A quality financial plan is holistic, goal oriented, and matched with the complexity of the client assets.

Investment Advisory

Dougherty Financial Planning manages Brokerage Accounts, Traditional IRAs, and Roth IRA’s and various other individual defined contribution plans. 

Typically, the first course of action with a client is to build a financial plan. While discussing and developing the financial plan, we cover details like time-horizon, risk profile, demographics and investment knowledge, metrics vital to building a suitable portfolio. However, a financial plan is not a prerequisite for investment advisory services.  As a matter of course, I will have you complete  a questionnaire concerning the above variables and then, we can get to portfolio building.

Portfolio Building

The core competency of Dougherty Financial Planning is building bespoke investment portfolios.  I will sit down with you, discuss the positives and negatives of my investment ideas and strategies, let you communicate your investment hypotheses and concerns, and then develop a tailored portfolio.  Should you desire, we can review each of my recommended investments in detail to ensure you are comfortable. 

Unlike investment advisors at big firms, I won’t sell you mutual funds and annuities with big commission and high operating expenses or subject you to high brokerage fees. (I generally recommend discount brokerage firms that charge no commission for “online” trades.) For more information on my investment strategies, please see the Investment philosophy page and Form ADV as SEC.gov.

In this low interest rate environment, I generally steer clients away from fixed income investments. This poses a risk for clients near retirement, as a 100% stock portfolio does not suit their needs. To minimize risk, I recommend larger dividend paying companies, hedging the portfolio, and uncorrelated and/or recession resistant companies to align the portfolio risk to client time horizon and risk tolerance.

Investment Advisory

Investment advisory is the process of evaluating the investment landscape and client needs and making portfolio and individual security recommendation to fit that landscape. Adjacent is a quick synopsis of that process. 

Inflation is at a 40 year high. Treasury bonds were at historic lows, and interest rates are rising — investments in medium and long-term bonds will likely generate low or negative returns. 

DFP’s proprietary statistical analysis suggests that the S&P 500 is trading above its intrinsic value and volatility will remain high — predicting low or negative returns for equities in the short-to-intermediate term. The current investment landscape is treacherous. How do we create an investment portfolio to navigate these waters? 

  • Execute Tailored Portfolio
  • Adjust for Client Special Needs
  • Investment Universe Fundamental Analysis
  • Investment Universe Statistical Valuation
  • Macroeconomic Outlook
  • Macroeconomic Outlook
  • Goals, Wants, and Needs
  • Personal Financial Information
  • Client Risk Profile
  • Client Demographics

Financial Planning

A quality financial plan is holistic, goal oriented, and matched with the complexity of the client assets. Planning priority should be placed on simple, executable savings goals rather than synthetic returns and future account values. It should also encompass factors like, liquidity, intermediate savings, insurance protection, college savings, and estate. 

Financial Planning

Planning priority should be placed on simple, executable savings goals rather than synthetic returns and future account values. In our first client meeting, we typically discuss the following items in order of importance:

Liquidity

The cash you need on hand to prepare for the unexpected expenses of a bad economy or bad luck. Generally, this should be 3-6 months of your personal expenses. If you are a business owner, we can discuss various statistical models to determine your liquidity needs. 

Retirement Planning

Developing criteria for long-term savings, risk profile, and lifestyle.  We develop a plan using your savings capacity, goals, and financial concerns.

Intermediate Savings

Savings for large expenditure 3+ years in the future.  An example of intermediate savings would be savings to purchase a home or business. These funds can be deployed in conservative investments to help get the most out of your savings. 

College Savings

Having a candid discussion on a plan to choose and how to incentivize your children to do well in college. Savings for your child’s college should come after your own retirement goals.

Insurance Protection

Everyone should consider a term life insurance policy to replace your income if something should happen to you. Depending on the industry you work in, long term disability insurance should be considered in case you are injured or incapacitated.  DFP does not sell (or receive compensation for) any of these policies, but is happy to refer clients to trustworthy insurance agents.

Will, Trust, and Estate

Discussing your planned legacy and facilitating its implementation with recommendations to boutique professionals.

Fee Only Advisor

Unlike most large financial firms and “Financial Advisors” Dougherty Financial Planning is a fee only Investment advisor. We don’t earn commissions on financial products, and this puts us in a position to advise without economic conflicts of interest.