Investment Process

Weston Capital Management invests client funds solely in marketable securities -- that is, investments which can be readily traded in the public securities markets.  Thus, client assets remain liquid, even as they are invested in stocks and in bonds.

Equities

WCM employs both fundamental analysis (a company's business history and outlook) and technical analysis (charting trends in stock prices) when evaluating companies for purchase or sale.

Concurrent with our fundamental analysis of any given security, we look at the overall condition of the equity markets and of the general economic environment.  This includes examining trends in a wide range of areas such as interest rates, consumer spending, and government fiscal policy. As events influence WCM's overall market outlook, our allocation to equities (vs. cash and fixed income) will be affected.  (This contrasts with most equity managers who stay fully invested in the stock market at virtually all times.)

We also review a broad spectrum of Wall Street research in our fundamental analysis.  This research is useful in identifying the issues that influence a particular company's performance.  However, conclusions drawn by different analysts on the same stock are often contradictory, and even if analysts are in agreement, they may not be correct.

By overlaying technical analysis on fundamental analysis, we develop a more complete picture of a stock's prospects.  All trading in a given stock will cumulatively register on the charts and will provide significant clues to the direction of a company's share price.  It is WCM's expertise in evaluating these charts that has proven to be a very important tool for the management of client portfolios.

Fixed-Income (Bonds)

It is our experience that bonds are not well-understood by the majority of investors.  Most assume that a bond is simply purchased to generate a fixed amount of income, and that the bond will be held until maturity, at which time all principal is returned to the investor.  Certainly this is one facet of fixed-income investing, but there are other important aspects as well.  In addition to generating current income for clients, Weston Capital Management employs fixed-income instruments in the pursuit of capital gains; this occurs by locking up a high level of income in an environment of falling interest rates.  Also, WCM makes use of bonds when capital preservation is of paramount importance; this is equally true for equity-oriented investors, as the fixed-income markets can be a haven when the equity markets are unattractive.

WCM employs a variety of securities in its fixed-income strategies.  These include U.S. Government bonds, tax-free municipal bonds, corporate bonds and closed-end bond funds (which can often be purchased at a discount to the "net asset value" of such funds).

As with equities, we employ both fundamental and technical analysis when evaluating fixed-income securities for purchase or sale.