How we build, decide, and recommend.
Anyone can write 'holistic and personalised'. We prefer to show our work. Below is the actual framework behind every retirement plan, wealth structure, and insurance recommendation we make.
1. Portfolio construction
We start from a globally diversified core (broad market equity + investment-grade bonds), then size the equity share to the client's time horizon and capacity for drawdowns. Tilts (factor, regional, sustainability) are only added when they survive cost scrutiny. No stock picking. No tactical market timing. No 'house view' that changes monthly.
- Strategic asset allocation set by goals + horizon, not market sentiment.
- Equity exposure delivered primarily through broad, low-cost index funds.
- Bonds sized for behavioural ballast and liquidity, not yield chasing.
- Rebalancing is rules-based (threshold or annual), not opportunistic.
2. Risk framework
Risk is not a slider from 1 to 10. We assess three separate dimensions and let the most conservative one set the limit: capacity (what a drawdown would do to the plan), tolerance (what the client can sit through without selling), and need (how much risk the goal actually requires).
- Capacity: scenario-tested against a, 40% equity drawdown.
- Tolerance: discussed explicitly before signing, not assumed.
- Need: if the goal is fundable at lower risk, we lower the risk.
- Expat liquidity buffer: 3–12 months net expenses held separately.
3. Product selection criteria
Before any product enters a recommendation, it has to pass four filters. If it fails one, it's out, regardless of commission, popularity, or what is 'usually sold' in the German market.
- Total cost of ownership disclosed and competitive (TER, wrapper, advisor).
- Flexibility: pause, reduce, or stop without punitive penalties.
- Portability: works if the client leaves Germany, or at least no worse than the alternatives.
- Transparency: every cost layer is visible to the client in writing.
4. What we exclude
Some structures fail our filters often enough that we treat them as default-no. They can be discussed, but the burden of proof sits on the product, not on the client.
- Closed-end participations (ship/real-estate/private-equity) for retail clients.
- Insurance wrappers where total cost > 1.8% p.a. without a clear tax case.
- Long lock-ins (>10 years) without portability or hardship clauses.
- Products where the cost structure cannot be reproduced from the contract.
5. Expat-specific adjustments
A standard German plan often breaks the moment someone moves abroad. We change the inputs from day one: tax residency, relocation probability, currency of future liabilities, and exit treatment of each wrapper.
- Every recommendation is stress-tested against 'leaves Germany in 5–10 years'.
- Wegzugsbesteuerung and DTA implications flagged before signing.
- Currency of the future spending shapes the bond and cash mix.
- Riester and similar 'subsidy traps' only recommended when the math survives a move.
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Educational content. This page describes our advisory framework, it is not, in itself, financial, tax or legal advice. Individual recommendations always depend on a personal consultation.