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About Us

People. Responsibility. Perfomance.

Learn more about us.

About EquityCompass

EquityCompass is a Baltimore-based SEC registered investment adviser offering a broad range of portfolio strategies for individuals, financial intermediaries, and institutional clients in the U.S. The firm began managing investments in January 2006 and as of December 31, 2020, over $4.0 billion in assets were invested in its portfolio strategies.

EquityCompass and its team of professionals represent deep industry experience in security analysis, capital markets, and portfolio management. The firm is committed to a consistent and sustainable investment process that relies on enduring principles, sound empirical reasoning, and the recognition of a dynamic investment environment with a global reach.

Extensive Investment Experience

  • The investment team, led by Robert Hagstrom, CIO, represents deep industry experience in security analysis, capital markets, and portfolio management
  • Average Senior Portfolio Manager industry experience of over 25 years
  • Founded by Richard Cripps — former Managing Director of Portfolio Strategy at Stifel and former Chief Market Strategist and Co-Chairman of the investment committee at Legg Mason Wood Walker, Inc.

Mission

At EquityCompass, our mission is to provide investment solutions that address the needs of clients accumulating, preserving, and decumulating wealth. We aim to accomplish these goals with an organizational culture that prizes intellectual honesty, open dialogue among colleagues, and a commitment to continually improve ourselves and the investment process.

Our investment approach relies on establishing a consistent and repeatable methodology for each of our stated portfolio objectives. We strive for an investment process that comports with relevant capital market theories, validates from independent empirical testing, and incorporates active portfolio involvement from experienced professionals.

Stock selection is bottoms-up, fundamentally based while our portfolio management strategy is focused, high-active share with low-turnover ratios. We measure financial strength based on the economic factors of cash flows and returns on invested capital. We seek to align with companies and management who have the “will and ability” to sustain and grow cash flows for dividend payments or to be reinvested back into the company for long-term economic compounding.

Our portfolio management strategy is focused, high-active share with low-turnover ratios.

Values

People

We are a team of experienced, successful, and committed investment professionals. We recognize the value of diverse thinking and experiences, curiosity, open dialogue, and mutual support. Our formula is to seek individuals who are passionate about investing and who are willing to engage in a diligent and collaborative effort to produce successful results.

Responsibility

EquityCompass has a fiduciary responsibility to clients, partnership responsibility with Financial Advisors, and responsibility among ourselves to be supportive, dependable, and trustworthy. We adhere to the “best practice” approach for compliance oversight and “high touch” approach for communicating relevant portfolio policies consistent with client risk and performance expectations.

Performance

Investment results vary over time. However, we believe successful long-term performance is produced by thorough research, thoughtful judgment, and conviction. Beyond these accepted principles, successful investing is challenged by emotional factors that can expose potential pitfalls for investors. At EquityCompass we seek to overcome the behavioral missteps in investing by applying consistent decision-making in order to produce desired results.