OUR FIRM

As independent, fee-based investment managers, we work with you to develop an investment approach that fits your goals with our capabilities. There's no sales pressure and no conflict of interest. You can be sure investment decisions are based on one primary goal -- meeting your financial objectives.

At Cambridge Advisors, we understand that developing financial resources is the key to achieving many of your dreams. For some, the goal is a secure and comfortable retirement. For others, it is building a college fund for their children. Perhaps your dream is to accumulate the wealth you need to begin a new business venture. Whatever your goal may be, we will help you develop a plan to reach your goal and work the plan to make your dream a reality.

From our offices in Omaha, Nebraska, Cambridge Advisors serves clients throughout the state of Nebraska, as well as across the country.  Please take the time to explore our virtual office to learn more about how we can help you attain your goals.  

What will Cambridge Advisors do for me?

The first step in developing an investment management relationship is to sit down with you to learn more about you. Your goals, your investment experience, your time horizon, your tolerance for risk, and your specific tax situation are all critical considerations in developing a strategy for your financial success.

After gathering this information, we will develop an investment plan to meet your goals. For most clients, this investment plan will involve building a diversified portfolio of individual securities and/or mutual funds to generate capital appreciation and income. These assets will form the core of your investment portfolio.

Beyond Managing Money

We believe our job involves much more than just managing portfolios. As a part of our annual review with each client, we set your assets in the context of the amount of money you are likely to need for a financially secure retirement.  This is the "financial planning" part of our work.

For clients who are in the heart of their working and earning years, this involves setting appropriate goals for saving as well as investing. The kind of monthly saving targets that you establish during your working years can dramatically affect the standard of living that you will be able to enjoy in retirement.

For many clients, this planning role includes reviewing and making recommendations about other financial matters besides their investments. While we do not provide legal or tax advice, we believe it imperative that our clients with accumulated assets in excess of the estate tax threshold begin making estate plans today. In all of our cumulative experience, we have yet to meet an individual who wanted to leave the bulk of their assets to the government.

At Cambridge Advisors Inc., we have built our business based on the timeless principle of knowing our clients well. In an era when many investment managers seem intent on trying to create one-size-fits-all investment strategies and products; we have kept our focus on providing a high caliber of personalized investment services to a select group of individuals.

We spend time with you—the kind of time that other financial consultants can’t give to individual clients. We learn about you, your family, your present finances, and your future plans. We take the time to understand your values.

It is this high level of personal attention that makes the service offered by Cambridge Advisors Inc. distinctive. Because we understand you and your goals, we can manage your portfolio in a way that reflects your personal values, circumstances, and objectives. By staying in close contact with you, we can offer advice and make the appropriate changes to reflect new developments in your life. Additionally, we coordinate with your tax and legal counsel in the management of your investment portfolio—ensuring that your investment strategies are in complete harmony with your tax strategies.

Finally, unlike many financial advisors, Cambridge Advisors does not earn commissions for making transactions. Instead, our investment management fee is calculated as a fixed percentage of your portfolio. We are rewarded for real growth in your portfolio, not for simply turning over your investments. Our financial interests are in perfect alignment with your own. The end result is a greater degree of partnership and trust in managing your investments, and a higher level of assurance that you always receive our best, objective advice. 

 Gaylan C. Abood, CFA    gabood@cambridgeadvisors.net

Gaylan is the founder of Cambridge Advisors and Vice President.  He oversees all of the firm’s investment management activities in addition to portfolio management. He brings more than 30 years of investment management experience to his role. Prior to the founding of Cambridge Advisors, he served as president of Commerce Investment Management, Inc.; vice president and manager of private accounts with Mutual of Omaha Fund Management Company; vice president and manager of the Trust Investment Management Department of First National Bank and Trust Company of Lincoln; and an investment analyst with Bridges Investment Counsel, Inc. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in finance and management and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. He is a member, and former president of the CFA Society of Nebraskat, the CFA Institute, and the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts.

  Lori L. Liffring, CFA    lliffring@cambridgeadvisors.net

Lori Liffring is President of Cambridge Advisors.  She is involved in the portfolio management, investment research, and client consulting aspects of our services at Cambridge Advisors. In addition, she develops comprehensive financial plans for our clients. Before joining Cambridge Advisors in 1994, Lori worked at Hewitt, LLC as an employee benefits consultant for Fortune 500 companies. Lori received her bachelor's degree from Baylor University. She is a member of the CFA Society of Nebraska and the CFA Institute. 

  Michael L. Bridgman, CLU, ChFC    mbridgman@cambridgeadvisors.net

Mike Bridgman is Vice President of Cambridge Advisors.  Mike’s areas of focus are in financial planning and portfolio management. Prior to joining Cambridge Advisors in 1999, Mike developed ten years of experience in the insurance and investment industries with Connecticut Mutual and most recently with Guarantee Life. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Mike is a member of the American Society of Financial Service Professionals.

  Karen K. Benefiel, CPA, AAMS    kbenefiel@cambridgeadvisors.net

Karen’s areas of focus are portfolio management, financial planning and investment research. Prior to joining Cambridge Advisors in 2003, she was an Investment Consultant with Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.  Karen received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas in both accounting and business administration.  Karen currently holds her CPA certification and an Accredited Asset Management Specialist designation from the College of Financial Planning.  Karen is a member of the CFA Society of Nebraska, the CFA Institute and the Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.  

Justin S. Anderson, MBA    janderson@cambridgeadvisors.net

Justin’s primary areas of focus are portfolio management, financial planning, and investment research.  Prior to joining Cambridge Advisors, Justin held a position as a research analyst managing money for the Great Plains Mutual Funds while employed by First Commerce Investors, and most recently as a Financial Advisor for Edward Jones.  Justin received his bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, and went on to get his Masters of Business Administration with specializations in Finance and Agribusiness.  Justin holds the Accredited Asset Management Specialist designation from the College of Financial Planning.  He is a founding board member of the Bennington Community Foundation and sits on the board of the Western Douglas County Chamber of Commerce.

Katie Anderson    kanderson@cambridgeadvisors.net

Katie is an Investment Analyst Intern. She assists the Investment Committee in reviewing companies that are currently held in our clients' portfolios or that are being evaluated as potential new buy ideas.  In addition, Katie is working closely with the portfolio managers.  Katie is a senior at Creighton University where she is studying Accounting and Finance.

Cambridge Advisors' core investment philosophy is that individual investors can best accumulate and preserve wealth over time by buying and owning high-quality stocks. Owning individual stocks offers a greater degree of control and understanding of what is owned than is possible in a pooled investment such as a mutual fund.

Additionally, an individual may defer paying capital gains taxes on investments by simply refraining from selling individual holdings. In contrast, mutual fund shareholders will owe taxes on income and capital gains generated by portfolio turnover within the fund even if the shareholder has not sold any shares.

To find attractive stocks for purchase, Cambridge Advisors employs a bottoms-up strategy of looking for high quality companies that our clients can own for the long-term. While we consider the economic environment as a factor in evaluating portfolios, we do not attempt to predict business cycles and currency fluctuations. Our time is best spent looking for good companies at a good price.

We search for companies that display a track record of consistent profitability, accelerating sales and earnings growth and moderate levels of debt. Companies that meet these initial criteria provide a general pool of potential purchases including recognizable blue chip stocks as well as new, fast-growing innovative companies. We further narrow this list by screening for stocks that are trading at an attractive valuation as measured by their PEG ratio, price to book and other measures.

While we do not use economic trends as a primary tool for stock selection, we closely monitor industrial developments in order to better analyze and track our stock holdings.  In addition, we rely upon discussions with management, industry analysts, suppliers and competitors to supplement internal research on our holdings.

In building a portfolio we generally follow a rule of having approximately 20 individual stocks in an account at any given time. This provides adequate diversification without becoming unmanageable. We also strive to buy in round lots of at least 100 shares for each of the companies we own.

Recognizing that higher returns only come from owning pieces of healthy, growing companies, some of the most important advice we offer is determining what kind of companies to own and in what amounts to own them.  In doing this, our goal is not to eliminate risk, but to manage risk in the client's favor.

General Rules of Company Selection

• Buying stocks whose Price-to-Earnings ratio is less than their earnings growth rate reduces risk when selecting companies for purchase.

• Buying stocks based on the previous year's earnings gains is dangerous if the value of those gains has already been bid into the stock's price in the form of an above market PE. This is another way of saying that today's high flyers that are getting all the good press are always good stories, but rarely good investments.

• Buy companies that have a strong market position that they can readily defend from new entrants.

• Buy companies with a Debt to Total Capitalization ratio of .50 or less, particularly later in a business cycle. Owning stocks with relatively little debt allows us to own good companies through boom and bust times alike.  

IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS

Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) - A person who has successfully completed a program of three examinations totaling 18 hours covering the areas of ethical and professional standards, portfolio management, equity and fixed income securities analysis, economics, financial accounting, and quantitative techniques.

Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) - A person who, for compensation, engages in the business of advising others as to the value of securities or the advisability of purchasing or selling securities. RIAs are required to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Form ADV - The standard form used by investment advisors to register and update registrations with the Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory agencies. The form is also used to comply with SEC Rule 206(4)-4, which obligates investment advisors to disclose relevant financial and disciplinary information to clients.

DISCLAIMER: This web-site is for informational purposes only and does not constitute a complete description of our investment services or performance. This web-site is in no way a solicitation or offer to sell securities or investment advisory services except, where applicable, in states where we are registered or where an exemption or exclusion from such registration exists. Information throughout this site, whether stock quotes, charts, articles, or any other statement or statements regarding market or other financial information, is obtained from sources which we, and our suppliers believe reliable, but we do not warrant or guarantee the timeliness or accuracy of this information. Nothing on this web-site should be interpreted to state or imply that past results are an indication of future performance. Neither we or our information providers shall be liable for any errors or inaccuracies, regardless of cause, or the lack of timeliness of, or for any delay or interruption in the transmission thereof to the user. THERE ARE NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, AS TO ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR RESULTS OBTAINED FROM ANY INFORMATION POSTED ON THIS OR ANY ‘LINKED’ WEB-SITE.”