Walking With Wealth Managers

Earlier this week Sue Noffke, head of UK equities at Schroders, spoke about investing in the UK market, despite recessionary fears. She looked at why FTSE large laps aren't necessarily tied to the health of the UK economy, but also why some mid-caps shouldn't be disregarded.

Daniel Pinto, founder, chairman & CEO of Stanhope Capital Group spoke to Citywire's Christopher Johnson about why he is bullish on private equity. Pinto also discussed the impact of inflation on the global economy and why he does not think high levels of inflation will be a permanent feature going forward. He talked about the effect of the Russia-Ukraine crisis on the world and shared his views on whether the war has sparked de-globalisation.

The World Economic Forum's Alice Charles speaks to Caroline Hug about the biggest challenges facing urban development, and why investors need to allocate capital to social community.

Newton's CEO Euan Munro spoke to John Schaffer about how physical health can be a warning sign for degrading mental health. He spoke candidly about how he developed Bell's Palsy as a fund manager during the financial crisis, due to the immense stresses of the job.

Alex Pelteshki, AAA-rated manager of the Aegon Strategic Bond fund, told John Schaffer that there are still opportunities to make money in fixed income despite a torrid time for the asset class in 2022.

In this episode of desert island fund picks, Dan Boardman-Weston, CEO and CIO of BRI Wealth Management, names his top strategies for the next year. The following clip is an extract from a profile interview that will be available on the Citywire Wealth Manager website later this month, where we discuss Dan taking over the top job from his father at only 29 years old.

Head of multi-strategy at Sanlam Investments UK, Mike Pinggera, joined Citywire to discuss the Sanlam Real Assets fund's allocation in renewable energy and his outlook on the clean energy sector following the war in Ukraine. Almost a third of the fund's weighting is in renewable energy. 60% of this allocation has exposure to onshore and offshore wind, 10% has exposure to solar, 10% has exposure to hydro and the rest focus on other renewable areas.

Bryn Jones, head of fixed income at Rathbones discussed how he has managed his £2.5bn Ethical Bond fund under strenuous market conditions. The strategy, which the Citywire AA-rated manager runs alongside Noelle Cazalis, was launched almost 20 years ago, before the creation of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Fidelity signed a partnership with fintech platform Moonfare and invested in the company in October. As part of the tie-up, Fidelity's clients are able to access Moonfare's platform, and therefore invest in private equity funds that are on there. Christian Staub, managing director for Europe at Fidelity, says client demand has been significant and for now they are targeting institutional investors in the UK and select countries in Europe, but the firm will open up the offering to others step by step. On the other hand, Moonfare has been on an accelerated growth path. Just last month the group expanded into Israel, Portugal and Sweden. In terms of products as well, CEO Steffen Pauls says the firm is looking at different options, such as securitisation, tokenisation and the European Long Term Investment fund, to bring private equity funds to retail investors.

Raymond James CEO Paul Reilly speaks about the firm's £279m deal to buy Charles Stanley. Multimedia editor John Schaffer caught up with Paul last week at a restaurant in London where they also spoke about valuations in the UK wealth market. It's worth noting that the conversation was recorded before RBC's recent deal to buy Brewin Dolphin for £1.6bn.

Brooks Macdonald chief executive Andrew Shepherd has said his firm may have set over-ambitious goals for its switch to a new operating system. During a visit to Citywire Studios, Shepherd spoke about the delay in the transition to SS&C Technologies software, which increased the wealth firm's costs, as it missed a late 2021 deadline to make the move.

In this episode YT Boon, manager of the Neuberger Berman 5G Connectivity fund, looks at the opportunities in this emerging sector, and explains why performance has been more challenging of late, even in comparison with other tech funds. It's worth noting that this podcast was recorded becore Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February.

Christopher Johnson sat down with the author of Black and British: A Forgotten History and renowned broadcaster, David Olusoga OBE. Recorded at the Citywire Wealth Manager Conference & Awards, Olusoga discusses the legacies of the British Empire on the UK's financial services industry, the importance of understanding these histories for Britain's national identity and how the politicisation of race issues has not dampened the younger generation's interest in exploring these topics.

Dame Helena Morrissey discussed the lack of diversity in the fund industry and how her initiative, The Diversity Project, aims to promote a new image of fund management that is representative of society at large. Morrissey experienced discrimination after being passed over for her first promotion following her maternity leave. Her manager clarified that although the company believed there was no doubt as to her performance, they doubted her commitment.

In this episode Michael Scott, manager of the Man GLG High Yield Opportunities fund, looks at which regions are offering the best rewards at the lower end of the debt market, He also speaks about some of the poorer quality issuances that have entered into the high yield space recently. It's worth noting that this podcast was recorded before Russia's invasion of Ukraine last week.

Kyra Motley, partner at law firm Boodle Hatfield, suggests the Investor Visa's ‘dirty money' reputation is unfair, and why the Home Office shouldn't have temporarily scrapped the scheme last week.

Majedie fund manager Tom Morris talks about the Metaverse, and he is investing in the new wave of the internet. We also speak about how luxury brands like Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Burberry are rolling out virtual products in these new digital spaces.

Stephen Yiu, manager of the Blue Whale Growth fund, spoke about his narrow escape from both Meta and PayPal's dismal share price dips last week. At the end of June last year, Facebook was the third largest holding in Blue Whale Growth at 6.9%. However, Yiu said that he had been gradually lowering the holding during the second half of the year, and that before the firm's results last week the holding was less than 1% of the portfolio.

Traditional asset managers have ramped up efforts to expand their private markets divisions, not only targeting institutions with their products but also leveraging their existing relationships with wealth managers and advisers to launch funds targeting this growing segment of customers. Schroders Capital has made sure that it is leading this trend. In this interview, Rainer Ender, head of private equity at Schroders Capital, talks about the asset manager's product plans, how it will be in the first wave of managers using the UK's Long-Term Asset Fund and why he's not worried about returns coming down.

Jordan Sriharan speaks about his move from Canaccord Genuity to Canada Life Asset Management; and how he's tackling inflation as a multi asset investor. We look at his holdings in major private equity firms, and why he hasn't written of big tech. Microsoft is discussed later in this podcast, and it's worth noting that this conversation took place before the firm's latest earnings report and it's $69bn bid for Activision Blizzard.

Our first episode back for 2022 is with Nick Clay, manager of the RWC Global Equity Income fund. Nick spoke about why he invests in so-called ‘boring tech', and how some of these firms are trading like value stocks. He also commented on Samsung's poor performance, why 5G firm Qualcomm is moving away from its reliance on Apple, and why he reduced his position in luxury goods brand Richemont.

Peter Kraus, manager of Berenberg's European Small Cap and European Micro Cap funds says he is strongly averse to selling companies in his portfolio. ‘I'm not known for having a high turnover portfolio. I really hate selling. My personal ambition is to never sell - buy a good business and close your eyes for the next 10 years,' Kraus said. The Citywire AAA-rated manager explains in this podcast how he approaches research in a market that lacks coverage from analysts.

Keith Wade, chief economist at Schroders, discusses the impact of labour shortages in the UK and the US. Wade believes that, long term, the 'great resignation' trend could accelerate innovation in automation.

WHEB's Seb Beloe spoke to Ross Miller about whether additionality is the most effective measure of an investment's impact, and how public markets can provide a platform for positive social and environmental outcomes.

Ali Hussain, head of research at Frontier Investment Management Partners (FIM)discusses his approach to investing in frontier markets, why he thinks investors should look to unlock their potential and which countries are the ones to watch for the future.

Courtiers' £25m UK Equity Income fund is currently the peer group top performer over the past year. The fund has returned just shy of 70% compared with a sector average of 36%. I spoke with Gary Reynolds, who runs the strategy with his son Jake. He noted that bets on publisher Reach and Royal Mail were a driving force in recent performance, after selling both positions at a significant gain. In this episode we also speak about the fund manager's approach to impending inflation, and how he makes his portfolio ESG compatible, despite having ‘sin stock' names in the portfolio.

AXA IM's Amanda's O'Toole spoke to Citywire's John Schaffer last week in Glasgow at the investment COP - a COP26 fringe event.

John Malloy, manager of the RWC Global Emerging Markets fund, believes that raw materials stocks will be a huge driver for emerging markets, due to their crucial role in the transition to green energy. The fund manager is particularly bullish towards Zambia's largest mining company, First Quantum Minerals, due to its focus on copper mining. Other plays in the strategy include Chilean firm SQM (Sociedad Química y Minera), which is the largest lithium producer globally. Malloy also discusses how Evergrande and the more onerous regulation of Chinese tech companies has impacted the rest of emerging markets. Despite contagion in Chinese equity markets, companies from the one party state still remain the largest allocation in Malloy's portfolio. The fund manager also explained why he had been upping his position in Chinese tech giants Meituan and Tencent. Over three years the Global Emerging Markets fund has returned 37.4% compared with a sector average of 27.4%.

Today we're looking at the UK IPO market, which has come under scrutiny of late - largely due to Deliveroo's car crash of a listing earlier this year. Clearly there are major risks with new flotations. There's no track record under more onerous reporting standards, and there can be liquidity issues. However, it's not all doom and gloom. Research from AJ Bell in June suggested that UK IPO's had reported an average 24% gain by the half year point. I spoke with Citywire AA-rated Oliver Brown, manager of the MFM UK Primary Opportunities fund, who believes that investors should be taking more notice of IPOs.

Ahead of next month's COP26 event, Jefferies' global head of ESG research, Aniket Shah, gave his views on how asset managers can become net zero investors. He about how investors should tackle challenging areas such as oil majors and miners, and we dig into Shah's latest report.

In extract from our latest property roundtable we look at whether there is a bubble emerging in the retail logistics sector, as investors move away from offices and the high street. Full coverage of the debate is available in our latest magazine. Speakers in this section include: Alex Moore from Rathbones Oli Creasey from Quilter Cheviot Ben Conway Hawksmoor Investment Management

‘There is no reason wealth should be concentrated in the hands of a few,' says Jatin Ondhia, CEO and co-founder of investment platform Shojin Property Partners. That's why he set up the business, which provides access to UK real estate development through fractional investing. The democratisation of private markets has been widely discussed, with many large firms starting to target individual investors. However, this comes with its challenges as well as concerns that it may lead to future mis-selling. Ondhia and Remy Astie, CEO and co-founder of investment platform Vauban discuss why they think it is important to open up the private markets to more investors, how they are trying to solve the problem of access and the tough spot regulators are in.

Small and mid cap companies tend to be more vulnerable to economic disruption than their larger counterparts on the FTSE 100. So why invest in these companies for income, and should small caps be paying out regular dividends anyway? Chris McVey, manager of the Octopus UK Multi-Cap Income, argued that alongside the growth prospects of smaller companies, small and mid caps also offered better dividend cover than the likes of oil majors and tobacco stocks. The Citywire A-rated manager also highlighted some of his top UK income stock picks, as well as when he thinks dividends across small and mid caps will recover to pre-pandemic levels. Over the past year the UK Multi-Cap Income fund has returned 44.2% compared with a sector average of 29.1%.

Citywire's latest Female Alpha report highlights a ‘pandemic effect' when it comes to flexible working practices. This has been especially beneficial for female fund managers returning to work after maternity leave. Sonja Laud, chief investment officer at Legal & General Investment Management, gave her views on how work culture is changing in asset management.

Asset managers are increasingly trying to introduce investment practices they say will help avert climate change, but is the industry doing enough to save the planet? Yale and Brown professor Cary Krosinsky says popular methods, like divestment, are a waste of time and that fund managers should instead focus on financing the right projects and advocating for the right regulation.

If impact investing requires additionality, creating positive real-world outcomes that wouldn't have occurred had that capital not been allocated in that way, can that really be found in listed markets where capital is just going to the previous holder of the securities? To explore this further, I enlisted the help of James Purcell, group head of sustainability and Quintet Private Bank, to discuss what impact investing actually is, how fund houses approach this issue, and innovative instruments that could create more real-world impact in listed markets. ‘

Sharia investing, meaning investments that are governed by Sharia law and the principles of Islam, is a concept which goes back decades, but is seeing rising demand across the UK that, for now, is outstripping supply. Admittedly, this is an area which I personally know very little about. So I caught up with James Penny, chief investment officer at TAM Asset Management. He reflected on what makes an investment Sharia compliant, how the investible universe for Sharia investors is broadening, and the innovation he's seeing throughout this space at the moment.

Professor Ludovic Phalippou of The University of Oxford Said Business School talks through the problems with performance reporting in private equity, why so-called ‘democratisation' can lead to big problems for investors and why he's surprised by the latest media coverage of private equity interest in UK listed companies.

The UK robo advice market has been hitting the headlines again due to the recent JP Morgan Chase deal to buy Nutmeg. So what does this mean for Nutmeg's rival Wealthify? Like other robos in the market, Wealthify has yet to turn a profit since launching in 2016. In its results for 2020 it recorded a loss of £5.3m, up from a £4.8m loss the year before.  I spoke with chief executive Andy Russell, who joined last year from parent company Aviva. He shared the firm's growth plans, and whether it's possible to make money from customers investing small amounts.

With growing interest in investing in China in recent years - what has it been like to invest in Chinese equities for two decades? In this episode I spoke with Baijing Yu, manager of the Comgest Growth China fund, which is celebrating its 20 year anniversary. Since inception in 2001 the fund has returned 69.4% compared with the MSCI China's return of 66.5%.

There's certainly been some hype surrounding UK stocks in recent months, on the back of the rotation from growth to value. But are these opportunities a genuine long term play, or merely a dash for trash? Chris St John, manager of the Axa Framlington UK Mid Cap fund, speaks about the opportunities he's seeing in the market.

Wealth Manager's Ross Miller is joined by Delyth Richards, head of the client solutions group at Kleinwort Hambros, to discuss the firm's approach to social impact investing, and delve into the distinction between social impact investing and 'social' as a constituent part of ESG considerations. They also reflect on the growing power of bondholders and how fixed income is evolving in the impact investing space.

Battery technology has been a hot topic in recent years, in-part fuelled by the monumental rise of Tesla, and ever-growing concerns over carbon emissions. But lithium-ion batteries tend not to be a good solution for larger vehicles like lorries and aircraft. So can Hydrogen fill the electrification gap? Randeep Somel, manager of the M&G Climate Solutions fund, speaks about the investment case for Hydrogen, the stocks set to benefit from the growth in this theme, and why it's a good solution for current environmental concerns.

Disgraced fund manager Neil Woodford has been hitting the headlines again with his attempts to enter back into the industry. Last week Citywire revealed that Woodford is setting up shop in Delaware, after opening another outfit in the Cayman Islands in April. Journalists Loukia Gyftopoulou and Selin Bucak discuss some of the latest stories they have been breaking on Woodford. You can read more about the unfolding Woodford saga at citywire.co.uk/wealthmanager.

Kingswood's head of investments, Paul Surguy, shares the five funds he'd pick if he were cast away to a desert island.

UK inflation more than doubled last month from 0.7% to 1.5%, as the economy began to re-open. As the ONS figures were released, the FTSE 100 suffered a widespread sell-off, sliding below the 7,000 mark. I spoke with Gresham House chief executive Tony Dalwood, to get his reaction to the latest figures and his thoughts on what this means for investors.

With all the hype surrounding ESG (environmental, social, and governance) funds, what happens when a scandal arises with a portfolio company? I spoke with Matt Evans, manager of Ninety One’s UK Sustainable Equity fund, which invests in Compass Group. Earlier this year Compass was caught up in the school meals fiasco, as its subsidiary Chartwells was providing children with a meagre amount of food. This prompted a national outcry, with images of the offending parcels appearing in the national press. The criticism being that what was being provided was far below the £30 a week allowance. At the time of the fiasco, Compass represented 1.7% of Evan’s fund. I asked Evans how the asset manager reacted, as well as the UK ESG opportunities that he’s seeing over the next 12 months.

Episode three of S Club sees Wealth Manager's Ross Miller discuss social impact investing Nick Samuels, head of manager research at Redington. They explore recent trends, impact's data problem, and whether you can really create any impact in public markets.

When it comes to ESG investing, the US is still far behind Europe, but things may be starting to change. Morningstar's head of sustainability research Jon Hale says younger investor sentiment and the Biden administration will be defining in how the next five years play out

In this episode we spoke with Harry Richards, who manages £13.3bn across four Jupiter fixed income funds. Richards is among the youngest managers in the UK fund industry at 32. We spoke about whether he had been met with any challenges due to his age, and the prospect of investing through a period of impending inflation.

Peter Mann, chair of new advice group Radiant Financial and former chief executive of Skandia Bank, tells us what’s driving the latest developments in the wealth consolidator space – such as an uptick in private equity-backed acquisitions – and why an eventual public listing is not off the table for the firm.