Investment Management

“They quickly put our minds at ease as they helped us see how our assets would carry us into the future, how we could plan better for the future.”

– Cathy R.
Dalton, GA

The plans of the diligent lead to profit, as surely as haste leads to poverty.

Proverbs 21:5

Our Investment Benchmark: Your Goals

We define success as increasing the probability of meeting your financial goals. Several decisions can impact investment success, but we believe starting with a goals-based financial plan can help lead to greater investment success. Our “open architecture plus” approach to selecting investment solutions takes advantage of both off-the-shelf solutions in the investment marketplace and customized solutions designed for our clients.

  • The Purpose of Investing
    We believe that investing plays an important role in the overall stewardship process to help individuals provide for their families, serve others, and give generously.
  • Our Goal in Investing
    We strive to help clients grow their investments to meet their personal financial goals and gain clarity and confidence around their finances.
  • An Unbiased Perspective
    We offer strategies with a broad menu and freedom to select investments that do not generate fees for ourselves and allow us to recommend solutions based on your unique needs.
Our Investment Benchmark

Principles-Based Investing

Principles-Based Investing

Why Principles-Based Investing?

After the 2008 financial crisis, concerns over slow economic growth, fiscal deficits, and unprecedented central bank monetary policy highlighted the need for an investment decision-making process that helps clients gain clarity and confidence around their finances and assists in meeting clients’ financial goals in this new economic environment.

As a result, we saw an opportunity to integrate our principles more systematically into our investment process with the goal of building more resilient investment portfolios. This pioneering effort resulted in an investment decision-making framework known as Principles-Based Investing, which creates a more confident decision-making environment for investing, as we rely on a set of core principles and an unwavering process with a focus on one primary goal: Helping to increase the probability of achieving your goals.

Our Investment Distinctives

We believe you can increase the chances of investment success by understanding how your cash flow needs align with your goals and expectations.

  • Time-Based Perspective
    Linking your future cash flow needs to the proper investment time horizon
  • Philosophy: Principles & Pillars
    Incorporating biblical wisdom into portfolio construction
  • Aligned Expectations
    Following your plan based on mutual agreement around what defines success

Biblical Wisdom Applied to Investing

Principles-Based Investing combines a deep understanding of timeless biblical truths, sound knowledge of economies and investments, rigorous global research, and an in-depth evaluation of risk dynamics. Rooted in six time-tested principles, our strategies are built on these characteristics:

  • Growth – Markets with faster economic growth
  • Valuation – Assets priced appropriately
  • Diversification – According to your time horizon and cash flow needs

Read our white paper and watch our video series on principle-based investing:

Read Whitepaper Watch Videos

Time-Based Solutions

Wealth When You Need It

We understand that everyone’s situation is different, and we offer various, custom solutions depending on your needs. For clients that prefer portfolios based on the ability to meet time-based goals, we offer a time-based solution based on Principles-Based Investing that matches investment allocations to when you will need your money.

The most important question Blue Trust financial advisors ask when you are considering investment management as part of your financial plan is: What is the purpose for your wealth and when will you need it? We believe appropriate investment allocations are best derived from a clear understanding of when you will need the assets. Matching investments to capital needs – how much money is needed and when – is key to achieving your goals.

Matching Investments to Your Needs

Matching-Investments-to-Your-Needs

Your Building Blocks

Depending on the time frame of your cash flow needs, we selectively recommend the following building blocks in constructing investment portfolios:

  • Stocks to provide growth, because it is the only asset class proven to outpace inflation over time
  • Bonds to preserve assets and protect against volatility
  • Hedge assets to provide protection from inflation and currency destabilization

Client Resources

  • Quarterly solution factsheets
  • Quarterly hypothetical back-tested performance proposals
  • Quarterly investment review
  • Quarterly investment update presentation
  • Quarterly solution updates
  • Economic Review and Outlook newsletters
  • Timely market commentary and podcasts
Most Recent Economic Review & Outlook

As with any investment strategy, there is potential for profit as well as the possibility of loss. Blue Trust does not guarantee any minimum level of investment performance or the success of any investment strategy.

Access Portfolios

Access Portfolios

Client Resources

At Blue Trust, we strive to empower our clients to follow God’s instructions for good stewardship, generous giving, and furthering His kingdom. We believe it is possible to achieve all three through our Access Portfolios.

These Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs) are customizable solutions that allow you to build a portfolio that reflects your belief system, honors your conscience, helps control taxable gains, optimizes your gifting goals, and counterweights concentrated positions—all while investing in a Blue Trust solution. Access Portfolios also give you a platform to impact change through proxy voting, corporate engagement, and values-based screening.

Learn More

Meet the Team

Our Investment Strategy Group (ISG) develops and implements investment strategies within the guidelines set by the Investment Subcommittee. The ISG is responsible for selecting investment instruments and performing ongoing due diligence and oversight of those investments.

The Investment Subcommittee is a diverse team of senior management and seasoned investment and economic professionals responsible for setting the investment policy for the company and monitoring all of the investment strategies for both policy and philosophical adherence. Together, they work to construct and implement portfolio strategies designed to increase the probability of success of meeting our clients’ financial planning goals.

See Bio

Brian McClard

Brian McClard, CFA

Chief Investment Officer

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John-Pickart

John Pickart, CFA

Senior Investment Strategist

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Troy-Madlom

Troy Madlom, CFA

Senior Investment Analyst

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Nate Haynes, CFA®

Nate Haynes, CFA

Head of Alternative Investments

Zach Raines

Zach Raines

Investment Analyst

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Trust and investment management accounts and services offered by Blue Trust, Inc. are not insured by the FDIC or any other federal government agency, are not deposits or other obligations of, nor guaranteed by any bank or bank affiliate, and are subject to investment risk, including possible loss of the principal amount invested. CFP Board owns the certification marks CFP® and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® in the U.S.
*The client’s experience may not be representative of the experience of other clients and is also not indicative of future performance or success.
**All financials are as of 6/30/24 and subject to change.
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