An Integrated Approach ...

At Clune & Associates, our clients have come to rely on us for more than just investment management services. We look at your overall financial picture and provide coordinated strategies on all aspects of your life that impact your financial well being. Depending on your unique needs, your comprehensive wealth plan can offer strategies in a wide range of areas including:

Investment and Portfolio Management
Our approach to investment and portfolio management is based not on speculation, but on the science of capital markets. We construct portfolios by applying principles of financial science founded on over 80 years of financial market data, Nobel-Prize winning economic research and behavioral finance. These principles include:

• Diversification is key. Comprehensive, global asset allocation can neutralize the risks specific to individual securities, industries, countries and currencies.
• Portfolio structure determines performance. The asset classes that comprise a portfolio and the risk levels of those asset classes are responsible for most of the variability of portfolio returns.
• Risk and return are related. Financial science has brought us a powerful understanding of the risks that are worth taking and the risks that are not. Exposing portfolios to compensated risk and reducing non-compensated risk ensures that our investors can plan the risk/return profiles of their portfolios.
• Markets work. Capital markets do a good job of fairly pricing all available information and investor expectations about publicly traded securities. We reject costly speculation and guesswork and instead utilize an asset class investing approach to capture market rates of return within each asset class. This ensures more efficient, transparent and precise investment management.
• Practice Patience and Discipline. Each portfolio is customized to your specific objectives, risk sensitivity, liquidity requirements, time horizon, growth expectations and life circumstances. Your recommended portfolio is detailed in your personal Investment Policy Statement and is rebalanced and monitored for tax minimization to ensure consistency with your investment plan.

Financial and Retirement Planning
Financial Planning is an ongoing process which organizes and integrates the major elements of your financial life into a comprehensive game plan for the future. We create your financial plan so that you can enjoy financial security and peace of mind in your retirement years. Specifically, our planning process helps clients answer the following questions:

• When can I reasonably expect to retire?
• How much can I safely withdrawal from my portfolio to ensure that I don't outlive my money?
  
• What rate of return must my assets earn in order to ensure my retirement objectives are met?
  
• Is there anything that might disrupt or derail my retirement?

Risk Management / Insurance Planning
Life is full of risks. Planning for them is the only way to obtain the peace of mind that comes from knowing that you and your family are protected. We work with a network of third-party insurance providers to ensure that you have the most comprehensive and efficient insurance coverage available, customized to your specific needs. As an independent firm we ensure that our clients are getting the best unbiased solutions for their needs.

Insurance planning minimizes your exposure to risks that can threaten both your financial success and lifestyle objectives, thus protecting your well-being and peace of mind that you worked hard to achieve. Critical illness, disability, death and property damage are unexpected obstacles that can dramatically change your life. We will define a strategy to shield you and your family from the things that concern you the most. Our network of professionals are well-versed in sophisticated insurance programs and can advise on the best plan for you while we walk you through step by step.

Estate Planning
While individual needs may differ everyone should develop an estate plan to ensure that assets will be distributed to beneficiaries in an easy and precise manner. We will help you think about the issues necessary to create an estate plan that will meet your needs while avoiding common problems that can arise in the passing of assets. We will work with you and a qualified estate planning attorney to tailor a comprehensive estate plan that will help:

• Direct the distribution of your estate according to your wishes.
• Ensure that your estate will have sufficient funds to pay any taxes that may be incurred.
• Avoid unnecessary, and costly, probate.
• Minimize the emotional and financial burden on your beneficiaries.

Tax Planning
It's a fact of life, the more you have, the more you have to pay. Working with your tax professionals and looking at your complete wealth picture, we incorporate a tax planning process that takes into account your overall financial picture. As part of our portfolio management process, we also seek to maximize the after-tax rate of return within your portfolio. It's important to remember, it's not what you make that counts, it's what you keep.

• Charitable Gifting
  Giving money can be as challenging as investing it. Both require knowledge and strategy to be effective. Like any successful investment program, charitable giving must begin with a plan that fits with an investor's financial and personal goals.
  But charitable giving isn't strictly a matter of dollars and cents. It is personal. Giving strategies grow out of individual relationships, experiences and values. We have helped our clients to develop giving strategies that accommodate their personal wishes and concerns, as well as answer questions such as:
  • How much can I safely give away without jeopardizing my other goals?
  • How do I involve my children in my charitable giving?
    
  • What recent changes in tax laws affect my giving strategy?
    
  • Should I establish a private foundation, or is there a better solution?

  Many people find satisfaction and peace of mind in establishing a charitable giving plan. We can help guide you through the process of bringing your philanthropic vision to life.