Q: What is the biggest change you have seen in the industry since you joined?
I have been working in or researching the investment industry since 2008. Clearly, there has been material change to regulatory regimes and product innovation in this time, but I would say one of the most significant – and underappreciated – changes I’ve seen is that there is greater tolerance, if not outright demand, for cognitive diversity within investment teams.
Risk-taking individuals have begun to realise the benefits that attracting a diverse team with both breadth and depth of experience can have on the robustness of debate and avoidance of group-think. This in turn leads to more robust products, decisions and, ultimately, client outcomes.
Q: What is the investment topic brought up most by clients/investors?
The topics of interest tend to ebb and flow with the market and what is topical in the news. Presently, we’re engaging heavily on the UK Budget and US election. This year in particular, with over 50% of the global population going to the polls, we’re seeing heightened market volatility that’s driving a lot of queries.
We’re using this as an opportunity to engage on our investment principles, which emphasise diversification and discipline, as well as our investment process, which looks past near-term election noise to potential policy impact on markets and valuations over the next three-to-five years.
Read the rest of this article in the November issue of Portfolio Adviser magazine
