investment advisors
Services
CWV provides personalized confidential investment management to individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations and small businesses. CWV will furnish clients with continuous advisory supervision and recommendations concerning their portfolio. This is done for each client taking into consideration such relevant factors as: goals, obligations, other assets, suitability, and tolerance for risk as determined by the client and CWV in light of prevailing market and economic conditions. CWV will, on occasion, but not as a regular course of its business, do a onetime analysis of an individual’s portfolio. The service would be for individuals who do not desire continuous “investment advisory services” but who wish their portfolio analyzed. CWV will undertake such a one time analysis taking into consideration all relevant factors known about the client at the time. An example of this would be when CWV is asked by a Probate Attorney to assist an Executor in a portfolio analysis to determine which securities should be sold to raise cash needed for the estate expenses.
Investment Philosophy
Our investment style is one of economic timing and technical analysis. Economic timing involves tracking various economic indicators to understand when a recession is predicted to be on the horizon. Only two bear markets in the last 65 years occurred without being connected to a developing recession; 1962 and 1987. All other bear markets during this period were connected to the onset of recessions. We use these indicators to guide us in protecting our clients’ assets and achieve long term outperformance by being defensive when we foresee possible bear markets. Bear markets on average last 1.3 years with an average decline of 41.0%. This is why we use recessions to time the market long term.
Our technical analysis focuses on market psychology looking at various volume and price rates of change. While this helps in determining when to get defensive, it tends to be more important on determining reentry points over the long term. When market conditions are appropriate, which historically occurs approximately 85% of the time, we construct portfolios using a theme based approach, with an eye toward sector diversification and position concentration. Since mutual funds and exchange traded funds contain hidden costs as well as companies we may not favor, individual stocks are primarily used to minimize costs to portfolios. Security selection is based on a strict value proposition and “growth at a reasonable price”.
Individual bonds offer the opportunity to control interest rate risk by knowing that at maturity we will receive face value for the bond. Bond funds never mature, and therefore face greater interest rate risk. By investing in individual bonds and preferred stock at prices below par we also have more control over the risks related to fixed income securities during a rising interest rate environment.
Fees
Fees CWV bases its investment management fees on a percentage of assets under management. Usual compensation to CWV per account is a continuing annual fee based on the following schedule.
The fee schedule is:
1% on the first $500,000 of managed assets
0.75% on the next $500,000 of managed assets
0.60% on the next $2,000,000 of managed assets
0.50% on the next $2,000,000 of managed assets
0.40% on the next $2,000,000 of managed assets
0.35% on the next $3,000,000 of managed assets
Negotiable above $10,000,000 of managed assets
The minimum annualized fee is $3,000 or 1.5% of the account value, whichever is less. The fee is calculated at the end of each quarter by applying ¼ of the annualized rate to the market value of the portfolio as displayed on the CWV Portfolio Appraisal at the end of each quarter.