Kaleialoha Cadinha-Pua'a is the president of Cadinha & Co. LLC, a Honolulu-based money management firm founded in 1979 by her father, Harlan J. Cadinha.

Q. How are investors handling the current economic slowdown?

A. Definitely there's a concern for most investors right now with not just the economy, but where their investments are headed. With the demographics of many baby boomers coming into retirement, it's a concern that if the investments fall in value, what that means as far as the retirement is concerned. So you're talking about lifestyle and life-altering decisions that many of our clients are looking at deeply. For Cadinha & Co. we are a proactive asset allocation company so we deal with macroeconomics and will change asset allocation based on what we see. So if we're forecasting an economic slowdown, we'll get defensive with client assets and protect their assets on the way down. During times like these, this is when our clients and prospects come to us because they want that additional protection. A lot of people deem us as conservative investors, but we're really proactive asset allocators and we identify risk and try to steer our client assets away from that risk.

Q. How would you describe Cadinha's investment philosophy?

A. Typically if you were to ask someone on the street about Cadinha & Co. they'll say we're very conservative. I believe it's because of our philosophy that the way to build wealth is to preserve it on the way down. That by itself causes people to think that we're conservative. What we like to think is that we're actually opportunistic. If we can protect on the way down we have actually taken advantage of the opportunities that exist from others who didn't protect and really looked for great values for our clients at that time. So it's really a matter of accumulating wealth and how to get to that final objective for each client.

Q. Can you describe your company and your role as president?

A. Cadinha & Co. is a privately owned investment advisory firm. My role as president is really looking at the operations of the company and strategically where the company is headed. Part of that role also includes working with our team, which is a major asset of our firm, and making sure all team members are on board with the strategy and the vision of the firm.

Q. Is it a family-owned firm?

A. It is. My father sold the firm in 2000, only to buy it back at the end of 2006. We're a well-established firm in Honolulu, but we're also a new firm with less than two years of history under our belt with the new ownership. We've had quite a bit of transition with different owners being involved in the business. Our clients have been phenomenal. It's a testimony to the tremendous relationship that we've built with our clients. We customize our portfolio management. We just don't throw all of the clients into a pool where everyone's needs are considered the same. Everyone's needs are individual and unique, so we spend a lot of time with our clients trying to understand those needs.

Q. How did you get into this business? Was it the influence of your father?

A. I got involved in the business by being born into a family of investors. I remember as a little girl getting up really early with my father. He was a stock broker at the time. Rather than the bicycle that I wanted for Christmas, my father would give us stock in companies and part of the gift was also then to research what company it was. I began to understand at a very early age what it meant to invest in companies and have ownership in companies and to look at product mix, just understand branding and economics on a ground level. From really early on I started in the business and continued on as a hobby.

Family businesses are not easy. For us in the Cadinha & Co. family, it was a transition for me, so living with my boss and working for my dad was a difficult thing for me to adjust to. I tried numerous professions over the years. At one time I thought I would be a teacher and taught third grade. But I always knew that I enjoyed the business itself and continued to do it as a hobby on my own with my own accounts. Over time, my father recognized that I had it in my blood and it was just a matter of me maturing to be able to deal with the dynamics of a family business in order to come back into the company.

Q. What do you get your children for Christmas?

A. I'm a character of habit. I have three girls and all three of them have their own portfolios. So every Christmas they get a little bit of a new company and they have to go and figure out what that means. What does the company do? The fun thing is at Thanksgiving one of our discussions at our table is what companies they think will do well in the future and why. So they have some say in what they're going to get under the tree. But I also recognize the need for kids to be kids so they get their little toys as well.

Q. You spent some time in Samoa. How did you wind up there and what did you do?

A. My husband is from Samoa and his father passed away and at the time I followed him there. We were married in Samoa and had our first two children there. I ended up landing a job as a school-to-work manager and in a couple of months was heading the training initiatives for the territory under the Workforce Investment Act. I really enjoyed that job because I did a little bit of both. It was connecting the education system with employment and looking at the need to train. When I returned to Hawai'i the capacity in which I returned to Cadinha & Co. was to help out with the training initiatives here. It definitely was a digression, but it was the best experience.

Q. You also do a lot of community work. Why is it important?

A. Time is an issue for many leaders because most of our time is spent building our businesses and whatever little time is left is spent with family. However, the way to really achieve a connection between all different aspects of one's life is to get involved in the community. I am involved with a couple of organizations, one of which is the YWCA. Here's a great example of an organization that looks at issues that are relative to women — many times women professionals in leadership — and what it takes from a woman's day. As a mother of three girls it was an organization that I could really dig down deep. It dealt with a lot of issues that I personally have to cope with on a day-to-day basis. As far as giving back to the community, it's not a "nice-to-do," it's an obligation. It's a must-do. I'm grateful that our community has been built over many years by people who have done the same. I feel it's my duty to give back and contribute as much as I can to make our community a better place.

Q. Have you mapped out your future?

A. I don't know how many people can say they absolutely love what they do, but I absolutely love what I do. So I want to be doing exactly what I'm doing now. The trick is to really hone in on what Cadinha & Co. does and help the company grow. So 10, 20 years from now I'm hoping that Cadinha & Co. will be better known for its superior service. There are so many different styles of investment and, it's not to put down any other style, but I happen to be biased and believe that our way is probably the best. I believe in protecting one's assets. I believe in looking forward, versus backwards. Every day I wake up and what I thought the day before as far as the investment environment, it changes on a daily basis. It's a new game every day and to me that challenge is the most important thing. It keeps me going. It's what I love to do.