Private investment firm Sparrows Capital has hired a senior business development professional to grow its recently-launched model portfolio service among the IFA community.
Sophie Austen (pictured) has joined the firm from wealth manager Netwealth where she was an intermediary business development manager. Prior to this she spent seven years at Sanlam, most recently as a relationship manager.
Austen will be responsible for building and managing client relationships for the firm’s MPS, launched last week, reporting to Sparrows Capital head of adviser proposition John Bennett.
Cap of £20 per underlying client per month
SCore MPS is a platform-based MPS aimed at financial advisers priced at 0.1% per annum with a cap of £20 per underlying client per month. The firm said the cost covers portfolio construction, index selection, index fund and ETF screening, portfolio monitoring, risk management and rebalancing.
Sparrows Capital said the service is on the Transact platform with more to be announced.
Sparrows Capital chief executive Yariv Haim said: “Sophie is an important hire for Sparrows Capital. She’ll play a large part in building solid relationships with advisers through the SCore MPS range of portfolios. With low costs and a capped fee, backed by a proven investment track record, we believe that we are setting a new standard in delivering the value that advisers and their clients seek.”
Evidence-based investing
Sparrows Capital claims to be a pioneer of evidence-based investing, which it describes as being based on long-term market data backed by academic studies that identify asset allocation as the primary driver of risk and return over the medium to long term.
It said this approach reflects the style adopted by two of the world’s largest endowment funds – the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, Government Pension Fund Global, and the Japanese Government Pension Investment Fund.
Using this approach, Sparrows Capital builds portfolios using index funds and ETFs. SCore MPS consists of 11 factor portfolios representing equity exposures from zero to 100% in increments of 10%.
Haim added: “We believe that charging asset-based fees for model portfolios is not only outdated, it is unfair on clients and unjustifiable. SCore MPS addresses regulatory concerns over issues of accessibility, transparency and cost, identified by the introduction of Mifid II.”
Austen said: “For far too long costs have been an issue across the investment sector. Simply put, a quality investment proposition delivered at low cost creates value. The team at Sparrows Capital have leveraged their evidence-based investment approach to provide exactly that. I am excited to be joining the team to help bring this to the broader advisory market.”
