“We take it extremely practically. We ask clients, ‘Is this investment too risky? Too boring? How does it strike you?’ You establish a risk profile and the suitability of a client much more effectively if you understand their reactions to a variety of different investments and investment ideas.”
Having joined Canaccord Genuity in January, Perera is still getting used to his new role. But within that short window of time, his team has benefited from the global, institutional top-down view that is in his DNA.
“We have a large number of people with strong bottom-up skills in terms of picking investments, whether its stocks, bonds, funds or different investment trusts,” he says.
“From the top down, I have been able to bring some of my skills to bear in terms of figuring out when you move investment from Europe to the US or vice versa. Figuring out whether you should be invested in China or not and what should you do about the currency.”
On this last topic, Perera has been thinking about what will happen as sterling rises, devising tactical plays for actively managing currency risks for his clients.
Although Canaccord Genuity’s clients – the majority of whom have sterling-denominated accounts – have made a lot of money off the back of sterling weakness of late, the pound is not going to fall forever, says Perera.
“The pound doesn’t have to be incredibly strong, just stronger, and then you would have a currency loss on your foreign investments. Even when we buy UK stocks, the vast majority of earnings come from outside the country so, therefore, you have a natural currency risk.”
