When it comes to our investment practice, we aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel. We can attribute the majority of our success to three things: 1) we have a straightforward & simple philosophy for managing money that is based on sound, tried, and true financial principals, 2) we have a disciplined process for starting any new relationship, and 3) we only work with individuals who can commit to the principles and strategies that we employ.

Our philosophy parallels the teachings of Benjamin Graham who was a professor at Columbia University. Graham is best known for mentoring Warren Buffett when Buffett enrolled in graduate school at Columbia in 1950. A year prior, Graham had published the book The Intelligent Investor. This book was a game changer for the investment community and the main reason Buffett decided to attend Columbia. To this day, Warren Buffett calls The Intelligent Investor “the best book about investing ever written”, and we would agree.

In his book, Graham divulges his simple process for making good investment decisions and managing wealth, which we follow. Anyone who works with us will also become a student of Graham and his teachings. For now, we will leave you with two main points outlining his philosophy: 1) Make investment decisions based on fundamental research, not just a good story, and 2) if you understand the psychology of the market, you can avoid letting your emotions and others’ emotions ruin your financial life.

Each one of our current clients has gone through this process, and each one of our future clients will go through this process. Below you will see the New Client Onboarding Process that outlines the topic of the three required meetings and the fourth optional meeting.

The success of Baird can be directly attributed to the firm’s conservative Midwest values and a culture focused on putting the client first. Our past CEO, Paul Purcell, is quoted in Financial Times saying “unfortunately 75% of the people in our business are not honest." This quote is eye opening and for the past 100+ years Baird has focused on maintaining an environment where honesty and integrity matter, and the client comes first. This culture is the main reason The Robinson Petronis Group decided to join Baird, and why it has been such a great fit for us and our clients.