Investment Approach

Our investment philosophy is based upon long-proven principles of prudent investing. We maximize the use of a constantly evolving array of investment vehicles to efficiently participate in a wide range of asset classes. The investment industry is very innovative, and it is part of our job to separate the wheat from the chaff to improve your personal balance sheet. Our unwavering target is the best possible financial outcome for our clients.

Our investment team's depth and breadth of experience and education, along with building our investment philosophy and strategy from a clean slate, has allowed us to build a client-focused business.  A variety of investment efficiency techniques has been employed to produce better long-term financial results for our clients. 

We have a long-term investment philosophy that is completely focused on your goals.

We are focused on asset allocation. The allocation choice between the various major asset classes is the most important decision you will make. This allocation decision drives more than 90% of the variability of investment returns, and it is based upon our in-depth analysis of your goals and your personal ability to weather the ups and downs of the markets.

We seek investment efficiency in all that we do; it is a core value of our investment philosophy. Our investment strategies are highly tax efficient, because we realize that while investment returns are important, what you actually get to keep is more important.

In keeping with our efficiency goal, we actively seek to minimize the cost of investing. Commissions, bid-ask spreads, and other investment related fees can all whittle away at your returns. While most of these costs are unavoidable, we constantly assess our relationships with third parties to reduce your costs to the minimum possible. Maximizing the benefits of your investments to you is our absolute goal.  

Passive or smart beta investing will be used in the asset classes where active management has generally proven to be a detractor from performance.

Active strategies will be used in more inefficient markets, where active investing can have the most impact. The pricing inefficiencies that still exist in some markets allow talented managed portfolio managers the opportunity to outperform. When we see these opportunities, we will bring these resources to your portfolio.  

We utilize the latest asset allocation techniques to construct portfolios that are more risk efficient than traditional investment portfolios. Contrary to the old vision of a stockbroker "picking hot names", our philosophy is academically driven, structured, disciplined and focused.

We offer truly transparent and easily understandable total costs. We have no proprietary funds. We do no proprietary trading, and we do not share in any commission revenues. We have striven to eliminate every possible conflict of interest.

This is all done to truly align our firm's best interests with our client's best interests. While this is claim other companies may make, we have made it the core belief of everything we do. 

Arboretum Wealth & Trust Management is regulated by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. The vast majority of our products and services are not insured by the FDIC nor guaranteed by our institution. Investors should be aware that their investments' values will change with market movements, and that some or all investments may lose value.