Putting It Into Practice

Our process has the scope to meet the needs of different investors and it can constantly adapt as those needs change. As part of the service, we will regularly review your investment strategy to ensure it still matches your current objectives, time horizon and risk profile. We will then revise the investment elements accordingly, discussing any major changes with you.

See the following examples:

Sarah – aged 45 and seeking adventurous growth

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Profile: Sarah is relatively young and has a long term investment horizon. As she is working and doesn’t need to generate an investment income yet, she wants to pursue an adventurous strategy that can help her to maximise her capital growth potential.

Investment strategy:  A risk assessment will be carried out to ensure Sarah has the capacity to tolerate an adventurous investment strategy, the associated risks and level of volatility.  Then, after setting aside a suitable emergency cash reserve, the recommended investment portfolio will primarily include exposure to the UK via direct share holdings and overseas markets via collective funds.  The portfolio may also provide exposure to specialist (non-mainstream/niche) investment themes. The specialist exposure allows investments to be made into funds with a very focused mandate such as commodities, technology, currency or emerging market country/region specific funds. It has very little, if any, exposure to bonds. The aim is that in the longer term, the portfolio will help Sarah to maximise her growth potential.

Simon – aged 55 and looking to reduce risk

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Profile: As Simon is closer to retirement, he has less tolerance for risk than Sarah. He still wants to achieve capital growth – but he also wants to guard against extreme investment volatility.

Investment strategy: Simon’s portfolio is focused on generating capital growth but as he wants to reduce risk, it uses a balanced investment strategy. This portfolio invests in main stream UK and overseas equities, with some exposure to bonds to provide stability.

Gordon – aged 65 and seeking income

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Profile: Having just retired, Gordon’s priority is to deliver a reliable income that can supplement his pension. He also wants to ensure that he is not taking a large amount of risk with his capital.

Investment strategy: A high proportion of Gordon’s portfolio is invested in the ongoing income element of our investment system. There is also a small day-to-day cash element from which Gordon can meet his short term expenditures. However, as Gordon may need to generate an income for 30 years or more, it is vital that his capital has the opportunity to continue to grow so he can keep up with the rising cost of living. Around a third of his portfolio is therefore invested in the longer term growth element of our investment system adopting a risk profile appropriate to Gordon’s attitude towards investment risk.

Mary – aged 75 and risk-averse

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Profile: Mary is well into her retirement and needs to maximise income first and foremost. She also wants to ensure that her portfolio matches her very low tolerance for risk. However, she knows that she still needs to retain some potential for capital growth.

Investment strategy: To deliver the income and stability of capital that she needs, a large proportion of Mary’s portfolio is held in the ongoing income element of our investment system. There is a small cash element from which Mary can meet her short term expenditures.

To provide some opportunity for capital growth, the remainder of her capital is held in the longer term growth element, adopting a cautious strategy to reflect Mary’s low tolerance for risk.