Relative Risk
Your portfolio
will be constructed around your unique risk profile. When you think of “risk”,
or whether you are conservative versus aggressive, it quickly becomes
subjective. We can imagine a person who likes to go sky diving and is a “risk
taker” in one sense, but also fears the stock market. Alternately, someone may
invest agressively, but consider themselves conservative politically or
socially.
Because we found these traditional terms falling short, we developed a risk assessment process. Rather than aiming for broad descriptions, the process aims to find where a clients lands on a scale of 1-100. A score of 100 means you are an extreme risk taker, while a score of 1 means that you are afraid of your own shadow. Most people are going to fall somewhere in between 20 and 80.
A Journey of Self Discovery
When developing this system, it was important to us that you learn more about yourself as we get to know you.
We wanted this to be a process of self discovery and for it to be a fun and meaningful exercise.
With the Internet spreading linke wildfire and reaching every part of our daily life, more and more traffic is directed to websites in search for information.
Your Risk Level
There are many advantages to describing risk as a number. For one, it allows you to express you risk level along a gradient and to have a portfolio that corresponds to your unique risk number. We have portfolios designed around this risk spectrum such as “GreenStar Portfolio #42.” People often ask us two questions:
1. If I score 42 on the GreenStar Risk Rater, do you automatically put me in GreenStar Portfolio #42?
Usually, no. We have often found that it’s rare that a client’s natural risk level is the same as what’s best for their long term financial goals. At times clients can be too cautious for their own good. At other times,clients are too risky. We work closely with clients to find the right portfolio based on many factors including this score.
2. Does this mean that you have 100 portfolios
Almost. We offer portfolios that correspond to #24 through #89. We have found that if someone’s risk level falls outside of this range, we are not the right fit for each other.
Investing with Risk as the Forethought
The stock market behaves in unpredictable ways. Because of this, it’s important to always be aware of your risk level and to be prepared for an appropriate level of volatility. Risk is relative and changes over time. At times, bonds are more risky than stocks and your portfolio should shift accordingly with the goal of maintaining your risk level.
