Overview of Fixed-Income Portfolio Strategies

Frederick Eugene “Fritz” Mowery holds a bachelor of business administration in economics/finance. He is currently studying at Dallas Baptist University to earn a master’s degree in Theology/Apologetics. As the President of Mowery Capital Management, LLC, Fritz Mowery is responsible for his customers' fixed-income portfolios.

A fixed-income portfolio includes investment securities that pay interest at a fixed rate until maturity. Certificates of deposit (CDs), treasury bills, and government-issued bonds are types of fixed-income securities. They're usually low-risk with pre-established interest.

Fixed-income investing techniques include bond ladder investing. This technique concentrates on diversifying a portfolio by acquiring fixed-income securities of varying maturity dates in a ladder-like manner. Such a diversified portfolio reduces risk and gradually gains in value as a result of bonds that mature in a staggered manner—usually between one and four years.

Bullet bond portfolio investing involves creating a portfolio by acquiring fixed-income securities at varying dates but with similar maturity dates. It enables diversification of a portfolio while working to ensure favorable future returns.

Barbell bond portfolio investing involves creating a portfolio with only short-term and long-term bonds. This strategy's most important characteristic is focusing on the portfolio's short-term bonds and reinvesting their returns after maturity. A barbell portfolio short-term bond has a maturity of below or equal to five years while long-term bonds mature in a decade or more.

A fixed-income portfolio is valuable in facilitating diversification. Moreover, diversification enables the stability of the investment portfolio against price corrections and volatility. This characteristic brings equilibrium where a part of the portfolio undergoes difficulty.

Fixed-income securities also offer profitable returns at a steady rate. With equities, fixed-income securities typically present a lower risk. 

Choosing the Right Investment Fund

Frederick 'Fritz' Eugene Mowery has provided financial asset management services through his company, Mowery Capital Management, Dallas, Texas, for 25 years. Much of Fritz Mowery's success has come through choosing the right investments to invest his clients' funds.

There are thousands of investment companies trying to attract people to invest with them. Here are some ways to evaluate different investment choices and choose the right investment company.

Look out for investment managers that have a long track record and experience..

Go for managers that focus on the long term. Search out managers that are fiduciaries. Avoid managers selling illiquid, high risk limited partnerships.

Compare the management fees.

Check out the investment strategies of these managers. Most successful funds don't stray far from the strategy they used at their start. Consider the implications of your investment on your taxes.

Always make sure the investment manger's style meets with your risk tolerance, time horizon and short and long term goals. Be fully open and honest with your investment managers to help him serve you better. This will help you not double up investments taking undue risks. 

What Are Large-Cap Stocks?

Fritz Mowery, a resident of Dallas, Texas, was the senior vice president and senior portfolio manager at Comerica Bank, where he managed over $12 billion in assets. He currently serves as president and chief investment officer at Mowery Capital Management, LLC. Fritz Mowery possesses over three decades of portfolio and asset management experience, with an equity portfolio consisting of mainly large-cap stocks.

Large-cap stocks are stocks of companies with value or market capitalization (the total value of a company's equity) of more than $10 billion. These stocks pose less risk compared to others. Also safe and stable, they pay reasonable dividends to their investors.

Examples of large-cap companies are Amazon, Apple, Walmart, Microsoft, and Facebook. While large-cap stocks are stable and safe, their stock prices do not grow rapidly like other smaller companies; thus, they may be unsuitable for some investors.

Big-cap companies are known for their transparency, making it easier for investors to evaluate public information about them. Large-cap stocks can be a valuable source of income when bond profits are low due to government activities to stimulate an economy. Furthermore, they usually out-perform the market towards the end of a business cycle expansion phase when an economy rises swiftly. 

An Overview of Asset Management

Fritz Mowery serves as president and chief investment officer at Mowery Capital Management, LLC, and was a former senior vice president/senior portfolio manager at Comerica Bank in Dallas, Texas. His equity portfolio management style supports growth at a reasonable price. With 33 years of experience, Fritz Mowery and his firm oversee clients' custodial accounts by providing asset management services.

An asset management process utilizes financial instruments to increase the value of invested assets over time. In the same vein, an asset manager is tasked with a mandate: to grow clients' investment portfolios.

Asset managers conduct extensive research using both micro and macro analytical tools before investing. The analysis may consist of interviews with company officials as well as statistical analysis of current market trends. Investment opportunities could be government financing such as sovereign bonds, or private sector financings like bond or equity purchases, real estate, mutual funds, and alternative investments.

Asset management has numerous benefits, including identifying, mitigating, and managing risks. It also enables a company or individual to keep tabs on all their assets, remove ghost assets in the firm, and guarantee correct amortization rates.

Strategies for Managing Investment Risks

Fritz Mowery is president of Mowery Capital Management, a Dallas-based, fee-only investment advisory firm. Fritz Mowery built his firm to adopt fundamental research in combination with technical and quantitative implementation as a strategy for managing investment risks.

Risk management is the process of identifying, analyzing, and mitigating uncertainties that come with investments. Investors expect to yield returns over time, but each investment has price fluctuations that investors cannot control. The consequence of inadequate risk management is the loss of funds. Before investing, investors should understand the business model of their company of interest and how to mitigate the risks in such an investment.

Every investor must develop a strategy. An essential part of investment risk management is understanding the purpose of the investment. Short-term and long-term investments have different risk-management routes. Diversifying investments helps investors spread their risk across platforms and reduces the probability of losing funds from one poor investment.

Investors must understand business correlation, the process of identifying businesses operating within the same field, and they must invest in companies that are oppositely or negatively correlated. Investing a specific amount of money monthly, otherwise known as dollar-cost averaging, and investing over time are other strategies that may help investors manage risks. 

A Look at the Book 21st Century Wealth

The president and chief investment officer at Texas-based Mowery Capital Management, Fritz Mowery has successfully managed client assets. Also a published author, Fritz Mowery co-authored a book with Robert Esperti and Renno Peterson titled 21st Century Wealth: Essential Financial Planning Principles.

21st Century Wealth was originally published by the National Charitable Initiative in 2000, and is the sixth book in the Esperti Peterson Institute Contributory Series. Over the course of 483 pages, the book explores specialized financial planning techniques and strategies that cover topics ranging from estate planning and college savings to insurance and retirement planning programs.

Advice in 21st Century Wealth stems from a nationwide, collaborative research project. The project involved more than 50 of the top financial professionals in the United States who provided feedback on pressing issues facing their clients and the financial advice they provided. Moreover, the book employs a question-and-answer format and understandable language that allows readers to implement financial strategies themselves.

Factors to Consider When Planning for Retirement

As the president and CIO of Mowery Capital Management, LLC, Fritz Mowery provides his clients with a range of financial products and services. In addition to assisting these clients with general asset management, Fritz Mowery helps clients plan for retirement.

When planning for retirement, consumers have to consider many factors, but time is a major one in crafting a retirement portfolio that will generate enough income. Retirement planning comes down to calculating how much money a person will need to generate in a certain amount of time. Factors usually include marital status, number of children, outstanding debts, and present income.

Age is one of the main factors that influences the amount of money a person can save. The younger a person is, the longer the time horizon, and the greater risk they can take. Time is a hedge against risk since market volatility evens out losses over time. For this reason, a young person might allocate more of the savings to stocks, which tend to be volatile.

An older person would need to invest with less risk. Investing in bonds might not generate the same growth as stocks, but they provide steady income during retirement. 

CASA of Collin County Helps Children in the Foster Care System

Fritz Mowery, the president and chief investment officer at his Dallas, Texas-based investment advisory firm, helps clients grow and preserve their wealth. Fritz Mowery is also a former board president and a board member for CASA of Collin County.

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Collin County, Texas has been supporting children in the foster care system for more than two decades. This support fills the gaps left by the foster care system when it comes to the basic rights and needs of children who have been abused or neglected.

CASA accomplishes its work with the help of volunteers. These volunteers are trained advocates who provide neglected and abused children with a strong and consistent voice as they deal with the state’s legal system. The goal of the organization is to make sure that the child receives the services they need to move through the system as quickly as possible and either be reunited with their family or placed in a loving forever home.

For many children, CASAs serve as the only trusted adult in their life. These volunteer advocates are appointed by district court judges within 24 hours of a child being removed from their home. According to research, children who are appointed a CASA volunteer receive more services and move through the system faster than those who do not. Kids represented by the organization are also less likely to reenter the foster care system and perform better in school.