We pay great attention to this aspect of your financial plan as it is the key area in terms of building your long term wealth. We aim to increase the value of your assets taking account of how much risk you want to take.

The basic building blocks of all investment portfolios consist of cash, shares, property and bonds (also called fixed interest).  These are referred to as asset classes.

We are able to select the best investments available in each asset class across all markets and we can use all types of investment vehicle.

  • Unit Trusts/Open Ended Investment Companies (OEICs)
  • Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
  • Investment Trusts
  • Specialist investments
  • Individual shares and bonds

The range of investment Funds and investment types included in a portfolio will depend upon your attitude to investment risk and the type of service you require.

In terms of investment strategy, there are two main types: Passive and Active.

Passive Funds (also known as index tracking funds) are a used as a low cost way of tracking the performance of a particular index/benchmark – for example, the FTSE 100. In contrast, active Funds will have a Fund manager who will actively pick investments in the hope of outperforming a particular index or benchmark and, as such, active Funds have higher costs.

There are proponents to each side and we are generally sanguine about the debate as to which strategy is more effective in delivering returns. We can see the benefits of both and routinely incorporate both active and passive Funds within our portfolios as this gives our portfolio a blended approach which gives the potential to outperform the market but also enables our portfolios to be lower cost than an active only approach.

However, for those individuals that may have a preference to either side, we can build portfolios to meet your needs.

Investment management services

We can provide investment advice on a discretionary, advisory or an on-request basis and the principal differences are:

  • Discretionary – the client grants us a mandate and we manage the portfolio in line with an agreed model, making changes autonomously.
  • Advisory – we seek client approval before any recommendations can be implemented.
  • On-request – we will only review a portfolio or make changes when asked to do so by the client.

Our Discretionary service is our most pro-active investment management service and some of the key features are:

  • Investment expertise – we establish and maintain a coherent and structured investment strategy that is commensurate with your attitude to investment risk and capacity for loss.
  • The service is proactive in that investments are continuously monitored and reviewed.
  • Regular reviews – the portfolio will be reviewed/re-balanced annually, bi-annually, or quarterly, depending on the service level chosen.
  • On-going advice – You will have direct access to your adviser by e-mail, telephone or face-to-face.
  • General financial planning advice is included within the discretionary service fee.
  • Performance monitoring – regular reports will be provided giving you an update on the progress of your portfolio along with performance figures so you can judge our performance.
  • Online access – 24 hour online access to your account is provided via the client area of our website.

 

Please note that this is an outline of our investment process and not a recommendation to invest. You should not take any action without seeking advice in relation to your personal circumstances. You may get back less than you invested.