What is drawdown management?

Drawdown management is an active investment approach that focuses on limiting how much a portfolio loses during major market declines. Because a 50% loss requires a 100% gain to recover, controlling drawdowns is the single most important factor in protecting a retirement income stream.

Why does Perissos use active management instead of buy-and-hold indexing?

Buy-and-hold indexing can be appropriate for younger investors with decades to recover. For pre-retirees and retirees taking distributions, a major bear market can permanently impair the ability to fund the next 25 to 30 years. Perissos uses a disciplined three-pillar process — fundamental, strategic, and tactical — to trim risk when evidence converges that conditions are deteriorating.

Who is active drawdown management designed for?

It is designed primarily for pre-retirees, retirees, business owners approaching an exit, and concentrated-stock or royalty-income households — clients for whom a poorly-timed bear market is not just a setback but a structural threat to long-term financial security.

What is active drawdown management?

Active drawdown management is an investment approach designed to limit how much a portfolio loses during major market declines, because losses require disproportionately larger gains to recover — a 50% loss requires a 100% gain just to get back to even. Rather than passively riding every drop, we monitor fundamental, strategic, and technical signals and reposition portfolios when the evidence shifts. The goal is not to time every wiggle in the market; it is to avoid participating fully in the most damaging declines that can derail a retirement.

How does active management differ from buy-and-hold investing?

Buy-and-hold investing assumes that staying invested through every cycle, regardless of conditions, will produce the best long-term outcome. Our active approach accepts that long-term participation matters but rejects the idea that asset allocation should never change. We adjust exposure based on convergence of fundamental valuation, strategic macro signals, and tactical price behavior. In practice, that means trimming risk when evidence accumulates against the market and adding risk back when conditions improve — a disciplined process, not a gut-feel call.

Who manages the portfolios at Perissos?

Investment decisions are led by Brandon VanLandingham, CFA, CMT, CFP®, who serves as Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Perissos Private Wealth Management. The combination of CFA (deep fundamental and portfolio-management training), CMT (technical and behavioral market analysis), and CFP® (comprehensive financial planning) is uncommon at any firm and exceptionally rare in Oklahoma. Wealth advisors Christi Powell, CFP®, RICP® and Greg Biggs, AIF® collaborate on planning context so portfolio decisions reflect each client's full financial picture.

Do you use individual stocks, ETFs, or both?

Most client portfolios are built primarily with exchange-traded funds and mutual funds because they offer broad diversification, transparent costs, and tax efficiency. We use individual stocks selectively when a client has a concentrated position, a specific income objective, or a research-driven thesis where a single security is the best expression. The mix is always determined by the client's financial plan, risk tolerance, and tax situation — not by what is convenient for the firm to manage.

How do you measure investment performance?

We measure performance against a benchmark that reflects the actual risk and asset mix of your portfolio, not a one-size-fits-all index. Returns are reported net of all advisory fees, and we explicitly track drawdown — peak-to-trough decline — alongside return, because how a portfolio behaves in bad markets matters as much as how it behaves in good ones. Each review includes a side-by-side look at performance versus benchmark, drawdown experience, and progress against the goals in your written financial plan.

Perissos Private Wealth

Active Investment Management Built Around Drawdown Mitigation

A disciplined, research-driven approach to growing and protecting your wealth over the long term.

Investment Philosophy

ApproachRisk-First

GrowthLong-Term

AllocationDiversified

The Fundamental Law of Percentages

One of the most important concepts in investing is that losses require disproportionately larger gains to recover. A 50% loss requires a 100% gain just to break even. This is why our investment philosophy prioritizes downside protection.

Gain Required to Breakeven After a Loss

Our Three Investment Pillars

Every investment decision is evaluated through three complementary lenses, ensuring a comprehensive and disciplined approach.

Fundamental Analysis

We evaluate the intrinsic value of investments by analyzing financial statements, industry conditions, and economic factors to identify securities trading below their true worth.

Strategic Analysis

Our strategic framework assesses market trends, sector rotation, and macroeconomic indicators to position portfolios for long-term growth while managing systematic risk.

Tactical Allocation Decisions

We make disciplined buy and sell decisions based on converging signals from our fundamental and strategic analyses, ensuring every portfolio action has a clear rationale.

Convergence of Analysis

The intersection of our three analytical pillars reveals the optimal moments for portfolio action — creating a disciplined framework for when to buy and sell.

When to Buy
and Sell

FundamentalStrategicTactical

Frequently Asked Questions

What investors most often want to understand about our active drawdown-management approach.

What is active drawdown management?: Active drawdown management is an investment approach designed to limit how much a portfolio loses during major market declines, because losses require disproportionately larger gains to recover — a 50% loss requires a 100% gain just to get back to even. Rather than passively riding every drop, we monitor fundamental, strategic, and technical signals and reposition portfolios when the evidence shifts. The goal is not to time every wiggle in the market; it is to avoid participating fully in the most damaging declines that can derail a retirement.
How does active management differ from buy-and-hold investing?: Buy-and-hold investing assumes that staying invested through every cycle, regardless of conditions, will produce the best long-term outcome. Our active approach accepts that long-term participation matters but rejects the idea that asset allocation should never change. We adjust exposure based on convergence of fundamental valuation, strategic macro signals, and tactical price behavior. In practice, that means trimming risk when evidence accumulates against the market and adding risk back when conditions improve — a disciplined process, not a gut-feel call.
Who manages the portfolios at Perissos?: Investment decisions are led by Brandon VanLandingham, CFA, CMT, CFP®, who serves as Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Perissos Private Wealth Management. The combination of CFA (deep fundamental and portfolio-management training), CMT (technical and behavioral market analysis), and CFP® (comprehensive financial planning) is uncommon at any firm and exceptionally rare in Oklahoma. Wealth advisors Christi Powell, CFP®, RICP® and Greg Biggs, AIF® collaborate on planning context so portfolio decisions reflect each client's full financial picture.
Do you use individual stocks, ETFs, or both?: Most client portfolios are built primarily with exchange-traded funds and mutual funds because they offer broad diversification, transparent costs, and tax efficiency. We use individual stocks selectively when a client has a concentrated position, a specific income objective, or a research-driven thesis where a single security is the best expression. The mix is always determined by the client's financial plan, risk tolerance, and tax situation — not by what is convenient for the firm to manage.
How do you measure investment performance?: We measure performance against a benchmark that reflects the actual risk and asset mix of your portfolio, not a one-size-fits-all index. Returns are reported net of all advisory fees, and we explicitly track drawdown — peak-to-trough decline — alongside return, because how a portfolio behaves in bad markets matters as much as how it behaves in good ones. Each review includes a side-by-side look at performance versus benchmark, drawdown experience, and progress against the goals in your written financial plan.

Learn More About Our Approach

Discover why Perissos believes active management, grounded in rigorous analysis, is a disciplined approach to pursuing long-term outcomes for clients.