As a boy growing up in Detroit, Michigan, in the 1960s and '70s, I came to know the value of a buck. I saved the money I made from cutting grass and delivering the Detroit News – I got my first paper route in 7th grade and soon thereafter bought another route – and felt tremendous pride when I was able to buy a 10-speed Schwinn bicycle with my earnings.
Today, our clients are also saving for something. For some, it's a better retirement; for others, their children's education or another worthwhile goal. Still other clients are looking to maximize a steady income stream. Whatever the goal, here's our promise to those who entrust their hard-earned dollars to us: We will honor our relationship with you by investing right alongside you and by relentlessly pursuing investment opportunities that we feel have compelling risk/reward return characteristics. We find value through out-of-favor, overlooked or misunderstood securities.
The value we place on being worthy stewards of our clients' assets comes out of a strong belief that people matter. Ideally, we want to invest in companies whose management teams not only are competent business people, but also recognize the moral imperative of managing their business in an honorable and trustworthy manner.
As we invest, we follow certain instincts that took root for me in Detroit and remain alive to this day. One of those instincts is to buy at a discount. We invest in the equity or debt securities of businesses when we believe they are on sale. If a stock or bond is not available at what we think is a bargain price, we're simply not interested.
This website describes what we believe is a very clear philosophy. Ours is a straightforward and sensible approach to investing that is at all times animated by promises to keep – to our discipline, to ourselves, and above all, to our clients.
James C. Roumell
