Investment strategy

Smart money philosophy

We believe that money should simply be a tool - a means to achieve the peace of mind and quality of life you deserve. With this in mind, we apply investment management techniques that have been shown, over time, to optimise returns while minimising risk.

Our aim is to optimise returns while minimising risk, charges and tax.

Our investment recommendations are based on a thorough understanding of;

Investment Asset Allocation (0r how we strategically allocate your money to different investments that match your attitude to risk and reward, according to your goals)

It's possible to construct an "efficient frontier" of optimal portfolios offering the maximum possible expected return for a given level of risk. This theory was pioneered by Harry Markowitz in his paper "Portfolio Selection," published in 1952 by the Journal of Finance and then awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Montgomery Charles use this technique to ensure you get a fair return for the investment risks you take.

Obtaining Value for Money 

By adopting a mix of active and passive investments we are able to reduce the annual management charges that apply to your funds, meaning your money will grow faster over time. We do this by operating a Core and Satellite investment approach when constructing your investment portfolio.

We will usually invest the core of your investments in extremely low charged tracker funds or ETFs (Exchange Traded funds). Typically we will blend a basket of different tracker funds (passive investements) to control volatility whilst diversifying your investments. Such funds annual charges often between 0.2% & 0.5% offer exceptional value for money when compared to many other managed funds that are just closet trackers but charging you for the privilege.   

Why would you invest in a UK managed fund that charges 1.75%pa management charges but consistently underperforms its benchmark such as FTSE100? Why not just buy the FTSE100 index and pay just 0.2% annual management charge and obtain the returns the index provides.  

Getting your balance just right

We feel that using passive funds (trackers & ETFs) alone doesn’t always get the balance right. We therefore will select a range of active fund managers that we feel, despite their charges, still add value for money. These fund managers will typically display contrarian views to the market place and don’t follow the heard. They create funds that we use as satellites around the passive core investments funds mentioned above.

A safe pair of hands  - so you can sleep well at night

We understand that you are an individual and that where one person may be interested in our investment process, another person may prefer to delegate all responsibility to us. We won’t bore you with our investment philosophies if you would rather not know!  But you can take comfort in the knowledge that we do follow a well considered philosophy that is backed up by our investment processes which are regularly reviewed.  Helping you plan your future with realistic goals, ensuring your money won’t run out and helping you understand how much is enough are often the key benefits of our planning service.