INVESTMENT PROPOSITION
Investing the Logical Way
“Our investment proposition can be explained simply as the underlying investments, funds or portfolio of funds that sit behind any investment or pension product following completion of our ‘Risk Profiling’ process.”
A very important factor around this and where a lot of companies large and small suffer is that they can be limited (even as an Independent firm) in being able to offer innovative investment models due to legacy issues i.e. a reliance on one or a limited number of investment platform providers, which in turn may mean a client paying higher charges or overall costs for advice.
This is why having vision, continually evolving around product & service innovation, understanding the trajectory of the investment industry, utilising market leading software and technology ensures we can provide a unique investment proposition. Additionally, we are able to move with the times, whilst still being able to offer a value added and cost effective solution.
Making a return above cash whether you’re a private client, charity, company or client intermediary doesn’t have to be made difficult whether you are looking for income or growth. At Opes™ we believe in doing the simple things well and this extends to how we help clients invest.
The old adage of not having all your eggs in one basket resonates in our investment process and is a process known in the industry as Asset Allocation.
Asset allocation is the implementation of an investment strategy that attempts to balance risk versus reward by adjusting the percentage of each asset in an investment portfolio according to an investor's risk tolerance, goals and investment time frame.
Investments will react based on market conditions and factors such as - interest rates, politics, currency, wages, inflation, competition and so on. Therefore by diversifying extensively across a wide area in market leading funds and investing smaller amounts per area, we naturally reduce the risk of being adversely affected by issues in one area during normal or adverse market conditions.
"Clients concerns around costs can often be focused around initial costs with little concern given to the effects of poor performance and high ongoing charges…. High ongoing annual charges over the longer term can potentially have greater detrimental effect on investment returns than initial charges."
It is due to this that we have developed a range of unique investment portfolios that not only offer managed investment portfolios, we can also provide features such as but not limited to – active/passive strategies, ethical investments & investing and the use of tax reliefs or exemptions. All solutions are competitive charges and can also include features such as discretionary management without limitations due to cost or investment amount.
You should be aware that investments carry varying degrees of risk and as their underlying value can fall as well as rise you may not get back the full amount invested.
Please visit our Info & Brochures page for further information.
Why not become a client and take advantage of our no cost, no obligation initial review service !
Our Solutions
The process starts by understanding your objectives and designing an optimal plan, choosing the appropriate level of risk and taking account of any existing arrangements in place. From this we then highlight a suitable product structure and incorporate the most appropriate investment solution from our expansive range below. Your portfolio(s) and finances can then be viewed 24/7 on any device via our client portal.
Managed Portfolios
Suitable for clients looking for regular ongoing support and/or initial advice only with access to funds that have a track record of performing well against their peers.
Our managed portfolios are typically active managed portfolios.
The portfolios typically consist of a basket of circa 15-20 different funds from different fund houses diversifying broadly across investment sectors such as - Cash, Fixed Interest, Property, Equities - UK, US, Europe, Asia, Japan, Emerging Markets, Specialist.
Can be used for growth or income.
Any portfolio changes are typically provided at our regular review meeting (where applicable) in line with our contracted regular review service frequency - tri- annually, annually, six monthly, quarterly.
Passive Portfolios
Suitable for clients looking for regular ongoing support and/or initial advice only with access to funds that have a track record of performing well against their peers.
Our Passive portfolios provide cost savings as they are not actively managed and follow a given index or range of indexes. Please see our guide to Active & Passive Investing.
The portfolios typically consist of a basket of circa 15-20 different funds from different fund houses diversifying broadly across investment sectors such as - Cash, Fixed Interest, Property, Equities - UK, US, Europe, Asia, Japan, Emerging Markets, Specialist.
Can be used for growth or income.
Any portfolio changes are typically provided at our regular review meeting (where applicable) in line with our contracted regular review service frequency - tri- annually, annually, six monthly, quarterly.
Ethical Portfolios
Unlike all other portfolios our ethical range are designed to ensure screening and emphasis around social, environmental, or other ethical criteria a client may hold. The portfolios can be actively or passively managed. Please see our guide to Active & Passive Investing.
Suitable for clients looking for regular ongoing support and/or initial advice only with access to funds that have a track record of performing well against their peers.
The portfolios typically consist of a limited basket of circa 10 different funds from different fund houses diversifying broadly across investment sectors such as - Cash, Fixed Interest, Property, Equities - UK, US, Europe, Asia, Japan, Emerging Markets, Specialist.
Can be used for growth or income.
Any portfolio changes are typically provided at our regular review meeting (where applicable) in line with our contracted regular review service frequency - tri- annually, annually, six monthly, quarterly.
Managed Discretionary Portfolios
Our Managed Discretionary portfolios differ from our Managed and Passive portfolios in that they provide enhanced active strategic fund management where portfolio changes may be made by our mandated discretionary fund manager at their discretion to take advantage of changing market conditions, typically at short notice i.e. with an aim of enhancing performance / minimising risk.
Suitable for clients looking for regular ongoing support and/or initial advice only that have a track record of performing well against their peers.
The competitive charging of these portfolios means you would not have the option to meet with the discretionary fund manager on a regular basis.
The portfolios typically consist of a basket of circa 10-25 different funds from different fund houses diversifying broadly across investment sectors such as - Cash, Fixed Interest, Property, Equities - UK, US, Europe, Asia, Japan, Emerging Markets, Specialist.
Can be used for growth or income.
Any fund changes are carried out at the discretion of the fund manager regardless of our contracted service review frequency.
Tailored Discretionary Fund Management
Suitable for clients with funds over £250,000 looking for specialist and enhanced regular ongoing support through appointment of a specific fund manager who will manage your account daily.
These portfolios differ from our Managed Discretionary portfolios in that they are bespoke and tailored to a clients specific requirements around the type of assets held, setting/meeting a target income, setting/meeting a specific target cost or charging basis, targeting tax exemptions and reliefs etc.
The portfolios also provide enhanced active strategic fund management where portfolio changes may be made by our mandated discretionary fund manager at their discretion to take advantage of changing market conditions, typically at short notice i.e. with an aim of enhancing performance/ minimising risk.
The service level would provide the option for our selected discretionary fund manager to attend our regular ongoing review meetings.
The portfolios consist of a unique basket of infinite funds from different fund houses . Holdings can include and not limited to - collectives, ETF's, Investment Trusts, single company shares, Infrastructure, Hedge Funds, ethical funds, income/inheritance tax planning portfolios, business property relief (BPR) portfolios.
Portfolios are diversified broadly across investment sectors such as - Cash, Fixed Interest, Property, Equities - UK, US, Europe, Asia, Japan, Emerging Markets, Specialist.
Can be used for growth or income.
Any fund changes carried out at fund managers discretion on as frequent basis as required.
Multi Asset Portfolios
Specialist Portfolios
Suitable for high net worth clients with invest-able funds over £500,000 and/or clients looking for a solution to mitigate various forms of taxation or tax exemptions who are comfortable taking a higher degree of investment risk on a smaller proportion of their overall investment portfolio.
We typically find this service is suitable for clients looking for specialist and enhanced regular ongoing support due to the complexities of the portfolios and changing legislation.
Some portfolios can hold functionality to be integrated into our Tailored Discretionary service.
The portfolios can typically consist of quoted and unquoted single company shares, collective funds, ETF's (Exchange Traded Funds), Investment Trusts, Hedge Funds, income / inheritance tax planning portfolios, business property relief (BPR) portfolios.
Portfolios are generally diversified broadly investment sectors such as - Cash, Fixed Interest, Property, Equities - UK, US, Europe, Asia, Japan, Emerging Markets, Specialist. However, some portfolios can be limited to a single or limited number of sectors, hence why typically we limit the proportion held in our specialists portfolios via any advice to limit this issue.
Any portfolio changes are typically provided at our regular review meeting (where applicable) in line with our contracted regular review service frequency - tri- annually, annually, six monthly, quarterly.
Limitations around portfolio changes, portfolios meeting a clients chosen risk profile may apply due to the nature of the solutions, hence why typically we limit the proportion held in our specialists portfolios via any advice to limit such issues.
Our Multi Asset portfolios can be active or passively managed portfolios, typically designed for clients looking for a simple investment solution.
Suitable for clients looking for regular ongoing support and/or initial advice only with access to funds that have a track record of performing well against their peers.
The portfolios typically consist of a single fund broadly across investment sectors such as - Cash, Fixed Interest, Property, Equities - UK, US, Europe, Asia, Japan, Emerging Markets, Specialist.
Reliance is therefore on the expertise of a single fund manager opposed to a larger number of fund managers through our other investment solutions.
Can be used for growth or income.
Any portfolio changes are typically provided at our regular review meeting (where applicable) in line with our contracted regular review service frequency - tri- annually, annually, six monthly, quarterly.
Investment Risk & Risk Profiling
What is Investment Risk ?
The Oxford English Dictionary states that one definition of risk is 'the possibility of financial loss' and defines reward as 'to receive what one deserves'.
Whether you are investing to generate growth, income, for a particular objective such as funding retirement, buying your first home, starting or growing a business, multiple goal building through Opes™ Financial’s Life™ Plan service or simply to make your savings work as hard as possible, the two questions you are most likely to ask before investing are: 'What can I gain?' (your potential reward) and 'How much could I stand to lose?' (your potential risk).
*As investors, we are generally much more concerned with how much money we could lose, than the amount we could gain, which means that assessing and managing risk forms a large part of the investment process.
*Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahnman. Loss Aversion In Riskless Choice: A Reference-Dependent Model, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, November 1991.
“In the face of so many potential pitfalls, choosing the right investment can be tricky, which is why so many clients choose to rely on professional advice from Opes™ Financial.”
What is Risk Profiling ?
Opes™ Financial’s risk profiling process is used to help us identify both our clients' attitude towards investment risk and how much risk a client can afford to take. Ultimately our aim is to ensure both initial and ongoing (where contracted ongoing service is being provided) investment suitability for our clients.
It is suited to the majority of individual UK investors. For those with significantly large investable assets, additional factors need to be taken into account, such as properties or privately held company shares that are substantial in value, as they could offset the attitude to risk results.
There are six steps in our risk profiling process :
1. Review existing portfolio
2. Assess attitude to risk
3. Check consistency of answers
4. Assess capacity for risk
5. Confirm value at risk
6. Match portfolio against goals
These steps help to build a deeper insight into your requirements and ensure that the final outcome is an accurate and fair reflection of your risk profile as well as your capacity to tolerate possible losses.
We then take these results to build your investment portfolio via our centralised investment proposition, which in turn is linked to your needs, objectives, tax position and any other specific investment requirements such as ethical investing, target income matching etc.
Please view our guide to ‘Investment Risk & Risk Profiling’ and visit our Investment Proposition page here for further information regarding our approach to investment risk & risk profiling.
Why not become a client and take advantage of our no cost, no obligation initial review service !