About Ross Asset Advisors, Inc.
RAA is a fee-only Registered Investment Advisor that is owned and operated by Brendan Ross. RAA provides investment advisory and management services from our offices in La Canada, California, which is just north of Los Angeles, approximately between Glendale and Pasadena.
Our clients come from all over the world, though most are in the United States. RAA provides its services to individuals and to trusts. Our ADV-II substitute and current client references are available upon request. Contact RAA.
About Brendan
Brendan founded Ross Asset Advisors to level the playing field for individual investors by bringing them the knowledge and skills that have previously been the domain of large institutions. Investors need crystal clear, unbiased, bankable advice - a rare commodity in a noisy industry. They also need to hear it from the horse’s mouth - and Brendan works personally with all of his clients.
In uncertain times, Brendan’s fair fee structure and compelling returns have earned him the respect of his clients and peers.
Brendan graduated from Brown University with a double major in Economics and Sociology. He received Magna and Phi Beta Kappa and was awarded Honors in Sociology.
Brendan began his career at Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman), where he worked for a variety of clients including United Airlines, Bank of America, and AOL. He left Mercer to join MediaOne’s newly formed Strategy Group.
Brendan was an early employee of blogging community Xanga.com. He then joined Ticketmaster where he lead a team of Product Managers in the development of web-based products including the Sports TicketExchange, now used by 54 NBA, NHL, and NFL teams.
Brendan has run a number of companies prior to Ross Asset Advisors, including ReserveAmerica, where as President he grew revenue from $20 to $28 million. ReserveAmerica is the world’s largest outdoor recreation reservation company, employing 600 people across North America.
Fanfare Media Works, where Brendan was President & CEO, is the largest provider of in-supermarket advertising on register tape and shopping carts, generating $60 million in annual revenue from a team of 400 employees and over 500 independent contractors. At Fanfare, Brendan led a private equity backed turnaround, recapitalizing the company after only 6 months.
Brendan’s leadership style has always been based on honest conversation, careful listening, and earning the respect of those around him. His belief in the importance of candor and intellectual honesty has always garnered him the support of employees, customers, and suppliers.
Interview with Brendan
Q: What first sparked your interest in investing?
A: My high school offered a course in Economics, and part of the curriculum included a stock-picking contest. Even at that age I understood that stock-picking was gambling, and that if I wanted to beat all 30 students I had to make a moon shot. Unlike in real life, there was no prize for second place. I bet the whole portfolio on an airline in the throes of a hideous reorganization that had the lowest P/E ratio I could find. The stock leaped up, and I won. I remember very clearly being fascinated that my peers attributed to my intelligence what I knew to be mostly luck.
Q: When did you first take your own investing seriously?
A: My wife and I were among the “brilliant” people who bought real estate in Los Angeles some time ago. When we sold our house we turned $400K into $800K. I was young and had $400K in the bank. This was an extraordinary stroke of good fortune, and I was determined to capitalize properly on this luck. I discovered the wisdom of passive, index investing, and continued to enjoy success in my portfolio and my career.
Q: What was it about index investing that struck you immediately as true?
A: I wouldn’t expect that my epiphany would mirror anyone else’s, but for me it was the great quotes compiled by author Larry Swedroe about the failure of past performance as a predictor of future performance among mutual fund managers.
Here’s a gem from Fortune magazine in March 1999:
“Despite volumes of research attesting to the meaninglessness of past returns, most investors (and personal finance magazines) seek tomorrow’s winners among yesterday’s. Forget it. The truth is, much as you wish you could know which funds will be hot, you can’t – and neither can the legions of advisors and publications that claim they can.”
From this it was a short leap to understanding that paying a Mutual Fund manager 1.5% of assets to “pick” stocks will at best reduce returns by 1.5% each year.
Q: What was the final piece of the puzzle for you?
A: Taxes! Proponents of active investing never talk about taxes. The whole philosophy of active management requires trading, and in most cases the portfolios of actively managed mutual funds turn over 80% each year. For individual investors picking stocks themselves, turnover can be far worse. Index funds, by contrast, only turn over 8% of their assets each year. The capital gains taxes triggered by turnover have an instant impact on real returns, and this is compounded over time. Taxes serve to eliminate any final contestants in the unwinnable contest to beat index fund benchmarks.
Q: After all of these years, what continues to amaze you?
A: The easy, flip answer would be Wall Street’s incredible success in perpetuating a cult of “beating the market” despite decades of research showing that this is impossible over the long term. But the truth is, what really amazes me is that the correct strategy for long term financial success is actually the easiest, least stressful strategy: Construct a well-balanced, diverse portfolio and simply LEAVE IT ALONE, doing only necessary maintenance, to generate by far the most long term gains.
Q: How do you suggest people get started on taking control of their financial planning?
A: I’ve tried to make my website both accessible and educational. I’d say people should start there, then give me a call if they have further questions. As you’ve no doubt guessed, I have a passion for helping people understand how to extricate themselves from their current situation and get started on the path to financial success. Setting and keeping people on the right path is not something that takes weeks of difficult deliberations, but instead is straight-forward, painless, and very satisfying.
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