Choosing where to invest your wealth is one of the most difficult things to do. Whether you are making these decisions on your own, with a loved one or with the help of a financial adviser, the huge choice of investments out there only makes things harder. So how do you go about navigating all these options to find the solution that is right for you?
At Money Advice and Planning, we understand these challenges, and we’ve built our approach around making investing easier, more accessible and more understandable, while providing a first-class service at a low cost.
More Than Investment Management – A Partnership Approach
Our Managed Portfolio Service Partnership
Money Advice and Planning has partnered with AJ Bell and have developed a Managed Portfolio Service (MPS), designed to help your adviser manage your financial affairs in the most time and cost effective way possible.
AJ Bell has created a suite of investment models for us, designed to our specifications. All models consist of different types of assets (such as shares, bonds and alternatives) from different geographical regions, and each one has a different blend of assets, thus creating varying levels of risk. So whilst one model may be suitable for low-risk investors, another will be suitable for high-risk investors.
All of them are built after careful research and consideration, to ensure optimum performance and greater risk tolerance. Lower risk investments include cash funds and corporate bonds, whilst higher risk investments include non-UK equities and emerging markets.
Ongoing Professional Management
On an ongoing basis, AJ Bell monitors these models and makes any changes necessary, to ensure they continue to deliver on their objectives, whilst maintaining the same amount of risk. And as no-one knows your needs and preferences better than your Money Advice and Planning adviser, our MPS allows for the perfect blend of customer care with investment experience.
Why Choose Money Advice and Planning for Your Investment Journey
Comprehensive Investment Solutions
When you work with Money Advice and Planning, you’re not just getting another investment service. You’re partnering with professionals who genuinely understand that your financial future matters. Here’s what sets us apart:
- Whole market investments can cater for all needs, requirements and preferences through our comprehensive investment approach.
- Platform investing ensures 24/7 access to investments and total transparency through our digital investment platform.
- Adviser engagement adapted to suit you, either through face-to-face meetings or speaking remotely via our flexible advisory service.
- Fair fee structure applied to all products bought and work undertaken, to ensure value for money through our transparent pricing.
- Ongoing reviews, tailored to your needs, provided to ensure all financial affairs are reviewed regularly through our portfolio review service.
- Holistic advice provided so all areas of financial planning are covered to enable you to reach your goals.
The Benefits That Matter Most
Professional Portfolio Management
Our MPS isn’t just about picking investments, it’s about creating a comprehensive strategy that works for you:
- All models are reviewed quarterly by AJ Bell and Money Advice and Planning jointly to manage specific risk characteristics, maximising returns where possible through our risk management approach.
- Models are designed and managed to meet most types of clients and their attitude to risk.
- Client portfolios are rebalanced regularly to maintain chosen attitude to risk through our portfolio rebalancing service.
- Investments from various geographical areas and sectors chosen for optimum spread of risk via diversified investing.
- Active management of models undertaken daily by experienced investment professionals.
- AJ Bell has access to over 3,500 investment funds, thus giving them a wide selection to choose from.
- AJ Bell’s relationships with many fund managers allow for reduced pricing.
Investments Tailored to You
Personal Service That Makes the Difference
Our investment process has been refined over many years to try and maximise growth, for each given risk profile. Where we add real value is in our personal service.
Your adviser will get to know you and understand what you want from an investment; timeframes, amounts and attitudes to risk, amongst other factors. They then analyse the best option(s) for you and make recommendations, before money is invested and other actions undertaken.
At least annually, your adviser will review your portfolio and re-engage to ensure any and all changes are accounted for, and new requirements (if any) are met through our annual review process.
This cycle lasts as long as your investments, to ensure they remain fit for purpose and perform optimally.
Medium to Long-term Focus
All investments advised upon are intended for the medium- to longer-term through our long-term investment strategy. We do not believe short-term investing is as effective, but if that is your objective, your adviser can work towards that.
Our Investment Route Options
Six Carefully Designed Portfolios
We have six portfolios (called routes) available to invest in, each one taking on a different level of risk through our diversified portfolio range. Each one is sufficiently diversified to ensure loss is mitigated as best as possible, and aims to deliver capital growth over a minimum five-year period:
Route 1 has a preference towards defensive assets such as cash and bonds, with a small exposure to higher-risk assets such as shares and potentially alternative assets through our conservative investment approach.
Route 2 has a preference towards defensive assets such as cash and bonds, with exposure to higher-risk assets such as shares, again potentially using alternative assets via our cautious investment strategy.
Route 3 has a balanced approach between defensive assets such as cash and bonds, and higher-risk assets such as shares and potentially alternative assets through our balanced portfolio approach.
Route 4 has a preference towards higher-risk assets such as shares and potentially alternative assets, with some exposure to defensive assets such as cash and bonds via our growth investment strategy.
Route 5 has a preference towards higher-risk assets such as shares and potentially alternative assets, with least exposure to defensive assets such as cash and bonds through our aggressive growth approach.
ESG Investment Option
The sixth route undertakes Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing. ESG investing involves placing money only in products with stronger environmental (E), social (S) or governance (G) practices, compared to other companies in the same sector using one of AJ Bell’s pre-built models.
There is nothing wrong with investing in one model, then moving to another in the future, if your attitude to risk changes over time. This is why we call them routes; because we all change our minds on direction at some point in life.
Understanding Expected Returns
Realistic Performance Expectations
A vitally important role for AJ Bell is understanding how each portfolio is expected to perform over time through our performance monitoring system. There are no guarantees, but the investment management process offers insights into risk and return, and what can be expected from each portfolio.
In general, more risk means more volatility. If you invest in low risk, gains will be small when the market performs well, but losses will be minimal when the market performs poorly. Conversely, if you invest in high risk, the opposite will be true. Investment performance is not everything – you need to be comfortable with it.
If avoidance of capital loss is a key concern, that is fine; just aim lower through our capital preservation strategies.
Each portfolio is designed to maximise returns for a specific level of risk, and returns will vary over time as the market moves. The longer you invest, the more predictable your returns become, as over time, good and bad years tend to cancel each other out.
Ready to Start Your Investment Journey?
If you’re ready to explore how our Managed Portfolio Service can work for you, or want to understand which investment route might suit your circumstances, we’re here to help.
Contact Money Advice and Planning today to speak with one of our experienced advisers who can guide you through the options and help you make informed decisions about your financial future. Visit our website at MAP Finances or call us to arrange your consultation.
Together, let’s make multi-asset investing easy, with professional guidance, transparent processes, and a service that’s built around your needs.
