•Buy Bonds & Preferred Shares that have a Fixed Maturity Date. Why?
If interest rates start to rise or inflation fears build, we are
holding products that will give us back our investment at a future date.
•Keep the Average Bond Maturity to Less than 5 Years. Why?
If interest rates rise, we do not want to be locked-in at lower
rates. Longer duration Bonds are more volatile.
•Focus on Corporate and Convertible Bonds versus Government Bonds. Why?
Yields on corporate and convertible bonds are much higher and many
corporations have better balance sheets now than at any time in the
past 20 years.
•Buy Bonds with a Minimum Offering Size of $100 Million. Why?
For liquidity.
•Focus on Equities with Strong Balance Sheets, Good Dividend Yields,
and a History of Increasing Dividends. Why?
To reduce volatility and to get 'paid while we wait' for capital appreciation.
•Broad diversification by term, industry, issuer, and to a lesser
degree, geography. Why?
To reduce risk.