such as funding children’s education, retirement spending, the purchase of a future home,  planning for the unexpected, and estate planning are all addressed in your plan.

At this stage we are ready to bring together your risk tolerance, return expectations and investment constraints, and translate them into a portfolio asset allocation that will achieve your goals. 

The Investment Policy Statement is a summary of how your portfolio is to be managed. In most cases, portfolios are managed on a discretionary basis, which means changes in the specific investments within the portfolio can be made without your specific direction. The IPS is your assurance that selected investments will always be in keeping with the strategy you have approved.

Within the framework of the strategic and tactical asset allocations we add value through such activities as tax-loss selling and tax-sensitive investing. Research of individual holdings rather than just investing in mutual funds or other outsourced investments or depending on broad market tracking vehicles also benefits our clients. as we can buy and sell each investment based on its own merits, benefits and risks. We are also constantly looking at further diversifying our clients’ portfolios as new asset classes become available, which can reduce portfolio risk while enhancing or maintaining returns. We also add value through cost-control measures and access to our network of experts in taxation (including wealth taxes), estate planning, and other relevant services.

Finally, our clients benefit from our global investment approach; which may include a multi-currency account, access to global investment markets, and our own global investment research.

The final step in the process is monitoring your portfolio and reporting results to you in a timely manner. We issue quarterly portfolio updates, and we are available for individual reviews at your convenience. In addition, you have online access to your account, where you can download statements directly from your brokerage custodian and track portfolio allocation and performance if you wish.