Investment Management

While many investment managers and financial planners use “passive” strategies and buy nothing but mutual funds or exchange traded funds for their clients, Chase has long believed that “active” management— buying individual stocks and bonds—adds more value to the client and often results in overall lower fees.

Within this actively managed strategy, we follow a two-pronged approach to selecting investments. We apply fundamental indicators to determine which stocks to purchase. Then, we use technical indicators to decide whether a stock we like is appropriately priced at that time. And always, individual portfolios are constructed and maintained based on your situation and objectives.

 

Deciding when to sell a security is a key part of our process. Our sell discipline is multi-factored. Every stock purchase has a target price. If a stock reaches that price and a higher one is not justified, we may sell the stock. If a company’s business takes a turn for the worse, we may sell. If technical indicators we watch suggest oncoming trouble, we may sell. Finally, if we identify a company that is superior to one currently in our portfolio, we might replace it.

Active Management

We are active managers and often more nimble in volatile markets than index funds. This has often enabled us to protect client capital on the “downside” while still achieving good returns when markets rise.

Focused Research

Our goal is always to identify high-quality growth companies of various sizes that we believe offer a prudent risk profile as well as good growth opportunities for investors. Our focused research uses Chase Investment Counsel’s proprietary process, allowing our professionals to focus research where it can add the most value.

Our investment professionals average over 25 years of experience through good and bad markets. This has produced consistently strong risk-adjusted results over time.

Disciplined Investment Process

Screen for high quality companies

We screen a universe of 6,000 stocks looking for financially sound companies with:

  • 10% or greater earnings growth
  • earnings consistency and upward revisions
  • sufficient trading liquidity

 

Yield: Approximately 600 potential investment candidates

Leverage hundreds of data points

Combining technical and fundamental screens, our proprietary model reviews hundreds of data points from multiple independent research partners, to:

  • apply Chase’s propietary scores
  • continually adjust as we learn more

 

Yield: Approximately 60 potential candidates; only 1% of the initial universe

Identify key growth drivers and risks

Thorough research is done to identify drivers of growth and risks:

  • new products, technologies and/or stores
  • competitive advantages
  • management changes
  • determine what might go wrong

SEPARATELY MANAGED ACCOUNTS

Many Chase clients choose a separately managed account so they can pick an investment strategy that suits their needs. Investing in a separately managed account allows you to choose among several Chase Investment Counsel strategies. Essentially, separately managed accounts (SMA) allow you to have a portfolio tailored to your need for growth, or income, or your tolerance for risk. There is no “one-size fits all” here.

All-Cap Growth

With the all-cap growth strategy, Chase Investment Counsel’s investment management team analyzes the entire market for companies that meet its growth stock portfolio inclusion criteria. This approach means that any company—large, medium, or small—in any sector is eligible for inclusion in your portfolio.

Balanced

The balanced strategy seeks to provide both growth and income by investing in U.S. stocks and bonds. Chase applies its disciplined stock and bond selection process to meet the needs of more conservative investors emphasizing capital preservation. If you’re an investor who wants growth stocks but is more comfortable with a less volatile portfolio, an investment in the balanced strategy may meet your needs.

Growth and Income

A focus on dividend-paying stocks and fixed income may offer increased income. Within the stock portion of this strategy, Chase focuses on stocks with a history of paying consistent and growing dividends. Combining dividend paying stocks with bonds not only enhances current income, it also helps investors who want to preserve their spending power. Many retirees find this strategy appealing because it increases their income streams while insulating their portfolio from excessive volatility.

Large-Cap Growth

Large-cap growth companies include some of the most respected and successful companies in the market. In Chase Investment Counsel’s large-cap growth strategy, companies that meet Chase’s strict criteria provide potential for capital appreciation, but with less volatility than smaller firms.

Mid-Cap Growth

To some investors, mid-cap growth companies are the “sweet spot” of the market. They are past the growing pains of small cap companies, but still small enough to grow faster than their larger-cap peers.  Stocks in this strategy generally have a market cap between $1 and $15 billon. If your goals include capital appreciation and you can tolerate the additional volatility that investing in mid-cap companies can create, this strategy may appeal to you.

Ongoing iNvestment Review

Our investment management team closely monitors every client’s portfolio. We continually review each client’s investment objectives to ensure that they mesh with the portfolios in which they are invested. We make changes quickly in response to market conditions and changing client needs.

Clients typically receive quarterly Investment Review that include performance information, portfolio characteristics and portfolio diversification. But we pride ourselves on being accessible to clients at any time to hear concerns or to check on your portfolio.

Composite performance results for each strategy are available upon request. Please call us at 434-293-9104 or email [email protected] to learn more about results, and how a Separately Managed Account may be the best approach for you.