WAM was formed with the goal of providing expert investment advice to individual investors; people who otherwise lacked access to quality investment professionals. As opposed to large advisory firms or brokerage companies with exceedingly high minimum balance requirements and equally daunting bureaucracies, Greg personally plans, implements and supervises the investments for every client. There are no junior associates learning the ropes with your money and no customer service departments to wade through to get your questions answered. Greg alone is accountable for everything that happens to your investments.
Greg’s natural conservatism and innovative approach to investing through dynamic sector rotation (the topic of a chapter that Greg wrote for “The Black Book on Personal Finance”) sets him apart from the thousands of other financial professionals. Each client receives an investment strategy designed to meet their particular needs. There is no cookie-cutter approach to investing here. When creating a portfolio, Greg’s foremost objectives are the preservation of capital, the creation of a reliable stream of current income and allowing the investments to grow over time. The best way to build wealth is to minimize losses, maximize dividends and interest and limit taxes by holding positions for years, not months. Historically, according to a study published by Ibbotson in 2010, about 45% of total investment returns have come from dividend income, so yes, dividends do matter!
Equally important is that Greg invests 100% of his own money, and that of his entire family, in the same securities that he buys for his clients. Indeed, as of December 31, 2022, he personally owned 48 of the top 50 positions owned by WAM. Ask your advisor if he or she can make the same claim. If they can’t, you should wonder why not!
At WAM, our goal is to be a reliable steward of our clients’ trust and to generate reasonable, risk-adjusted annual returns, while minimizing the damage in years when losses are unavoidable. Our clients derive additional value, and hopefully sleep better at night, secure in the knowledge that a dedicated professional, who really cares about them and their family, is on call to help them with any financial issue that may arise.
Who is Greg Werlinich?
Greg graduated from Princeton University in 1986 with a BA in Politics and the Stern School of Finance at NYU in 1996 with an MBA in Finance. After toiling unhappily in corporate America for five years he joined he grandfather in 1991 to help manage money for friends and family. He subsequently formed WAM in March 1997.
An avid sportsman, Greg is proud to have been a nationally ranked Masters swimmer, and continues to train almost every day. To learn more about his background, please go to Forms and Downloads and read WAM’s Form ADV Part 2B.
Greg was formerly a frequent guest on the Fox News channel, where he discussed his views on the market or picked stocks on such shows as “Your World with Neil Cavuto”, “Cashin’ In with Terry Keenan” and “Forbes on Fox.” Clips of his appearances can be seen in WAM in the Media. Greg was also a frequent guest on the weekly pod cast “Ahead of the Curve” and the daily pod cast “Before the Bell”, both hosted by Bobby Ilich on Wallst.net. More recently Greg has spoken on panels about ETF’s at conferences in Florida and New York City. He has also been quoted in various magazines and newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, Investment News, Structured Products and Financial Advisor, to name a few. Greg co-authored “The Black Book on Personal Finance”, an excerpt of which can be read elsewhere on this website. For many years Greg wrote a free newsletter called “News and Views”, a blog called “It’s Your Money” and tweeted regularly about the market and the economy. He no longer writes the newsletter or blog and he cancelled his Twitter account because of the toxic nature of the Twitter-sphere. He now chooses to communicate directly with his clients.
Greg lives in Fairfield County, Connecticut with his wife and their occasional foster animals.