First, when considering global, regional, and national economies we ask: Are we in a period of economic expansion or economic contraction? How does the current economic landscape encourage or discourage future economic activity?

Using the Global Investment Classification Standard (GICS) companies and associated investments have been divided into 11 economic sectors. Given the Economic conditions we considered in Step One, do any particular sectors have an advantage over any others? Within each sector, do any particular stocks have an advantage over others? Within each sector, do any particular stocks have a higher market risk over others? 

All of our decisions together have everything to do with where you want to go and when you need your investment to pay out. What are your needs? When do you need the money? Where should we invest to minimize risks?

When selecting a portfolio of investments, we look at:

• What is the general risk in each market sector?
• What is the risk for a specific stock?
• Should a decision be made regarding the type of security (i.e. stock, bond, preferred share)?

When constructing a portfolio that will work with you, we look at risk and return. That means what is the total return among each of our portfolio selections*: how will interest and dividends contribute and what adjustments will we need to make when things rise and fall? We also want to limit risk by using directional hedges to balance adverse market moves and 'non-correlated assets' (that’s a big-sounding term to describe stuff that moves differently than the rest of the market).