Diversification is not enough

The diversification of individual risks, which increases expected risk-adjusted returns, is like apple pie, motherhood and the flag. It is so ingrained in the minds of managers and their clients that this aspect of portfolio theory has remained unchallenged during a period of exceptional creativity in the investment industry.

How did we do in 2008?

Whose performance is it anyway? When clients’ portfolios are genuinely customised to personal goals whose terms of reference they have jointly planned and taken responsibility for, it is reasonable to answer questions about performance with a question of our own. Yet the question posed is also a matter of fact we ought to be able to answer. In this article we provide the answer together with some guidance as to what, if anything, it means.

Portfolios on a podium

Published in FT, 23rd August 2008 (Article by Matthew Vincent, Serious Money: on our investment model)

Portfolios on a podium

In this morning’s Serious Money column, FT Money editor Matthew Vincent reaches Olympian heights, even by his own writing standards, in linking a serious financial topic to something else going in in the world which is much more interesting.

Outsourcing investment management: multi-manager vs discretionary management

12th March 2008
UK Retail Fund Distribution Conference
11.15am, Central London
Stuart Fowler, Panel member
Stuart has been asked to participate in a panel discussion on the outsourcing of investment management, debating the suitability of multimanager vs discretionary management. The panel will consider:

What does the advisor get from a discretionary management service vs multi manager proposition?
Do multi manager portfolios deliver better results?
How [...]