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Investment Management
We are dedicated and committed to helping you pursue and achieve your financial goals. We provide rich investment expertise and sophisticated investment guidance within the framework of a strong, flexible, and service-oriented community bank to serve individuals, families, businesses, and nonprofit organizations.
Our Investment Approach
Our approach to investment management begins with the most important step – listening to you. Before any investment solution is recommended, we take the time to gain a thorough understanding of your goals and purpose for investing, investment timelines, risk tolerance, and cash flow needs.
Based upon what we learn from you, we create and implement an appropriately diversified investment portfolio designed to help you achieve your individual goals. Ultimately, our team of investment experts actively manage your portfolio by seeking to manage risk while capturing appropriate returns in line with your investment objectives.
Our Investment Perspective
We utilize a highly disciplined, fundamentally based, and risk aware approach to managing your portfolio. Our investment philosophy is rooted in four primary tenets:
- Preservation of Capital During Difficult Markets
We believe preserving investment value in difficult markets is equally as important as generating strong returns in rising markets. - Investment Decisions Based Primarily on Strong Fundamentals
Our decisions are based upon the underlying fundamentals of the investment or security. - Long-Term View of the Markets
We believe markets generate short-term noise that often distracts investors from making sound investment decisions. We continually filter through the distractions and focus on the longer-term opportunity present in specific portfolio holdings. - Risk-Aware Portfolio Construction
We actively monitor portfolio risk relative to our benchmark and client objectives. By utilizing portfolio-based factors, name limitations, sector weight constraints, portfolio characteristics and analytical tools, we effectively balance the level of conviction surrounding an investment with the level of risk it contributes to the portfolio. This active risk budgeting provides a strong framework for the allocation of risk and return in the portfolio.
Our Investment Process
Our investment process is a continuous cycle where we actively monitor and manage your portfolio. We provide constant and timely evaluation and feedback to ensure your investment portfolio is consistently in line with your purpose and goals for investing.
Validate | Assess | |
Is your portfolio meeting your objectives?
| What are your motivations for investing?
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Monitor | Implement | |
Is your portfolio performance consistent with your objectives?
| How will your portfolio be structured?
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Investment Management for Nonprofit Organizations
Today, nonprofit organizations face increasing and overwhelming challenges. Rising costs, cuts in government funding, increased competition for donations, volatile markets, low interest rates, capital market complexities, budgetary pressures and fiduciary liability concerns have led many institutions to outsource their investment management and oversight. Merchants Bank can efficiently and effectively assist nonprofit organizations navigate these challenges.
After first focusing on, reviewing, and fine-tuning your Investment Policy Statement, we provide best-in-class investment management services for our nonprofit clients. We work to achieve your organization’s investment goals in line with your investment policies while maintaining cash flow needs.
We apply our Investment Approach, Investment Perspective and Investment Process when working with:
- Academic and educational institutions
- Charities and service institutions
- Associations
- Faith-based and religious institutions
- Healthcare institutions
- Foundations
- Endowments
Recommended Resources
Wealth
As your dedicated financial partner, we offer Wealth Management resources to help you plan for the future. Put our expertise to work for you.