We Are Committed to Our Clients.

Low Costs. We believe that low costs are essential to the success of any investment program, and we are diligent in minimizing the total costs of investing for our clients.

Mutual Commitment. We believe that for the financial planning process to be successful, both advisor and client must be committed to the process. If we feel that commitment on the part of the client is not forthcoming, we will not agree to an engagement.

Individual Needs. We are committed to our clients' individual needs. We believe that "rule of thumb" planning (e.g., retirement income should equal 80% of pre-retirement income) is an incompetent and unprofessional method in planning for a client's financial independence.

Long-Term Relationship. We believe in the mutual benefits of a long-term relationship. Our expectation is to build a committed relationship with you over your lifetime.

We Are Committed to Professionalism.

Fee-Only. We believe that an advisor who has a financial stake in any course of action recommended to a client faces an inherent conflict of interest and cannot be considered objective and unbiased. As Fee-Only advisors, we are compensated solely by our clients and do not accept compensation of any kind based on the products that we recommend.

Fiduciary Oath. A fiduciary, by definition, does what is best for the client. This is so important to us (and it should be to you) that we put our fiduciary oath in writing, on the very first page of our Wealth Management Agreement.

Continuing Education. We believe that, in order to provide the best advice and service in an ever-widening array of complex client situations, we must continually strive to improve our knowledge and skills. Our continuing education requirements include twice as many hours and a more diversified range of topics than is required for approximately 98% of all Certified Financial Planner practitioners.

Uniquely Qualified. We believe that we are uniquely qualified to integrate, for the benefit our clients, the skills of financial planning and portfolio design, superior service, technology, and value.

We Are Committed to the Financial Planning Process.

Goals. We believe that our clients must set their own goals. It is our responsibility to educate them in the process and to help them to define, quantify, and prioritize their goals. We strive to bring congruity between our clients’ values, goals and actions.

Cash Flow. We believe that our clients need total return, not dividends or interest. The traditional concept of an "income" portfolio is archaic and places unnecessary and inappropriate restrictions on portfolio design.

Monte Carlo Analysis. We believe that when clients look to us for a measure of progress, what they ultimately want to know is the probability of successfully achieving their goals. Monte Carlo Analysis produces exactly that.

We Are Committed to a Fundamentally Sound Investment Philosophy.

Efficient Market Hypothesis. We believe that securities prices reflect values and information accurately and quickly and therefore a) investors cannot identify superior securities using fundamental information or price patterns and b) it is difficult, if not impossible, to capture returns in excess of market returns without taking greater than market levels of risk.

Modern Portfolio Theory. We believe that asset allocation (i.e., investment policy) is the primary determinant of long-term portfolio risk and return.

Value vs. Growth. We believe in the long-term benefits of value investing (as embodied by the research of Fama and French). Historically, over-weighting “value” investments in a portfolio has resulted in higher returns and lower risk compared to portfolios with greater "growth" characteristics.

Optimization. We believe that mathematical optimization is the appropriate method for designing a strategic asset allocation model.  However, we also believe that an optimizer is simply a tool, to be used by a knowledgeable advisor.

Time Horizon. We believe that the relative risk of increasing equity exposure decreases as the time horizon of the goal increases. If your time horizon is greater than five years, you should accept some of the volatility risks of the stock market. For those goals that occur in less than five years, you should not accept this risk.

We Are Committed to Customized Implementation.

Risk Tolerance. We believe that one of the critical factors in guiding a client toward a successful investment program is the advisor’s ability to develop a complete and accurate understanding of the client’s personal financial risk tolerance. Unfortunately, the vast majority of risk tolerance questionnaires are not scientifically defensible. Sierra Wealth Advisors uses a system that, to the best of our knowledge, is the only scientifically based system for assessing personal financial risk tolerance.

Investment Policy Statement. We believe that a customized Investment Policy Statement should be created for each client. Without an investment policy, in times of market turmoil, investors may be inclined to make ad hoc investment decisions that are inconsistent with prudent investment management principles. In following an investment policy, you'll employ a more disciplined and systematic approach and thereby increase the probability of satisfying your investment goals.

Ongoing Management. We believe that there should be a regular review of each client's situation to determine if they are continuing to make progress toward achieving their goals.