Today, Rusty and Robyn are joined by Bob Baker, President at Advanced Asset Management Advisors. Bob founded Advanced Asset Management Advisors in 1998, with the mission of creating a better client investment experience. Today, he remains heavily involved in carrying that vision forward, overseeing the daily management of the company. Bob received a degree in finance from the Ohio State University. With nearly 30 years in the industry, Bob has wealth of experience in portfolio creation and asset management. Before starting AAMA, he served as Vice President of a large regional investment firm and President of a national advisory group. He oversaw the management of retirement plans and participated in the development, launch, and marketing of load and no-load mutual funds. Bob has also served as a trust officer for the Bank One Trust Company, managing client portfolio investments.

Key Takeaways

• [04:12] - Bob’s professional highlights and more on his current role at AAMA
• [05:08] - What was their mission when Bob first founded AAMA and how has this played out over the  years?
• [05:45] - Learn about AAMA’s fundamental investment process and how that has, or hasn’t, changed over the years
• [07:32] - From an investment process standpoint, how does AAMA’s fundamental process flow into the firm’s strategies?
• [08:18] - What makes working with AAMA different from large brand firms?
• [09:10] - How has AAMA enhanced its capabilities in recent years?
• [09:47] - What are the key market trends, challenges and opportunities that Bob sees coming up in 2025?
• [12:01] - How is Bob putting the inflation data into perspective and how is this view impacting his portfolio positioning, if at all?
• [13:00] - Over the past couple years, Bob has held a fairly contrarian view of the economy. Has anything changed his view recently?
• [14:00] - Why have AAMA’s sector weights remained relatively stable in spite of recent volatility?
• [15:17] - Why has investor sentiment been so bullish? Also, does this impact AAMA’s portfolio decisions or market commentary in any way?
• [16:06] - Looking ahead at 2025, how does Bob think fiscal and monetary policies might influence investment strategies and market dynamics?
• [17:06] - What risks are Bob most worried about at the moment?
• [18:33] - What is currently Bob’s favorite investment idea?
• [19:55] - How does Bob balance the need to stay informed and educated with the need to take mental space and tune out?

Quotes

[05:48] - “Well we deploy a fundamental investment process, and it looks at really strictly fundamental valuations in the marketplace. PEs, forecast of earnings, etc. We’re looking basically to overweight undervalued sectors and underweight overvalued sectors, and we do that through a very disciplined process…It’s been a good discipline for us to implement overtime. We’ve not changed it, because again, it keeps us out of a lot of the noise that can sometimes come into a portfolio.  ~ Bob Baker

[08:21] - “As a boutique firm, we kind of pride ourselves in the process of, if an advisor would like to speak with us they can pick up the phone and call myself, or my partner…and get answers to questions that they would like to have immediately, or quickly. Since those advisors have the opportunity to really talk to the decision makers of the firm, we think that’s a competitive edge vs. some of the other, larger firms on the platform where you’re probably not going to talk to the president or CIO…directly. ~ Bob Baker

Links

• Bob Baker on LinkedIn
• Advanced Asset Management Advisors
• “Shake it Off” by Taylor Swift

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