Ambitious Wealth
A Full Universe of Investments
By Patricia Vaccarino
Michael Cohn is the president and chief investment strategist of the New York City firm Atlantis Asset Management. As registered investment advisors, Michael Cohn and his team formulate a plan to achieve wealth by working with stocks, bonds, funds, private equity, commodities, currencies and hedge funds in both public and private markets. Michael emphasizes that, in order to work effectively with his clients, he needs to know and fully understand their entire financial picture.
Atlantis Asset Management is remarkably different from the majority of other investment firms, in that as registered investment advisors with no other affiliations, they don’t have specific products that they are obligated to sell. Ninety percent of investment firms have a menu of proprietary products that they have to offer to their clients. Atlantis Asset Management has a distinct advantage over other firms because it is not bound by the obligation of having to sell a limited number of products.
According to Cohn, “We hold ourselves to be fiduciaries, and as fiduciaries, we choose from the whole universe of investments and decide on the best investments for our clients, based solely what is best for them. “
A full universe of investments
Cohn points out that the firm is intentional about not wanting to be associated with only proprietary products that would limit the potential investment choices for his clients. His intent is to grow his clients’ accounts based on their unique needs and risk parameters. The operating mandate of Atlantis Asset Management focuses on the full universe of investments. Since Atlantis Asset Management is a fee-based firm, it makes money when its clients make money.
“My intention is to grow my clients’ accounts—that is how I make money. I charge a fee for assets under management. So the more money my client amasses, the more money I make.“
Being in the know with the right people. Cohn’s firm has thrived during fairly turbulent times due to the talent of the valuable team he has brought together. A large part of managing wealth for an individual is risk management. For the firm, risk management means protecting wealth. Managing risk often takes much more than keen and experienced observation of the markets. In the world of investments, it’s more about who you know and who can give you the right information at the right time.
“Sometimes it’s about knowing the right person to call,” Michael said. “When it comes to publicly traded investments it’s not if you‘re in. It’s about knowing when to get in and when to get out.”
Ambition:Timing is everything.
With financial ambition, timing is everything. People are most attracted to the market when it’s high, but according to Michael, “When everyone is buying, you want to be selling. When everyone is selling you, want to be buying.” The key to amassing wealth as well as in protecting wealth is making investments that are appropriate, timely and smart.
Michael emphasizes that it’s very easy to buy, but very hard to know when to sell. Start by choosing expert wealth managers who have deep expertise across the financial spectrum. A good advisor is worth his weight in gold. “My greatest passion is helping people keep their hard earned money so they can grow and prosper. “