A Billion Dollar Thank You!

As of June 2017, Compass surpassed the $1 billion milestone for assets under management.  We are delighted to have achieved this because it represents 29 years of successful effort by our Compass team.  More importantly, it is a significant reflection of the trust our clients have placed in us over this time period.  Thank you, sincerely!  Thanks also to those of you who referred clients to us.  These include existing clients as well as a considerable number of prominent lawyers, accountants and other professionals who complimented us in this way.  Our clients represent a wide variety of disciplines and fields and are vitally interesting institutions and individuals.  It is a great privilege to know and work with them.

What, if anything, has changed at Compass?  Not much.  We continue to grow in spite of the never ending (re)cycle of popular industry trends.  Our culture remains strong, entrepreneurial and collaborative.  We still “dress professionally” because managing other people’s money is not casual. And a Compass team member will still answer the phone when you call.

Most importantly, we continue to adhere to our founding investment strategies and disciplines; managing high-quality stock and bond portfolios successfully—the “old-fashioned” way—through hard work, patience and grit.  It is very important to know that at Compass we give equal emphasis and analytical scrutiny to both bonds and stocks.  We aren’t an equity shop which “does some bonds.”  We regard both bonds and stocks as essential for what we offer to clients.

We continue to evolve as a firm as well. A recent example was creating the role and hiring of a Chief Operating Officer.  This has provided the Portfolio Managers more time to meet with clients and team-manage the core equity and fixed income portfolios on your behalf.

So, what makes Compass different?  There is obviously no shortage of organizations offering investment advice.  Here are just a few of the ways in which we differ:

• Experience – Established in 1988.  Our portfolio managers average 20 years of industry experience, with more than 10 years at Compass.
• Track record – Highly successful, reflecting twenty-nine years, under a wide variety of economic conditions.
• Independent and privately owned – We are fiduciaries and focus on investment management and financial planning.
• Aligned with your interests – We employ the same investment discipline for our clients and employees.
• Impartial/Objective – We do not sell proprietary products, allowing us to focus on the best interests of each client.
• Team (6 Portfolio Managers) – Our team approach has provided a stable and consistent investment philosophy.  A team of professionals is stronger than one individual.
• Directly accessible – Clients work directly with our investment team.  Our clients benefit from face-to-face meetings with their portfolio decision makers.
• Service oriented – Our 40:1 client-to-staff ratio enables us to provide highly customized services. We are large enough to serve you and small enough to want to.
• Research-intensive – Not limited to in-house research.  A combination of in-house and third-party research is more likely to lead to new ideas and better decision making.

In spite of the popular trend by Wall Street to passive investing over the last few years, we believe our independence, focus and experience at Compass will be even more helpful to clients in the years ahead.  The first twenty-nine years have been great at Compass.  We believe the future looks even better!

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