IN THE space of four months, the economic climate and investor sentiment has changed quite dramatically. We have moved from a financial market that looked as if it was sitting on the edge of a precipice to one that is still cautious, particularly in the banking and housing sectors, but still driving ahead almost bull-like in its nature. In the past six weeks alone, the FTSE100 has gained 368 points, an increase of 6.28 per cent, due to seemingly insatiable demand in oil, energy, mining and comm
Our IFA of the Year competitors have attempted to shape their client's Sipp portfolio to deal with unexpected short-term events, but the last quarter has been nothing short of a spectacular roller-coaster ride and the near-term future is still quite
unpredictable. It could be argued that the principles of asset allocation will prevail and assuming the make-up of the client's portfolio accurately reflects his or her risk profile, then there is nothing to worry about. But it takes a brave person to stick to their high-level principles when staring disaster in the face. Two of our competitors have done just that. One has made no changes to his original portfolio selection and is beginning to realise the benefits of having a robust investment strategy at outset with no unnecessary switching charges along the way. The other has held a large proportion of the fund in cash since the start of the competition and has chosen to "drip-feed" money into the market as and when buying opportunities present themselves.
Time will tell just what approach will impress the judging panel.
Assuming markets continue to perform positively over the next few months, it will be those IFAs who have sufficient exposure to global equities that will see the value of their portfolio improve.
• Raymond Ellis is director/compliance officer with Scott Moncrieff Wealth Management
The full article contains 323 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
