Is investment management an art or a science? This was one of the key debates at the recent Federation of European Independent Financial Advisers’ (Feifa) conference in London, attended by International Adviser.
The chief executive and head of investments at PortfolioMetrix, Brandon Zietsman, said that advisers could use a fund toolkit to service clients with different risk appetites to help them “perform consistently and coherently”.
Zietsman, who favour an active approach and comes down more on the side of science, added that serious engineering is required to get a series of funds to “fly in formation”, and it isn’t all down to luck.
Out of the box
David Coombs, head of multi-asset investments at Rathbones, said that advisers should be investing in global trends and not geographies.
He challenged historic perceptions of risk and outlined that there will be an elevated political risk over the next few years, which has changed the way that people are investing.
Coombs also alluded to investing in out-of-the-ordinary areas, including Chinese stocks – for example, Luckin Coffee’s rise in China in a bid to surpass US giant Starbucks.
Prod
Gillian Hepburn, intermediary solutions director at Schroders, also spoke about the often-overlooked Product Intervention and Product Governance Sourcebook (known as Prod) regulations, which were introduced alongside MiFID II.
IA recently spoke to investment consulting and research firm Square Mile, which said that it is going to be “at the top of the agenda for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)”.
Hepburn touched on what the regulations are, how advisers are approaching their implementation within their business and the relevance of investment solutions in particular model portfolios.
She argued that segmentation can assist businesses in meeting regulatory needs while enhancing commercial benefits.
10th Anniversary
The event was run in conjunction with Feifa’s 10th anniversary.
IA recently spoke to chief executive, Paul Stanfield, who said that the goal of the professional body “was to raise standards, specifically around advice and professionalism”.
Stanfield said he does see the potential for the number of member firms to grow further but acknowledges “it will plateau at some point”.
“Increased regulation tends to lead to consolidation, and there is a feeling that M&A activity has gathered some pace in the last two or three years.”
This was Feifa’s own annual event and it also supports the International Adviser’s Future Advisory Forum – Europe, which will be held in London on 26 September 2019.
