Clients generally want to be able to determine the frequency of
meetings according to their comfort level and events in their lives at any given
time. Many clients with active business interests require more frequent contact,
while those winding toward retirement need less. Trump says he and his in-house
financial experts discuss strategy together, with all of them plugged into
what’s going on. Allen Weisselberg, Trump’s CFO, has been with him for 30 years;
Jeff McConney is controller and Eric Sacher is assistant controller. "They work
well together as a team," Trump says. "I meet with them as we need to, maybe a
couple of times a week, and with Allen on a daily basis."
Although most investors do not require or want daily meetings,
they do need to feel confident that if changes need to be made to their
financial strategy, or they simply need to be reassured, they will be heard. "I
can call Jim the day the market goes down 250 points, and he’ll call me back and
assure me that all is well, and not to jump," Cossack says. Stolber says he
stays in touch regularly with his advisors. "We talk once a month—either they
call me or I call them, and we generally meet once a quarter. It’s what we both
wanted. When I joined them, I asked how often we would meet, and they all said
as often as I want."
The most successful investors consider themselves partners with
their money managers. They appreciate and value expertise, but don’t want
strategy dictated to them. Stolber parted ways with a money manager who, he
says, was "charming, with wonderful credentials." Both Stolber and his wife were
very impressed, but the manager proved too rigid for their tastes. "I would say,
‘We are underperforming relative to the benchmark,’ and offer my suggestions. He
would say, ‘You have to trust me.’ He was going with a gut judgment, and he
wasn’t going to budge from it."
Stolber adds that his manager would also tell him: "‘When the
market tanks, you’ll be happy with me, because you were conservative.’ He had
the courage of his convictions, but they weren’t mine. I wanted a broader range
of asset classes, because he could be wrong."
Stolber’s current managers met with him and his wife to discuss
goals, risk tolerance, time horizons and other pieces of their family picture,
and then presented a general approach to a model that they tailor to his
specific requirements. "If I have an investment decision I want to make that is
separate and apart from them, I talk to them about it. I do some real estate
investing, and I run it by them and tell them where I’m taking the money from.
I’m very concerned about asset allocation and that it stays balanced."
Gust also invests on his own, and is comfortable with a
portfolio comprised of 70 percent equity and 30 percent fixed-income
investments. "I’ve had good luck in down markets," he says. His advisor proposes
portfolio reallocations on a regular basis and sends him several different
scenarios, along with calculations of similar investments and how they have
performed. Gust makes the final decision. "I don’t like to be pushed into
something," he says. "I don’t want to have a big discussion if I feel
uncomfortable."
"With all my accomplishments, I was born as a man who has no
ability with money," Cossack concedes. "Certain things I don’t get: why planes
fly, why 800-ton boats don’t sink and money. I don’t get money. Years ago I had
a Keogh plan, and I was the only guy in the world who lost money." Cossack says
he has educated himself over the years, because as he’s come closer to
retirement, "all of a sudden, I’m interested in the money."
Cossack knows he needs a manager who can be straightforward
with him and put his mind at ease when he hears frightening news about the
market. "One of the things Jim doesn’t do is the mumbo jumbo, because I have no
idea what it means."
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