About Berkeley Investment Advisors

Our Mission:
Our mission is to help clients achieve their retirement goals by advising them on how to manage risks while employing appropriate financial techniques to maximize retirement income.

Berkeley Investment Advisors is a Fee only advisor which means we are paid based on the value of your assets that we manage – we do not earn commissions by selling financial products or excessively trading your account. Unlike stock brokers, our fees grow only when your assets grow. This eliminates conflicts of interest and insures that our incentives are aligned with your interests. In fact, the law says that registered investment advisors must act as fiduciaries for their clients – we are required to put client interests first. Stock brokers are not legally bound to this level of duty to their clients.

Money is a very personal thing and investing is, to an extent, driven by emotions. Therefore in order to devise a strategy that works for you, we take the time to understand both your goals and how you react to risks. When we understand each other it makes investing less stressful and provides you the assurance that your investment advisor knows how to take care of your money.

Ray Meadows is the Chief Investment Officer at Berkeley Investment Advisors, a registered investment advisor. Ray is a CPA, CFA, and an MBA. (Check out all of our credentials and licenses here). He manages separate accounts for clients, so your money is not pooled with that of other investors. He previously worked for Salomon Smith Barney in NY as a quantitative analyst in the hedge fund risk management area. Ray has a track record of beating the S&P 500 for 8 of the last 9 years with an average annual excess return of 16%, thus demonstrating performance far ahead of most of the mutual fund managers out there. Ray's edge over other money managers derives from a rather unique combination of skills and experience that sets him apart. He began his career in auditing and tax and then pursued an academic career in the Ph.D. program at Berkeley. This provided him an expert grasp of macro and micro economics that most market participants lack. He learned all the practical technical aspects of the capital markets in the trenches as a quant reviewing market wide hedge fund trading at Citigroup. With this superior grasp of the underlying workings of companies, economies, and markets, he tends to see what's coming much earlier than most of the market. He predicted the meltdown in residential markets and the feedback effect on interest rates long before the effects showed up in the market.

Ray is a value investor. There are lots of great companies out there but what makes a great investment is a good company selling at a great price. Ray looks for companies selling for substantially less than his estimate of what they are worth. Ray takes a long term view of investments; he does not sell because a stock moved down or buy because a stock moved up. Transactions are based on expected future returns not the past, with a goal of earning 12% or more per year while taking on very little risk of principal loss over a 3 year investment horizon.

Ray Meadows, the investment manager and president of Berkeley Investment Advisors, has managed his personal portfolio for the past 9 years. From 1999 to the end of 2007 his cumulative return was 398% compared to just 35% for the S&P 500 index. His lowest return over any 5 year period was 60%; the S&P 500 was down 11% over this same 5 years. See the Track Record page for further details and the returns for client portfolios.

At Berkeley Investment Advisors, our highest priority is satisfied customers. You are important to us and you can expect us to go the extra mile for your business. Superior customer service is the hallmark of Berkeley Investment Advisors. You will have direct access to the Chief Investment Officer - not a salesmen taking orders. We are proud to serve you and work hard to earn your business.