History

Tom Rapko has always had a passion for investing. He entered the workforce at age 10 with a paper route in Woonsocket, R.I. and learned the value of hard work early. Tom enjoyed reading stock quotes in the newspaper and made mock portfolios of companies he would like to purchase some day. That day came soon enough; in his early teens, Tom began buying and selling stocks and opened his first IRA. But Wall Street could wait.

Drawn to a family history of military service, upon graduation from Woonsocket High School Tom accepted an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. He graduated in 1998 and served 6 years on Active Duty in the Air Force, earning his MBA part-time while stationed in New Mexico.

Tom officially began his career on Wall Street in 2004 with Merrill Lynch in Boston (the day after he separated from the Air Force!) He spent 4 years with Merrill Lynch and then joined Smith Barney in 2008 which was subsequently purchased by Morgan Stanley. After 4 years with Morgan Stanley, Tom started his own firm helping individuals, families, and businesses create legacy wealth in 2012.

The history of T. H. RAPKO & COMPANY, LLC is the history of America; the dream of a hard-working entrepreneur who loves his country, what he does, and his goal of some day becoming a business owner. What differentiates T. H. RAPKO & COMPANY, LLC from traditional providers of financial services, especially “the big firms,” is how nimble and passionate THR is in helping clients achieve their goals. We go the extra mile for you by applying a deep bench of experience in both Bull and Bear Markets via a spectrum of equity investments.

Investment Philosophy

Although each client's portfolio is uniquely designed and tailored around his or her needs, the Firm has an established investment philosophy it applies to every relationship. Dubbed "Rapko's Rules" these five principles have been hard-earned through nearly three decades of investing in the stock market. They are as follows:

1.  Boring is undervalued. Look for companies with established brands. If they are exclusive, finite, hard-to-get, vital, addictive, and/or monopolistic, so much the better.

2. We prefer companies that pay US to own THEM. Specifically, we want to buy companies that pay regular dividends that have historically risen over time.

3. Of the four possible outcomes; high margin, high volume is the best.

4. A steadily moving higher and higher left to right stock chart is a good thing; the inverse is not.

5. Inevitably, and by definition, more time is spent holding a losing position than is necessary. Cut losses early.

Detailed discussions of THR’s investment philosophy as well as other trending investment topics can be found on the blog: InvestLikeAFarmer.com