Our Investment Process

Determining the asset allocation

• In selecting the assets for our portfolios, we undertake extensive research through internal and external analysis. 
• We monitor economic, corporate and political influences around the world to assess their possible influence on the outlook for global equity and bond markets and identify emerging trends.
• This analysis helps inform the decisions of our monthly Asset Allocation committee which includes all of our most experienced investment managers. 
• Tactical asset allocation will be undertaken from time to time in order to exploit opportunities as they arise.

The optimum way to access each asset class

• Having identified an asset class as a target for investment we research the best approach to gain the desired level of exposure. 
• This might be through a quoted company involved in the sector, a global fund specialising in the sector or through a commodity fund. 
• To provide diversification we may make several investments in the chosen asset class .

The specific investments 

• As active managers, we place stock selection at the heart of our investment process.
• The selection of the individual investments involves a considerable amount of internal and external research activity which enables us to focus our attention on the most promising potential investments.
• We take particular interest in stocks whose potential for growth may have been mis-priced by the market.
• We may access the often greater growth potential of medium- and smaller-sized companies, provided that they meet our strict investment criteria.

Constant Monitoring and review

• One of the most important lessons from recent market turbulence is the need to have a disciplined process of monitoring and review of investments.
• We do not believe that the ideal asset allocation can be set at a point in time without further review. 
• We constantly review asset allocation and conduct formal reviews at our quarterly asset allocation meetings. 
• Often our view has not changed significantly and the drivers or trends have remained consistent but the discipline of a regular and full review is essential to ensure that key asset allocation adjustments are made.
• We hold weekly meetings to review the portfolios formally and the markets in general, and a daily review where we discuss specific investments. This ensures that our investment process remains dynamic and flexible.