Investment Philosophy

Ballston Spa National Bank's investment process has a single focus - achieving the unique investment objectives of each of our clients. We start by understanding your individual investment profile, including:

• Sensitivity to risk
• Income requirements
• Liquidity needs
• Access to principal
• Time horizon
• Tax characteristics
• Legal and ethical issues

From a broad array of financial instruments, we select appropriate asset classes and establish optimum tradeoffs to provide shape and substance to the portfolio process. This is the cornerstone to a successful investment program.

The second part of the process is to develop a view of the economic and investment landscape. We monitor the trends of numerous macroeconomic events: GDP, inflation, interest rates, employment, debt structures, trade balances, and changes in fiscal or monetary policy initiatives. This data is evaluated to assess potential effects on financial markets generally, and economic sub-sectors specifically. This "top down" approach seeks to gauge twelve-month returns for stocks, bonds, and cash instruments. Temporary shifts from the long-term strategic posture may occasionally be made to take advantage of short-term financial dislocations. While diversification across industry groups and economic sectors is maintained, individual areas can and should be emphasized.

This third step of the process is security selection. We utilize a "bottom up" approach which focuses on the attributes which contribute to superior long-term performance. Our approach to each asset class is more fully articulated in a personal meeting with you. Please call us for a convenient appointment.