Our investment philosophy
When talking about investments, you might be used to people talking about returns. While returns are certainly important, we believe there are other, equally important factors we must take into account when building a successful investment portfolio.
We’ll start by understanding your goals and aspirations. As with all aspects of our work, your priorities guide our approach and the solutions we propose. We only recommend products or arrangements we feel will help you achieve your personal goals.
We will also discuss risk in depth; how much risk you’re comfortable with, how we can manage that risk and which options therefore offer the best balance between returns and risk in your specific case.
No-one wants to be paying more tax than they need to. Whether you’re worried about Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Inheritance Tax or your Pension Lifetime Allowance, we ensure your investments maximise all available tax efficiency opportunities.
Our independence means that once we understand your goals, aspirations and attitude to risk, we are able to research the whole market to find the investment solutions that are best for you. We will then negotiate terms on your behalf and carry out due diligence to ensure everything fits with your long-term goals.
We’ll design a portfolio that’s intelligent, personal and perfectly suited to your needs. We’ll review it with you regularly, ensuring you’re kept updated on how everything is performing and that it continues to remain relevant to your objectives. Where changes are required to keep pace with your changes in your life, we’ll act quickly to ensure your portfolio serves your best needs at all times.
The value of your investments can go down as well as up, so you could get back less than you invested.
Our investing rules
To underpin our investment philosophy, we’ve created six rules for investing.
These rules help keep the investment process, and more importantly, our clients, in the right assets at the right time and keeps the investment team on the right tracks.
They have helped us steer clear of investing in some asset classes at the wrong time and also from investing in things that were too good to be true.
See our “Six rules for investing” below.
Our 6 rules for investing
Number 1
We’re in it for the long term
We believe our clients reap the greatest rewards by taking a long term view and being prepared to sit out market price changes. That means we only invest our clients’ money for the medium to long-term, advising them to keep funds in cash accounts to fund their short-term objectives.
Number 2
Variety is the spice of life
We believe a broad, diversified portfolio works best and this is what we aim to offer all our clients, while ensuring we take individual attitudes to risk into account. You will receive your own tailored investment solution – but our process for portfolio creation always remains consistent.
Number 3
It’s all about strategy and planning
According to academic research, asset allocation is the single biggest influence when it comes to returns, and experience tells us, that’s correct. We create portfolios that invest in different types of holdings to strike the right balance and limit your exposure to risk.
Number 4
Keeping on top of risk
No matter how money is invested, we review our clients’ investments at least once a year. We also regularly rebalance your investments to ensure the asset allocation and level of risk is still appropriate and that you are exposed to the least possible amount of risk to achieve your goals.
Number 5
Many happy returns
While investment returns are beyond our control, we can influence the amount of risk taken and search for funds that are delivering stronger returns. Our diligent approach to risk over the years has meant we’ve been able to add real value to our clients’ portfolios.
Number 6
Our commitment is guaranteed
Unfortunately, market returns are not guaranteed and the value of any investment can go down as well as up. However, our financial planning process benefits from taking a holistic approach. By looking at the whole picture of your finances, we can factor in the impact of all potential returns, putting you in the best possible position to achieve your investment and life goals.
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If you want to know more about getting the most out of your finances for your retirement, investing or estate planning, please get in touch. You can send us an email or use the direct message box at the bottom of this page. Or call us and we can chat through your needs and, if you are ready, make an appointment to better understand how we can help.
