Bonds have fixed upside and 100% downside so we are not interested in "stretching for yield" to pick up an extra half percent. Our objective is preservation of capital and our focus is on return of capital. We purchase bonds from issuers with strong financial positions and high interest coverage ratios. We buy and hold until maturity and use a laddered approach to hedge interest rate risk. We predominantly use tax-free municipal bonds for our tax-sensitive investors, high-grade corporate, and tr

Elgethun Capital Management constructs individualized investment plans for high-net-worth clients, focusing on tax-efficient capital growth through disciplined, patient strategies.

We manage assets for institutions, including: banks, registered investment advisors (RIAs), trust companies, corporations, non-profits/endowments, and pensions. We partner with banks and RIAs and manage custom-built portfolios with individual equity and fixed income securities, private placements, or real estate. We also manage equity or fixed income allocations in a portfolio. Our independence enables us to partner with any institution and work on any platform. We utilize technology around trad

Outside of our semiannual and annual client memos and our quarterly research notes, we started writing periodic updates when we feel sharing our perspective could be valuable.

Resource Guide for Coronavirus Relief

Elgethun Capital Management launched the ECM Podcast to share insights throughout the year.

Fees directly impact your net investment performance as one of the three primary detractors of wealth (others being taxes and emotional investing). Understanding how much you're paying, for what, and to whom is critical to managing and growing your portfolio. We communicate total fees and explain how they are charged. Our revenue is derived from fees based on assets under management - we do not get paid based on activity (commissions) or other conflicted, revenue-sharing arrangements. Most of ou

The ECM Team consists of John Barker, Jose Vizcarrondo, Austin Wagner, Patrick Baird, and Renae Elgersma.

A Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) is a globally recognized certification by the CFA Institute, requiring four years of professional experience and passing three exam levels, with a historical completion rate of 15.5%.

Elgethun Capital Management, founded in 2003 by Terry Elgethun, became an SEC-Registered Investment Advisor with over $585 million in assets under management by December 31, 2019. John Barker joined in 2011 and acquired the firm in 2012.

Stocks are fractional interests in businesses. Our objective is to buy solid businesses when selling below our estimate of intrinsic value. We prefer to buy a wonderful business that we can compound and hold forever. In order to buy something for less than its intrinsic value, we must first calculate intrinsic value. We define intrinsic value as the present value of future cash flows generated by a company and paid to its shareholders over the holding period of the business. We calculate intrins

Promises and guarantees are questionable, especially related to investments. Performance cannot be guaranteed, although some firms or "products" promise safety, most investors understand there is an element of risk associated with everything in life, especially investing. However, we can guarantee quality service, honesty, and a disciplined patient approach to investing. We screen our clients and ask them to screen us, because selecting a wealth or asset manager is a significant decision. In the

We are independently owned and operated. We are not owned by a larger bank or brokerage firm and we do not sell proprietary or in-house products.