THE RVW DIFFERENCES:
- RVW Investing LLC is a Registered Investment Advisor owned and managed exclusively by CPAs who also have the necessary SEC licensing as Registered Investment Advisors. Our team includes trained economists and Personal Financial Planners. We are the owners, the traders and the chief strategists. The people you meet are the ones who are intimately involved in every aspect of the relationship;
- We utilize no proprietary products, hedge funds or bond funds - and our clients invest directly
- in the financial instruments that they wish to own;
- We are strategic investors rather than tacticians and make slow, measured moves as we periodically reposition the equity portfolios. We eschew market timing and stock picking. New funds are placed into equities using a modified Dollar Cost Averaging strategy so that we do not confuse an appropriate strategy with possibly poor timing. We also liquidate equity investments in a staged and planned manner over an determined period.
- Our clients have their funds placed into their own account at Schwab Institutional, where they enjoy institutional pricing, transparency and online access to their accounts in real time;
- Unlike brokers, we have a fiduciary obligation to our clients - which we take seriously. There are never any kickbacks, trails or other incentives provided to us by providers the we advise on, and we work solely for our clients;
- In addition to the standard Schwab Institutional reporting, we provide to our clients no less than semi-annually a comprehensive analytical review of the portfolio and measurement against benchmarks.
RVW INVESTING EXPLAINED
We use Nobel Prize-winning economics which shows that asset allocation is a primary determinant of portfolio volatility and indeed of returns - and that in the long run markets tend to be efficient, with severe oscillations in the shorter term. Many are under the mistaken impression that equity markets lost money over the past decade because they measured performance solely by using the S+P 500 index. That index is market-capitalization weighted and includes a heavy orientation to US-based large companies. In fact an equal weighted index and a broader look at markets (especially including global exposure) reveals that it was a rewarding period to be in equities.
- Accordingly we employ a top-down approach to investing and commence with a risk assessment to determine the optimal allocation between bonds and equities.
- Our back testing and an objective review of market history going back to the early 1900's shows that over long periods of time, equity investing is rewarding provided investors can withstand volatility.
- Our Model RVW Equity Portfolio currently includes 11 ETFs which provide cost-efficient access to over 5500 leading enterprises globally. Attached is our current allocation for your review. It includes a broad diversification of great businesses held in a cost-efficient and tax-efficient manner.
- We are currently over-weighted towards global brands and dividend paying stocks.
- Bonds are purchased at institutional pricing and we select only AA rated bonds or better. In addition we examine every bond issuer to ensure that they meet our own standards.
- We currently employ a 5 year laddered holding period for bonds, effectively earning 5 year returns with an average portfolio life of 2.5 years once fully implemented - and plan to hold bonds to maturity.
- Our team monitors bonds for downgrades in credit quality 24/7. We have never had a material rating downgrade or default
THE BOTTOM LINE:
We are all trained CPAs in addition to having all the SEC-requited credentials - who have removed the Wall Street fees, hype and marketing from the investing process. Ruthlessly objective and bottom-line oriented we have designed a portfolio and an approach to investing that is empirically validated and has worked well for ourselves and for our clients. We employ classic proven strategies for the long term growth of client wealth. All of the owners are significant RVW investors.