Investment Philosophy

We believe that the following factors are crucial in defining a consistent approach to investing money:

Successful asset allocation (what money goes where) is the key to good investment performance. Many studies have been undertaken that confirm strategic asset allocation as the most important aspect in making money.

We believe that both passive (index tracking) and active (stock picking) investment strategies can play a part. However, approximately 70% of active managers fail to beat the index against which they are benchmarked, and when additional fund management charges are taken into account this could be considered a costly failure. Index tracking options are usually a much cheaper solution.

Whichever investment approach is taken, proactive investment management is an absolute must in order to preserve capital during volatile periods.

It is impossible to get investment timing right every time. But it is possible to make a judgement on whether to remain invested or indeed whether to move to the safe haven of cash deposits.

An unconstrained or flexible approach to investing is far more advantageous than a constrained or limited approach which often needs to meet particular benchmarks and the requirements of the IMA (Investment Management Association) sector in which any particular fund is classified. If the prospects for UK equities are poor for example, but might be better somewhere like the USA, why would you want your investment manager to be constrained by only being able to invest in the UK market?

We won’t invest your money into something that we don’t fully understand. Investment ‘fads’ come and go but we won’t put your money at risk by chasing potentially higher returns only to see you suffer financial loss.

Regular reviews and re-balancing of assets are essential to keeping an investment strategy on track.