The success of a portfolio is directly tied to the investment plan that is personally developed for you, our client. A thorough investment plan is vital to the implementation of any investment strategy and is the blueprint for the purchase of every security in a client account. In the investment planning process, your financial planner captures all of your personal information, risk tolerance, time horizon, as well as your goals and objectives. With this information, your advisor can develop a personalized asset allocation plan and then compare and contrast your current portfolio to that investment allocation, and research different investment product solutions to implement a new strategy. In addition, each security must "complement" the other securities (based on risk tolerance and potential yield) purchased so that there is a better likelihood that your end goals can be achieved. Without a thorough investment plan, achieving your goals is unlikely because your goals are never initially defined or evaluated. Our investment planning process will help you build a diversified portfolio that can help put you on the right path toward reaching your personal goals.

You've heard the old investment adage, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket." It's good advice, and diversification is the key strategy to prevent you from making this mistake. The basic purpose of diversification is to reduce the impact of a volatile market. Diversification, which should be at the core of any well-planned investment strategy, is primarily a defensive type of investment policy. Depending on your investment goals and tolerance for risk, your strategy may emphasize one type of investment over another. But overall, your plan should be diversified. That's because no single type of investment performs best under all economic conditions. A diversified investment portfolio is capable of weathering varying economic cycles and improving the trade-off between risk of loss and expected return. Of course, diversification cannot entirely eliminate the risk of investment losses, and does not guarantee a profit.

An investment portfolio consisting of twenty different technology stocks is not diversified. Diversification means dividing your funds among different classes of assets, such as stocks, bonds, real estate, and readily-available liquid assets. Through the asset allocation process, diversification is achieved. For instance, suppose your portfolio consisted entirely of bonds. Your money would be at significant risk if interest rates rose since bond prices generally fall when rates go up.

A prudent investor managing his own portfolio might diversify his holdings by selecting some stocks for their rising earnings or accelerating "growth" potential while buying other stocks because they offer "value" by temporarily being out of favor.

Diversification also means not tying up all your funds in long-term investments. You'll need to keep a certain amount easily accessible -- that is, in money-market accounts, savings accounts or short-term certificates of deposit (CDs) -- for on-going expenses, emergency needs, and short-term goals such as buying a car or paying income taxes. And through dollar-cost averaging, a process of buying investments on a systematic basis instead of all at once, you can spread the risk over both good and bad markets.


Diversification through an asset allocation plan is a useful technique that can reduce overall portfolio risk and volatility. Using dollar cost averaging does not assure a profit and does not protect against a loss in a declining market. Using this investment method involves continuous investment in securities regardless of price levels of securities. An investor should consider his/her financial ability to continue purchasing through periods of low price levels.

Asset Allocation is the process of determining what proportions of your portfolio holdings are to be invested in the various asset classes, such as large cap growth stocks, small cap value stock, convertible bonds, government bonds, etc. Development of a personalized Asset Allocation Plan provides a disciplined and systematic approach to investing. It guides you from defining your personal investment objectives to determining a suitable portfolio.

The Mohr Group will help you develop an asset allocation plan to create the blueprint needed to build your investment portfolio. The asset allocation plan developed for you is based on the Nobel-Prize winning concepts of Modern Portfolio Theory which simply states that through intelligent diversification you can protect against many investment risks. Gains in one investment may help offset losses in another.

Through this process, we will evaluate which investment vehicles are appropriate and which money managers we wish to hire. With your personalized asset allocation strategy firmly in place, we begin the selection process of specific investment management programs and investment vehicles to achieve your objectives. After the implementation of a diversified asset allocation plan, we will meet on an annual basis to thoroughly review the performance of your portfolio and make any needed adjustments. We will also update any changes in your personal life, your job, your financial goals and objectives. This annual review is critical to staying on track toward the financial goals of you and your family.

It must be noted that asset allocation does not guarantee a profit nor protect against a loss.