Investment Philosophy

John Stokes Financial’s main focus is to protect your capital while working toward your growth objectives. Through our disciplined, long-term investment process, we help you avoid the emotional aspects of investing. Whether your investment objectives are lifestyle maintenance, retirement income planning, philanthropic giving, paying for college, wealth preservation or legacy accumulation, JSF can offer a tailored plan that includes a complete range of investment solutions. Investment portfolios are structured and designed for long-term investing, with low expense ratios, but they are not static. JSF uses a top-down approach, considering a macro view of the economy and the markets. This means that strategic allocations are continuously assessed and adjusted when necessary. Steps are taken to adjust portfolios, recognizing that it is important to be proactive, without compromising the integrity of the underlying strategy of a given model. Portfolio changes are implemented where we can either reduce the risk in the portfolio or potentially add a higher rate of return, given a certain level of risk. 

The underlying foundation of our investment philosophy is the construction of a globally diversified portfolio based on strategic asset allocation. Strategic asset allocation is a strategy that divides up a portfolio among major asset classes (equities, bonds, cash equivalents, and alternative investment vehicles) in proportions that are consistent with an investor’s long-term financial goals and objectives.  This mix of assets is based on expected rates of return and risk for each asset class. Although the mix between equities and fixed income, broadly defined, is typically the most important asset allocation decision, proper diversification requires that a portfolio be allocated among several distinct asset classes. 

To enable you to achieve optimal results, we start by evaluating a database consisting of thousands of mutual funds and ETFs across a wide spectrum of asset classes. Through the use of our screening process we arrive at what we believe to be a list of “best of breed” investment solutions. We then apply a second layer of filters based on your responses to our risk profile questionnaire to arrive at a customized asset allocation model which factors in your specific investment objective and risk tolerance. John Stokes Financial will periodically update or rebalance the allocation for each of the models and your Advisor will periodically revisit your asset allocation to ensure that your portfolio is well-positioned in accordance with your investment policy statement and long-term goals.

John Stokes Financial offers an innovative pricing structure. Rather than paying traditional mutual fund sales charges, an annual fee is used, based on the value of your assets. Fee-based pricing reinforces the objectivity of our Advisors and aligns their goals with yours by creating a common interest of preserving assets and increasing the value of those assets.