The "Can You Sleep At Night" Test

The markets of the earlier part of this decade taught me a great deal about the words above. I want my clients to be able to sleep at nights and not worry about their investments.

I don't claim to be able to take the volatility out of the markets, I don't think anyone can claim that. But my focus is to reduce volatility as much as possible.

I attempt to achieve this through diversification in sectors, using exchange traded funds in particularly volatile sectors, use of preferred stocks and not be afraid to sell an investment that is under performing or has run up in value and is now faltering.

I also believe that a heavier weighting in cash is an acceptable position in some markets. To be 100% invested is sometimes the worst position.

I work with all my clients to understand their risk tolerance level and to find out what keeps them awake nights about investments.