Asset Class Investing: A new option Jason Fitzgerald, CFP® and David Guzzetta, AFIM

For over 80 years, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust has offered each of its Wealth Strategies clients tailored investment portfolios consisting of individual equities and fixed income offerings. This process has been backed by a trusted advisor from the local bank with a personal touch.

We are now pleased to offer an additional option for our clients in the form of asset class investing, also referred to as passive investing or enhanced indexing.

This is an exciting new opportunity through which clients can participate in the ownership of a fully diversified range of asset classes, both domestic and foreign. Through an exclusive partnership with Dimensional Fund Advisors, we now offer clients the ability to invest in such asset class strategies. Dimensional is a leading provider of asset class management for corporate non-profit endowment funds and public pension plans.

U.S. Micro Cap, U.S. Large Cap Value, International Value, Real Estate and Five Year Global Fixed income are just a few of the asset classes that comprise a typical strategy offered through Dimensional. Clients receive exposure to these asset classes in the purest form through academically engineered portfolios grounded in the belief of efficient capital markets.

Because investors differ in how long they plan to invest and the amount of risk they are willing to take, our clients can select from six different Dimensional strategies. Each one differs in its risk and return potential, from more aggressive strategies invested predominantly in equities to more conservative bond strategies that invest predominantly in fixed-income securities. Clients receive exposure to more than 15,000 companies worldwide.

These asset class strategies were designed to pinpoint the most productive types of assets, as identified in academic research. Dimensional Fund Advisors is backed by leading financial economists from some of the nation’s premier Ivy League institutions.

Combination of Theory and Practice:

"Dimensional is not only a conduit from leading financial economists to their portfolio managers and clients, but also a link from investment practitioners back to academia. The result is that academic research becomes more relevant to practical investing, and practical investing is backed by solid academic knowledge."

This Value-Added Management approach gives clients combinations of assets they typically can’t get elsewhere. The single biggest decision facing investors is choosing the asset allocation balance between stock/equity and fixed-income components. This choice has a major impact on the expected long-term return and on portfolio volatility - the age-old balance between risk and return.

With either investment option - our time-tested active investment management approach or our newer asset class enhanced index investment management offering - our CNB Wealth Strategies Group financial advisors are here to help you maximize your overall financial health.

Just as we have been for nearly a century, we remain and always will be your hometown trusted advisor serving all your financial needs. To learn more, feel free to call us at 585-419-0670.

Jason Fitzgerald and David Guzzetta are Investment Officers with Canandaigua National Bank & Trust. You can reach them at jfitzgerald@cnbank.com and dguzzetta@cnbank.com or call 585-419-0670.