"A&I has proprietary software so they can analyze trends that allow me to capitalize on downward markets, as well as make money when the market goes up," says Rick Lawler of Highland Ranch, Colo., who is the CFO for Summit Utilities, a small utility company. "They have created a portfolio for me that is a rare combination of being aggressive in its investments at the same time that it uses a conservative approach. This year has been a perfect example. While the Dow has been down 35%, my portfolio is up 20%. We converted to cash before the market declined and we will wait till we are in a good position to buy."
"For the moderate investor," Rewinkel explains, "trend-following strategies mean during an uptrend we buy an index mutual fund that seeks to provide investment returns that correspond with the NASDAQ 100 Index. During a down trend, we move into a cash position.
"For an aggressive investor, during an uptrend we buy an index mutual fund that seeks to provide investment returns that correspond with twice the NASDAQ 100 Index," he adds. "During a downtrend, we buy an index mutual fund that seeks to provide investment returns that inversely correspond with twice the NASDAQ 100 Index."
Frank also developed a portfolio of alternative assets and explains, "My approach to investments is to use mutual funds, ETFs, precious metals and currencies targeted to emerging areas of the world-anywhere that does not have a lot of debt. Argentina and other parts of Latin America are good now because they are running surpluses. China is appealing, but you need to find companies and funds that are making money off of internal demand, not exporting to the United States.
"I also like falling-dollar funds and currencies-accounts that go up as the dollar declines," he adds. "Those are good strategic decisions."
Stacey Frank arranges one event a month for A&I, including such things as seminars for investors. The firm is also actively involved in the Denver-Metro Chamber of Commerce. A regular event the firm sponsors is "Lunch and Learn" for clients, which can center on a wide range of issues. Bennett Braverman, an estate planning attorney in Boulder, Colo., went to a seminar just to see what the competition was up to and ended up as a client of A&I.
"Their presentation on 'trend following' got my attention. I would have said the concept was impossible, but if you know how the market operates, you can make a technical analysis and make predictions based on history," Braverman says. "I was with other financial planners and I was not happy with them. I even did it myself for a brief stint, but that was in 1991 and a lot has changed since then.
"I do not have time to do it for myself now, and Karl and Art have developed a portfolio for me that lets me participate in the market when it is going up and get out when it is not. They have an uncanny ability to predict what is coming and they moved me out of active investments just before the market went down. I also love that it is a family-based firm and they are all accessible."
Lawler, meanwhile, is exploring the potential of using A&I for a complete package of services for his utility's employees, providing them with benefits (or acting as a middleman with a benefits provider) and investing the 401(k) funds.
"Managing people's money is actually the easy part of what we do," Frank says. "It is the emotional attachment to a business and all of the other factors that make it complicated. But if we can make someone feel better about where they are in their investments and their business that is a huge gift we can give them."