Our Dual Approach

Indexing versus active investing

We believe index investing and active management are like salt and pepper.  They go well together, and every investor can have an opinion about what suits their particular taste.

Passive index investing stands on solid theoretical ground and has strong empirical support.  It is transparent and low cost, and has proven to beat the majority of active investment strategies.  Passive portfolios do not attempt to “beat the market.”   Rather, index-based portfolios try to “be the market,“ — or at least be very close.  Index-based management virtually eliminates taking any company-specific risk.

As our client, your particular passive index portfolio is built within your own risk tolerance band.  Each index Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) in your portfolio is selected based upon disciplined criteria:  low fees, trading liquidity, desirability of the asset class, and minimal tracking error.

What’s the best balance of index and active strategies?

Some things just go together: salt & pepper, peanut butter & jelly, indexes & active management.  We believe there is no universal formula to suit all investors. However, there is an optimal balance of index and active investment strategies for you –based on the particular circumstances of your life.  Determining your best balance is one area where we can be helpful.

Price Wealth Management offers four actively-managed institutional strategies, all  which pair favorably with indexed portfolios.  They are:  the Dividend Admiral strategy,  the GARP Strategy (Growth At a Reasonable Price), and a multi-cap Strategy. For income-seeking investors, the firm offers the Enhanced Dividend Income Portfolio (EDIP) strategy.  The performance of each actively-managed strategy is available upon request.

Active Portfolio Characteristics

  • Long-only.  Securities are not sold short, nor is margin debt used.
  • Sensible Diversification. Clients should expect 35 or fewer portfolio holdings.
  • Long-Term Focus.  We have a long investment time horizon.
  • Tax Efficient.  We will actively harvest tax losses to reduce your taxes.
  • Balanced Portfolios Available.  All active portfolios can be combined with taxable or municipal bonds.