By Jim Henning,
Head of Sustainable Investment

When it comes to doing our washing, we all know it’s important to read the clothing labels to avoid any unfortunate mishaps (as well as trying to reduce the water consumption and temperature levels). Similarly, when it comes to sustainable investing, the risk of ‘greenwashing’ has been a persistent issue.

The ever-widening range of sustainable investment objectives, definitions and related solutions has led to misunderstandings, confusion and sometimes claims are being made that simply wouldn’t stand up to scrutiny. This can lead to the unintended consequences of eroding trust in the financial services industry and lowering levels of capital flows into sustainable enterprises than would have otherwise been the case.

Global regulatory bodies have been busy trying to fix this problem by defining what exactly a sustainable investment means, thereby bringing more clarity, standardisation and raising standards. Greater transparency is vitally important but is an incredibly complex and technical task and remains very much work-in-progress.

It’s also interesting to note that the EU, US and UK regulators have chosen three definition categories, but predictably each have important differences in approach. Based on the recent FCA consultation paper ‘CP22/20 Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) and Investment Labels’, the UK proposals look more aligned to the US than the EU scheme. In the latter case the EU’s SFDR was intended to be a disclosure regime only, while the FCA’s proposals introduce a labelling regime with three sustainable categories and new consumer‑facing summary disclosures.

Sustainability Disclosure Requirements – Proposed fund labels

*At least 70% of a ‘sustainable focus’ product’s assets must meet a credible standard of environmental and / or social sustainability, or align with a specified environmental and / or social sustainability theme. These products will typically be highly active and selective.

**These products will typically be highly selective, emphasising investment in assets that offer solutions to environmental or social problems and that align with a clearly specified theory of positive change.

Importantly, the new labels will also apply to discretionary managed portfolio services (MPS). For an MPS to qualify to use one of these labels, 90% of the total value of the underlying products in which it invests must meet the qualifying criteria for the same label. The DFM provider must then make the disclosures for each of the underlying products available to retail investors.

Choosing the right name for a product has always been important and often the subject of much internal debate within marketing departments. As it’s likely the first thing a retail investor is made aware of, the FCA intends to prohibit the use of sustainability related terms in either product names or marketing material for those products that do not qualify for a sustainable label. Examples of these terms would include ‘ESG’, ‘climate’, ‘impact’, ‘sustainable’ or ‘responsible’.

Following the consultation period, the final rules are due to be published by end of June 2023 and new labelling, naming and marketing restrictions will follow on 12 months later. The disclosure proposals in CP22/20 are far-reaching, covering all regulated funds to varying degrees, not just the labelled ones. They will require much more granular transparency and ongoing disclosures particularly surrounding investment objectives and policy, alongside progress reporting against published KPI’s.

There is no doubt that qualifying for a sustainable label will be a high bar to meet for many asset managers. In fact, based on the FCA’s own initial estimates, of those products that currently have sustainability-related terms in their names and marketing, two-thirds could decide to remove them accordingly.

Based on the 139 risk profiled multi-asset solutions currently in Dynamic Planner that have such terms in their names, it is interesting to see the differences across both funds and MPS’s. ‘Sustainable’ is by far the most favoured naming option across both wrapper types, but there is notably a greater proportion of more specialist ‘Impact’ and ‘Ethical’ offerings in the MPS space. For ethical screened funds, I suspect many are likely to elect one of the new labels, as sustainability has always been an important underpin to their philosophy and the preference of their traditional dark green investor base.

Over coming months, we can expect a raft of objective and fund name changes in light of the proposed regulations. At Dynamic Planner, we will ensure that relevant and objective sustainability research is available in the system, covering both products adopting the new labels and those which don’t. In the latter category, many will continue to actively apply ESG screens in their stock selection process and engage with investee companies (and also more widely across the asset management firm) from a fiduciary risk management perspective.

Thereby, users will be fully equipped to connect the recommended solutions to both risk and sustainability preferences via our Client Profiling process and meet the forthcoming Consumer Duty requirements.

Not a Dynamic Planner user? Schedule a free no-obligation demo with a business consultant and experience the full functionality of Dynamic Planner.

Dynamic Planner’s Investment Committee (IC) met on 20 October, focusing on the unprecedented shockwaves suffered by UK assets and currency following the September mini-budget and in particular their impact on the lower risk benchmarks.

In expectation of a return to some form of fiscal normality in the UK, the IC considered the wider global perspective. As central banks play catch-up to quench ingrained inflationary pressures, less globally co-ordinated policy responses appear likely, which could further increase bouts of currency and economic volatility, suggesting that asset allocation decisions on country and currency still matter.

The IC discussed the importance of maintaining bond holdings in the lower risk benchmarks and other options, including the wide range of differing bond maturities modelled within Dynamic Planner.

This comprehensive range of asset classes can be used to assess the risk implications if tactical tilting of portfolios from the long-term benchmark allocations is being considered, given current volatile market conditions.

Read the Investment Committee’s full update.

Following the rapid economic bounce back from Covid lockdowns, the Investment Committee [IC] had become increasingly concerned about the impact of rising inflation expectations, taking hold at a time when the level of economic and geo-political uncertainty remains elevated.

This environment presents many challenges when constructing risk-adjusted asset allocation benchmarks, particularly given the sensitivity of bonds to rising interest rates and their heightened correlation to equities.

You can read more about Dynamic Planner’s Investment Committee meeting in July, when the annual asset allocation review was conducted.

As part of this process, there was lengthy and detailed discussion around the implications for each of the benchmarks, in the event of an inflation shock and resultant elevated episodes of market volatility.

The strategic changes, which will be live in Dynamic Planner from Friday 7 October 2022, expressed the following themes:

• Minor increases in allocation for the lower risk profiles to cash from fixed interest and international equities
• No net increase in equity exposures, although still committed to the diversification of equity holdings globally
• Some minor re-balancing activities to re-centralise the benchmarks within their respective risk boundaries across profiles 2 – 7

A reminder: on Thursday 20 October 2022, Dynamic Planner’s Chief Investment Strategist, Abhi Chatterjee will present an update on the performance of the asset allocation benchmarks and the wider market outlook. Register for the quarterly webinar.

By Chris Jones, first published in April 2021

If you lived and worked on an isolated island community, and you were able to source everything you needed from your fellow islanders, retirement would be a relatively simple thing to plan.

You would earn a wage or make a profit doing your thing. You would not only spend your income on your fellow islanders’ goods and services, but you could also invest whatever you had left over in their businesses. When you retired, your share of the profits in those business would be directly correlated to the cost of the goods and services, and everyone is happy.

You could, of course, lend money to these businesses instead but there would be no certainty that the fixed capital repayment or interest would be correlated to the cost of goods in the future. This inflation risk is why asset-backed and equity in particular are so good for retirement planning. We may not have felt it recently, but inflation does creep up on you over time.

In either case there are other risks: the business might go bust, the owner may not honour the agreement and so forth. These are things that apply to both the loan and the equity.

I am imagining my theoretical example set in the 18th or 19th century: a blacksmith, baker, farmer, publican, tailor, doctor etc. Since then, advancements in transportation, industrialisation, and communications have led to globalisation which brings improvements and challenges to this premise.

Reducing risk through diversification

Over the last generation, people have been able to invest in Mitsubishi, Nestle, Total, Tesco, BP, Diageo, M&S, GSK etc. Clearly being able to do this reduces risk through diversification and a fair and efficient market. It does introduce additional market and currency risks, but nonetheless people can easily invest in the companies that supply them and this is sensible and encouraging. I understand that the reason funds tend to show top 10 holdings is mainly because investors feel reassured by this.

If globalisation impinges on our remote island scenario, had you invested in your local small business supplier, would it have been acquired and integrated into a global company, or would it have just gone? Whilst investing in equities for long term future retirement needs is compelling, the question of which share is important.

At Dynamic Planner when we use phrases like U.K. Large Cap Equity or Short-term Bonds it has a very specific meaning. For these examples, it is the MSCI UK Equity Large Cap Total Return Index and ICE BofA 1-5 Year Sterling Corporate Index. Individual funds or stocks and shares vary from that both in performance and in risk characteristics, as we can all easily observe. We of course calculate and measure this variance and use it when we risk profile funds at a holdings level.

Expected real returns

Whilst indices are great for consistency of term and qualitative analysis, their components are very fluid and they are totally ex-post (or after the event) in nature. When a share grows, it enters or forms a larger part of that index; that doesn’t mean that it will stay there or remain at that proportion of the index.

Our service provides ex-ante, expected real returns; volatility, correlations and covariances as well as a Monte-Carlo stochastic forecaster. What we cannot do is tell you what stock will make up an index in 30 years’ time. If we could, I would be living on my own private island right now. When you think about asset manager charges, caps and their value, it’s worth reflecting on how difficult yet worthwhile it is for them to try to do this on your behalf.

Whose labour, goods and services will be needed when you retire?

The companies that make up local indices and the countries that represent a global index change quite dramatically. At the end of the 19th century commodities and the UK were dominant.

By 1967 the largest companies in the US were GM, Exon, Ford, GE, Mobil, Chrysler, US Steel and Texaco -almost all car related. At the same time, the UK was busy devaluing its currency and voting not to allow women into the London Stock Exchange. Back then half of UK shares were directly owned by individuals, so in many ways the market was closer to my imagined island scenario than the globalised fund-led market of the 21st century.

Change in relative stock market size from 1899 to 2021.

Things change. Would anybody like to be living off Kodak, Blockbuster or even Tie Rack shares today?

Whilst the basic principle of exchanging your labour for capital whilst you work, and then exchanging your stored capital for labour when you can’t, has been consistent and remains valid today, when it comes to choosing where to store your capital the fundamental question remains: whose labour, goods and services will be needed when you retire?

There has been a lot written about ESG and sustainability. Everyone has an opinion and many people have suddenly become experts. I am certainly not an expert and I won’t add my opinions to the pile.

It does, however, appear sensible to invest in companies that will still be around in the future, and it might be that use of the word ‘sustainability’ is all you need to prompt you to consider ESG information and your client’s preferences. A psychometric sustainability questionnaire and objective MSCI ESG data is available in our system.

Not yet a Dynamic Planner user? Schedule a free no-obligation demo with a business consultant and experience the full functionality of Dynamic Planner.

By Cantab Asset Management

The last decade has seen significant asset price appreciation, accommodated by expansionary monetary policy. Alongside this, periods of uncertainty have led to spikes in volatility. Whilst recent levels of Quantitative Easing are unprecedented in historical terms, volatility and market corrections are not. This note considers the relationship between active management and market volatility in the context of achieving strong long-term performance. The main takeaways from the following analysis are:

• The actively managed funds tended to exhibit higher volatility than their passive peers
• Over each period of heightened volatility, the actively managed funds tended to outperform their passive peers
• Over the full period, the actively managed funds all materially outperformed their passive peers
• Despite higher levels of volatility, the actively managed funds tended to prove more resilient than their passive peers from a maximum drawdown perspective. This demonstrates one challenge associated with relying on volatility alone as a measure of risk – it captures upside as well as downside movements
• Similar results were obtained when comparing the actively managed Cantab multi-asset portfolio to a passive peer

Analysis

The VIX index is used by investors as a measure of implied volatility in financial markets. It is based on S&P500 option prices and is commonly referred to as the “Fear Index”. Between 2018 and 2021, the VIX has breached level 20, which is considered to be ‘high’, on four occasions, as illustrated below.

Each of the four highlighted periods captures a date range in which the index level moved from low-to-high-to-low and is used as a proxy for short-term market volatility. Performance during these periods is illustrated below, alongside commonly-used risk metrics for three actively managed funds and their respective passive alternatives.

Summary

These findings may or may not be representative of the entire active universe of funds; to test them is beyond the scope of this analysis. What is clear however, is that within the universe of actively managed funds, there are options that provide significant outperformance on a risk–adjusted basis during periods of heightened volatility. It is our role as advisors to identify and monitor these.

When applying the same analysis to the actively managed Cantab multi-asset portfolio, not only did the portfolio outperform its passive equivalent over the full period but also achieved relatively similar volatility and max drawdown metrics overall. The analysis also found that after a material peak-to-trough movement, the actively managed Cantab portfolio recovered considerably faster to previous highs when compared to the passive equivalent.

The results from the analysis not only highlight the importance of taking a long-term view, but also demonstrate that there are two sides to volatility: downside and upside. Volatility is usually calculated using variance or standard deviation, by summing the square of the deviation of returns from the mean return and dividing by the number of observations in the data set. By definition, upside and downside deviations are treated equally. Whilst higher volatility implies higher risk, due to less predictability of asset pricing, investors are typically in favour of upside volatility in practice. By pursuing a passive strategy, investors avoid the downside risk of underperforming a benchmark index; unfortunately, they also miss out on the upside potential of outperformance.

Periods of short-term volatility have been common throughout history and will continue to be common in the future. However, during such periods, investors tend to focus on the negative side of volatility rather than directing their focus to the bright side of volatility that is offered by good active management.

www.cantabam.com/funds

Notes:

• Both the start and end dates for each of the respective volatility periods were obtained by identifying the lowest VIX level before and after breaching level 20. A VIX level of below 12 is considered low, a level exceeding 20 is considered high.
• The Vanguard fund was selected based on similar equity exposure to the Cantab portfolio for comparison.
• Cantab’s Managed Portfolio Service (MPS) performance data is presented net of 0.36% pa MPS fees which do not attract VA

Risk warnings:
This content has been prepared based on our understanding of current UK law and HM Revenue and Customs practice, both of which may be the subject of change in the future. The opinions expressed herein are those of Cantab Asset Management Ltd and should not be construed as investment advice. Cantab Asset Management Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. As with all equity-based and bond-based investments, the value and the income therefrom can fall as well as rise and you may not get back all the money that you invested. The value of overseas securities will be influenced by the exchange rate used to convert these to sterling. Investments in stocks and shares should therefore be viewed as a medium to long-term investment. Past performance is not a guide to the future. It is important to note that in selecting ESG investments, a screening out process has taken place which eliminates many investments potentially providing good financial returns. By reducing the universe of possible investments, the investment performance of ESG portfolios might be less than that potentially produced by selecting from the larger unscreened universe.

Advisers looking for risk rated investing solutions for their clients, can benefit from the revamped RSMR Responsible Managed Portfolio Service (MPS) now available through Dynamic Planner.

The newly launched RSMR Responsible Growth Portfolio means that advisers can now take advantage of four risk profiled portfolios in the RSMR Responsible MPS that is risk rated on Dynamic Planner: Responsible Cautious, Responsible Balanced, Responsible Growth and Responsible Dynamic. This new range of portfolios joins the RSMR Rfolios range of eight funds which has now been added to Dynamic Planner, having been launched in 2015.

RSMR Head of Managed Portfolio Services, Stewart Smith, said: “We have taken the opportunity to broaden our offering in the responsible investing area through the launch of the Responsible Growth Portfolio. Alongside our well-established RSMR Rfolios range, we offer advisers four RSMR Responsible portfolios, risk profiled by Dynamic Planner within risk levels 4, 5, 6 and 7.”

Yasmina Siadatan, Sales & Marketing Director, Dynamic Planner said: “We are passionate about broadening out the range of risk rated funds with a focus on responsible investing to give advisers even greater choice within this area for their clients. We welcome the MPS Range from RSMR to Dynamic Planner. Continuing to expand the risk rated responsible fund universe in Dynamic Planner enables advisers to give clients increased opportunity to use their investments to deliver financial returns for the risk they are willing and able to take, alongside ensuring sustainability preferences are matched.”

What is RSMR’s approach to ESG?

By Jim Henning, Head of Investment Services, Dynamic Planner

Concerns over the rising pace of inflation have seen interest rates start their gradual climb and the beginning of the end of the great financial experiment by central banks, referred to as quantitative easing.

This raises a number of questions for those clients relying on natural income in their retirement:

1. How durable is the portfolio’s income and underlying capital, post the era of fiscal stimulus and interest rate manipulation since the Great Financial Crisis of 2008 and the Covid-19 pandemic?
2. What is the nature of expected risks with the underlying assets, particularly within the fixed income space given their elevated sensitivity to interest rates changes?
3. There has also been strong growth in demand for alternative asset classes, such as investment in infrastructure, to drive the transition to a clean, low carbon economy and generate an attractive yield. How can risks be assessed accurately?

Dynamic Planner’s Income Focused Fund Research Reports might just help you out at the next client annual review.

The latest set of six, monthly reports provide a wealth of research, both in terms of how the solution has delivered historically and also what types of risks the portfolio manager is taking from a forward lens perspective.

This research is only possible because of the in-depth risk profiling performed at individual holdings level by the Asset & Risk Modelling Team at Dynamic Planner. The reports also share detailed content as to process and philosophy adopted by the management team running the assets.

As the recovery from the Covid recession gathers pace, we can see how income payments from this subset of risk profiled funds have stabilised over the last year. Below, the net income paid by the Risk Profile 5 income focused funds over the last five years are shown (specifically the median and the mid 50% range).

Source: Lipper Refinitiv, 12mth periods to end Jan each year

When it comes to talking about risks, your clients may be interested in widening the discussion to ESG.

If so, try Dynamic Planner’s sustainability questionnaire, launched last March and take a look at the MSCI ESG fund ratings available in the system. Using the above income focused Risk Profile 5 funds, it’s encouraging to see the MSCI fund ratings are predominantly AA and A, indicating the high quality of the underlying investee companies managing ESG risks (relative to their sector / industry peers) held within the portfolios.

Source: MSCI at end Jan 2022

The latest Income Focused Fund Research Reports are set to be available from Friday [11 Feb] in the latest version of Dynamic Planner for the following funds:

*Coming soon

During this life in lockdown, I have found myself doing a lot of things I always thought of but didn’t get to until now – writes Andrew Morris, Product Specialist at Canada Life Investments. Recently, for example, I listened to Stephen Fry’s books, Mythos and Heroes, on audible whilst attempting to do yet another amateur DIY project.

I was amused by the old tale of Icarus and his father Daedalus, who were imprisoned on the island of Crete. Daedalus, a clever craftsman, built two sets of wings to help him and his son, Icarus, escape the castle.

He warned Icarus not to fly too low to the sea, otherwise the spray would soak the feathers and weigh him down, but also not too high near the sun or else the wax holding the feathers would melt and cause him to fall to his death.

As with most Greek myths, this one did not end well. Icarus, being young and daring, flew everywhere. He got too close to the water as well as too high in the sky where, inevitably, he fell to his death. There are several lessons from this story, but the one that made me relate to what’s going on in the world right now given the covid-19 crisis is how Icarus caused his own demise. Amidst the exhilaration of it all, he ignored the signs and continued to fly high for the joy of the flight. Consequently, his fall was much farther, so far that it took everything away.

We have seen returns rise in many asset classes over the past ten years. The mixed investment sector, for example, continues to record higher than average annual returns every decade, despite repeated expectations of future corrections. This flight for matching and beating returns has caused many portfolios to fly higher and higher to reap these rewards. Then the most extraordinary volatility in history hit the markets and over the past three months’ returns have gone the other way. The effect was quicker and further, as if our wings had just been clipped. Indeed, for those funds like Icarus, the fall has been hard hitting.

Daedalus, who followed his own advice, did not enjoy the flight as much as Icarus, however, he also did not have the same fate. The moral of this story is that while a rules-based approach may seem unfulfilling, especially when markets make big gains, it too is safe when volatility suddenly increases. It’s only in hindsight when the falls happen that we see how wise it would have been to follow the rules of Daedalus.

Daedalus approach to investing

At Canada Life Investments, our managers follow a strict process with built-in flexibility across our multi-asset fund range. Our Portfolio Funds, for example, always stay aligned to each risk profile. This may seem boring at certain points in the cycle, but we aim to minimise the fall without having to make rash decisions on the assets we hold.

The benefit of this conservative style is reflected in our results during Q1 2020 within our Portfolio Funds: compared to other risk mapped funds, our fall has been lower and softer whilst still mirroring the investors’ tolerance to risk. Furthermore, we still have managed to provide outperformance in funds over the longer term. It may not seem like a joy ride during market surges, but unlike Icarus we were able to control our fate and weather the market seesaws we saw in March.

Source: Morningstar as at 31/03/2020, bid to bid with income reinvested. DT fund list is an equally weighted composite benchmark of every multi asset OEIC/Unit Trust fund which has been either risk profile or risk targeted by Dynamic Planner as at the 31/03/20. DT Active funds are a subset of the DT Funds which have been labelled as either active or blended. RTM funds are a subset of the DT Fund list of only funds which are risk targeted by Dynamic planner. The funds to be included in each category decided by research by Canada Life Investments. Green highlights LF Canlife Portfolio funds have outperformed the DT funds over the time period shown.

Within our Portfolio Fund range, our III and IV funds were in the top quartile of their peer groups and two others in the second quartile for the three months ending the 31st of March 2020. This is due to sensible asset allocation and the performance of the underlying equity and fixed income funds.

In terms of our positioning, within our Portfolio Funds we have continued to match our strategic asset allocation, with adjustments to the underlying investments. As with Daedalus, we are adjusting to the wind to keep the funds on track without making any large bets or, as Icarus did, attempts to overcompensate due to an earlier fall in returns. A prime example is our focus on tech within our US equity holdings. We held a higher conviction to the Nasdaq even before covid-19 struck and believe it will continue to outperform throughout the crisis and in the new norm.

For us, risk management is a function of relative weights, relative performance, liquidity and volatility of the underlying fund components, with constant observation of realised returns in both absolute terms and versus similar peer funds. A simple but safer way to invest in turbulent times.

Not only have we shown a lower drawdown during the market falls, but, from the lowest point in the market on 23 March – 30 April we also have been able to maintain the upside compared to the sector whilst continuously maintaining our Daedalus approach to investing.

Source: Table 1: Morningstar as at 30/04/2020, bid to bid with income invested. Table 2: Morningstar as at the 30/04/2020 for cumulative returns, as at 31/03/2020 for discrete performance. DT fund list is an equally weighted composite benchmark of every multi asset OEIC/Unit Trust fund which has been either risk profile or risk targeted by Dynamic Planner as at the 31/03/20. DT Active funds are a subset of the DT Funds which have been labelled as either active or blended. RTM funds are a subset of the DT Fund list of only funds which are risk targeted by Dynamic planner. The funds to be included in each category decided by research by Canada Life Investments.

Important information

Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The value of investments may fall as well as rise and investors may not get back the amount invested. Income from investments may fluctuate. Currency fluctuations can also affect performance.

The information contained in this document is provided for use by investment professionals and is not for onward distribution to, or to be relied upon by, retail investors. No guarantee, warranty or representation (express or implied) is given as to the document’s accuracy or completeness. The views expressed in this document are those of the fund manager at the time of publication and should not be taken as advice, a forecast or a recommendation to buy or sell securities. These views are subject to change at any time without notice. This document is issued for information only by Canada Life Investments. This document does not constitute a direct offer to anyone, or a solicitation by anyone, to subscribe for shares or buy units in fund(s). Subscription for shares and buying units in the fund(s) must only be made on the basis of the latest Prospectus and the Key Investor Information Document (KIID) available at www.canadalifeinvestments.com.

Data Source – © 2020 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.

Canada Life Investments is the brand for investment management activities undertaken by Canada Life Asset Management Limited, Canada Life Limited and Canada Life European Real Estate Limited. Canada Life Asset Management Limited (no. 03846821), Canada Life Limited (no.00973271) and Canada Life European Real Estate Limited (no. 03846823) are all registered in England and the registered office for all three entities is Canada Life Place, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 5BA. Canada Life Asset Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Canada Life Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

CLI01622 Expiry 31/05/2021

24 January 2020: Dynamic Planner is set to launch a unique addition to the growing market for decumulation solutions, the Dynamic Planner Risk Managed Decumulation (RMD) Service.

Advisers and ultimately their clients will soon be able to quickly and fairly compare decumulation investment solutions, helping guard against unwelcome surprises in future annual reviews.

Chris Jones, Dynamic Planner Proposition Director said:

“We are all more than familiar with the drivers behind the need for decumulation services and products, but, to date, only a handful of solutions have been launched and these are yet to enjoy the market share they deserve. In a rising market their unit price performance has not compared well with existing accumulation solutions but such a comparison fails to consider the needs and outcome of a target market needing to encash units on a monthly basis. We hope that by identifying those solutions that manage monthly risk and categorising them together a more fair and accurate comparison can be more easily made by advisers.”

The Dynamic Planner RMD service provides advisers with a simple route to suitable solutions, saving them time and making life easier. It gives advice firms confidence that what has been promised, in terms of a fund’s expected risk and return, is actually delivered. Clients’ capital crucially is also likely to last longer.

Chris Jones added:

“Advisers have been able to research solutions that distribute an income and advice on portfolios that enable the client to take their regular withdrawals from cash for years. However, to date it has not been easy to research solutions from which it would be suitable to take regular monthly withdrawals by encashing units. Our Risk Managed Decumulation service is the answer. It is unique in its approach as it focuses on sequencing risk by controlling the size of monthly losses – instead of looking at annual volatility. When a client introduces additional risk, by encashing units monthly to pay for a fixed capital withdrawal, this is managed more closely so that the annual risk to capital remains the same. As a result, capital is more likely to last longer.”

Dynamic Planner will provide more details about the Dynamic Planner Risk Managed Decumulation Service over the coming weeks.

Want to find out more and how Dynamic Planner can help support your firm? Request A Demo today.

FE Investments – the investment arm of FE fundinfo – has partnered with Dynamic Planner to risk profile its four ranges of managed portfolios.

Dynamic Planner will ensure the portfolios – called Hybrid, Responsibly Managed, Income and Mosaic – match the end investor’s agreed risk mandate to enable advisers to meet and exceed the regulator’s suitability requirements.

Chris Jones, Proposition Director at Dynamic Planner, said:

“The way in which we risk profile solutions is increasingly becoming the benchmark for advice firms and the standard for asset managers.”

“We welcome FE Investments’ range of managed portfolios to the fast-growing base of over 1,400 funds currently profiled in Dynamic Planner.”

Chris added:

“With the breadth of its range of managed portfolios and £2bn in assets under management, FE Investments’ proposition is clearly an important option for advisers and their clients. Advice firms will now be able to view FE Investments’ managed portfolios within the UK’s most widely used risk-based financial planning technology system.”

Mark Chanda, Head of Adviser & Discretionary Investment Sales at FE fundinfo, said:

“Since launching FE Investments more than five years ago, we have gone from strength to strength. We now actively manage more than £2bn of assets through our range of risk targeted managed portfolios, which cater for a wide range of investor risk profiles.

“We are very pleased to be offering our managed portfolios in Dynamic Planner and to be working with them. This will help many financial advisers find suitable investment options for their clients.”

Mark added:

“We believe that by making FE Investment’s managed portfolio range available within Dynamic Planner, we can offer advisers an investment service that supports their clients in reaching their investment goals, whatever they may be.”

FE Investments’ managed portfolios bring the total number of funds profiled or rated by Dynamic Planner to more than 1,430, the largest number risk profiled by any ratings system in the UK.

You can search for the FE Investments portfolios in Dynamic Planner today. Not yet a Dynamic Planner user? Request A Demo and discover how it can help support your firm.