When it comes to the array of services provided by the Forbes Family Trust, we act as advisor, coordinator and facilitator. We are constantly evaluating professionals to be able to bring the best solutions to our clients. A key result of this process is to be able to deliver the highest and most appropriate products while mitigating the costs by leveraging our buying power and knowledge of appropriate product pricing.
As an example, there are a number of ways to deliver life insurance solutions to address estate taxes and other client needs. Our process is aimed at optimizing the structure of family policies and mitigating costs. In many cases, ultra-affluent clients neglect a review of their structure and costs. Whether we directly provide services or indirectly provide best-in-class capabilities, we own the process from start to finish, such that the client receives what was promised. Of course, exceeding expectations for clients is always the goal.
Prince: With your strategic relationship with LGL Partners, can you describe your approach to investing?
Bloomfield: LGL brings to the Forbes Family Trust a deep investment team with experience from firms including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Citigroup, UBS and the Federal Reserve Bank. We subscribe to the principle that the best advice comes from those who "do" and "have done." For multiple decades, LGL's investment professionals have been active and experienced practitioners in the capital markets. They have directly managed portfolios and executed equity, fixed income and option trades; structured derivatives; implemented hedging transactions; and have built and structured portfolios. This hands-on knowledge provides clarity, insight and the ability to strategically navigate diverse investment opportunities.
Forbes Family Trust and LGL understand and identify whether the market or the manager is contributing to performance, applying our extensive quantitative resources to optimize portfolios and balance risk and reward. Our proprietary tools allow us to analyze traditional and alternative investments in great detail. We have the ability to report on and analyze over 1,000 alternative investment partnerships and asset class benchmarks from a proprietary database of actual returns.
Our experience allows us to formulate a macro view of the investment landscape and tactically implement it through appropriate vehicles. We conduct ongoing risk management across the entire investment portfolio and have the skills and tools to evaluate one-off investments, structured transactions or financing arrangements.
With the addition of the LGL team, we see across the investment landscape. With this knowledge and the ability to maximize buying power, we can offer clients a broad range of independent and conflict-free solutions with economies of scale.
Prince: What needs of the very wealthy do you address that help distinguish you from your competitors?
Bloomfield: While we bring some specialized talents to our clients, our greatest strength is our understanding of the issues they face and the various solutions to those issues. The deep understanding we develop of our clients coupled with our focus on being industry thought leaders is a big factor in enabling Forbes Family Trust to be state of the art in delivering customized and optimized solutions to our clients.
From an investment standpoint, we have many distinguishing attributes to meet client needs. For example, our senior executives advise clients directly. Our advisors are investors, not relationship managers. Our single-family office origins allow for unique access to investment ideas and "club" opportunities. We use robust proprietary software for investment selections.