philosophy  Oscar Wilde once observed that, “Success is a science. If you have the right conditions, you get the result.” At Legacy Trust, our investment philosophy is very similar. Through knowledge of our families’ situation and needs, through objective analysis of asset allocation strategies, and through extensive evaluation of investment managers, we create the right conditions for success — your success.

But in addition to science, successful investing also has an element of art. At Legacy Trust, the art of investing resides in the expertise and judgment of our investment team, which designs the right allocation strategy for each of our families, based on their risk tolerance, time horizon, desired return and overall wealth objectives.

When the right asset allocation plan is in place, we don’t buy and sell stocks, bonds and other assets to achieve the plan’s objectives, but we do select the world’s best portfolio managers to achieve desired results. All of our manager recommendations are based on a “best of” strategy where the only two criteria are performance and whether the investment fits within the overall portfolio objective.

Through this blend of rigorous academic analysis and expert investment judgment, we have created portfolios for our clients that have outpaced the markets with time-weighted returns.

SUCCESS PROFILE:

Joseph L., 67, newly retired business executive, $7.3 million in assets

Situation: Joseph retired from his career as a corporate vice president after accumulating substantial assets, much of it in the form of stock in his former company. He and his wife want to maintain their current lifestyle and ensure that their assets will be sufficient for a long and active retirement. They also want to preserve a portion of their wealth for their children and grandchildren, and to support a variety of charitable causes.

Solution: Legacy Trust recommends that Joseph diversify his investments to reduce the risk associated with having the majority of his assets in a single stock. Because he and his wife may need to generate income for 20 years or more, his asset allocation strategy includes a moderately aggressive portfolio with 35 percent in stocks, 25 percent in fixed income and 40 percent in alternative investments designed to deliver steady performance in all market conditions. Their retirement income plan is based on a minimum 5 percent investment return, which will comfortably support their lifestyle needs.

Joseph liquidates his company stock, which has appreciated significantly in value, over a period of 18 months. To help him avoid a large tax liability from the stock sale, Legacy Trust establishes a family foundation with an initial $1 million in assets. At the same time, Legacy Trust designs estate and philanthropic strategies for Joseph and his wife to transfer their wealth to their children tax efficiently and to support charitable causes from their investment income.

This profile is representative of Legacy Trust clients and the strategies that we design and implement for them.
It does not describe an actual Legacy Trust client.