Investment Management

The primary investment benchmark we focus on: your goals.

We believe the primary objective for investors is achieving the goals in their financial plans – because a financial plan is about so much more than just numbers. At Ronald Blue Trust, managing investments is more about increasing the probability of your meeting your goals, rather than competing against random benchmarks.

As part of your overall financial plan, we start with understanding your personal needs and timeframe: What are the resources with which you’ve been entrusted? How do you want to steward them? Where do you want to go? At what points in the future will you need those resources for where you’re going? These are important questions, because when you arrive at those points in the future, you want to be sure the resources are available to fund those goals.

We use a disciplined process for making investment decisions: our philosophy is reflected in our proprietary Principles-Based Investing approach and our strategy is reflected in our time-based portfolios – all to help you reach the desired end result: Your vision for the future.

We are also an organization committed to transparency and finding an investment plan designed to help you meet your goals within the constraints of available resources, income potential, risk tolerance, and other factors. Our “open architecture plus” approach to selecting investment solutions takes advantage of both “off the shelf” solutions in the investment marketplace and customized solutions designed for our clients. And although we exclusively recommend external investment solutions, Ronald Blue Trust has never accepted commissions from these investment product companies – and never will.

We believe that investing plays an important role in the overall stewardship process to help you provide for your family, do good works, and be generous.

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Ronald Blue Trust helps thousands of clients who are seeking to achieve clarity and confidence around their finances and meet their financial goals by applying technical expertise and biblical principles. After the 2008 financial crisis, concerns over slow economic growth, fiscal deficits, and unprecedented central bank monetary policy highlighted the need for an investment decision-making process that helps clients gain clarity and confidence around their finances and assists in meeting clients’ financial goals in this new economic environment. As a result, we saw an opportunity to integrate our principles more systematically into our investment process with the goal of building more resilient investment portfolios. This pioneering effort resulted in an investment decision-making framework known as Principles-Based Investing.

Principles-Based Investing combines a deep understanding of timeless biblical truths, sound knowledge of economies and investments, rigorous global research, and an in-depth evaluation of risk dynamics. Rooted in six time-tested principles, this framework evaluates the investment landscape based on the economic environment, growth, and valuation factors.

Environment. The Principles of Uncertainty and Instability inform us how to manage risk in various economic environments and reinforce the value of saving.
Growth. The Principles of Human Productivity and Leadership & Governance help us answer the questions of how and where growth will more likely occur.
Valuation. The Principle of Inherent Value helps us analyze the price of various asset types to build a more disciplined approach to portfolio allocation.

Principles-Based Investing creates a more confident decision-making environment for investing, as we rely on a set of core principles and an unwavering process with a focus on one primary goal: helping to increase the probability of achieving your goals.

Read our whitepaper on Principles-Based Investing.

Watch our series of videos on the six principles of Principles-Based Investing.

The most important question Ronald Blue Trust financial advisors ask you when considering investment management as part of your financial plan is: What is the purpose for your wealth and when will you need it? We believe appropriate investment allocations are best derived from a clear understanding of when the assets will be needed. Matching investments to capital needs – how much money is needed and when – is key to achieving your goals. For example, it is generally not in your best interest to invest in highly volatile assets when you have a short-term need for funds, but it may be appropriate for longer term investing goals.

Depending on the time frame of your cash flow needs, we selectively recommend the following building blocks in constructing investment portfolios:

  • Stocks to provide growth, because it is the only asset class proven to outpace inflation over time
  • Bonds to preserve assets and protect against volatility
  • Hedge assets to provide protection from inflation and currency destabilization

We realize your assets will be used in a variety of ways over time, so we not only think about how to increase returns, but also focus on managing the risks that may hinder you from achieving a minimum acceptable return.

Read our most recent Economic Review & Outlook



 

Ronald Blue Trust’s Investment Subcommittee is a diverse team of senior management and seasoned investment and economic professionals responsible for setting the investment policy for the company and monitoring all of the investment strategies for both policy and philosophical adherence. This Subcommittee is responsible for the Principles-Based Investing decision making process and helps keep clients informed through the quarterly Economic Review & Outlook report.

Our Investment Strategy Group (ISG), headed by Brian McClard, is a team that develops and implements investment strategies within the guidelines set by the Investment Subcommittee. The ISG is responsible for selecting investment instruments and performing ongoing due diligence and oversight of those investments.

Together, the Investment Subcommittee and ISG work to construct and implement portfolio strategies designed to increase the probability of success of meeting our clients’ financial planning goals.

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