Investing is often sold as a simple linear equation. Many times, we are told that if you want a higher return, you must endure more risk. The logic feels intuitive. After all, if markets are uncertain, surely the reward must be higher for those willing to endure the discomfort of increased uncertainty. But the history of finances suggests a more nuanced reality. A real risk in an investment portfolio isn’t just the fact that prices go up and down. It is the danger that you are taking too much risk without the promise of a proportional reward. In the world of wealth management, this is known as uncompensated risk. It’s the risk that creates stress, complexity, and avoidable drawdowns without moving the needle on your financial goals. On the other hand, some risks are rewarded over time. A stronger portfolio takes the right risks, for a clear reason, and supports your investment goals. The challenge for individual investors is learning how to tell the difference, while still being cognizant of the mental challenges humans have concerning risk. What It Really Means to Get “Paid for Risk” Getting “paid for risk” means that your expected return is meaningfully higher because you accepted specific, intentional risks. To better understand risk and reward, we must first distinguish between the different types of exposure. Investors who buy a broad diversified portfolio of stocks are taking market risks. This is generally a compensated risk because historically, the market rewards those who provide capital to the global economy over a long investment horizon. However, many investments carry “uncompensated” risks. Consider concentration risk: putting a chunk of your assets into a single investment, such as a rapidly rising stock. While this could make you rich, it is not a risk the market pays you to take over time. While momentum can be an observed phenomenon of the market, so can the concept of reversion to the mean. A key part of good risk management is separating repeatable drivers of return from random exposure. While luck can carry your portfolio for a while, it’s your process that carries it across decades and increases your ability to stay invested through difficult periods. Identify the Risks You Are Actually Taking Your investment strategy might have hidden risks that don’t show up in your daily account balance until it’s too late. Effective risk management requires understanding that risk behaves differently across various environments. Interest Rate Risk When rates rise, the value of existing bonds typically falls. If your portfolio construction is heavy on long-term corporate bonds, you are highly sensitive to rate risk. Many people realized this in 2022. Inflation Risk Holding too many conservative investments or safe investments like cash might feel secure, but the impact of rising prices can erode your purchasing power over time. The issue of affordability, such as we’ve seen in 2025 and 2026, may have caused some investors to become more conservative with their investments, at the very time they need to maintain at least some exposure to investments that generally rise with inflation over time. Credit Risk and Default Risk This is the danger that a borrower won’t pay you back. High-yield securities offer higher potential but come with a greater chance of default risk. Liquidity Risk Some investment products restrict your access to your money. If you can’t sell an asset when you need cash, you’re facing liquidity risk—a major problem if you haven’t established a robust emergency fund. This can be a consideration for investors in certain alternative or private equity-type funds. Currency Risk For those with foreign investments, fluctuations in exchange rates can eat into your return even if the underlying company performs well. Spot Uncompensated Risk Hiding in Plain Sight Some of the most damaging risks are not obvious. Many portfolios suffer from “implementation drag”, which means you may be incurring risks that don’t offer a reward. This often includes: Concentration: Owning too many overlapping mutual funds or funds that create noise and higher costs without providing true diversification. Many investors don’t realize how many funds and ETFs hold the same securities. Performance Chasing: Rotating into different investments because they did well over the last 6 months, 12 months, or any prior period you choose. Historical returns are just one instance of what could have happened in the past, and we need to be careful trying to project history forward into the future. Overcomplication: The more parameters and risk indicators you use to create the “perfect” risk and reward balance, the more unaware you will be of the hidden dependencies and interactions between them. This creates a greater tendency to “curve fit”. Life rarely plays out to such precision. Measuring Risk the Right Way (Not just by Volatility) Many investors focus on volatility, but volatility is not really risk. It may be an indicator of risk, but it is only a surface-level metric. It is something we can measure, so we tend to use it to describe risk. Drawdown risk and sequence of return risk are other metrics and events that we can measure to determine their impact on a portfolio’s growth, but they still may not align with your specific situation. Probably the best definition of risk I have heard comes from Howard Marks, who stated that: “Risk is probability of a bad outcome”. While anyone can calculate volatility (or what they call risk) metrics from past data, success really comes down to just risk metrics; it comes down more to risk capacity. And everyone’s risk capacity is different. It is based on your own capacity to emotionally and financially endure a bad outcome, at various times in the future, based on your situation and goals. You should ask not only what the probability of a bad outcome would be, but also of those unfavorable outcomes, which ones would you be most likelyto be unable to recover from. This is the essence of the Porter Investment PPRO Investment Process. Check Whether Your Return Drivers Match Your Goals A

Many experienced investors and DIY investors don’t need to be taught about asset classes, diversification, or what an ETF is, but as their assets grow and they invest in different areas, they may consider seeking outside advice for at least some things.  When it comes to paying a financial advisor, the real question is not which option has lower fees, but which fee structure stays fair as your life, wealth, and complexity change. This is where the debate between flat-fee pricing and AUM fees occurs. Many investors focus on the dollar amount and miss a deeper issue. Those center around the work being done, who is doing it, and how much execution you want to delegate. If you’ve spent your career as a high-income professional who understands the difference between a low-cost index fund and a high-load commission product, you don’t need a financial advisor to explain the basics of investing. You need a pricing model that reflects the actual work being done. A smart financial advisor fee comparison does not start with price. It starts with scope. The Quick Answer: How Flat-Fee and AUM Compare in Practice At a high level, the difference looks simple enough. With a flat fee, you pay a set dollar amount.  This is often an annual fee, subscription, or retainer for defined financial planning or advisory services, regardless of portfolio size. With an AUM model, you pay a percentage fee based on assets under management, typically tied to ongoing investment management, monitoring, and implementation. But that surface-level explanation hides the real drivers of value. The better fit depends on: People often misjudge the choice by comparing fees without comparing behavior, scope, and execution. Many investors assume that because they can manage their own investments, advice has little value. Others focus on which option looks cheaper on paper, without considering how often decisions actually get made, revisited, or delayed. The real cost rarely shows up as an explicit mistake—it shows up as inaction. A simple self-test can help clarify a potential fit. Ask yourself: Do I want a second brain for some specific decisions, or do I want someone fully responsible for execution? If you prefer guidance but enjoy implementation, a flat-fee arrangement may fit. If you want fewer decisions and more delegation, AUM often aligns better. Start With the Real Variable: What “I Know What I’m Doing” Actually Means Many capable investors truly do understand markets, diversification, and long-term investment strategies. But knowing the right move and consistently making it are different things. Execution matters more than intelligence. Experienced investors usually fall into one of four categories: For these individuals, financial advice isn’t about picking stocks or mutual funds that beat the market. It is about financial security, tax coordination, and preventing the expensive edge-case mistakes that happen when life gets busy. Understand the Two Fee Models Without the Sales Pitch Flat-Fee Structures A flat-fee model typically shows up as an annual retainer, a monthly subscription, a project-based plan, or a tiered price based on complexity. Some flat fee advisors focus primarily on planning, while others offer optional implementation support. What matters is not the label, but what is included. Some flat fee structure arrangements cover only advice. Others include tax strategy, cash-flow planning, or coordination with CPAs and estate attorneys. Investment oversight, rebalancing, or trading may be extra, and in some cases, not offered at all. AUM Structures An AUM fee structure is usually a declining percentage as total assets grow, often described through AUM percentages or breakpoints. An AUM advisor typically provides full portfolio oversight, rebalancing, tax-aware trading, and ongoing planning. For many clients, AUM includes not just advice, but execution.  Transparent clarity on the scope of what you will get will help drive what fee structure makes the most sense. Make sure you understand who does what, how often, and who assumes accountability for each aspect of the services. The Cost Math: When Each Model Is Usually “More Expensive” (And Why It Can Mislead) A flat fee often looks attractive when: Flat-fee advisors provide predictable costs and transparent pricing. You know exactly what the annual fee is, regardless of whether the market goes up or down. This removes the incentive for an AUM advisor to simply “gather assets.” AUM often looks more reasonable when: The aum fee structure often makes more sense for those who want full delegation. If you want someone to own the asset management, handle the rebalancing, manage tax-loss harvesting, and provide comprehensive services across a dozen different accounts, the AUM model aligns the advisor’s work with the ongoing maintenance of those assets. The danger is aiming for the lowest price. We have found that most costly mistakes come from neglecting the important components of management, such as taxes, timing of sales, asset concentration, or failure to adequately plan for possible scenarios.  Lack of success in a plan rarely comes down to solely not paying for the right fee model. Incentives and Conflicts: The Part Sophisticated Investors Actually Care About Every fee structure creates an incentive. As an intelligent investor, you must look at how these models influence an advisor’s interests. The right fee structure is one where the interests of the client and the firm are as aligned as possible. You should always ask how many advisors handle financial products or if they receive a commission. Real Fiduciary behavior shows up in documentation, transparent rates, and how recommendations are explained.  What Investors Who Know What They’re Doing Usually Need Most Advanced investors rarely need basic financial advice. They usually need help where decisions intersect. Tax strategy is often at the top of the list. Capital gains planning, Roth conversions, charitable strategies, and estimated payments require coordination across years. Concentration and equity compensation planning matter for investors with RSUs, options, or large positions in employer stock. Estate planning and protection planning also play a major role. Beneficiary designations, trust coordination, and insurance gaps rarely feel urgent, but they matter enormously during transitions. Even confident investors benefit from

The transition from managing your own money to partnering with a financial advisor is rarely driven by a sudden loss of intelligence or lack of information. We have found it is almost always driven by either a sudden gain in complexity, your priorities for time change, or the consequences of mistakes become more meaningful.   For years, you may have successfully navigated the financial markets pretty much without any outside help. You have likely found that DIY investing builds a certain kind of rugged confidence. You made thoughtful investment decisions. You weren’t guessing.  You were engaged. But over time, something changes.  It’s not that you’ve lost skill. And it isn’t that you can’t do math. But what once felt empowering can start to feel like a constant time commitment, a source of decision fatigue, or a nagging sense that something important might be slipping through the cracks. It starts to compete with the very life you want your wealth to support.   If you have quietly asked yourself, “Am I ready to stop managing everything alone?”, you aren’t surrendering. You are simply recognizing that your financial life has outgrown the spreadsheet that got you here. The Quick-Start Roadmap: A Practical Way to Make the Switch Without Losing Control A successful transition is a process, not a single event.  Do you want support with: Not every investor needs everything. Step 1: Gather Your Snapshot Before you meet with any income professionals, gather a clean snapshot of your current system. This includes taxable accounts, Roth IRAs, 401(k)s, HSA details, and stock plans. Do not forget your estate planning basics, such as wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations (from old 401Ks and rollovers) are just as vital as your asset allocation.  Step 2: Identify the Top 3 causes of “Decision Fatigue” What are the three decisions you are tired of revisiting? Is it how to create a paycheck replacement or implement a withdrawal strategy, or defining consistent rebalancing rules, or simply how to better identify true risks before something bad happens? Identifying these helps you see the advisor value beyond just investment performance.  Step 3: Establish Guardrails Work with your advisor to define “implementation rules.” This includes setting your risk target, cash reserves, and tax preferences. By setting these boundaries, you ensure the investment strategy aligns with your financial future without needing to oversee every trade. Why DIY Stops Feeling “Simple” for High-Capability Investors The DIY approach works beautifully when your primary goal is accumulation. But as you approach retirement, the financial landscape shifts from a game of addition to a game of coordination. The hidden cost of DIY isn’t just the advisory fees you save; it’s the tax planning opportunities you miss, the inconsistent execution during busy years, and aligning the most beneficial timing of the different sources of income. Some great decisions may stay stuck in your head and never make it into your accounts.  Common signs it’s time to seek guidance include:  Keeping Control: Defining the Relationship Model The biggest fear DIY investors have is “handing over the wheel.” However, working with an advisor should be a structured way to keep control while delegating the parts of wealth management that cause decision fatigue. You can choose up front what you want to keep doing, what you want to delegate, and what you want to co-manage.  There are three primary ways to work with an investment advisor without feeling sidelined:  In any model, you should never give up the right to understand what you own and why you own it.  What to Prepare Before You Meet Any Advisor (So the Process Feels Empowering) Preparation shifts the balance of power in your favor. At a minimum, you should bring: Choosing the Right Advisor: What to Look for Beyond Credentials When evaluating a financial advisor, look beyond the credentials. You are looking for a fit in both communication and philosophy. Some questions to ask include: Fee Models and Engagement Options (So You Can Choose Without Guessing) Understanding the different ways a financial advisor charges is essential for DIY investors to compare costs and services fairly. Common advisor fees include AUM (Assets Under Management), flat-fee retainers, or hourly project rates.  Each model serves specific needs: AUM is often best for full delegation and ongoing portfolio management, while flat-fee or hourly models may suit those seeking specific advice or planning support. When selecting an investment advisor, ensure you understand what “included” means in plain language—this should cover planning depth, meeting frequency, and implementation responsibility.  Rather than focusing solely on the fees, evaluate the scope of work, the service level, and the accountability provided. By choosing the right engagement option, you can ensure your wealth management aligns with your financial goals without any guesswork or hidden conflicts.  The Transition Plan: How to Move from DIY to Advisor Support Step by Step To move from DIY investing to professional guidance, the transition follows a deliberate process to ensure you maintain control of your finances. The process begins with discovery and goal alignment to clarify what tasks you wish to delegate, what you prefer to keep, and what success looks like for your wealth. It is essential to build a baseline planning strategy before moving any money to avoid making changes just to “do something”. If a full hand-off feels overwhelming, you can transfer a subset of accounts first as part of a phased approach. Together with your advisor, you will establish investment guardrails, including risk targets, cash reserves, and rebalancing rules. Crucially, you must coordinate tax planning details—such as cost basis, embedded gains, and wash sale risks—before any trades occur.  The plan is then implemented in stages, covering everything from asset allocation to beneficiary updates. Finally, you set a review cadence and reporting schedule that keeps you in the driver’s seat, ensuring all decisions require your approval. This structured path ensures that as complexity increases, the process scales without causing confusion or a loss of visibility. Portfolio Changes Without Regret: How to Avoid “Selling Everything” Anxiety Making major shifts

Is there a more innovative way to adapt your portfolio as markets change? When markets feel uncertain, the idea of making tactical shifts by moving between various asset classes to capture short-term market opportunities feels reassuring. It offers the hope that you can sidestep trouble, take advantage of specific strengths, or nudge your investment portfolio toward better long-term outcomes.But here’s the truth. Tactical asset allocation can be enormously helpful, but it can also be destructive. It all depends on when, how, and why it’s used. Like most tools in portfolio management, its power comes not from the tool itself, but from the discipline behind it. This article will help you understand when a tactical asset allocation strategy improves outcomes, and when it undermines them. You’ll learn how to balance strategic asset allocation with tactical approaches, how to evaluate market conditions, and how to decide whether TAA strategies fit your personal investment goals and financial objectives. And, importantly, you’ll see why an individual investor managing their own accounts often has advantages over designed Asset Allocation mutual funds, when it comes to speed, flexibility, and tactical adjustments. The Core Question: When Tactical Allocation Actually Improves Outcomes What does it mean that Tactical Allocation can “work” within the context of a client portfolio? For most investors, tactical allocation “works” when it helps to: Reduce the damage of a market downturn Improve outcomes when compared to a specific target asset allocation Smooth the path of a retirement portfolio Reduce volatility without sacrificing long-term wealth Exploit meaningful market inefficiencies that others overlook Success is not about being right every month. It is more about being right more often than being wrong over time. It is about having a defined, repeatable process that continually strives to put the odds of success in your favor, not guarantee them. Your investment plan also needs to stay aligned with long-term financial goals while keeping an eye on your costs and trading frequency. Where Tactical Asset Allocation Tends to Add Value There are specific environments where tactical strategies can shine. 1. Major Turning Points When Data Aligns When economic, valuation, and trend indicators all point in the same direction, tactical shifts may provide meaningful improvements. Examples: Reducing equity risk when recession risk is clearly rising Increasing exposure to stocks when multiple macro indicators confirm a recovery Leaning into other asset classes when long-term market opportunities appear unusually strong 2. Markets With Strong, Durable Trends Momentum matters. When one or more asset classes are persistently strong or weak, dynamic asset allocation helps you capture trends early and avoid dead weight. If commodities, for example, enter a multi-year bull cycle while bonds generate negative real returns, a tactical allocation that adjusts portfolio weights can materially improve results. 3. Wide Dispersion Between Winners and Laggards Some environments create enormous gaps between winners and losers across different asset classes or sectors. If U.S. stocks outperform international markets for a decade, as they did in the 2010s, allocations that recognize this dispersion benefit. In contrast, when global markets appear undervalued relative to long-term averages, they may present compelling market opportunities. 4. When Valuations are Extremely Out of Line When valuations diverge far from historical norms, tactical adjustments can reduce future disappointment. No one knows the future, but extreme valuations tend to resolve themselves over time. Tactical approaches may help. The risk of being early with something can be less painful than the risk of being late. 5. When Defensive Positioning Helps Manage Risk Sometimes, the most successful active strategy is simply reducing exposure when market conditions deteriorate. Possible scenarios: Credit spreads widen aggressively Leading economic indicators decline Volatility spikes Breadth breaks down In such cases, temporarily lowering exposure to stocks and bonds can materially improve a portfolio’s resilience. This is where tactical allocation can make the most significant difference in helping an investor stay invested during retirement, when large drawdowns hurt the most. Tactical allocation is not market timing. It is evidence-based risk management, supported by data rather than headlines. It is more about reacting to recent market data than predicting future market movement based on what you think the data is telling you.  When Tactical Asset Allocation Falls Short For all its potential benefits, active management has fundamental limitations. 1. Range-Bound, Sideways Markets If markets move without direction, bouncing inside a tight band, signals produce more noise than insight. You get: Whipsaws False positives Frustration Higher trading frequency Weak after-tax results In a flat market, tactical allocation often does more harm than good. 2. When Trading Costs and Taxes Eat the Benefit Frequent changes to your asset mix may mean: Higher transaction costs Higher taxes on short-term gains More drift from the investment approach you started with 3. When the Signals Are Weak No indicator works in every environment. When the inputs lack any consensus, you’re doing more guessing. Many investors confuse a “feeling” with a strategy. What they need is process, not instinct. 4. Markets Dominated by Shocks War. Pandemics. Sudden policy moves. Sometimes the market does things that no model can predict. Exogenous events like the COVID pandemic, with shorter market rebounds, will always be problematic for a tactical approach. When the unexpected dominates, tactical allocation offers little benefit because the signals don’t have time to adapt. 5. When the Process Isn’t Consistent But more times than not, the biggest failure point is not the market, it’s the investor. When tactical moves are based on emotion, headlines, or hunches, they drift toward pure market timing, often with disastrous results. Strategic vs. Tactical Allocation: How They Work Together The most successful portfolios combine Strategic Asset Allocation and Tactical Asset Allocation. Here is a good way to look at it: Strategic Allocation = The Foundation Your long-term target weights and your strategic allocation anchor everything. Strategic allocation connects your: Investment objectives Financial goals Risk tolerance Time horizon Purpose for investing (income, growth, retirement, etc.) Tactical Allocation = The Adjustments Tactical moves aren’t replacements. Think of them as refinements layered on top of the

Over the past two decades, passive investing has become a significant presence in individual investing. Index funds have become increasingly commonplace, with many surpassing the size of their actively managed counterparts. What began as a quiet revolution in finance many years ago has turned into a significant wave of funds continually flowing into passive strategies. Investors are attracted to the promises of simplicity, low cost, and broad market exposure. Passive investing is a logical and appealing approach. Who doesn’t want to be cost-efficient and avoid poor active management at the same time? Passive investors discovered that trying to beat the market often cost more in fees, taxes, and frustration than it was worth. Data consistently showed that even highly skilled managers struggled to outperform the indices in most years when measured after accounting for costs and expenses. For many investors, the choice was obvious: if you can’t reliably win, why not just own the whole market? However, we know markets and cycles ebb and flow over time. Today’s equity markets are dominated by a handful of mega-cap stocks, whose valuations are stretched to levels that make some seasoned professionals nervous. Current market conditions, marked by tariffs, trade wars, inflation, and economic headwinds, have reignited an old debate about whether one can ever become too passive. After all, if everyone is a passive investor, then who is left to help the market decide what’s a fair price? How Passive Investing Works, And Why It’s Been So Popular The core of passive investing is deceptively simple. Instead of trying to pick stocks and strategies that will outperform, you buy a fund that mirrors a passive index like the S&P 500. The goal is to match, not beat, the market returns. No analyzing financial numbers, no studying moving averages or chart patterns, no trading to get the perfect execution price, and no predicting if we are in a market bubble. Just stay seated for the long-term ride in the growth of the broad market. You basically view active investing as not worth the effort. Three ideas have helped fuel this simple approach: Diversification. A single index can hold hundreds of securities, spreading risk across the economy. Low Costs. Passive funds are cheap to operate; they don’t require armies of analysts or trading desks. Evidence. Decades of research have shown that most actively managed funds underperform their respective indices, often by a significant margin, after accounting for expenses.   When investors finally understood how compounding small cost differences could influence long-term returns, the case for passive management became very persuasive. The fund market followed the money. Large firms like Vanguard and BlackRock built empires by offering passive index funds with fees approaching zero. It has created a system where anyone can access the growth of the economy and the performance of well-run companies without needing to pick trends or winners. Why Some Investors Are Questioning Passive Strategies On the other hand, every investment approach has trade-offs. Every system has flaws when it is stretched too far. As money continued to pour into index funds and ETFs, the market itself began to change. Today, just a handful of stocks, such as Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft, make up an outsized share of the market capitalizations of the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. When billions of dollars automatically flow into passive funds every month, those dollars are allocated by formula, rather than through evaluation or financial analysis. The bigger a company’s market cap, the more passive flows it attracts, regardless of its valuation or future performance potential. This can create a bubble-like dynamic. Investing success breeds money inflows, which in turn boost stock prices, and rising stock prices attract even more flows. In a sense, passive investors become unintentional momentum traders, reinforcing existing trends rather than evaluating underlying business value. Meanwhile, the number of publicly traded companies has declined significantly over the past few decades. That means passive strategies are funneling more and more assets into fewer securities, thereby concentrating market risk. The bottom line is that a structure was once built for diversification, but now contains its own form of concentration. The Potential Downsides of a Fully Passive Approach The most significant downside of pure passive investing is that it’s never truly hands-off. It’s just automated. When the market changes, your portfolio changes automatically, with no discretion. During down markets, passive investors stay fully exposed because their funds can’t raise cash, hedge credit risk, or avoid liquidity squeezes. In times of rising market concentration, a few names dominate your holdings. The top ten companies in the S&P 500 now account for nearly a third of the index’s total market capitalization. That means your “diversified” index may rely on the performance of fewer than a dozen firms. And when the stock market transitions, say from growth to value, or from technology to energy, a passive management approach doesn’t adapt. It simply follows the index, whether it’s right or wrong. Past performance becomes the compass for future results, which is exactly what every regulatory disclosure and finance professor warns against. Passive investing is often described as “buying the whole market.” However, in practice, it means buying more of what has already increased in value. When leadership changes, passive investors learn that doing nothing can sometimes feel like standing still on a moving sidewalk. When a More Active Approach May Be Needed There are times when active investing shines, especially when the market stops rewarding simplicity. Down markets, or periods of wide multi-month price swings, tend to favor active investors who can identify mispriced securities, adjust exposures, and manage risk dynamically. Active management doesn’t mean constant trading. It means being deliberate. It can involve trimming positions in overheated indices, adding exposure to undervalued funds, or adjusting investment decisions as economics shift. It’s about being responsive. Some active strategies specialize in sectors, others in defensive allocations, or a hedge fund that might exploit short-term dislocations. For example, when growth leadership narrows and valuations expand, an active investor can rotate into

Why “Fiduciary” Is More Than Just a Word In investing, words are cheap. Everyone says they have your “best interest” at heart. Everyone claims they’re a “trusted partner.” But only one word – “fiduciary” – carries the full legal and ethical weight of a promise. Even though we’ve probably heard the word fiduciary before, there is likely no other word that is more misunderstood by the investing public. I was talking with another financial professional in preparing this article, one with over 25 years of experience with a major investment firm, and he had difficulty defining the details of when a fiduciary responsibility is required. Please be sure to read the “Common Misconceptions” below. A fiduciary is a financial professional bound by fiduciary duty: a duty of loyalty, a duty of care, and a duty to act in good faith. That means putting your needs ahead of their own, avoiding self-dealing, and steering clear of potential conflicts of interest. This is important because the fiduciary standard is backed by law—the Investment Advisers Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Department of Labor (DOL) all define and enforce fiduciary responsibilities. Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), fiduciary advisors, and Certified Financial Planners (CFPs) who accept fiduciary status commit to aligning their decisions with their clients’ best interests. This article breaks down what a fiduciary investment process looks like. You’ll see how it differs sharply from two common alternatives: Research platforms and services for DIY investors, where you’re the chief investment officer, financial planner, and risk manager of your own life. Broker-based advice, where advisors from the traditional wire houses and brokerage firms may operate under the lower suitability standard, meaning they only need to recommend something “suitable,” even if it’s not in their clients’ best interests. By the end, you’ll see how a fiduciary approach can better align your portfolio with your goals, protect your beneficiaries, and reduce both financial and behavioral costs along the way. Step One: Establishing Goals and Priorities A fiduciary begins not with a solution, even if you state a specific product at first. They will lead with questions such as: What do you want your money to do for you and your family? What financial goals matter most: retirement income, helping children, charitable giving, leaving a legacy, etc.? What’s your tolerance for risk, both financially and emotionally? This should lead to many follow-up questions, but this deep discovery process is not about selling investment products. It’s about aligning your financial situation, time horizon, and values with an investment strategy. Contrast this with other approaches: Broker-dealers may lead with investment options tied to their financial institutions’ offerings, such as proprietary ETFs, mutual funds, or structured products. Their focus can tilt toward products that generate commissions, creating potential conflicts of interest. These products will generally be offered in an unmanaged brokerage account, as opposed to separately managed accounts. Services such as newsletters, timing services, and possible auto traders that serve DIY investors may offer buy and sell signals, macro viewpoints, other investment tips, etc. They generally do not fall under the fiduciary requirement. The reputable services should have a prominent disclosure, but many do not. The rules of thumb or tips they provide are not necessarily connected to your long-term financial goals. Without clear alignment between goals and strategy, the process of investment management becomes reactive instead of intentional. A fiduciary makes sure the foundation is strong before moving forward. Step Two: Comprehensive Financial Analysis and Risk Assessment Fiduciary responsibilities will extend beyond asking what you want and dig into what you have. This may include: Income, expenses, and liabilities. Existing investment portfolio. Retirement plan balances and distributions. Tax situation. Insurance coverage. Fiduciary advisors will use analytical tools, coupled with a deep understanding of your risk capabilities, to help you make informed decisions. These tools may measure how your investment portfolio may behave across thousands of scenarios, not just in the best-case or worst-case scenarios. By contrast: Services for DIY investors often lean on simplistic heuristics (“own your age in bonds”) or act on your fear and greed. Broker-dealers may use surface-level profiling forms, which can logically justify a specific investment product. The fiduciary standard of care requires more. It requires understanding your total financial situation before making investment decisions. Step Three: Crafting a Diversified Portfolio Fiduciary advisors construct investment portfolios using evidence, not hunches. That means they lean on: Broad diversification across asset classes, sectors, and geographies. Low-cost, tax-efficient investment products. May utilize academic research, not company-sponsored studies, to support and clarify their actions. The goal isn’t to chase fads but to design a durable portfolio that grows wealth while managing risk. Contrast: Broker-dealers may favor higher cost or proprietary products that generate fees for financial institutions. Some firms can create products that have the same cost as other solutions, but their advisors’ pay grid is affected greater by one product over another. They are not required to tell you every detail of their compensation pay grid. DIY services may overconcentrate in hot stocks, neglect asset allocation, or let your emotions drive investment decisions. A fiduciary advisor avoids self-dealing, mitigates conflicts of interest, and sticks to clients’ best interests. Step Four: Tax-Aware Portfolio Construction Taxes can silently erode returns over time. A fiduciary process may explicitly account for tax impact, seeking to minimize “tax drag.” This includes: Strategic asset placement. Tax-loss harvesting – when consistent with your overriding objectives. Roth conversions. Charitable gifting strategies. Broker-dealers may not integrate this depth of tax analysis. DIY investors often overlook it entirely. Fiduciary advisors see tax strategy as part of wealth management, not an afterthought. Step Five: Ongoing Monitoring and Rebalancing A fiduciary doesn’t disappear after the portfolio is built. Ongoing monitoring is part of fiduciary responsibilities. That means: Measuring performance against appropriate benchmarks. Periodic rebalancing to keep asset allocation in line with the overall plan. Making evidence-based adjustments instead of emotional ones. In some instances, Brokers may trigger unnecessary transactions that generate commissions. DIY investors often panic in

Most people assume that smart people naturally make smart money moves. After all, if you’re educated, successful, and informed about the stock market, shouldn’t you also be good at making investment decisions? The uncomfortable truth is that intelligence alone doesn’t protect you from making dumb decisions with your money. If anything, smart investors can be even more vulnerable. Why? Because knowledge often brings overconfidence. Experience can fuel stubbornness. And when combined with the natural cognitive biases all humans share, the result is that some of the brightest minds in finance fall into the same traps as everyone else. This matters because financial outcomes aren’t driven just by spreadsheets and forecasts. They’re shaped by psychology, behavior, and decision-making under pressure. Understanding why smart money can still stumble, and learning practical ways to keep your wealth on track, can make the difference between compounding steadily over decades and watching your hard-earned savings evaporate. The Psychology Behind Poor Investment Decisions Even smart investors aren’t immune to the quirks of human psychology. If anything, their confidence in their abilities can amplify these biases: Overconfidence – Smart people often overestimate how much they know. They believe their insights give them an edge, leading to risky trades, concentrated bets, or chasing hype. As Charlie Munger once quipped, it’s not a lack of intelligence that hurts investors, it’s the certainty that they’re right. Loss aversion – Behavioral finance research shows we feel the pain of losses about twice as strongly as the joy of gains. That means even smart investors can panic during a downturn, selling at precisely the wrong moment. Confirmation bias – Instead of looking for balanced evidence, we all tend to seek information that confirms what we already believe. If you’re bullish on crypto, every bullish article looks like validation; if you expect a crash, every gloomy forecast feels like proof. Short-term thinking – Recency bias tricks us into giving today’s news too much weight in long-term plans. A bad quarter in the stock market can scare even seasoned investors into abandoning an otherwise sound investment strategy. These psychological blind spots don’t vanish with intelligence. In fact, they often grow stronger the more someone believes they’re immune to them. Common Dumb Decisions Even Experienced Investors Make When you put these biases into real-world investments, they often lead to a predictable set of mistakes. Even the most experienced investors aren’t spared: Chasing past performance – Buying mutual funds or ETFs that just had a great 1-3 year run, assuming the streak will continue. As every disclaimer says, past performance is no guarantee of future results. Panic selling in downturns – Letting fear take over when volatility spikes. Warren Buffett has long reminded investors to be “fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful,” but in practice, most do the opposite. Failing to diversify – Concentrating too much in one stock, one sector, or one asset class. Diversification may feel boring, but it’s one of the only free lunches in personal finance. The problem is, by the time the market lets you know you are not diversified, it’s too late. Ignoring fees and taxes – High expense ratios, frequent trading costs, and tax-inefficient moves eat away at returns far more than many investors realize. Holding losers too long – Refusing to sell because admitting a mistake feels worse than the financial hit itself. Stop loss rules exist for a reason, but discipline is hard when emotions are involved. The Role of Market Hype and Herd Mentality Markets aren’t just about numbers; they’re about stories. And stories spread fast. Think about the waves of enthusiasm around crypto, meme stocks, or hot tech IPOs. Social media, podcasts, and LinkedIn posts amplify excitement. Pretty soon, even smart investors feel that familiar twinge of FOMO: fear of missing out. Herd mentality is powerful. If everyone around you is doubling their money in something new, sitting on the sidelines feels like losing, even if your own portfolio is performing just fine. This pressure nudges smart investors into dumb decisions, like buying into hype at inflated prices or abandoning carefully built retirement accounts to chase a quick win. History is full of these moments, from the dot-com bubble to the housing frenzy to the more recent crypto and meme craze. Each time, smart investors justified their choices with real-world logic. Each time, many end up learning the hard way that markets can humble anyone. Why Intelligence Doesn’t Always Equal Better Investing Here’s the paradox: the smarter you are, the more likely you are to rationalize your mistakes. Financial IQ vs. emotional discipline – Knowing how to model discounted cash flows or analyze balance sheets doesn’t mean you’ll stay calm when your portfolio drops 25%. A frequent comment we also hear from DIY investors is “I know it can drop 30%, but I plan on getting out long before that”. Complexity as a trap – Smart investors often gravitate toward sophisticated strategies, but complexity can backfire when markets move against them. Sometimes simple solutions, such as index funds and steady asset allocation, outperform elaborate approaches. The illusion of control – Smart people often believe they can outthink randomness. But the stock market is full of surprises, downturns, and volatility that no model or forecast can fully predict. The real key isn’t brilliance; it’s temperament. The ability to sit still or move decisively when appropriate, avoid FOMO, and stay consistent when everyone else is panicking matters more than raw IQ. Strategies to Avoid These Mistakes The good news? You don’t have to accept dumb decisions as inevitable. There are practical ways to design systems that protect you from your own worst instincts: Automate where possible – Automatic contributions to retirement accounts, dollar-cost averaging, and portfolio rebalancing help remove emotions from the equation. Write down your rules – A must-do, especially as a guardrail when emotions run high. Having pre-committed rules about diversification, stop loss levels, and rebalancing schedules helps you stay disciplined. Diversification as default – Instead of trying to

Do-it-yourself investing became popular many years before the Meme stock craze.  With apps, zero-commission brokers, and endless online resources, the barrier to entry has all but disappeared. Anyone with a smartphone can buy stocks, crypto, and maybe even alternative investments (alts) in seconds. The appeal is obvious: lower fees, full control, and the sense of empowerment that comes with managing your own money. Many DIY investors see it as a way to avoid Wall Street sales pitches and keep more of their returns. This might sound somewhat unusual coming from Porter Investments, a Strategic investment management and portfolio risk management firm, but we’ll be the first to say that many people can be successful investors on their own. With discipline, patience, and a simple plan, investors can build some wealth without ever hiring professional help. In fact, most people have already heard the commonly advised strategies to help do that: save consistently, diversify broadly, and stay invested through market ups and downs. But success doesn’t mean it’s always easy. The stock market is a humbling teacher. Complexity can grow as savings accumulate, tax rules shift, and emotions and financial goals evolve. Even investors who start out confident can find themselves second-guessing portfolio decisions, wondering if they’re taking too much risk, or overlooking opportunities. That’s where the harder question emerges: When do DIY investors need help? At what point does independence cross into overwhelm? And how can investors know when bringing in a financial planner or advisor is not a sign of failure, but simply a smarter way to protect wealth and align with long-term goals? The right answers will vary among individuals. This guide will try and unpack those questions, so that you can get closer to deciding what is best for you. We’ll explore the benefits and pitfalls of DIY investing, the mistakes to avoid, and the complex situations where professional guidance adds value. In the end, you want to strike the right balance between independence and expert advice. Do-it-Yourself DIY Investing: The Appeal and the Risks At its core, a DIY investor is someone who chooses to handle portfolio management, research, trades, and financial planning on their own. That means building an investment strategy, making portfolio decisions, and dealing with the ups and downs of the stock market without outside help. For many, the appeal of DIY investing is irresistible: Accessibility: Online platforms and apps like Fidelity, Schwab, and Robinhood make it easy to open investment accounts and trade in minutes. Cost savings: By avoiding financial advisors, many DIY investors hope to save on fees. Control: Investors make their own decisions about stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other asset classes. Independence: There’s no worry about any hidden agendas that a financial representative may have with their employer. And for beginners, the DIY approach can work, especially when investing is simple. Buy a broad market index fund, set up automatic savings, and let compounding do the heavy lifting. Warren Buffett himself has said that most people would be better off buying low-cost index funds than trying to pick individual stocks. But what feels straightforward in the beginning can grow complicated fast. As wealth grows, complexity multiplies. Tax issues arise, portfolios need rebalancing, and the stock market doesn’t always cooperate with your risk tolerance or operate on your time frame. Suddenly, the simplicity of “I’ll do it myself” may begin to feel more like “I’m in over my head.” The Potential Benefits of DIY Investing DIY investing has real advantages, especially for those who are detailed, disciplined, self-aware, and have their biases in check. One of the biggest benefits is cost savings. By avoiding advisor fees and managing their own investment accounts, investors keep more of their returns. In a world where every percentage point compounds over decades, lower expenses can make a meaningful difference in long-term wealth. Another benefit is control. DIY investors make every decision, from asset selection to when and how to exit positions. You don’t have to rely on someone else’s timeline. That level of control can feel empowering and keep investors close to their money. For people who are honest with themselves about their limitations and biases, DIY investing also builds financial literacy. Researching potential investments, learning about things such as correlations, proportional performance, martin ratios and standard deviations, as well as confronting your emotions during volatile markets all create valuable lessons. In short, if an investor is detail-oriented, willing to learn, and disciplined enough to acknowledge their blind spots, the DIY approach can absolutely work. Many have built strong portfolios and met their financial goals without ever hiring a financial advisor. When Do DIY Investors Need Help? Here are the clearest signals that it may be time for DIY investors to seek professional guidance: Feeling Overwhelmed by investment choicesThe marketplace is flooded with investing options: mutual funds, ETFs, stocks and bonds, real estate, even alternative assets. Many DIY investors freeze under the weight of too many choices, unsure which strategy matches their goals and risk tolerance. Paralysis by analysis. Difficulty aligning investments with long-term goalsOwning a portfolio is one thing; aligning it with financial goals like retirement, education, or building a nest egg is another. Without a clear investment plan, many investors chase performance rather than building a durable strategy. Sometimes we think we are tracking ourselves to a plan when we are not. Struggle with tax implications and their continual changeCapital gains, Roth IRA conversions, retirement withdrawals, and tax-loss harvesting all require more than a surface-level understanding of finance. Small mistakes here can cost thousands of dollars. The recent “One Big Beautiful Bill, or (OBBB)” introduced new tax related considerations for your investments.   Emotional investing leads to poor timing decisionsBuying at peaks, selling in market downturns, or letting greed drive portfolio decisions is one of the most common mistakes DIY investors make. Volatile markets test everyone’s nerves, and emotions can undo years of disciplined saving. Life events that add complexityAn inheritance, marriage or divorce, selling a business, or nearing retirement are times

A Beginners Guide for DIY Investors The gap between Wall Street and Main Street started shrinking in the early 2000’s but has accelerated since Covid. What used to be the exclusive playground of hedge funds and institutional giants — blazing fast computers, complex trading systems, and algorithms, is now accessible to everyday investors with a decent internet connection, curiosity, and discipline. This shift is not only about access to new tools, but t’s also about a new way of thinking.  It is about replacing gut feelings with rules, replacing panic with process, and replacing “hunches” with historical data. Welcome to the world of algorithmic trading. For the DIY investor, algorithmic trading can seem intimidating: lines of code, statistics, probabilities, and AI bots. But the truth is, algorithmic trading is just a fancy term for something quite simple; it’s using predefined rules and data to decide when to buy or sell. This guide is for the self-directed investor who wants to start and understand what algorithmic trading really is, how it works, what tools are out there, the strategies that can be used, and whether it’s worth your time and money. Like all good things in investing, it’s not a magic bullet. But with the right mindset and risk management, it can be a valuable tool in your investing toolkit. What is Algorithmic Trading? Algorithmic trading is sometimes called algo trading or automated trading because of its use of computer programs to follow a set of instructions to place trades. These instructions can be as simple as “Buy when the price moves above the 200-day moving average” or as complex as multi-variable machine learning models reacting to real time market conditions. At its core, algorithmic trading replaces the manual trade, the time when you click “buy” or “sell” with a set of pre-programmed rules that do it for you. Think of it as an autonomous vehicle, but for your portfolio, as you navigate down your investing journey.    There are generally two types of algorithmic systems: Rules-based systems: These follow logical steps based on market data. If condition A occurs, then do action B. For example, if the stock moves above its 50-day moving average and volume spikes, buy. This is a very simple example. But as conditional loops become nested and multi variable, they all followed pre-defined steps. AI-driven systems: These use adaptive models and are often powered by machines, learning to find patterns in vast sets of financial data. They don’t just follow rules; they learn and adjust over time. Development in this area has been exploding since 2024 and is rapidly changing Common inputs used in algorithms include: Price trends Trading volume Volatility levels Timing of trades News sentiment Technical indicators like MACD or RSI Whether you’re working with a simple spreadsheet-based system or a sophisticated neural net, the goal remains the same: to make decisions based on data, not emotion. How Does Algorithmic Trading Work? You can think of algorithmic trading like a factory assembly line. It works in stages as each important step builds upon the prior steps to the final product and goal of a well-executed trade. Here’s a breakdown: 1. Market Data Ingestion The process begins by pulling in lots of data.  This includes both historical data (used for backtesting and model building) and real time market feeds that drive actual trade decisions. Market data includes prices, volumes, volatility, order book depth, and even news headlines or social sentiment. Some algorithms work off minute-by-minute data; others look at daily or weekly signals. The quality, speed, and reliability of this data stream can make or break your strategy. 2. Signal Generation This is the logic layer, where the sausage is made. It’s where your algorithmic trading strategies interpret the data and generate a buy or sell signal. This can be as simple as a moving average crossover, or as complex as a machine learning model evaluating dozens of variables. For example, a momentum strategy might buy a stock when its price rises faster than a specific threshold over a rolling period (say, 15% over 44 days)  and volume exceeds average. 3. Trade Execution Once a trade signal is triggered, the algorithm passes the output to the execution engine. Here, speed and precision matter. The trade is routed through a broker or trading platform, typically via an API, and placed on the exchange. Some systems will use smart order routing to get the best price across multiple venues, while others may break up large trades into smaller chunks to minimize market impact. In high-frequency or intraday trading, fractions of a second in execution time can affect returns. 4. Backtesting and Refinement This is your test lab. Before running a strategy with real money, you’ll test it against years of historical data to see how it would’ve performed under various market conditions. As much as we would like to be true, we must never forget that just because a system performed well in the past doesn’t mean it will work in the future. That’s why good backtesting includes out-of-sample testing, stress scenarios (like 2008 or 2020), periods of slow rising and falling markets and fast rising and falling markets, as well as reasonable assumptions about trade slippage and transaction costs. 5. Ongoing Monitoring and Adjustments Algorithmic trading isn’t “set it and forget it.” Even fully automated systems require monitoring. APIs break. Data feeds stall. Market regimes change. The most successful DIY traders treat their systems like living, breathing tools while refining them over time, adjusting for new conditions, and learning from mistakes. Even the best algorithm is only as good as its ability to adapt. You must want to commit the time to not only developing a system but continually commit to the ongoing maintenance. Popular Algorithmic Trading Strategies for DIY Investors While hedge funds may run hyper-optimized black box systems, most DIY investors benefit from keeping it simple. Here are several algorithmic trading strategies that are both approachable and powerful: 1. Momentum Trading This strategy assumes

Introduction: Why “Papa Bear”? When Brian Livingston unveiled the Papa Bear Portfolio in 2018, his goal was to provide everyday investors a playbook that could allow their accounts to grow in a bull market, yet hunker down like a grizzly when storms roll in. He wasn’t trying to invent another flashy trading system or beat the S&P 500 in every single year. Instead, he set out to help with a more practical problem. How can real people stay invested for the long term without letting volatility hijack their emotions? Porter Investments is passionate about constantly looking for ways that can help the individual investor do that. Livingston saw that most portfolios live at one of two extremes. On one side are pedal-to-the-metal stock allocations that soar in good times but leave investors wide-eyed and sleepless in panics. On the other hand, there are ultra-defensive mixes that preserve capital yet barely outpace inflation. Papa Bear tries to split that difference. By ranking a diverse menu of asset-class ETFs each month and owning only the three with the strongest momentum, the strategy seeks to ride what’s working and sidestep what isn’t. There is no crystal ball, just cold market data and a pre-set rulebook. This guide was written to unpack the “why” as much as the “how.” By reading this you should be able to understand the strategy’s aims, rebuild it for yourself, judge whether it suits your own temperament and tax situation, and perhaps most important, start to see why a little simplicity and regular routine can be the secret ingredient to long-term investing success. What Is the Papa Bear Portfolio? At heart, Papa Bear is a momentum-based investment strategy designed to deliver balanced growth while limiting deep losses. From a menu of 13 broad ETFs, the portfolio owns only the three with the best recent performance. Positions are equal-weighted and checked monthly. The premise of the strategy can be quickly summarized as follows: Follow what’s working. Own assets that are already rising, whether they’re U.S. stocks, gold, or short-term Treasuries. Cut what’s not. If an ETF falls out of the top three momentum slot, sell it and buy the next one up the leaderboard. Stay diversified. The menu spans equities, fixed income, commodities, and REITs so the winners probably would not come from the same category twice in a row. It is important to understand that many momentum strategies do not achieve their longer-term outperformance from the outsize gains during bull markets, but instead, they achieve it from losing less during severe bear markets than a more passive buy and hold approach. Papa Bear adheres to that approach, but its strong point is that it is a systematic, low maintenance investment approach. The Philosophy Behind the Papa Bear Portfolio Most portfolios are built for either offense (maximum growth) or defense (capital preservation). Papa Bear tries to split the difference. The logical argument behind the strategy is this: You only get higher long-term returns if you stay in the game Momentum is the engine. It is an evidence-based, quantitative finance principle showing that winners tend to keep winning for a while. Diversification and cash-like assets are the seat belts. Together, they create a smoother ride that investors are less likely to abandon in panic, reducing the impact of emotional biases like loss aversion or recency error. The Papa Bear Portfolio differs from another strategy we have discussed before: the Mama Bear Portfolio. While both use the same momentum-based selection process from a diversified ETF menu, Papa Bear holds the top three performers each month, whereas Mama Bear holds the top five. This makes Papa Bear more concentrated and potentially higher returning, but also slightly more volatile. Mama Bear is designed for a smoother ride with broader diversification, appealing to more conservative investors. Core Components of the Papa Bear Portfolio Asset Symbol Why it’s included  U.S. Total Stock Market VTI Broad mkt. exposure for uptrends International Stocks VXUS Diversifies for geographic risk Small Cap Stocks  IWM Captures size premium Long Term Treasuries TLT Defensive positioning vs. StocksShort Term Treasuries SHY Cash Proxy IG Corporate Bonds LQD Income plus Relative SafetyGoldGLDInflation hedgeReal Estate VNQSome Income, hard asset alt.CommoditiesDBCHard assets exposureEmerging MarketsVMOInternational diversification/growth In addition, you could include specific, focused ETFs within an asset class such as:  High Yield Bonds  JNK Income with equity behavior Income with equity behavior VEA Established FTSE opportunities Once you have exposure within an asset class, appropriate momentum should be your guide. The abundance of ETF’s provides you with ample opportunities for analysis. How the Papa Bear Portfolio Works Generally, you follow the following steps: Step 1: Gather market data. At the month-end, calculate each ETF’s total return over the past 136 trading days (~6 months). Step 2: Rank them. Sort the 13 returns from highest to lowest. Step 3: Buy the top three. Allocate one-third of your capital to each. Step 4: Repeat next month. If today’s top three differs from last month’s, trade accordingly That’s it. No inflation forecasts, no prediction about where to not invest today, etc. You do what the financial data tells you. Why 136 Days? The original research found that roughly six months balances responsiveness with noise reduction. Too short and you chase whipsaws; too long and you react late to regime shifts. Because the rule is hard-coded, you remove the temptation to fiddle, which is an important edge over most DIY “seat-of-the-pants” investment strategies. Advantages of the Papa Bear Portfolio Potential for Small Drawdowns. In many historical bear markets Papa Bear lost about half as much as the S&P 500. Smaller holes require smaller shovels. Set-and-Forget Rhythm. Checking monthly is better than doom-scrolling daily, which is a tough habit to break, but necessary. Tax-Friendly for IRAs. The strategy’s modest turnover works best in tax-sheltered accounts where gains aren’t immediately taxable. If you lower your turnover, you will be exposed to higher drawdowns. Rules over Emotions. Systematic trading mitigates emotional biases that cause investors to buy high and sell low. Built-In Adaptability.