Ann Arbor Bancorp has recruited investment management specialist Bernard A. Bedell to lead First Arbor Advisors, a new division that is geared to individuals with portfolios worth at least $100,000.

Bedell, 56, was wooed from his position as senior vice president/senior investment officer at Bank of Ann Arbor to establish the division, which officially opened this week in the Ann Arbor State Bank building on West William Street. He'll serve in the role of senior vice president.

"I've worked with Bernie for over 25 years, I know his skill set," says Ann Arbor Bancorp/Ann Arbor State Bank CEO William Broucek, who installed Bedell as chief investment officer in two other banks he founded. "In my 53 years in banking, I haven't seen anyone as talented in investment as Bernie. If I had, I would've hired them.''

Bedell, a 1978 University of Michigan business graduate and Brighton resident, has worked in the investment management business for 30-plus years. During that time, he says he's seen a dramatic shift in the marketplace, away from American industrial dominance to a far more complex global economy with players that include Latin America, Asia, and former Soviet bloc nations.

Many investors who trusted in the American economy to yield big returns are confounded by the investment realities today and need an adviser familiar with the bigger picture, says Bedell.

"It's not something you had to do 20-30 years ago, when you'd invest in Microsoft or Intel and you made money. It's a different ballgame now," he says.

Aside from the more daunting economic landscape that stretches much further out, returns on investment are not and won't be what they were 20 and 30 years ago. The technology bubble rewarded investors with 16 to 18 percent returns; today, with inflation stubbornly low, returns hover in the 8 to 10 percent range, Bedell says.

That's not a bad thing.

"I think that's pretty darn good. Because of global competition, inflation will stay low. The name of the game is to build net worth in real terms," Bedell says. "More people are focusing not on making as much money as they can but not losing what they already have. From a big-picture perspective, I think that's more important. We're trying to structure our portfolios to say we're not out there to hit home runs every time we make an investment decision. We're simply trying not to strike out.''

As for Bedell's style as a money manager, he's as aggressive or as conservative as the client wishes, he says, but he's not afraid to steer an investor away from a so-so prospect.

"I try to be up front and honest," he says.

First Arbor Advisors' fees are in inverse proportion to the value of an investor's assets and are based on the structure of investment: the more complex or particular the investment, the higher the fee. There's no minimum account size, but clients' minimum fee is $1,000 annually.

"We want about $100,000 or more to manage, but that doesn't mean we won't take smaller accounts to manage," Bedell says.

Julie Edgar is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com.