Investment philosophy

We believe there are two essential ingredients of a good investment strategy. One essential ingredient that our long-term clients will recognise is our emphasis on peace of mind. The second ingredient is consistency. Even though the markets may go up and down, and the economy goes through different cycles, and the investment industry comes up with hot fads, our core beliefs remain the same.

We don’t jump around or chase the latest get-rich-quick opportunities. Rather we create investment portfolios that are tailored to your needs and objectives. We do this through:

• Setting in place a structured asset mix
• Taking risks only within each client’s tolerance and financial capacity  
• Ensuring those risks carry a reliable reward
• Staying diversified – never putting all the eggs in one basket
• Seeking cashflow assets
• Keeping costs and taxes as low as possible
• Staying on track.
• We also encourage clients to focus on the things they can control.

Diversity is the key to reduce the volatility of your portfolio. We do this by apportioning your money into the main asset classes. Those assets that rate best or worst will vary year to year. So, in the long run it is better to hold a wide mix, to stay disciplined and to capture your gains (by rebalancing) when they occur.

The actual mix of your investment portfolio depends very closely on your tolerance for risk. We call this the “Defensive vs Risky” split.  Some people cannot sleep at night even knowing their money is in a bank vault. Others can’t sleep at night unless their money is piling up high, but much riskier, returns. So, the split depends very much on you.

How much you have in each sector depends on more than your comfort level. It also depends on

• Timeframe
• Age or life stage
• Goals (short and long term)
• Needs
• Current financial resources
• Risk required to achieve your goals

There is no one “correct mix” – the portfolio is tailored, as best we can, to your specific circumstances.

Having never accepted commissions, we are free to consider a wide range of investments backed by research:

• Farrelly’s Research for asset allocation methodology.
• Issuers of credit ratings for bonds including Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s.
• Share broker research for listed companies including listed property.

Our philosophy shies away from highly active buying and selling within volatile markets. Market timing is highly speculative. However, we do closely monitor general performance and will tweak the portfolio from time to time to realign it. We are also mindful that management fees and broker commissions can erode portfolio value, and our overall strategy looks for ways to lessen these costs.

By using our Investment Management Service, you benefit from our ongoing advice that helps you keep on track to meet your needs and objectives through good times and bad. Our management fee  even with the advice will be less than many other major providers.