Tony Nichols

Operates as a nationally chartered commercial bank

The firm's portfolio managers, research specialists and traders are organized into teams by asset class. SCM provides several different investment approaches to both its international and domestic equity portfolios. For its capital appreciation equity management, the firm emphasizes current economic environment and secular themes. In particular, long-term economic trends, Federal Reserve policy and market liquidity serve as a macroeconomic backdrop to the overall direction of the markets. For equity stock selection, disciplined, fundamental research with emphasis on the following characteristics are practiced: strong fundamentals, accelerating earnings and sales, accelerating return on equity, expanding market share, low cost producers, quality management and positive earnings surprises. Its bottom-up security analysis emphasizes management, cash flow, earnings growth, balance sheet strength, competitive position, discounted cash flow and relative p/e ratio.

Holt-Smith Advisors (HSA) manages Mid-Cap Growth, Large-Cap Growth and Large-Cap Value equity portfolios, as well as fixed-income and diversified portfolios. The firm's Large-Cap Growth strategy seeks to invest in fundamentally strong companies with above-average earnings growth that can be purchased at reasonable price. HSA invests in companies with a market-cap of $5 billion or more at the time of purchase. They look for companies with established products and/or services as opposed to companies with growth prospects resulting from temporary pricing increases or speculative products. HSA employs a proprietary model that ranks companies on multiple factors. The firm considers historical sales and earnings trends, profit margins, future growth prospects, debt level and the quality of management. They also consider p/e ratios versus expected growth over the next 3 to 5 years and invest in companies with reasonable valuations. New securities are purchased into the portfolio at a position size of 3% to 5% and sector exposure is limited to 30%. HSA builds concentrated portfolios of 25 to 30 holdings. A security may be sold if there is deterioration of fundamentals or its long-term fundamental growth slows to a below average level. Positions are not sold outright based solely on valuation or short-term earnings fluctuations such as temporary pricing increases or speculative products. The firm may make disciplined pare backs when a position becomes overweighted (10%) and/or the stock's PEG ratio becomes excessive. HSA's Mid-Cap Growth strategy uses the same approach as their Large-Cap Growth strategy except that they focus on companies with a market-cap of $1 billion to $10 billion the time of purchase. New securities purchased into the portfolio at position size of 3% to 3.5% position size. Sector exposure is limited to 30%. HSA builds concentrated portfolios of 25 to 30 holdings. Disciplined pare backs may be made when the position size reaches 6%. The firm's Large-Cap Value strategy seeks to invest in underappreciated companies with strong fundamentals and a market-cap of $5 billion or more at the time of purchase. The firm looks for opportunities for price appreciation and dividend income. They build concentrated portfolios with established upside and downside targets. HSA employs proprietary model screens that are based on fundamentals and valuation to identify companies with established and consistent earnings growth and dividend yields and p/e ratios that are less than the S&P 500. Companies are then ranked on characteristics relative to their sector and the portfolio's benchmark including p/e, p/b, price to sales, price to cash flow, ROE, dividend yield and debt-to-capital. HSA also considers relative stock performance and seeks to invest in stocks with a better than average S&P quality ranking. New securities are purchased into the portfolio at a position size of 3% to 5%. Sector exposure is actively managed relative to the Russell 1000 Value Index. Portfolios are concentrated, typically containing up to 25 holdings. A stock will be sold when its p/e ratio exceeds 20% to 25%. A stock may also be sold: (1) if fundamentals deteriorate (2) due to adverse company news or regulatory issues or (3) if a better investment is identified. A position may be pared back if it becomes overweighted relative to the portfolio's strategy. Downside maximum price protection is 20%. Though not limited by sector, HSA tends to invest in the stocks of companies in the electronic technology, technology services, health technology, finance and consumer non-durables sectors. They invest mainly in the stocks of US mid-cap and large-cap companies. The firm maintains a low turnover rate. The firm employs an active intermediate-term fixed-income investment strategy that seeks to invest in the most stable, conservative issues. The firm's active management approach adds value by managing average portfolio maturities through interest rate cycles and effectively allocating assets across bond types. Portfolio positioning is based on: yields, spreads, inflation, federal policy, money flows and the overall health of the economy. HSYA employs four main strategies: sector allocation, issue selection, duration exposure and term structure weighting. Risk is analyzed relative to the Lehman Intermediate Government/Credit Index. The firm seeks consistent returns through investments in intermediate issues, generally with maturities of 1 to 9 years. Average portfolio quality credit rating is A or better. HSA may use corporates, treasuries and ETFs. They may also use municipals bonds when appropriate for the client.

Functions as a College/University

AFS-IM makes investment recommendations based on client’s financial and investment needs, objectives and risk tolerance. The firm utilizes different techniques for buying and selling securities, which are often unique to the strategies they manage. Fundamental analysis is the most common method used and typically involves the development of a thorough understanding of fundamental features of a business through analysis and interpretation of company and industry data, such as revenue, expenses, assets, liabilities, management, industry position and other factors, in order to evaluate a security.

FBB-IM seeks to help investors achieve attractive risk-adjusted returns on their investments over the long-term while striving to preserve capital during times of market weakness. They focus on building globally diversified portfolios covering a range of asset classes that are responsive to varying market conditions.