"Forestis" is the latin root of the English word forest, which now means "an area of land covered with trees". It is a particularly apt as it applies to portfolios and investments.

Like trees in a forest, a healthy portfolio is composed of many individual investments.

Like many forests, a healthy investment portfolio contains a variety of species, each filling a different niche. Lodgepole pines, fir, spruce, and aspen intermingle in high Colorado forests. Cash, bonds, stocks, and real estate are elements in healthy portfolios.

Like forests, investment portfolios sustain people materially. At the right time, a little judicious pruning can leave the portfolio healthier than before and provide a comfortable lifesyle.

Like forests, a healthy portfolio can be a thing of beauty, a wonder to behold. Some clients simply marvel at their statements.

As forests can be damaged and even destroyed by insects, fire, disease and excess harvesting; withdrawals, high costs, churning, and a variety of other common investment maladies can stunt or destroy otherwise healthy portfolios.

We see the forest and the trees.