Why AssetBuilder?

What we do. How we do it.

 

We build portfolios. We build them with particular attention to risk. Our goal is to provide the highest potential return with the least possible risk. We believe you will enjoy several benefits from this. The most important is that we do the work, all of it, and you get the return. So if you’ve been thinking about your savings as a portfolio but haven’t quite got the time to actually do it, we offer a way for you to get it done and keep it done.

Your portfolio is built in four steps. Each step is designed to improve your investment results.

1. Simple indexing: We eliminate manager risk. We also eliminate the manager expenses that reduce the return on your money.
2. Simple diversification: We expand the number of asset classes in your portfolio, with the goal of reducing risk. Scott created and started writing about Couch Potato portfolios back in 1987. The Couch Potato portfolio takes the first two steps to improve your investment results. Relative to Wall Street, it has worked quite nicely. At AssetBuilder, we take two more steps.
3. Smart indexing: We go a step beyond market capitalization based indexes. We take advantage of the higher returns to small cap and value priced equities, per the Fama/French research. Until recently, it wasn’t possible to take the third step because smart index funds simply weren’t available, except to institutional investors. Today, it is possible through a growing group of “smart” index funds and ETFs. We chose Dimensional Fund Advisors funds because they are the purest practitioners with the lowest costs.
4. Smart allocation: We go a step beyond “naïve” diversification. We use a technique called “mean variance optimization” that helps us get the highest return for the least risk from any given group of asset classes. Smart allocation is the most difficult step because it involves both rocket science and art. And that’s where we think we can add some real value with pre-constructed, risk-measured portfolios. Lots of people can divide by two, three, four, or five to produce a Couch Potato Building Block portfolio. But optimizing requires more work. With it, we can produce near equity market returns with lower risk.

We call the result our risk calibrated portfolios. You can select your portfolio by its target return. You can also select your portfolio by its target risk level. Take our Survey to determine which portfolio best matches your target risk level.

Our pricing is more than competitive

The business model supporting our mission is “fee-only.” This frees us from the conflicts associated with commission-based transactions. Based on our use of innovative technology, we offer a very competitive fee-only structure. Between the low costs of the funds we use and our industry challenging fee structure, we deliver more of the return on your money from day one.

AssetBuilder investors pay a portfolio construction and management fee that ranges from 50 basis points down to 25 basis points, depending on the size of the account. AssetBuilder investors also pay the cost of the underlying mutual funds. Add the two and your total cost as an AssetBuilder investor will probably be as much as 150 basis points lower than what most investors experience.

Today’s complex financial markets present overwhelming choices. Making those choices demands time, vigilance, and expertise. AssetBuilder is the logical extension of Scott’s decades of work and experience as a journalist – only now we’ve created a team to build and deliver portfolio solutions rather than just write about them. At AssetBuilder we have constructed complete, risk-calibrated portfolios for you. And we deliver them at a cost that is literally a fraction of the common industry pricing models.

AssetBuilder will tailor a portfolio based on your financial goal, your investment horizon, and your risk tolerance. Using the four elements of investing; simple indexing, simple diversification, smart indexing and smart asset allocation, we can make investing for the long-term both easy and rewarding.

We’re in this together. We will succeed when you do. This means working with you to accomplish your financial objectives. We will do this through our portfolios and regular communication through our website.