Investment Advisory

It is critical for plan sponsors, today, to keep pace with the ever changing legal and regulatory requirements surrounding plan assets. Elemental to the process is including quality and diverse investment options and efficient asset allocation strategies within plans. Running an effective and compliant investment program can pose challenges for retirement committee members lacking the investment background and expertise required for prudent fiduciary oversight. This is where we can help.

Hooker & Holcombe Investment Advisors, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hooker & Holcombe, Inc. and a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registered investment advisor. Providing investment advisory services to institutional investors is our primary business, and we do it well. We focus on investment policy, asset allocation, investment selection, and ongoing monitoring and reporting. We advise on all types of qualified and non-qualified defined benefit and defined contribution plans, as well as foundations and corporate accounts.

Our team did it again! 5 years and counting . . . the only investment advisory team headquartered in CT to be named to the 2020 list of small teams with $1.7 billion or more in retirement plan assets under advisement AND small teams with 115 retirement plans or more under advisement.
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Independence

Our goal is to provide our investment advisory clients with investment advice and fiduciary support and to minimize any potential conflicts of interest. To preserve our independence:

  • We do not offer any proprietary investment products
  • We do not provide brokerage services
  • We do not “direct” brokerage activity
  • We do not accept or pay soft dollars
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Assistance with RFPs

We can help plan sponsors with the Request For Proposal process. Acting as an independent and objective third party consultant, we organize, structure, and manage the search for professional investment-related services and managers. Our expertise in this area helps take the stress out of a process that is often time consuming, complex, and challenging for those charged with the responsibility for screening and hiring quality investment managers.

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Advisory Oversight

Our consultants function as a "second pair of eyes" for the plan sponsor's retirement committee. We sit on the sponsor's side of the table, asking the right questions of the plan’s primary advisor and investment managers to ensure that they are meeting our clients’ needs. Our knowledge brings a level of investment sophistication and expertise that compliments that of the investment committee. Clients have the option of hiring us in an ongoing co-fiduciary role , or for a limited engagement.

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Expense & Performance Audits

We are positioned to help plan sponsors by obtaining a full accounting of fees and expenses, revenue sharing and rebating from all advisory, investment management, custodial and trust parties. We audit:

  • Wrap and investment advisory fees
  • Mutual fund finder's fees and 12b-1 fees
  • Directed brokerage commissions
  • Revenue sharing, rebates and offsets

We can also perform an analysis of proper mutual fund share classes (if pertinent).

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Investment Policy Guidelines & Objectives

Our plan review takes into consideration any mandates of current investment providers. Through discussions with the committee or board, we identify investment goals and formulate investment policy guidelines which are used to develop a formal investment policy statement. Our process includes:

  • Review of current investment program
  • Assessment of risk tolerance
  • Identification of investment goals and objectives
  • Asset class restrictions
  • Liability structure and liquidity needs
  • Asset allocation targets
  • Index and universe benchmarks for monitoring and evaluation of the portfolio
  • Review of fee schedules for reasonableness
  • Monitor and review standards
  • Roles and responsibilities
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Asset Allocation Strategies

Our experts can assist your committee in developing an asset allocation strategy that incorporates:

  • Capital market expectations
  • Your plan’s unique liability structure
  • Plan sponsor’s risk tolerance
  • Structure of your current investment program
  • Appropriateness of included/excluded asset classes
  • Risk, return and correlation parameters
  • Alternative asset allocation scenarios
  • Optimal asset mixes for your plan’s liability structure
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Asset Liability Modeling

To assist you with effective integration of your plan’s assets and liabilities, we apply both deterministic and dynamic stochastic forecasting. Our asset / liability modeling can help to identify the asset allocation solution that best fits your plan’s liabilities by taking into account your investment time horizon and risk tolerance.

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Investment Manager Searches

Our manager searches encompass each client’s unique and specific needs with the goal of improving the structure and quality of our clients’ portfolios. Our manager searches can incorporate considerations such as:

  • Risk profile
  • Return goals
  • Both quantitative and qualitative factors
  • Correlation to existing assets
  • Cost
  • Liquidity constraints
  • Other circumstances unique to the client Fund Evaluation and Selection
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Fund Evaluation and Selection

We have access to virtually all of the top nationally known funds and fund families. Through our screening process we identify top quality funds for each of the asset classes and investment styles based on specific quantitative criteria. We further refine this list through qualitative assessments. Our final recommendations are based on our understanding of the client’s goals and objectives and how the fund fits in with the other investment options available within the plan.

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Performance Monitoring and Reporting

Monitoring and evaluating a plan’s investment program is a critical responsibility of fiduciaries. Fiduciaries can be assured that our standards for evaluating their plans and investments will be performed according to a set of mutually agreed upon standards as outlined in the plan’s Investment Policy Statement. We will:

  • Evaluate investment managers on a regular basis
  • Adjust the portfolio allocation as objectives change and as warranted by the outlook for capital markets
  • Rebalance regularly to targets as dictated by the Investment Policy Statement
  • Provide plan fiduciaries with comprehensive reports quarterly detailing fund and portfolio performance in relation to appropriate benchmarks
  • Meet with the retirement committee regularly to discuss plan issues and objectives
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Executive and Fiduciary Workshops

It is both helpful and prudent to ensure that those responsible for an organization’s retirement plans are knowledgeable about their fiduciary responsibilities. We will meet with the plan’s retirement committee, finance committee and other administrators to help them understand how to manage their plan related investment fiduciary risks and responsibilities.

Customized webinars & seminars designed around your company’s unique needs cover topics such as:

  • Downturns and Recoveries
  • Global Investing
  • Saving and Investment for Retirement
  • How Much Will You Need at Retirement?
  • How to Read a Mutual Fund Performance Report
  • Long-term Investment Performance
  • Portfolio Diversification
  • Portfolio Performance
  • Retirement Services
  • Principles of Investing
  • Retirement Incomes
  • Risk & Volatility
  • Target-Date Funds
  • Understanding Deferred Annuities
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Client Relationship Summary for Retail Clients

Client Relationship Summary

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FINRA Broker Check

Check the background of our investment professionals on FINRA BrokerCheck