Western Financial Corporation - Retail and Instituional Clients - Trading Capital Raising Mergers Acquisitions Options Stock Buy-Back

Retail and Institutional Clients

WFC has been providing investment advice and expertise to retail and institutional investors since 1976 and offers a complete range of investment products including:

Equities

WFC works with its clients to develop a diversified portfolio of equity investments which are selected according to each individual client’s financial objectives and risk tolerance. We primarily focus in two areas – investments in large capitalization companies and small capitalization financial institutions.

Large Capitalization Companies
Growth Portfolio: Companies typically have a total market capitalization in excess of $3.0 billion and are exhibiting superior earnings strength and relative price performance, demonstrate various other fundamental characteristics which are stronger than their peers and are in industries that are typically outperforming. Dividends paid by the companies are less of a consideration. Capital appreciation is the primary objective.

Total Return Portfolio: Companies typically also have a total market capitalization in excess of $3.0 billion and exhibit strong fundamental characteristics and relative price performance however more emphasis is placed on those companies that pay dividends. Specifically, companies are selected based upon their current dividend rate and ability to continue to pay, or even increase their dividends over time.

Small Capitalization Financial Institutions

WFC works closely with many small community banks and thrifts and has developed an expertise in analyzing the fundamentals of those institutions. This provides an important insight as to which institutions should be selected for our client’s portfolios. A significant amount of time is spent reviewing financial data, as well as speaking and meeting with management teams. WFC stays current on financial industry trends by interfacing with other bankers, consultants, CPA’s and attorneys in the industry and regularly attending banking conferences.

Financial institutions followed typically have less than $1.0 billion in assets and most trade on the OTC Bulletin Board.

Fixed Income

Diversified portfolios of fixed income securities are tailored to meet the specific income needs of our clients. The selection process takes into account credit quality, yield, maturity and taxable status. Fixed income portfolios are designed as stand-alone accounts or in combination with either or both of our equity portfolios.

U. S. Government
• Treasury Bills, Notes and Bonds
• Agency Securities
• Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (CMO’s) – Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Corporate Bonds
• Short and long-term debt obligations issued by large capitalization U.S. corporations providing taxable current income.

Municipal Bonds
• Short and long term debt obligations issued by state municipalities providing current income which is typically exempt from Federal and State tax.

Mutual Funds

A well balanced portfolio of mutual funds is designed based upon the client’s objectives of capital appreciation or income, tolerance for risk and expectation for overall return. Mutual funds are used to create stand alone portfolios or in combination with equity and fixed income portfolios.

Open-end Funds
These funds are offered by fund companies such as American and Franklin Templeton and are actively managed to provide capital appreciation and /or taxable or tax-free current income potential.

Closed-end Funds
Closed-end funds are offered by a variety of fund managers that typically also manage open-end mutual funds. These funds are also actively managed but are listed on an exchange and are bought and sold throughout the trading day.

Exchange Traded Funds (ETF’s)
ETF’s are highly efficient and cost effective funds that track a specific index or sector providing portfolio diversification possibility across various asset classes. These funds are not actively managed but rather attempt to closely track the return of the underlying index. ETF’s are also listed on an exchange and are bought and sold throughout the trading day.

Retirement Plans

WFC provides a number of retirement plan solutions to meet the objectives of its clients. Those plans include:

Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs)
• Individual Contributory and Rollover Plans
• Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) Plans
• Roth Plans

Qualified Retirement Plans (QRPs)
• Profit Sharing Plans
• Money Purchase Pension Plans
• 401K and Individual 401K Plans