FOR SPINNAKER ASSET MANAGEMENT, IT’S ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS

         It can be hard for some people to understand what they see in front of them. Other people might not grasp the complex world that they live in either. That may hold true for anyone trying to fathom the way stock markets and the financial world works and what the daily results mean for their customer’s short-term and long-term prospects.

         For Ronald Kent, president of Spinnaker Asset Management, located on 3970 Post Road in Warwick, such topics as figures, trends, and mapping out the financial future for his clients are just the types of issues he wants to handle.

         From growing up on a farm in rural Pennsylvania, then graduating from Penn State University with a degree in Aerospace Engineering to finding his true calling—helping clients secure their financial future—Kent realized early that asking questions drives him to success.

         “I always wanted to know how things worked,” said Kent, who devoted four decades toward learning his craft. “I saw the markets and wanted to know why stocks fell when good earnings reports came out, and why they rose when the opposite occurred. After investing a small amount of money and achieving a measure of success, I was intrigued to learn more.”

         Managing other people’s money was a far cry from growing up on his family’s farm, where Kent said he grew up handling chores, tending to the livestock, and enjoying the orchards and vegetable gardens they produced over the years. Yet, his thirst for knowledge drove Kent from staying on the farm to trying to figure out the markets.

         Kent’s career began in the late 1960s as a member of the General Electric’s Missile & Space Division. He worked as an aerospace design and test engineer. After the face-off in Cuba calmed down, the Air Force wanted a more sophisticated weapons system. Kent served on a five-member team assigned to test advanced ballistic weapons systems, under contract to the United States Air Force.

         He also worked as a sales and marketing executive at an industrial equipment manufacturer until the spring of 1980, when he began a new career as a financial analyst at Tucker Anthony & R, L, Day, in New York. That lasted until his move to Providence in 1986, where he worked in institutional sales and ultimately as Vice President and financial analyst at Dominick & Dominick, Inc. Kent worked in various capacities until deciding to form Spinnaker Asset Management in September of 2008.

         Kent said his goal is simple: providing easy-to-understand advice for his clients so they feel comfortable investing in the market. He stresses that the market is going to have peaks and valleys due to its volatile nature, but added that if people understand the risks and rewards based upon solid research and reasoning, then they can invest confidently knowing their accounts are in good hands.      

         “There are so many variables that determine what is or is not a good investment,” Kent said. “I need to take both past and present information into account to determine what may be likely in the future 2-3 quarters of time. There is no sure-fire formula for determining which markets (stock, bond or commodity) will perform well, otherwise, anyone could do this job.

          “The most important activity I perform for clients is to slant the probability of success in their favor by moving their assets into what I perceive to be emerging market leadership…and out of those issues that are not likely to perform as well,” Kent said.

         Spinnaker works to preserve and protect client assets against an uncertain and volatile investing environment. In accordance with that view, Spinnaker manages their accounts to the goals and objectives of their clients. They do this by designing model portfolios that have the desired characteristics of lower volatility than the market, a component of income and capital gain, and stock and bond selections whose discount to market value has not yet been recognized.

         Kent believes the markets will be extremely volatile over the next few years.

“There will be ups and downs along the way, it is reasonable to believe that markets will be constructive into next year, at least. How we navigate through the stresses of elections, tariff wars, geopolitical uncertainties and currency devaluations will determine how successful we become. This is a critical time to have an active investment manager on your side to provide the advice needed to get through the next few years,” he said. 

         For more information and a free, no-obligation consultation, please contact Ronald Kent at 401-884-3210 or email him at rkent@spinam.com. Additional details about the company may be found by visiting their website at http://www.spinnakerassetmgt.com.

 Disclaimer: This article is distributed for general informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal, tax, accounting or investment advice. This article is based on data obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but such data is not guaranteed as to accuracy and does not purport to be complete.

Any opinions expressed in this article are Spinnaker Asset Management Inc’s current opinions. Furthermore, all opinions are current only as of the date of this article and are subject to change without notice. Spinnaker Asset Management Inc does not have any obligation to provide revised opinions in the event of changed circumstances. The information contained in this article is provided only as a reference and is not an advertisement or an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, or an offer for investment adviser services. Any investment advisory services that we provide to you will be described in the written investment adviser agreement between Spinnaker and you.

 All investment strategies and investments involve risk of loss on all principal and returns thereon and nothing within this article should be construed as a guarantee of any specific outcome or profit. Indexes are unmanaged and it is not possible to invest directly in an index. References to indexes are provided for informational purposes only and do not imply that your account will achieve returns, volatility, results or similar characteristics to such indexes. Indexes do not include the impact of fees, expenses and other factors may have on performance results.

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