Ashburton Bespoke Portfolio Service Outperforms ARC Private Client Index
The Ashburton Bespoke Portfolio Service is an investment portfolio individually tailored to meet investor’s specific requirements, and which applies its disciplined methods into the selection of international equities and other assets. It has been specifically developed to look after individuals who require personalised wealth management within a focused investment management process, with typical clients including high net worth individuals, trusts and pension funds2.
Dennis Phillips, Investment Director of Ashburton’s Bespoke Portfolio Service, said: “Our personal service means that each portfolio is continuously monitored, and we provide individual reporting on a quarterly basis – enabling us to deliver an impressive track record. We are very pleased to have achieved this position.”
“A recent trip to Hong Kong affirmed my current adjustments made to the Bespoke Portfolio Service which has shifted the equity weighting largely into the Asia Pacific region and out of Europe. I believe there are ‘green shoots’ of emerging stabilisation here, offering the ability for Asia to outperform and provide solid investment opportunities. In times of turmoil it is vital my approach remains cautious. Therefore, due to individual stock volatility being so great, I am investing the equity part of the portfolio through Exchange Traded Funds (ETF’s) and investment funds. The market environment remains very bumpy, moving dramatically on a single piece of news. In those circumstances, direct stock investments make less sense.”
“I remember that after the 1974/75 market slump, the markets rebounded very sharply. There are some similarities with the current stock market decline so, if history repeats, it’s quite likely that when we hit bottom we will see a sharp upturn. In anticipation, we have been gradually building up the equity allocation in order to capture as much of that upswing as possible when it does come. We currently hold around 30% exposure to equities in client portfolios. By comparison, for most of the final quarter of 2008 we had a zero weighting to stocks.”
“It is important to continue making active decisions, even in times of market distress, as we don’t think buy and hold strategies will work well in the current turbulent environment.”
“In conclusion, after a prolonged period of stock market carnage, the recovery in a number of lead economic indicators is suggesting that equities are now in the process of forming a near-term bottom. Cash held by investors is at record levels and such extreme pessimism will ultimately provide a significant buying opportunity in risk assets for investors with a medium-term horizon when the economic and corporate news flow begins to improve.”
