The Keystone: Hello winter part two

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Hello winter part two

Hello winter part I was a look at exercising during the tough times and staying true to personal goals and commitment to those goals. In part II of Hello winter, I want to relate that same outlook on commitment to personal finances. These two endeavors go hand in hand from a mental aspect. It makes complete sense to me to mix the two, thus the reason I am keeping a blog in the first place. Staying fit in the winter mentally is exactly like pushing through the tough times in your investing. You have made the plan, then some bad weather comes along and does its best to steer you off course and create doubt in your strategy. The mental pain can be severe but the reward is worth the suffering. Danger seems to be at every corner, your decisons are tested to the point where you think you will break. These are the times you must stay true to your system. Your system, that is the key. This is your training plan, it has been thought out with a clear mind, it has been time tested for soundness. If you are to make it to the "summer" or easier times you must remain true to your system and follow it regardless of the external environment.

Now lets back up one step further. To develop a plan and stick through it most, if not all, great athletes need a coach, a coach who has seen it all, and has consistently put his athletes in positions to become great. Don't discount the athletes personal determination to his goals, but they need someone to guide them and encourage them when the times are tough. This is no different in investing. To be successful, the individual investor needs guidance. I am no different. While I have the mental capacity, drive, discipline, and dedication to be successful I have not had a "coach". Without a coach, I can't live up to my potential. This realization has forced me to rethink my role as an Investment Advisor. Being a value to my clients as an Investment Advisor has been on of the most difficult experiences of my life. I will be a success in the future but now I am forced to look in the mirror and ask myself a very difficult question. Can I honestly do the best job for my clients when I know that I am not doing the job I expect of myself? The answer is no. Therefore, I have decided to merge my current client base into a firm with many years of experience and success. In order for me to be successful in the long run, and to be a real value to my clients I must find someone who can help me realize my one true goal, To be the best that I am capable to being.

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The Making of a Financial Portfolio Manager

Welcome to my blog. For this first posting I will give you a little of my background via some quick life highlights. I was raised in Midland, TX (yep, 180 degrees away from Boulder, CO). I grabbed my High School Diploma on the way out the door to Colorado, where my real adventure begins.

By the time I had moved to Colorado I had already climbed Mt. Whitney in California, and Mt. Rainier and Mt. Baker in Washington, learned to ice climb (on the local Midland, Tx., trees), and dove off the coast of Kauai.

Once in Colorado I spent my first few years really climbing both rock, ice, and some big peaks. Oh, and I spent some time on the University of Colorado campus with the aspirations of becoming a doctor. My advisor took some issue with that notion as I was not "Med School material". Turns out he was correct, but for different reasons. I did manage to finish up my undergraduate work at the University of Colorado with duel degrees in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Turns out that I really didn't have a passion for the sciences but the undergraduate work did wonders to develop my analytical side which plays a major role in my current work.

By my senior year I had worked my way onto the University of Colorado Triathlon Team (to meet girls of course). Well, I didn't meet any girls but did mange to find a skill set that I maintain to this day. I fell in love (for lack of better words) with the sport and immediately took it to the highest level. I began training for the iron distance triathlons (I am too slow for the short stuff). By November of 2000 I completed my first full length iron distance triathlon, The Great Floridian.

By the end of November, that same year, I found my self in the Vail Hospital with two broken ankles. I took a pretty substantial fall ice climbing. I was picked to lead the very sketchy climb because I was the only one with insurance at the time. After being CAT scanned from head to toe (with special interest in my heart; they wanted to make sure it was still attached to my aorta), and having my ankles bolted back together, I was left to deal with the pain and realization that I might never properly walk again. This hurt much more than the mess below my tibiae. Months and months later I did finally take my first run of 100 ft. A year later I would go on to run my first marathon. I did return and returned with a vengeance. If anyone is interested I can make a few posts on that experience.

During the days of crawling on the floor with my busted bones I decided to head into the business world and work towards an MBA. As it turned out my MBA (student loans) helped to finance my professional amateur triathlon career. By 2004 I was qualified to compete in the Ironman Triathlon World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. Yep, the big one. Life is a compilation of each of our past experiences. Ironman training, while not providing me with direct career experience, helped me to develop dedication.

I completed this and began selling Microscopes, and other high end imaging equipment and accompanying software out of Salt Lake City. This lasted about a year and a half. My heart was with the stock market not the sciences. During this time I had also managed to obtain a Master's degree in Finance. My path was now set. I loved the stock market.

My focus was now on my career. I was still athletic but not what I was. Again, a topic for another post. The transition from peak performer to an "also ran" is more difficult than is advertised. I suspect this is why many professional athletes come out of retirement. I did manage to qualify for the Xterra off-road World Championships in Maui, HI but another injury derailed that experience. I would now be starting over at the very bottom of the heaps of people trying to jockey a successful career. I would draw on my years as an athlete to carry me.

Deciding to pursue a financial oriented career, I landed a position back in Boulder, CO, with a stock advisory firm (Winning on Wall Street) where I would take phone calls and tell our members what I thought of their stock ideas. I also was able to spend some time co-hosting the associated radio program.

With my new found knowledge of stock analysis, risk management, economics, and my desire to be a professional portfolio manager I started Keystone Capital Management. This is where we will start this blog. I want to share the trials of being forged by fire into a professional polished money manger. This has been the most difficult venture I have ever undertaken. The street level learning and psychology of dealing with other people's trust and future is more than I ever could have imagined. It has been a fascinating journey that I hope you will enjoy and participate in.

The Keystone

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Hello winter part two

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