Trustnet Magazine Issue 38 March 2018 | Page 18

SCOTTISH AMERICAN INVESTMENT COMPANY / DRAWDOWN / “Many of the charities we look after aren’t 10, 20 or 50 years old, they are 100, 150 or 200 years old and want to be around and as impactful in 100 years’ time as they are today” 16 110,000 THE POWER TO KEEP GENERATING AN INCOME. SAINTS (The Scottish American Investment Company) aims to build up investment capital and generate an income that grows faster than infl ation. It focuses on three areas – growth, income and dependability. Our analysis centres on the sustainability and long-term growth of a fi rm’s cash fl ow. This naturally leads SAINTS to invest in high quality global companies with strong balance sheets. The desired outcome is a dependable and growing income stream alongside the prospect of capital growth. It’s a solution that could be well suited to investors enjoying a long and happy retirement. Please remember that changing stock market conditions and currency exchange rates will affect the value of your investment in the fund and any income from it. The level of income is not guaranteed and you may not get back the amount invested. 100,000 90,000 80,000 For an investment that’s built to deliver a dependable income stream, call 0800 917 2112 or visit www.saints-it.com 70,000 60,000 A Key Information Document is available by contacting us. Long-term investment partners 50,000 So let’s assume you invested £100,000 in the FTSE All Share a decade ago – just before the financial crisis hit – and took an annual income of 3.9 per cent of the total value of your portfolio at the start of each year. What is clear though for anyone retiring today is that the poor yields available from cash and bonds mean the balancing act between income and growth assets will require a heavier skew towards the latter than it has done in the past. A higher equity exposure means that there will inevitably come a point where you see a 2008-style crash hit your portfolio, in which event it is vital to follow another phrase closely associated with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: don’t panic.  FTSE All Share (£123,938.34) 120,000 SAINTS HAS GROWN ITS DIVIDEND EVERY YEAR FOR THE LAST 37 YEARS. BALANCING ACT 130,000 WORST POSSIBLE START has proved to be a sustainable withdrawal figure over the past 118 years, there is no guarantee that it will be sustainable over the next 118. £100,000 INVESTED IN FTSE ALL SHARE OVER 10YRS WITH 3.9% REMOVED AT START OF EACH YEAR “This is exactly the sort of thing that trips people up,” he continues. “When you look at that it suggests that in three of the past four decades, there was a time when you could afford to spend some capital in addition to your income and it is actually not historically what has been the case. People are probably looking to spend capital now because yields are so low. But that’s probably not a good idea from this type of portfolio.” This leads to another important point – with yields across all other classes so low, anyone in drawdown may be tempted to put everything in equities, using a mixture of income and capital sales to fund their lifestyle. While equities should outperform the vast majority of other asset classes over the long term, there will undoubtedly be periods when markets crash. Such events would have the largest negative impact the earlier they occur on a portfolio in drawdown. TRIPPING UP Data from FE Analytics shows the original £100,000 investment would have been worth just £67,338 by the start of 2009 and your income would have dropped from £3,900 to £2,626.182 in the space of a year. It wouldn’t have returned to its original level – not adjusted for inflation – until 2014. However, the £100,000 you invested at the start of 2008 would have been worth £123,938.34 10 years later – the 23.94 per cent increase only slightly behind the 26.39 per cent growth in the consumer prices index over this time. Not a total disaster considering you invested at “the worst possible moment”. Of course, past performance is not a guide to future returns and just because 3.9 per cent someone with this model could afford to spend 5 per cent of total capital a year in perpetuity. Source: FE Analytics trustnet.com Your call may be recorded for training or monitoring purposes. The Scottish American Investment Company P.L.C. is available through the Baillie Gifford Investment Trust Share Plan and the Investment Trust ISA, which are managed by Baillie Gifford Savings Management Limited (BGSM). BGSM is an affi liate of Baillie Gifford & Co Limited, which is the manager and secretary of The Scottish American Investment Company P.L.C.