Ralph Marash is a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager. He draws on his nearly 40 years of investing experience to construct client portfolios. Depending upon each individual investor's needs, Ralph seeks reasonable growth, preservation of capital, or a combination of those two goals. Many of his clients have been with the firm for more than 20 years. Ralph works closely with Len Berman, Simon Porter, and Paul Patrick to provide a comprehensive solution set for clients.

Prior to joining First Manhattan in 1982, Ralph worked in child welfare—both directly with youth, as well as in administration and budgeting. He serves on the Board of Directors of Selfhelp Community Services Inc. and is a Founding Member of the Board of Directors of Seivah, an organization that advocates for—and serves people with—dementia, as well as their families.

Ralph has been a lay leader for UJA-Federation for many years, serving on allocation committees that fund grants for health and social service programs in the New York metropolitan area and in Israel. In addition, he has produced four documentary films and a Jewish music CD.

Portfolio construction and management

Ralph's growth portfolios include equities in a range of industries, with differing fundamental influences. When preservation of capital is a client's primary goal, he seeks to invest in corporate and municipal bonds—typically with maturities of less than 10 years—which he plans to hold until maturity.

When constructing client portfolios, Ralph seeks to:

• Have an investment horizon that is a minimum of three years.
• Consider management to be of utmost importance.
• Constantly monitor risk/ reward ratios, exiting existing holdings when the risk factor overtakes potential rewards.
• Acknowledge that dividends can be a strong contributor to total return goals, but is willing to invest in equities that do not pay dividends if their growth and risk profile meet the right long-term objectives.
• Design fixed income portfolios with laddered maturities to smooth investment returns through interest rate cycles and to make capital available in a planned manner over time.
• Include equities with high-dividend yield in accounts seeking preservation of capital—if he is confident that the dividend is sustainable.