FINANCIAL PLANS SHOULD BE ABLE TO CHANGE AND REROUTE IN REAL-TIME LIKE GOOGLE MAPS
Running Point‘s chief investment officer, Michael Ashley Schulman, CFA, was interviewed by Adam Sarhan of the Smart Money Circle Show — in a live video segment/podcast — regarding investment background, portfolio philosophy, definitions of risk, risk mitigation through cashflow, economic outlooks, and timeless lessons. We also talked about educating children in finance (the earlier the better), individualized financial planning and prioritization (every family is different but subject to similar tax rules), private investments, and creating comfort around investing.
Hint: The video sounds better when replayed at 1.5x speed😉
Some excerpts:
“I went to MIT for my MBA, focused on tech strategy because I see technology as a change agent for the world,…and about three-and-a-half years ago helped found Running Point which is a multifamily office located in Southern California.”
“[Children] are never too young to learn about finances and respecting money.”
“Investment strategy, it’s a long game. You really want to think long term. We personalize investments for every individual and family. Some people want more risk, some want less risk, but it’s really an understanding of what risk means. People think that prices bouncing up and down every day…is risk; and to me usually that’s not risk, that’s noise. Risk is a permanent loss of capital or risk is not having income or cash flow available when you need it to pay liabilities. So it’s really about designing…a wardrobe or portfolio of investments that fits a family’s priorities and goals down the road.”
“Liquidity is important, but at the same time I do like illiquid or private investments.” Where appropriate, we try to guide clients into private investments–real estate, private credit, venture capital, private equity, secondaries, or hedge fund for three, five, seven, or ten years–and that can be fine with 15% to 35% of your portfolio; that still means that 65% to 85% of your portfolio is in publicly traded securities and relatively liquid. Additionally, some of the private investments will be cash flowing; they can churn out income that will flow back to you and your portfolio.
Investing starts with a plan; we take a holistic view
“When a family comes in, we look at all their assets and all their liabilities. Sometimes families don’t realize what they have.”
“We are a multifamily office. We bring in our tax experts to say how we can optimize your assets and the location of your assets, in trusts, in different states, in private placement life insurance, to best optimize from a tax efficiency standpoint.
“Financial plans are living creations, they can change over time. Just like a Google map, they can reroute; but it’s good to have that blueprint both for yourself and for your family, especially if we are talking about a multi-generational family.”
Financial plans are living creations, they can change; just like Google Maps, they can reroute in real time.
Michael Ashley Schulman, CFA
Disclosure: The opinions expressed are those of Running Point Capital Advisors, LLC (Running Point) and are subject to change without notice. The opinions referenced are as of the date of publication, may be modified due to changes in the market or economic conditions, and may not necessarily come to pass. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Forward-looking statements cannot be guaranteed. Running Point is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. More information about Running Point’s investment advisory services and fees can be found in its Form ADV Part 2, which is available upon request. RP-23-57
