The Business Exchange Bath & Somerset Issue 6: Winter 2017/18 | Page 13

It is likely there are those who remain
hesitant to the idea of investments and
financial planning. What would you say
to those people to ease their worries?
As I mentioned earlier, by seeking professional
investment and financial planning advice, clients
have the reassurance that the adviser they employ is
properly regulated, qualified and has the necessary
prerequisites in the disciplines they are looking to
address. Investment risk and diversification is key when
investing over the medium to longer-term, but with a
wealth of experience on our side, we know how best
to manage it.
There is a great deal of structure within WHIreland
to ensure that the investment decisions we make
are reached with a quorum. Our investment process
is derived from four main investment committees:
Asset Allocation, Stock Selection, Fund Selection and
Portfolio Construction. Each of these committees
comprises of a number of our highly experienced
investment managers from across the firm and research
analysts, who meet on a regular basis.
WHIreland is also regulated in the UK by the FCA
and clients have the reassurance that were a firm to be
unable to meet its liabilities, clients may be entitled to
redress from the UK’s Financial Services Compensation
Scheme (FSCS).
One of the most valuable things an adviser can
do for clients is to draw out a clearer vision of their
financial future. We can help clients understand what
options they have around longer term issues, such as
retirement, estate planning and looking after their
family. If you have an obvious and immediate need,
they can also help you to meet this, in the form of a
financial product.
Talking to an adviser you may even find you have
financial needs you’ve not yet considered. An adviser’s
professional experience can help to tease these out and
address them for you.
What investment options should
readers consider?
Our aim is to achieve the optimum level of return
suitable for clients’ objectives. Within each of our five
core investment strategies we aim to minimise (and take
advantage of) risk by using a combination of different
asset classes.
Historically, the returns on the three major asset classes
(equities, bonds and cash) have not, over the medium to
longer term, moved up and down to the same extent or
at the same time. We therefore tailor our portfolios asset
allocation to take advantage of this lack of correlation
whilst also including a range of other uncorrelated assets
to provide short-term protection against loss of capital.
In this day of fast moving markets and
changing economy what would your
advice be to relieve the stress when it
comes to investment decisions?
Investors looking to seek wealth management advice
from experts traditionally turn to independent
financial advisers (IFAs), private bankers or investment
managers for guidance on how to achieve their
desired returns for a tolerable level of risk. The world
is complicated and so are people’s lives, and making
sense of currencies, countries, asset classes and where
to place funds can be a daunting task. Our role is to
analyse and manage the potential return and risks of
all opportunities, thereby planning for the future. This
analysis is a daily task whether managing funds for
individuals, institutions, pension assets or governments.
The skill of matching the tolerance of a client with a
tailored portfolio solution is as invaluable as it ever has
been as a one size fits all approach does not work.
Our discretionary investment management service is
particularly suited to clients wishing to delegate all the
day-to-day investment decisions to us, thus removing
the burden from having to react themselves to fast
moving markets and the changing economy.
Before we invest any of our clients’ wealth, we take
time to thoroughly discuss their investment goals so
that we fully understand their financial aspirations and
make recommendations on how best to achieve those
goals. We will then implement an agreed i nvestment
strategy and regularly report directly to them through
meetings, either face-to-face at our office or if they
prefer at their home and clients also receive quarterly
reports. Clients can also view their portfolio online at
any time, via our secure online access.
The world is growing with an unwieldy amount of
data and rapidly changing circumstances which require
frequent analysis. For many investors this level of
analysis is either impractical or just overwhelming and
the need for expert advice is now more relevant than
ever to ensure that investments are constantly aligned
with a client’s needs.
To find out how WHIreland help you, your family or
your clients speak to Nick Lamb on 0117 945 3420.
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whirelandwm.com
THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2017
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