In 1995, Ron co-founded Despain & Coby, an Oregon-based private equity fund, which later became Coby Capital Management from 2001 until 2006. He founded Performance Equity Consulting where he consulted publicly traded companies and as Managing Member of Viewpoint Securities.

In May 2008, Ron co-founded Coby Lamson Capital Management a money management firm, with his partner, Dennis Lamson in Medford, OR, which became Strategic Financial Management, Inc. in October 2011.  Ron’s day to day attention is now focused on the company he co-founded called Grail Investments, LLC, which acts as the General Partner of the Questus Fund, LP. He is also the co-owner of Questus Analytics, LLC, where he writes an investment newsletter for Stansberry and Associates, the world’s largest publisher of investment newsletters.

Ron graduated from Cleveland State University in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing. He is the author of “The Upside of Down” released by Wiley in February 2009.

From February 2000 to 2010, Mr. Lamson was the principal of Geyser Futures, Inc., an NFA- and CFTC-registered Introducing Broker guaranteed by Vision Financial Markets.

Additionally, since February 2008, Mr. Lamson has been principal of Lamson Capital Management, Inc., which became Strategic Financial Management, Inc. in October 2011.  Mr. Lamson is the creator of the proprietary trading indicator “The Grail.” The Grail is an integral element of all trading models offered by Strategic Financial Management. Mr. Lamson is also the co-founder of Grail Investments, LLC which acts as the General Partner of the Questus Fund, LP. He is also the co-owner of Questus Analytics, LLC, where he writes an investment newsletter for Stansberry and Associates, the world’s largest publisher of investment newsletters.

In 2008, Will joined with two close friends to form the investment management firm of Coby Lamson Capital Management, Inc., now Strategic Financial Management, Inc.  As the ‘90’s stock market bubble reached its climax, Will was one of the few professionals in his community sounding the alarm.  In November 2002, he published a report titled “The Coming Dollar Crisis, Why it is inevitable and what you can do about it.”  He remains an outspoken proponent of sound money and classical free-market economics, and is a regular commentator on financial markets and the economy for several Southern Oregon radio stations. Will is currently the senior editor of The UnDollar Digest (www.undollars.com).

Mr. Reishman is a 1968 graduate of the University of Notre Dame and a Danforth Fellow. He and his family moved to Oregon’s Rogue Valley from the Hudson River Valley in early 1989. He and wife recently purchased a 5-acre mini-farm 30 miles from town, where they are diligently preparing for a more self-sufficient life-style.

In 2004, Chad began researching and studying the precious metals sector.  Convinced of the upside potential and wealth preservation characteristics, he began shifting client assets into gold and silver starting in 2005 as new investment vehicles became available.

Working for independent firms FNIC and LPL from 1999-2002, Mr. Swanson then spent time at Morgan Stanley and Swiss Bank UBS.  Most recently, he served as Business Manager and Primary Trader for The Pacific Wealth Group at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, overseeing more than $600 million of assets under management.

Chad  grew up in Hawaii, attending Hawaii Preparatory Academy on the Big Island, and then studied economics at the University of California at San Diego.  He also holds a degree in Biblical Studies from Calvary Chapel Bible College.  He and his wife Tiffany are the proud parents of five children.

After retiring to raise her children. she decided to re-enter the investment industry.  Michelle had no desire to work for a large wire or retail financial company.  Committed to finding the right company that matches her market philosophy, she joined Strategic Financial Management.  The strategies and risk- management methodologies the company employs is a perfect match with her unique set of skills and experience.

After 4 years at MIT’s Sloan School of Management as an undergrad and 1 year at Carnegie Mellon to earn an MSIA, Bob spent 4 years in Germany and Tulsa repaying the Army. He then worked on major software development projects for companies in Tulsa, Paris (France), and Dallas, winding up as a Technical Department Manager for a large Silicon Valley company. The next 10 years were spent earning an MDiv in St. Louis and planting a church in Pleasanton, CA, before moving to Medford in 1998, where Bob has done contract programming for local companies.

Bob is also an avid student of geopolitics and thinks it’s fun to analyze companies, particularly in the mining sector. He has worked closely with Will Reishman in this regard and is the “Research Bob” mentioned in Ron Coby’s book.

However, this is not a long only, passive allocation model. By employing the unique Grail Trend and Timing Indicator (“The Grail”), this portfolio follows the major trend for each targeted asset class. SFMI may be either long or short in each asset class, and will hold that position as long as the major trend, Bull or Bear, remains in force. The portfolio will then reverse position, once a change in the major trend has been confirmed. The base allocation is anticipated to be: 30% Equities; 30% Commodities/Gold; 20% Long-term Bonds; 20% Treasury-bill/Currency. At the discretion of the manager, theses percentages may be revised at any time.

For the Equity asset class, SFMI will select among the major market indices (which may include international indexes) that demonstrate the strongest correlation to the direction of the macro-trend identified by The Grail.

For the Hard Asset class, the portfolio will be apportioned between gold Exchange Traded Funds (“ETFs”), individual commodity funds and/or a general commodity index in a ratio representing the greatest potential over the intermediate to longer term time frames.

For the Long-term Bond allocation, SFMI will be either long bonds, employing (for example) the TLT (iShare Barclay 20+ Year Treasury Bond) ETF, or short bonds by using the TBT (Ultra Short 20 + Year Treasury ) ETF or other bond indices that demonstrate the strongest correlation to the direction of the macro-trend identified by The Grail.

For the currency allocation, the Bull/Bear Allocation Portfolio will either have an anchor position in a U.S. Treasury-Bill Money Fund and/or ETF; or, at those times when we identify an intermediate to long-term downward trend in the U.S. dollar, we will have this portion of the portfolio in the Merk Hard Currency Fund, or another vehicle that SFMI judges to be a superior alternative.

Risk Factors: Please note that past performance is not necessarily an indication of future performance. All investments are subject to changes in the current market conditions and therefore your investment return and principal value will fluctuate, and there could be a gain or loss when your positions are sold.  SFMI will use its proprietary timing indicators (The Grail) to attempt to be long during bullish periods and short during bearish periods in the chosen sectors in which it trades. There is no guarantee that this timing methodology will be successful.

The core of this portfolio is comprised of individual domestic and international income stocks, and select ETFs whose flow-through yields meet our criteria. In addition, SFMI may add growth-oriented vehicles that track major trends within the overall markets. During equity or bond market bear phases, these may include hedges, as well as positions to manage the impact of the dollar’s declining purchasing power on the portfolio’s income stream.

Risk Factors: Please note that past performance is not necessarily an indication of future performance. All investments are subject to changes in the current market conditions and therefore your investment return and principal value will fluctuate, and there could be a gain or loss when your positions are sold.  SFMI will use its proprietary timing indicators (The Grail) to attempt to be long during bullish periods and short during bearish periods in the chosen sectors in which it trades. There is no guarantee that this timing methodology will be successful. The Total Return Fund utilizes individual dividend-paying stocks in its portfolio, which can be more volatile than ETFs or Mutual Funds. Each of these individual securities could be adversely affected by its own financial characteristics as well as market conditions.

The SFMI Precious Metals and Natural Resources (“PMNR”) portfolio seeks to obtain substantial capital gains exclusively in the precious metals, energy and diversified natural resources sectors of the market. The portfolio is built upon a core of undervalued opportunities and those we feel have extraordinary potential for major resource discoveries. Special attention is devoted to opportunities in “junior” companies throughout the mining and conventional, as well as the alternative energy sectors. For stock selection, we rely on a variety of outside research sources combined with our own in-house research specialists in these sectors.

In an effort to maximize portfolio returns, SFMI will actively trade gold, silver, and select natural resource ETFs or Ultra-ETFs (2×1 leverage), as well as inverse ETFs to (at times) hedge the portfolio’s core holdings. We will also make trading calls on large cap equities within these sectors.  The PMNR is appropriate for aggressive investors willing to take on high levels of risk in order to obtain high potential rewards. The portfolio is committed to capturing a portion of the substantial potential gains from the secular bull markets currently under way in the gold and natural resources sectors.

Risk Factors: Please note that past performance is not necessarily an indication of future performance. Changes in the market can substantially affect the returns in this portfolio. Your investment return and principal value will fluctuate, and there could be a gain or loss when your positions are sold.  SFMI will use its proprietary timing indicators (The Grail) to attempt to be long during bullish periods and hedged or short during bearish periods in the chosen sectors in which it trades. There is no guarantee that this timing methodology will be successful as market conditions may change. The industry sectors in which PMNR trades can be extremely volatile. The oil & gas and precious metals sectors are cyclical in nature and can be subject to “boom-bust” periods. During a bust period, despite SFMI’s best efforts to hedge against loss, your account may experience a steep decline in value.