Moneta Group

The world of professional advisors, including Moneta Group, holds David Swensen in very high esteem. Swensen is Chief Investment Officer of Yale University’s portfolio, which he has run since 1985, and which, under his direction, has grown with phenomenal returns from $1.3 billion to $22.5 billion. In February, 2008, the New York Times interviewed Swensen, and Worth Magazine spoke to him in December, 2008. We thought some excerpts from those interviews would be informative for our clients.

Q: With all the news about companies in trouble, how is Moneta Group?

A: With the number of companies experiencing financial difficulties a constant in the headlines, we understand why you ask—and, as an indication of our partnership with you, we appreciate your concern.

Moneta Group remains financially strong. Our compensation for advisory services is based on assets under management, a fee-based model that ensures that our interests are completely aligned with those of our clients. We have all experienced declines in our portfolio values, and our 2009 revenue will reflect a similar decline. Understandably, none of us are happy about this current market phenomenon.

However, our most valuable assets are people; the ones who make up Moneta and our clients. We continue to search for new Moneta Group employees who share our vision and values, and we thank you for your help ...

The headlines in the financial world regarding Bernard Madoff are the impetus for this message. We want you, our clients, to understand that you are not at risk in this latest scandal—and that our strategy for selecting managers is designed to protect you from such eventualities.

Q: Do any of the investment vehicles Moneta utilizes have exposure to the Madoff Fund, which has been exposed as a “Ponzi scheme?”

A: The answer a resounding, NO!! Below are four key reasons:

1. We are committed to recommending only what is in your best interest
2. We receive no revenue from investment vehicles, which ensures that we face no conflicts in our assessments and due diligence regarding these decisions
3. Our commitment to in-depth due diligence is designed to ferret out investments that make promises we can not reasonably validate
4. Our steadfastness over the past several years to be unwilling to ...

On the last five trading days of November, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had its best five days of growth in more than 50 years. This historic mark was followed by a 679 point drop in the DJIA on December 1, 2008. Given the hazards of forecasting trends—as this information clearly illustrates—here is an answer to a question recently posed by a client.

Q: We are very nervous. The markets are not showing any signs of stabilizing. We would like to have your opinion on where the market is headed in the next six months to a year and beyond.

A: We have no way of predicting the future—and SEC regulations governing Registered Investment Advisors do not allow us to make promises—but we believe the market will go up. A few reasons for us to believe that:

• The market has never failed ...

I think of Moneta Group as an orchestra of professionals. Like a traditional orchestra, we have many instrumentalists—currently about 150. Each person in the orchestra contributes a viewpoint and talent that is unique. While the principal is ‘first chair,’ ours would be a hollow sound without the contributions of the other members in each section. It is by playing in concert that each of these unique talents come together to make excellent music, and it is the orchestra leader who is responsible for merging all the talents and techniques together so the orchestra creates a seamless and beautiful sound.

We understand that each of you, our clients, comes to Moneta Group to listen to your favorite ‘first chair.’ We also know that the orchestra must be melodious if you are to continue to be a satisfied patron. During the past few months the airways have been overwhelmed with enormous ...