WEALTH MANAGER PROFILE LEE ROBERTSON
“
If I show through
the planning process
that a client only
needs 4% pa
to reach their
objectives, why
would I put them
in a riskier portfolio
when they do not
need to take the
volatility?
”
Investment Quorum – balanced portfolio composition
Fund manager Fund name Original Current Historical 1-year Est. Q’tile 3-year Est, Q’tile
% hold % hold Yield % perf Contrb. % perf Contrb.
M&G UK Optimal Income 10 9.8 4.16 33.32 3.33 3 33.7 3.37 1
Cazenove Invest Fund Mgt European 6 5.91 1.88 37.96 2.28 4 18.36 1.1 1
BlackRock UK Absolute Alpha 5 4.77 0 9.44 0.47 3 19.93 1 2
Cazenove Invest Fund Mgt Strategic Bond 5 4.83 4.78 26.71 1.34 3 16.83 0.84 1
Cazenove Invest Fund Mgt UK Absolute Target 5 4.71 0 7.94 0.4 3 n/a n/a –
First State Investments UK Asia Pacific Leaders 5 5.17 0.74 45.12 2.26 4 65.55 3.28 1
First State Investments UK Glbl Emg Mkts Leaders 5 5.13 0.35 50.58 2.53 4 65 3.25 1
Invesco Perpetual Fd Mngrs High Income 5 4.82 3.91 29.97 1.5 4 -4.29 -0.21 2
Investec Fund Mngrs (UK) Enhanced Nat Resources 5 4.98 0.02 28.27 1.41 3 n/a n/a –
JP Morgan Asset Mgt UK Natural Resources 5 5.32 0 80.46 4.02 1 38.34 1.92 1
M&G UK Strategic Corporate Bond 5 4.88 3.36 24.24 1.21 3 35.38 1.77 1
Schroder UT Managers Global Property Securities 5 5.14 1.59 66.84 3.34 1 -16.43 -0.82 1
Schroder UT Managers Strategic Bond 5 4.79 3.81 8.61 0.43 4 11.18 0.56 2
Smith & Williamson Inv Mgt North American 5 5.28 0.22 28.47 1.42 4 18.29 0.91 2
Threadneedle Inv Services American 5 5.25 0 38.25 1.91 2 23.55 1.18 1
Jupiter Unit Trust Mngrs Japan Income 4 4.4 2.05 22.45 0.9 2 6.01 0.24 1
M&G UK Recovery 4 3.95 1.24 55.53 2.22 1 14.9 0.6 1
Capita Financial Managers Lindsell Train UK Equity 3 3.14 2.63 56.85 1.71 1 8.27 0.25 1
Newton & BNY Mellon AM UK Opportunities 3 3.02 2.73 33.91 1.02 4 7.69 0.23 1
Currency £ 5 4.71 n/a 0 0 – 0 0 –
Total portfolio 100 100 n/a 30.38 – – n/a – –
Selected Benchmark FTSE All Share – – – 54.06 – – -0.37 – –
As at 30 Mar ’10. Source: Investment Quorum
commission. It is a specifically
agreed AMC and that
is the big difference. It
comes directly from the
client, it may be deducted
from the platform but it is
agreed with the client,
which is the way forward.”
l Ahead of the game
RDR will no doubt change
the landscape in which
Robertson operates but it is
also the template for how
Investment Quorum was
set up in the first place so,
as he repeats often, “we are
pretty much there already”.
Robertson may only
look after 20 of the firm’s
700 clients but he manages
half of the total assets
under management of
£110m. He wears a number
of hats, as chief executive
running the business, the
front-man dealing with
accountants, solicitors and
tax advisers who support
the firm, for which he is
also the largest fee-earner.
He chairs the investment
committee responsible
for the management of
eight model portfolios,
three for growth, three for
income – all risk-graded –
one ethical and another
absolute/total return.
“Predominantly we use
long-only active funds but
for tactical advantage we
use exchange-traded funds.
While we have none at the
moment, we are not against
funds of hedge funds either
and have used them in
the past.”
One product group he is
not a huge fan of is structured
products, saying that
he feels investors should
“tread warily” around them.
For his client base – predominantly
senior management
in their mid-50s planning
for retirement with
around £100,000 of investable
assets and young professionals
starting a wellpaid
career – he is more
than happy with a longonly
fund approach.
l Fund cull
One issue he does have
with this strategy is the
sheer number of funds
available and he would
love to see some form of
rationalisation, particularly
at the life and pensions
end where there are too
many ‘me too’ funds that
simply are not performing.
His investment process
culls thousands of funds
down to 100, so his ideal
universe would be closer
to 100 than the 20,000 or
so currently on offer.
Robertson may be a
wealth manager – which
he defines as an IFA with
investment capabilities –
but financial planning is at
the heart of what he does.
“Financial planning in
the client’s context is the
most important aspect.
Some of the big problems
have been where the bigger
players have just been in
this great dash for cash and
grabbing assets without
much context and planning
while promising returns. If
I show through the planning
process that a client
only needs 4% pa to reach
their objectives, why would
I put them in a riskier portfolio
when they do not
need to take the volatility?”
His mortgage-broking
days may be a long way
behind him, but with clients
now getting virtually
no return at all on their
cash, a fee-based, straightforward,well-communicated
investment proposition
is just what investors and
RDR are after.
26 PORTFOLIO ADVISER [www.portfolio-adviser.com] MAY 2010
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