Frontier’s process is driven by our commitment to doing things right
For us, investment strategies are more than cold calculations. They are approaches to investing that reflect what’s important to our people, the advisors and firms we work with, and the investors they serve. Everything we do is informed by our own set of values.
Acting with purpose
Everything we do is deliberate and thought through – no needless risk or following the crowd.
Working hard
We don’t take shortcuts and we don’t leave our work untended. We come in every day looking to improve our strategies.
Doing what we say
Our track record speaks for itself. We have been helping investors reach their financial goals for more than 20 years.
Dynamic Downside Focus to minimize risk of loss
Many traditional asset managers equate “risk” with the asset allocation percentage of equities vs. bonds in a portfolio, such as the well-known 60%/40% allocation. At Frontier, the number we focus on expresses the risk the investor actually cares about: the potential loss of wealth.
Before anything else, we establish downside risk targets for our strategies, representing the expected one-year loss potential at a 95% confidence level. Then, we draw from our forward-looking risk, return, and correlation expectations of more than 16 diverse asset classes to build each strategy’s target asset allocation. We don’t take a ‘set it and forget it’ approach. We adjust the manager mix and allocations dynamically (but not tactically) to stay on track within our downside risk targets while optimizing for the best possible expected returns.
FundFusion to find the optimal mix of fund managers
At Frontier, we want independent managers that pursue the best investment opportunities – end of story. Once we establish the target asset allocation of our strategies, we draw on the knowledge and experience of our people to research and identify the best fund managers, as well as our proprietary technology to find the optimal mix of funds. We test millions of combinations of managers to determine the team likely to produce the best results based on our analysis. These managers have met our stringent criteria, have, in our opinion, demonstrated skill in the past, and we believe they have the ability to perform in the future.
Many traditional asset management firms evaluate fund managers and sort them into “style boxes” that represent their investment approaches, and then pick top-performing managers in each box to fill a style slot in their overall portfolio allocation. They may even remove managers who try something new in search of returns because they no longer fit their box.
The result: Innovative risk-managed strategies made the Frontier way
We believe no other asset manager approaches investment strategies quite the way we do. We like to think that we are in the sweet spot – with the size and strength to offer a robust range of risk-managed strategies, while focused and independent enough to give each one its own unique, carefully crafted characteristics.
Contact us today
Frontier values relationships, looking our partners in the eye. Let’s talk and answer any questions you might have.
Notes
Strategy Management Process. Each Frontier strategy consists of carefully selected investment products that are combined in an effort to achieve the Performance Objectives of the strategy. Strategies are managed using a four-step process. First, we establish a long-term asset allocation mix that we call the “Target Long-Term Allocation”. Periodically we adjust the Target Long-Term Allocation based on our changing expectations about the future risk and return characteristics of various asset classes to create the “Target Current Allocation”. Next, we develop an “approved list” of mutual funds that we believe can add value over time. Finally, we test thousands of combinations of mutual funds from our approved list to find the combination that we believe is most likely to perform better than the Target Current Allocation. Over time the investment products in the strategy will change.
The “Downside Risk Target” is a financial risk measure that represents the approximate one-year loss potential an investor is willing to assume. It is designed to help investors choose their desired strategy based on their individual risk tolerance. It is the starting point for the design of each Frontier strategy. The downside risk target is for informational purposes only. There is no guarantee the downside risk target will be achieved. The downside risk target does not represent the performance of any individual account and should not be assumed to be consistent across all portfolios in a Frontier strategy. There are frequently material differences between potential loss levels and actual performance. The downside risk target does not consider the impact of trading, nor does it contemplate advisory fees. It should not be assumed that an investor will experience a consistent potential loss over any period of time or on a long-term basis. No investment decision should be made solely on the downside risk target associated with any Frontier Strategy.
Adjustments to the Target Long-Term Allocation will typically be made within “Target Asset Allocation Ranges” that are established for the following asset class groups: US Equity, International Equity, Alternatives, Real Assets and Fixed Income. We have developed models that help us determine our future risk and return expectations for certain asset classes that fall within these groups. They are shown below. Some of these asset classes contain “sub-asset classes” (e.g., growth, value, mid-cap) that may also be represented in Frontier strategies.
| US Equity
US Large Stocks US Small Stocks REITs
|
International Equity
Int’l Small Stocks Int’l Large Stocks Emerging Markets |
Fixed Income
High-Quality US Bonds High-Yield Bonds TIPs Floating Rate Securities Cash Equivalents |
Alternatives
Absolute Return Managed Futures
|
Real Assets
Commodities |
Not all asset classes are utilized in the construction of all strategies. Asset classes may be added to or removed from the above list at any time. The Target Current Allocation for a strategy may include asset classes that are not included in the Target Long-Term Allocation for that strategy. When determining the asset allocation for a strategy, each mutual fund is assigned to a single asset class. Funds assigned to an asset class group may have exposure to other asset classes.
Frontier ’s asset allocation models incorporate expectations for future long-term returns and downside risk. The estimates, including expected returns and downside risk, are calculated monthly by Frontier and will change from month to month depending upon factors, including market movements, over which Frontier has no control. They are only one factor among many considered in Frontier’s investment process. They hypothetical in nature and are not intended as guarantees of future returns and should not be relied upon in making investment decisions. All information provided within refers to our model strategies and does not reflect the trading any actual individual account. The estimates and expectations do not consider the impact of advisory fees or transaction costs. Please see Frontier’s ADV Brochure for details on fees.
Frontier Asset Management is a registered investment adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; however, such registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training and no inference to the contrary should be made. Additional information about Frontier and its investment adviser representatives is available on the SEC’s website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.
Frontier provides model strategies to various investment advisory firms and does not manage those models on a discretionary basis. The performance and holdings of model strategies may vary from the strategies managed by Frontier.
Frontier’s ADV Brochure and Form CRS are available directly on our website www.frontierasset.com or by request, at no cost by contacting us at 307.673.5675 or info@frontierasset.com. They include important disclosures and should be read carefully.