Investment Planning
Our Investment Philosophy
Have a question about our investment philosophy & investment best practices?
Planning is a map, investments are the vehicle. At Austin First Financial, we attest to a long-term prudent investment strategy based on years of research for our clients. Our investment philosophy is based on the science of capital markets and decades of time-tested industry research.
A Research Driven Approach
Austin First Financial collaborates with leading financial academics to identify a sensible approach to investing. These factors are rooted in economic reasoning, demonstrate persistence through time and are pervasive across markets.
Capital Markets Work
Markets have a long history of rewarding investors for the capital they supply. That is the basis of capitalism. Companies compete for investment capital and millions of investors compete to find the most attractive returns. This competition quickly drives prices to equilibrium, incorporating all available public information. Classical investment approaches attempt to outsmart the collective wisdom of all market participants by trying to identify and predict pricing “mistakes.” Mountains of academic research illustrates that these approaches are costly and often futile. As these predictions often fail, investors are exposed to the risk of missing out on the strong returns that markets can provide. Our investment philosophy allows us to harness the power of capital markets.
Investing vs. Speculating
Many investors follow the crowd and make investing decisions based on what they hear in the media. Instead, financial research identifies the sources of higher expected return.
Timing the Market Doesn’t Work
“Far more money has been lost by investors preparing for corrections, or trying to anticipate corrections, than has been lost in corrections themselves.” – Peter Lynch. Trying to predict what will happen in the market adds risk, costs and uncertainty with no additional expected return.
Lower Costs & Fewer Taxes
Portfolio costs have a direct impact on portfolio performance; we seek to keep the total expense structure low by utilizing low cost index funds, ETFs and institutional class mutual funds. We efficiently structure your portfolio by locating your assets in appropriate accounts to potentially give you the highest net after-tax value over time.
At Austin First Financial, we have carefully curated an investment process through years of experience. Our investment strategies help provide our clients with effective planning tools for their long term investment goals and asset allocation. Let us show you how our investment philosophy works. If you have any questions regarding the investment process talk to Austin First Financial today.