Specialized insight for family offices

Forged from a foundation of working with institutions that are risk averse, Alan has worked through multiple market cycles growing a practice of quality municipal clients. He is committed to the virtues of integrity and hard work, partnering with institutions like yours to understand your specific needs and make your life easier.

Investment Approach

Alan offers an educational approach with the municipalities he works with, sharing the best practices he has observed over the past twenty-four years and assisting treasurers in feeling confident they are running their investment dollars safely and proactively for the best long-term returns possible.

Safety First

Recommendations are conservative and follow accepted practices among Michigan municipalities. All investment types allowed by an Investment Policy are considered, but not all are employed due to credit quality or duration concerns. For example, only mutual funds with a stable N.A.V. will be considered as the potential for loss with other mutual funds is not acceptable. Likewise, only top-tier (A1/P1) commercial paper is used. Although a proactive approach is employed in the pursuit of maximizing return, safety is held as the highest priority.

Expectations

Treasurers can expect discussions regarding strategy, their investment policy, performance and on-going portfolio management. Annual in-person meetings are encouraged. We serve as fiduciaries on our managed accounts, and all fixed-income securities used in portfolios are acquired from third party sources. Cantella’s asset management business is subject to the fiduciary standard, which means that the firm must act in the best interests of its clients. Part of having a fiduciary duty means that an advisor must seek the best execution of clients’ transactions and are therefore precluded from selling out of inventory.

Investment Policy and Benchmark

If requested, we will work with you to review and refine your investment policy, then recommend a suitable option for your portfolio’s benchmark.