A. Advisory Firm
BirdRock Asset Management (“BRAM”) began its business in 2006. Its principal
owners are Stephen K. Levy, Jr. and Heather Justman. We are a limited partnership
formed under the laws of the state of Texas. A limited partnership is typically
controlled by its general partner. Our general partner is a Texas limited liability
company named BirdRock Asset Management, LLC. Mr. Levy and Ms. Justman are
also the principal owners of BirdRock Asset Management LLC.
B. Advisory Services
BRAM provides investment advice and both discretionary and nondiscretionary
supervisory services. Advisory services are limited to advising clients on equities,
options, debt instruments, governmental securities, mutual fund shares and exchange
traded funds to provide proper diversification and to meet the client's stated investment
objectives; and advising high net worth individuals in the management and valuation of
certain business and real estate holdings. Primary services are equity investment
management and asset allocation management. In these areas we offer three core
strategies:
1. Small Cap Value Our philosophy is that value investing provides investors
with the best, risk-adjusted investment returns over the long term through
active management. As investors in a volatile asset class (equities), we believe
investors should approach investing with prudence and foresight by taking a
forecasted and/or a contrarian approach to quantitative and qualitative
information, information that may be interpreted differently by other interested
parties.
The firm’s philosophical bias stems from an emphasis on achieving positive
return consistency vs. each strategy’s benchmark to generate excess alpha, and
correspondingly, minimizing downside risks within the portfolio. A critical
tenant of our investment philosophy is to avoid large drawdowns during
difficult market conditions as reflected with downside capture metrics.
The BirdRock Small Cap Value (SCV) Strategy is a discretionary long only
equity product utilizing no leverage with investments in 40-60 smaller
capitalized companies ($300mm - $2.5B) trading on U. S. exchange(s). The
benchmark is the Russell 2000 Value Index. The investment process is most
characterized as bottom up fundamental and employs both quantitative and
qualitative screening/research elements utilizing both traditional and relative
value metrics/screens, some of which are proprietary.
The process is consistent, repeatable and time tested. In addition, though
benchmark sector weights are noted, they are rarely “the” key determining
factor with respect to portfolio weights unless absolutely warranted. The
portfolio will usually have varying exposure to all sectors; however, not to a
mandated tracking error requirement. Sectors are capped at 40%, Industries at
30%, position limit is 7% and cash within portfolio up to 5%.
2. Large Cap Value Our philosophy is that value investing provides investors
with the best, risk-adjusted investment returns over the long term through
active management. As investors in a volatile asset class (equities), we believe
investors should approach investing with prudence and foresight by taking a
forecasted and/or a contrarian approach to quantitative and qualitative
information, information that may be interpreted differently by other interested
parties.
The firm’s philosophical bias stems from an emphasis on achieving positive
return consistency vs. each strategy’s benchmark to generate excess alpha, and
correspondingly, minimizing downside risks within the portfolio. A critical
tenant of our investment philosophy is to avoid large drawdowns during
difficult market conditions as reflected with downside capture metrics
The BirdRock Large Cap Value (LCV) Strategy is a discretionary
long only
equity product utilizing no leverage with investments in 30-50 large-cap
companies (<$6.0B market cap) trading on U. S. exchange(s). The benchmark
is the Russell 1000 Value Index . The investment process is most characterized
as bottom up fundamental and employs both quantitative and qualitative
screening/research elements utilizing both traditional and relative value
metrics/screens, some of which are proprietary. A company’s earnings revision
information, is a key driver for company inclusion into our LCV strategy and
to remain so within.
The process is consistent, repeatable and time tested. Given this strategy is
concentrated (30-50 stocks), benchmark sector weights are noted. However,
they are rarely a key determining factor with respect to portfolio weights unless
warranted. The portfolio will usually have varying exposure to most sectors;
however, not to a mandated tracking error requirement. Further, the weighting
of a security within a given sector (typically 3-5%) is also not a significant
factor for determination and adhering to portfolio IPS sector guidelines.
Sectors are capped at 40%, Industries at 30%, position limit is 7% (typically
trimmed 4%-6%) and cash within portfolio up to 5%.
3. Tactical Asset Allocation Strategies These are primarily custom ETF
(exchange traded fund) allocations. In this area we offer actively managed, top
down, risk based portfolios that are managed to adjust to changing market
conditions. These strategies are geared toward investors seeking a diversified,
risk-controlled investment solution.
The portfolio’s flexible strategic asset allocation allows investors to depart
from an overweight equity position should market conditions deteriorate.
Conversely, as market conditions improve, the equity allocation within the
portfolio can be increased to take advantage of rising stock prices.
4. Financial Planning BRAM offers financial planning models to certain high net
worth individuals upon request. Strategies are formulated using a quantitative
model and discussed in detail with the client. If the client agrees with the
strategy, BRAM is responsible for implementing the investment portion only.
Any other recommendations would be left to the client’s discretion to adopt.
There is no cost to clients for this service.
C. Client Specific Tailoring:
We provide advisory services to clients with a wide variety of needs. Clients may
request asset allocation tailoring for their specific needs or may set their own asset
allocations. Clients may also impose restrictions on investing in certain types of
securities and may have a large amount of control or full control over the securities
selected if they wish.
If a client wishes for us to tailor our advisory services to their needs and grants us full
discretion in doing so, the Tactical Asset Allocation Strategies discussed in B above are
typically used, sometimes in conjunction with the Small Cap Value and/or Large Cap
Value portfolios, although we will occasionally do custom stock/ETF portfolios that do
not fit into those strategies. We will assess the clients risk tolerance based on both a
written questionnaire completed by the client, and our one-on-one conversations with
the client. The nature of transactions, portfolio holdings, timing, and strategy employed
for a given client account may differ from those actions taken, or strategies employed,
for other clients, portfolios or accounts. We may manage each client account
independently from all other accounts.
D. Wrap-Fee Programs:
BRAM is neither a sponsor of for a manager of any WRAP-Fee programs.
E. Total Client Assets:
As of December 31, 2022 BRAM managed $110,703,990 in discretionary assets and
$6,194,924 in nondiscretionary assets.