Small is beautiful when it comes to fund management. We are repeatedly asked, “How do you manage to provide superior returns to many multi-national institutions offering equivalent portfolios to your own?”.

It’s not just about making money, it’s holding onto it. The recently released BofA Merrill Lynch Global Fund Manager Monthly Survey shows fund managers’ overweight position in global equities at 19%; viewed in isolation this suggests a positive outlook, but this number reflects a fall from 33% the previous month to the lowest weighting in equities since November 2016.

Who offers the best wealth management service?... We do of course! The two key ingredients of any wealth management offering are cost and investment performance. Investment specialist David Warren from Charlwood IFA talks us through...

As 2017 draws to a close we can reflect on investment markets that confounded most expectations; despite the constant bickering between two unstable nuclear powers, weather of Biblical proportions and a turnaround in monetary policy, bonds didn’t collapse, and shares continued to rise with several stock-markets hitting record highs. We weren’t alone in expecting a correction at some point during the year but, in the event, we witnessed unprecedented low levels of volatility.

It’s not just the weather that has left an autumnal chill in the air; central bankers have returned from their summer hols with a slightly harder edge to their comments. Underneath the contradictory guidance and the daily flip-flopping of opinion, we get the feeling that the free drinks are being gently removed from the party. September’s round of central bank meetings produced little in the way of action but showed a growing confidence in the economic outlook and produced some direct comments alluding to monetary tightening in the not too distant future.

Our typical client is one which is either in retirement or close to retirement. They have accumulated a level of wealth and understandably wish to protect and preserve that wealth. Income often becomes a priority, but with the average life-expectancy increasing so does the need for some capital appreciation.

INVESTMENT SPECIALIST DAVID WARREN AT DISCRETIONARY INVESTMENT MANAGERS CHARLWOOD IFA SHARES HIS VIEWS ON MARKET EVENTS FOR MAY 2017 UK inflation is well above its official target rate and rising, but the Bank of England voted over-whelmingly to keep rates unchanged-again!

Napoleon once said, “If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.” Since November’s shock election result stock-markets have soared on a wave of perma-tan and hairspray, buoyed by the prospect of President Trump’s new tax reforms, fiscal stimulus plans and a pledge to cut the mountainous spool of red tape.

One of the major considerations for a client when contemplating an investment portfolio is their attitude to risk. The adviser and client will have a discussion resulting in the selection of a portfolio best suited to the agreed level of risk; the level of risk selected will determine the blend of fixed interest, property, equities and cash.