Welcome to Cambridge Wealth Management
Cambridge Wealth Management, founded by Mitsuo Eli Lockrow in 2014, is a fee-only independent investment firm based in Cambridge, NY, serving high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors.
Core Values
CLARITY | Be calm, transparent, and listen well — so you can recognize and act on what matters most.
EXCELLENCE | Strive for excellence in all aspects of work and pursue continuous improvement.
HARMONY | Value and respect each other’s differences — fostering an inclusive, compassionate environment.
INDEPENDENT THINKING | Make sound decisions based on facts. Question underlying assumptions.
The Logo Story
The Cambridge Wealth Management logo design is based on an ancient Japanese coin called the “Four-Mon” coin. It was conceived over the weekend of July 4th, 2014, when Mitsuo’s mother showed him some "Four-Mon" coins during breakfast. The logo’s primary color, blurple (bluish-purple), is a toned-down version of Mit’s favorite color, royal purple.
In Ancient Asia, it was believed that the earth was flat and square, while the heavens were round, resembling an umbrella that covered the earth. A square placed within a circle represented perfect balance and harmony, and held special significance as a symbol of prosperity. The waves depicted on both sides of the coin were emblematic of happiness.
Founder’s journey
I began my career in wealth management at Merrill Lynch in 1996. At that time, Merrill’s financial advisor professional development program (PDP) was considered the best in the industry. Cold-calling was a mainstay of the PDP and regarded as a rite of passage by senior advisors. The PDP was challenging — requiring trainees to achieve quarterly client acquisition, asset gathering, and sales revenue goals. I consistently ranked in the top quintile during my PDP training and throughout my career at Merrill Lynch, earning President’s Club recognition in my 5th year of service. 🎯 🏆
In 2001, I joined UBS-PaineWebber at 100 Federal Street in Boston and was certified as a portfolio manager in the select UBS Portfolio Management Program. I worked with classy, market-savvy advisors who took pride in the firm’s local heritage. The office on the 27th and 28th floors offered stunning panoramic views of Boston and lunch meetings often featured presentations by renowned fund managers. 🌇
In the aftermath of the dot-com (TMT) bubble, I made it my Mission to find a better way to mitigate portfolio risk and achieve stable growth beyond the diversification principles of Modern Portfolio Theory, which tends to overlook macroeconomics and company evolution. Macroeconomics examines systematic market risks such as inflation, interest rate changes, recessions, and more. These risks cannot be diversified away due to their unpredictable nature. However, a proactive portfolio manager can reduce systematic risk, also known as volatility risk, by employing hedging strategies and allocating a larger portion of the portfolio to fixed-income securities and money market instruments when anticipating poor near-term prospects for equity markets. My lesson learned after the TMT bubble burst: Managing volatility is crucial to maximizing portfolio longevity and minimizing pain for investors who are taking withdrawals.
As a portfolio manager in the select UBS Portfolio Management Program, I developed a risk-attentive, U.S.-centric strategy that combined passive index-tracking ETFs for core asset classes with high-quality, concentrated fixed income and equity models holding low, non-correlated, or negatively correlated securities. 💡 📈
The S&P 500 dropped by 60% from its peak in October 2007 to its lowest point in March 2009 during the epic financial market collapse dubbed the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). In response to the crisis, the Federal Reserve reduced the federal funds rate from 4.5% to nearly 0% by the end of 2008. The GFC put my strategy to the ultimate test, and I’m pleased to say: “Mission accomplished! ✅”
Over time, I realized that the wirehouse culture did not align with my business philosophy and independent mindset. In 2014, I took a leap of faith and founded Cambridge Wealth Management, driven by two main passions: Serving clients with excellence and managing risk-attentive, total-return investment strategies. The firm’s business philosophy is built on the core values of clarity, excellence, harmony, and independent thinking. 😌
