Investment Management

Planning for your financial future involves making informed decisions about how your wealth and savings are invested. Next Step Advisors works with individuals and families in Williamsville, Buffalo, and throughout Western New York to develop investment strategies based on their goals, time horizon, comfort with risk, and overall financial priorities.

The financial markets offer a wide variety of investment options, from individual securities such as stocks and bonds to diversified investment products such as mutual funds, variable annuities, and variable life insurance policies. Different investment products may be used to support a variety of financial goals, including:

• Retirement Planning
• Education Funding
• Estate Planning
• Wealth Accumulation
• Other Short and Long-Term Financial Objectives

There are three basic types of investments, often referred to as asset classes:

Stocks

Stocks are instruments of equity and represent shares of ownership in a company. They rise and fall with investor perception of the company’s potential or other stock market factors, such as the outlook for the company’s industry, the political climate or the strength of the economy.

Bonds

Bonds are instruments of debt that represent loans issued by the government or a company. Investors who purchase bonds receive from the issuer a stated rate of interest and the promise of repayment of the principal amount when the bond reaches its stated maturity date. Interest-rate movements up or down typically have the greatest impact on bond prices.

Short-Term and Cash-Equivalent Investments

Short-term/cash-equivalents are low- or no-risk investments that generally have lower expected yields than stocks, bonds and other investments - cash-equivalents may not yield enough to keep up with the rate of inflation. Cash-equivalent investments include the following:

• Certificates of Deposit (CDs): Fixed, interest-bearing deposits offered by banks and other FDIC-insured institutions. CDs may be subject to penalties for early withdrawal.
  
  
• Money Market Investments: Investments that typically hold short-term debt instruments such as Treasury bills, CDs, bankers’ acceptances, and commercial paper.