Pitt Business e-newsletter Issue 14, March 2009
Same Name, New Corporate Structure
For President and Chief Investment Officer Nick Fischer of Fischer Capital Partners, it started with family. In 2006, prior to entering the Full-time MBA Program at the Katz School, Fischer started an investment advisory firm called Fischer Capital Partners, LLC. His first clients were primarily family members and friends. His plan was to create a history of excellent performance while attending graduate school.
Fischer's founding philosophy was simple: The key to investment success is a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental drivers of asset value. More than two years later and having achieved what he set out to—a record of outstanding performance—Fischer and his management team, which includes Katz alumnus Cole Wolfson (MBA '08), have launched a new company under the same name but with a new corporate structure, Fischer Capital Partners, Inc.
Fischer Capital Partners, Inc. is a full service, fee-only Registered Investment Advisory firm whose principle service is the development and management of innovative investment strategies that generate long-term capital appreciation while strictly managing downside risk. According to Fischer and Wolfson, who is the firm's client relations manager, the firm has five competitive advantages over other investment advisories:
- Innovative Investment Strategies: Their portfolios are based on a comprehensive in-house research and analysis process emphasizing their own proprietary valuation analytics. This approach produces excess risk-adjusted returns while simultaneously lessening downside risk.
- Transparency and Liquidity: All client assets are held by a third-party custodian to ensure full transparency and same-day divestment when necessary. Each client has an individual account, ensuring that one client's actions do not impact another client's performance.
- Low Fees: By keeping costs low through effective business administration and streamlined operations, Fischer Capital Partners is able to offer below-industry-average fees. There is one low monthly fee based on a percentage of assets under management. As a fee-only firm, their compensation is solely derived from asset-based fees, aligning company interests with the growth of clients' portfolios.
- Simplicity: As a full-service firm, they handle all aspects of their clients' portfolio management. Clients receive an easy to read monthly statement and can also check the performance of their investments online in real time. When a major event occurs in the market, Fischer or a member of his team call clients to explain how the event may affect their portfolio.
- Diverse Management Team: Fischer's management team consists of individuals with a diverse array of professional backgrounds, advanced degrees, and applied experiences that ensures that all investment decisions are carefully vetted from a number of different perspectives.
Despite the tough economic times, Fischer Capital Partners is doing well, and, more importantly, says Wolfson, "We are adding clients and performing significantly better than the market." They are creating strategic relationships with institutions, including the University at Buffalo, where they hope to set up and instruct a student-managed investment fund through the university's business school and economics department.
For more information about Fischer Capital Partners, Inc., visit them online at www.fischercp.com.
