Frank Koster

Experience

As mentioned in one of my articles, the college reading that sparked my interest in the capital markets was Burton Malkiel’s “A Random Walk Down Wall Street.” (If anyone is interested, we keep several copies here in our Vergennes office.) The book highlights the inability of most investors to beat the overall market returns on a risk adjusted basis, over the long term, and after fees. I spent much of my 40 year career in the capital markets combatting that notion, gradually capitulating over the last 10-15 years. As a convert who has lived and worked on both sides of the fence, I can tell you with conviction that indexed products deliver much more than just lower fees (Active vs. Passive Investment Management). But I digress…

During the aforementioned 40 year career, I had the privilege of directly managing or overseeing the management of roughly $150 billion dollars of other people’s money, always as a fiduciary. During that span I worked as an analyst, trader, portfolio manager, and ultimately Chief Investment Officer. I worked for several well-known financial institutions and alongside some of the best and brightest the industry has known, learning, and hopefully teaching a bit as we went along. I am so excited to be able to bring those years of experience to our clients here in Vergennes!

Investment Thoughts

When investing, simple is generally better than complex for several reasons. Complexity obscures costs, performance, and the overall understanding of the client, and frequently necessitates legal and/or accounting opinion, adding more costs. Further, complexity tends to impair liquidity, or the ability to convert the investment to cash. These factors, in combination with the performance characteristics described here, are why we are so excited to be building the practice we are here in Vergennes, Vermont.

Hometown, etc.

I grew up in Cincinnati, have since lived in Chicago, NYC, Milwaukee, and Baltimore, but have called Vermont home since 2009 when I took the CIO job at Dwight Asset Management in Burlington. My wife tells me we have moved too much, but we have generally enjoyed the ride.

I enjoy serving the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum as Board Treasurer.

Education

College of Wooster, Wooster, OH BA in Economics