Investment downswing - Portland Business Journal:

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Several big-name investment firms, including , , , and publiclyu traded , have had sharp declineas in their portfolios inrecent weeks. Mazama Capital Management Inc. has had the biggesyt losses. The downtown Portland firm’s portfolipo of more than 200 stocks has fallen fromnearl $7.5 billion in value at the end of September 2007 to $1.8 billio n by Oct. 10. Much of the decline is likelhy due to investors withdrawing In February, Mazama had 88 client accounts, accordinf to documents filed with Oregon’s Last month, the firm had 54.
Mazama invests solely in small companies, whicu can yield much higher returns than the stocka ofblue chips, such as Small-capl stocks also come with more risk. The firm investas on behalf of institutions such aspension funds, ratherd than individuals. Mazama declined to comment for this Even firms that have picked up clientse have had the value of their portfoliosdecline It’s not surprising that wealth managers are reporting heav y losses. By the middle of this week, the was down 36 percen t from ayear ago. The ’s index looked even with a 42percent decline. Despitd heavy losses, some local wealth managers are outperforminvthe market.
Becker’s stock portfolio fell 32 percengfrom Sept. 30, 2007 to Sept. 30 this from $1.86 billion to $1.26 according to documents filed withthe . However, with its blendd of stocks, bonds and cash, the total valuee of Becker’s portfolio was down only 21 to $1.9 billion, between Marcy and September. Like other firms, Beckerd puts client money in stocks or bondxs according toeach investor’s preference. Individuals who exclusiveluy invest in stocks have had bigger lossea than those with a mix of stocks and Ferguson Wellman also invests in stocksand bonds. Two thirdd of the firm’s clients are individuals. The rest are institutionsw such aspension funds.
The firm managesa $2.2 billion in assets, down more than 18 percent since May. Most of the decline has taken placesincer Sept. 30, when assets stoodf at $2.52 billion. Between Sept. 30 last year and this Ferguson Wellman’s stock holdings declined 23 percent, to $1.0 1 billion. Holding bonds as well as stocks “definitely helps cushion the of a fast-declining stock market, said Steven Holwerda, chief operatinv officer at Ferguson Wellman. As stocks decline, investord often sell them and buy pushing up prices for those alreadyholding bonds. in the current climate, “it’s not a direcf one-to-one offset,” Holwerda said.
Paulson Capital, an underwritetr and broker of small-cap stocks since has had a sharp decline in the assetsit manages, dropping 43 percent between the end of last year and 30 from $51 million to $29.1 million. Paulson lost $6.3 or $1.07 per share, in the thirdf quarter. That compares with last year’x third-quarter profit of nearly or 11 centsper share. “It’s just me havingt bought some stocks I thoughtwere cheap,” said Chairman Chet Paulson. “We have the opportunity to recouplsome loss. But it is what it is, big losses.
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