Investment Management

CLF Asset Management is a fiercely independent, fee-only investment planning and management firm for all things related to an individual’s or employer’s financial health.

Our Investment Management Process begins after we have had a thorough discussion to help craft an understanding of your vision and financial goals. We custom-build investment portfolios tailored to your specific financial needs, time horizon, emotional tolerance for risk, and financial capacity to endure risk and tax situations.

Your portfolio is designed and regularly monitored with the current economic environment in mind. We consider inflation, deflation, market valuations, and investment styles as we construct your portfolio, as well as in addition to ensuring appropriate ongoing re-balancing decisions.

Asset Allocation

Asset Allocation is one of the most important investment decisions because it determines most of the risk and return you will experience. Research has shown that over 90% of the long run variation in return is explained by the ratio of stocks to bonds in your portfolio. We aim to balance the risk and reward for each of our clients and recommend allocations based on future goals and global changes.  Custom strategies that include growth, income and alternative access to private equity provide flexibility to navigate todays markets. 

Capital Preservation

At CLF, we believe that you should take on only enough risk to meet your financial goals. Preservation of your hard-earned capital becomes increasingly important as you approach retirement because of the diminishing opportunity to recoup potential losses. We work with clients to keep risk levels and growth trajectories performing on target. Implementing a strategy focused on capital preservation can deliver peace-of-mind for your investment future.

Costs Matter

Because we are a fee-only financial management firm, we can be more focused on appropriate investments for our clients. For our investment strategy, we predominantly recommend low-cost mutual funds, Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) and stocks.  Lower costs funds allow our clients to keep a larger portion of investment returns in their pockets.  We couple those investments with a low cost asset management fee, flat fee or hourly rate; you decide.

At CLF Asset Management, we believe in fee-only financial planning.  This means we do not accept commission from a specific firm, choosing instead to research all options that may be of benefit to your financial situation.  You can trust that when we make a recommendation to you, it is after we have researched all pertinent options, compared fees and chosen the option to fit your financial needs.

Minimize Taxes

We utilize tax advantaged investment vehicles for the taxable portion of your portfolio. The less you lose to taxes, the more you keep to meet your goals. We also seek opportunities to tax loss harvest on an ongoing basis. Ultimately, having a holistic investment approach will minimize tax liabilities as we take into account every aspect of financial planning and leverage each individual piece to ensure maximum return.  Strategies like Roth conversion allow you to make long term adjustments to your overall future tax burden. 

Periodic Review

We thoroughly review your portfolio each quarter relative to your recommended strategic asset allocation. We recommend in-person meetings to review historical performance and add value to our comprehensive planning approach. The frequency of review meetings is based on the client’s asset investment volume and personal preferences.

Fiduciary Trust

It makes sense to take advice from someone who is committed to acting in your best interest. At CLF Asset Management, we adhere to the fiduciary standard. This means that we place our clients’ best interest above that of our own because we believe that you deserve unbiased advice. We have the advantage of being a fee-only financial planning firm that doesn’t reward commission-based product recommendations. The fiduciary standard is part of the foundation of trust for all of our clients.

999 Fourier Dr. #301
Madison, WI 53717
1-888-505-3956