What Makes Us Different

Fixed-Income Strategies

We build the fixed-income portion of your portfolio with individual issues, separate accounts or bond mutual funds. The right structure for you will depend on the size of your account, your need for income and diversification, and your return expectations. Studies have shown that investors are not rewarded sufficiently for taking on significant risk in the fixed-income portions of their portfolios. For that reason, we recommend the use of individual fixed-income securities rated A or better, which involve little principal risk. For tax-free municipal issues, we recommend the use of insured, escrow-to-maturity (ETM), or pre-refunded bonds.

To reduce risk, we utilize a laddered maturity portfolio of fixed-income securities. Staggering the maturities of bonds provides additional security from interest-rate decreases by locking in higher interest rates. At the same time, if rates increase, proceeds from maturing issues can be reinvested at the higher rates. Although this type of portfolio typically provides slightly lower yields than one made up entirely of longer bonds, it generally entails significantly less volatility and provides greater liquidity as bonds mature each year.

Because mutual funds generally have lower required initial investments than individual issues, a portfolio of bond mutual funds might make the most sense for accounts with a smaller allocation to fixed-income securities. By carefully selecting fixed-income mutual funds, we can help you achieve adequate diversification while you benefit from professional management and daily liquidity. We offer access to a wide range of fund families and will work with you to select the most appropriate investments for your needs.