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Greenleaf Investment Management and Counsel

	Formed in 1976 SEC registered investment advisor Independent company focused on personally serving each client Owned solely by the principals Free from non-discretionary affiliation with any bank, broker or insurance company Discretionary assets under management: More than $450 million Assets under supervision for: High net-worth individuals Families Retirement and endowment funds
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“We started this company in 1976 based on our research showing that most wealthy individuals can best preserve and grow their wealth by aiming to beat inflation by a comfortable margin."
Geof Greenleaf

Some money managers attempt to predict when markets are heading up or down. Our research and experience show this is practically impossible. Investing based on timing is bound to incur losses.

A more reliable strategy? Managing risk to achieve objectives by creating portfolios of investments that hold more value during downturns. "We all know that things will change," Geof Greenleaf says. "But no one knows exactly how or when.”

Using the insights of experienced corporate managers like Principals Ensign Cowell and Ted McMillan—also an active venture capitalist—the firm identifies companies with strong business foundations. These are more likely to hold value in down markets.

McMillan emphasizes investing in companies where "the self interest and confidence of management constructively align with and serve broader corporate goals", rather than individual fame and fortune. He avoids any company where his research reveals the management team to be engaged  "in the uninspired pursuit of mediocrity".

Personal and individual

While the past three decades have confirmed the value of the Greenleaf's investment philosophy, the firm also takes a highly personal approach to serving individual, family and corporate clients.

“Every person should clearly understand the details of his or her finances,” Cowell says, “but few actually do. Here, we make every effort to find out who you are and who your family is. We learn about your business and career."

Uncovering a client’s real needs is just the first step. Creating a money management program that fulfills your needs and adjusts as situations change over a lifetime—a complex and ongoing process—is the next.

For these reasons, each Greenleaf client portfolio is built from the ground up, not adapted from a template.

Holding fast against "conventional" wisdom

We've reviewed hundreds of self-managed portfolios. Rarely are they properly designed. The ones with high performance almost always have too much risk, which eventually implodes. We help you take emotion out of your investing.

Today, our recommended strategy for most clients remains to beat inflation—rather than the typical, but rarely achieved, attempts to outperform market indices.

"We’re not high risk investors," says Jim Blue, the firm's other senior portfolio manager. "We don’t have a crystal ball. Our philosophy is to select investments that will keep you out of trouble while allowing you to capture as much of the upside as possible."

"We recommend what we believe is the right thing—even if it is unpopular.”