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About Artisan
"Artisan (är' - ti - zən), noun ~ One who is skilled at a craft."
The term "artisan" has its roots in Roman antiquity. Over the following centuries ancient crafts became highly refined. By the time of the Renaissance artisans' guilds were well established in Europe and a formalized progression from apprentice to journeyman to master crafstman had been developed. The term "masterpiece," in fact, was the name given to an article crafted by a journeyman and presented to the leaders of his guild when he felt that he had mastered his craft. When the guild's leadership accepted this work as representative of the best of its kind, he was recognized as a "master craftsman." "Artisan ~ One who is skilled at a craft." Artisan Investor Services continues this rich tradition of skill, precision and craftsmanship. We regard investment management as a craft. Given a clearly articulated and reasonable objective, which we can help you define, we are able to construct a portfolio to achieve the stated goal. "Artigiano ~ skilled in the arts." While our values are traditional, our methods and skills are entirely contemporary. Our experience covers the full range of asset classes. We develop customized investment policies using disciplined asset allocation models. We employ both actively managed portfolios and index funds as appropriate. We are well versed in a wide variety of fixed income management techniques including actively and passively managed bond portfolios, immunized and dedicated portfolios, and various duration management strategies. Our experience with investments in private equity, venture capital and alternative assets is extensive. We are comfortable with using carefully selected futures, options and other derivative securities when needed to accomplish a goal. Our extensive network of professional contacts throughout North America as well as overseas is one of our most treasured assets. We are well able to bring to your portfolio the expertise needed to operate it as proficiently as any other institutional fund in the world. "Artire ~ to instruct in the arts." Master craftsmen both practice and teach their craft. Our founder, for example, has taught investment management in the Masters degree programs at two major universities. More important to our clients is that we believe that it is important for the decision makers in your organization to fully understand your investment program and be comfortable with it. Therefore we maintain an ongoing dialog with you, your Investment Committee and/or your Board of Trustees about the investment program for your fund. We guide you through a well structured decision making process to arrive at your key investment policy decisions. We then implement your program, monitor it and report back to you. We will work closely with you and your team to build a portfolio that all of us will recognize as a masterpiece. HistoryOur company began as Robert Skena & Associates in 1994. Our founder was a member of the management team at Mellon Bank, one of the nation's largest banks and trust companies. He served as the senior investment officer for the firm's retirement plans, savings plans, charitable foundations and other trust funds. By the time he left Mellon to focus his attention on Artisan Investor Services his responsibilities at the bank had grown to $10 billion invested in numerous trust funds around the world. He also taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh in the MBA program, teaching Investment Management. Several years later he taught the same course at Carnegie Mellon University. Shortly after the end of one semester a student contacted him to ask if he could assist with the management of an endowment fund for the organization where the student served as Treasurer. After consulting with the bank's management to ensure that there were no conflicts of interest he began to work with the endowment fund, effectively serving as its Chief Investment Officer on an outsourced basis. Fifteen years later, the business became Artisan Investor Services, LLC. Over many years we have observed that large institutional investors have an important advantage compared with smaller funds. Large funds can afford to hire a professional investment staff. They also support that team with the other resources needed to manage their funds intelligently and effectively. Smaller institutional investors cannot justify the cost of hiring a qualified Chief Investment Officer, nor can they afford to establish an investment staff in-house. Responsibility for monitoring the investment fund falls to staff members such as the Chief Financial Officer or Treasurer. These individuals can devote only part of their time to managing the portfolio, and often there is very little time available. In addition, the people in those positions generally are not investment professionals. Therefore, they find themselves in need of additional, and specialized, assistance. Artisan Investor Services combines and manages the resources needed to operate an institutional fund in a very efficient and highly effective manner. These resources include actuaries, accountants, auditors, consultants, investment managers, trustees, and other financial professionals. We do not compete with any of these professions. Our experience, however, often enables fund sponsors to reduce their reliance on these service providers. By doing so, we reduce your organization's cost of doing business. With Artisan Investor Services on your team you will have a world class investment office. |
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