Balanced Asset Management

Featuring a blend of large-cap stocks with high-grade, intermediate- and short-term bonds, our balanced portfolios seek long-term growth and income while aiming to minimize risk and tax liabilities.

Asset Allocation With Your Needs in Mind

If you work with us, we’ll introduce you to a customized portfolio construction approach we call BetaCore.

What is BetaCore Portfolio Construction? A proprietary core-satellite approach that uses a core of passive and strategic beta exchange-traded funds. It can be an efficient standalone solution or be combined with alpha seeking and potentially diversification enhancing actively managed bonds and/or equity satellite strategies.
Who Might Benefit From BetaCore? It is designed to be a comprehensive solution for clients seeking a base of diversified, multi-asset class exposure. BetaCore looks to cost-efficiently obtain a global market return with the potential to add alpha and dampen volatility.

How Do We Use It? Appleton has developed what we feel are highly efficient asset allocation models and identified ETF strategies to attain desired core exposures. ETF model construction is based on desired characteristics and criteria, including:

  • Risk-adjusted return
  • Factor exposure
  • Cost
  • Asset class correlation
  • Diversification benefits

Equity Strategies

We offer several active equity strategies that incorporate quantitative screening, fundamental analysis, and macroeconomic themes in an effort to identify attractive equity investment opportunities. Security selection and portfolio construction are based on the nature and objective of each distinct strategy; desirable characteristics may include accelerating profits, strong competitive position, dividend growth, or valuation. Strategies are selected based on the client’s objectives and risk tolerance.

Municipal Fixed Income Strategies

Our municipal portfolios emphasize high quality, liquidity and reduced interest rate risk by investing primarily in defensive bonds. The aim of our short-term strategies is to provide principal preservation as well as liquidity and tax-efficient total return for cash reserves and other investment assets of individuals, corporations, public funds, endowments and pension plans. Other tax-exempt strategies invest in securities across the yield curve in accordance with the nature and objectives of each portfolio.

Taxable Fixed Income

Consistent with the goal of preserving capital and long-term growth of principal and income, we seek to maximize returns while maintaining a risk profile below that of the market.  Taxable fixed income investments may include investment grade corporates, taxable municipals, US Treasuries, TIPs, and US Agency securities.

As private wealth managers our clients’ ultimate benchmark is their personal financial plan. Helping clients reach their long-term goals drives us and is the most important measure of our success.

Kelly C. McKernan

Senior Vice President,
Portfolio Manager