Lanyon Advisory Services :

Financial Planning and Asset Management

Asset Management

Asset Management

What should you do with your money?

We coordinate and oversee your investment portfolio to generate excess returns and build your wealth.

We start with cash flow – cash flow is a valuable commodity in a world where growth is stagnant and the fear of inflation persists. Municipal bonds form the foundation for a lot of the cash flow; it tends to be a rather inefficient and tricky market. Mispriced bonds do exist, so we work with a wonderful bond manager who seeks out these inefficiencies and delivers the extra return to our clients.

Next is dividends – the core portfolio strategy is made up of individual stocks and a couple of ETF’s that focus on companies with strong balance sheets, reasonable dividends payout rations and the ability to increase these dividend payments over time. We routinely sell covered call over these positions and hedge this portfolio with puts or short positions if valuations appear stretched or there may be questions about the short term outlook of the company.

We also add private investments where appropriate, to client accounts – be they private equity or private loans.

Sometimes these are direct investments in early stage companies or investments in micro Venture capital funds. San Diego seems to lack a strong early stage Venture capital community – this may lead to investment opportunities in terrific companies that generate amazing returns or they may generate a 100% loss – this type of investing tends to be very binary in nature. Everything we recommend for clients is based upon their goals, risk tolerance and investing acumen.

We look at the below five elements and seek to understand the nature and characteristic of each of them for each client. Is there enough income? Are there liquid assets? Private business interests? Concentrated Stock? Each client has a different mix of parts – our job is to help assemble the pieces the right way, to create your picture.

Assets: Develop a deep understanding of our client's current balance sheet, including non-liquid assets such as private business equity, real estate or other holdings. What are the economic factors that determine the results of these assets? What role do they play, are they personal assets, designed to growth with the changes in the cost of living or are they "home run investments"?

Liabilities: We have a simple test to understand if the amount of debt a client has is too much - can you sleep at night? Prudent debt structure and management is a critical element for long-term financial success. We will assist you in making sure your overall debt burden is appropriate and at competitive rates?

Income: In a world of potential low returns, it is now more important than ever to live on a budget. What are the sources of income - investment and non investment? What is the tax treatment of this income - can we make some changes to increase the after-tax return?

Expenses: Where does the money go? A family budget is something we help our clients develop and maintain - it's a little like wanting to lose weight. We all know what we need to do it but the daily execution of a plan is boring and we all want a short cut. There is no short cut - just a data driven process.

Protection & Planning: Is there adequate life, disability and long term care insurance? Have the right legal structures been put into place? Do we need to look at asset protection strategies, gifting strategies and estate planning strategies?