Olga Lee, CFA

After 20 years in the business working with individuals and families, the biggest joy for me is the long-term relationships that I have been able to develop with my clients. In some cases, the relationships even turn into personal friendships. I love the opportunity to be introduced to several generations in a family and help them with evolving needs. My clients are not just numbers or names on a piece of paper, but they're real people with unique, interesting life stories, needs, and various risk profiles.

It's a privilege and honor to help them achieve their goals. Very early in my career, I was fortunate to have a mentor who shared his knowledge and passion for investments with me. Every day I get to learn something new and the investment world is constantly changing and evolving. We all must learn and adjust with it to stay competitive. I find the intellectual challenge of the profession extremely appealing and it never gets old.

My personal investment philosophy for success is long-term horizon, correct asset allocation for the given assignment and investment objectives, and continued communication with the client. Life circumstances change and so does the risk tolerance for each individual over time. I strongly believe that correctly identifying clients’ risk tolerance and cash flow needs is the most important thing for an adviser to do early on and it's not a one-and-done process.

Everyone enjoys a bull market, but it's the bear market that can really highlight one's risk tolerance. My goal is for my clients to sleep at night during the turbulent times and to know that we have the right allocation and investments in their portfolios for the long term. I believe in using a tactical approach to asset allocation and security selection. While markets cannot be timed, we can focus on big structural market factors that tend to drive returns of various asset classes.

The goal is to identify these factors and to make sure that the portfolio and asset allocation reflect them. Oftentimes, these structural factors remain in place for extended periods of time. I don't believe in owning asset classes strictly for diversification purposes, meaning owning a certain amount of all classes at all times. I do believe in following a consistent process that has been developed over the years that helps us identify which areas to emphasize for best risk-reward opportunities.

I define risk as permanent loss of capital. There's a difference between a temporary decline and a permanent loss. We cannot fear the former and we should look to take advantage of it, but we must avoid the latter. New technologies displace old technologies and some companies and industries get left behind. Other companies that take on too much leverage are forced to permanently dilute their shareholders during the downturns.

We want to avoid those. Also, we must pay careful attention to the prices we pay. If you overpay significantly, even a good company may become a permanent loss in the long term, and it takes a long time to grow into its valuation. Over the last few decades of working in this industry, I've learned that most investors underestimate the power of trends, both on the upside and downside.

It's a simple concept, but it's very important to respect it.