Four old friends are golfing together. All have done well in their various businesses over the years and each has taken advice on their pensions and investments but from differing sources.
As they are past discussing sex, drugs and rock and roll, the conversation drifts towards finance. This is between sniggers and giggles as one of the “gladiators” scuttles another ball at worm height and in the wrong direction.
“I’m with a major Wealth Manager” announces Mr. Brash. “I love their glossy brochures and the fact I deal with a partner of the business.”
“Yes, their brochures are high quality, but who do you think ultimately pays for that? As for ‘partner,’ that’s what that Company calls all its’ sales people.” The voice was that of Mr. Common.
Mr. Brash, looking rather red faced, takes a wild swing at his ball and misses.
More giggling and some muttered curses.
“My adviser uses a third party Fund Manager for my money. He seems to have done ok?” chirped Mr. Loud.
“How do you know?” asked Sense. “Have you been able to compare the performance with other portfolios and do you know what they have in your portfolio? What is it benchmarked against?”
“Err, I don’t know. They have never told me and I have not really asked but my adviser said to trust them” said Loud.
Common added, “Is your adviser charging you for ongoing investment advice too?”
“Err, yes” Loud mumbled.
“Why? What value is he adding if he has outsourced the investment decisions?”
“Err, well he talks to me every year and I have a coffee with him. He is very polite and friendly.”
The others sniggered as Loud took four attempts to hole his ball from little more than six feet. His mind seemed to be elsewhere.
Brash then brayed “Well what do you two smarty pants do with your money?”
Common and Sense looked at each other. Sense asked Common, “Do you use Rutherford Hughes?”
“Yes, my accountant recommended them,” responded Common.
“Hang on,” stammers Loud. “What makes Rutherford Hughes so good?”
Sense explains “They have a system which breaks down the markets into peer groups and their software then looks at the performance of all the funds in the group. It means that it can then see which are consistently the best performing funds in the group and it is not influenced by which fund manager bought lunch or laid on a golf day.” He goes on “They do this for all the major markets, UK, Europe, USA and have exposure to the Far East and Emerging Markets. They then add in assets like Gilts and Corporate Bonds to act as a balance to the stock market investments for those who want a little less excitement.”
Mr. Common adds, “The portfolios are benchmarked against Investment Association sectors and they have performed very well to date. No guarantees about the future of course but at least they have a logical system.” He rolls in a putt to win the hole then continues, “The software also manages any changes to reduce human error.”
Sense interjected, “And they give full advice covering every aspect of investment and pension planning. When I retired they worked with my accountant to minimise the tax and to give me great flexibility with my pensions and investments. We also looked at IHT planning.”
At the next hole, Sense taps the ball in for another win. The result of the match was Common and Sense beat Loud and Brash 7&6, which in golf parlance is known as “a dog licence.” Who remembers those?
Peter Rutherford is a Director at Rutherford Hughes Ltd. He can be contacted on 0191 229 9600 peter.rutherford@rutherfordhughes.com The value of investments and income from them can go down. You may not get back the original amount invested Rutherford Hughes Ltd. is an appointed representative of TenetConnect Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Rutherford Hughes Ltd company registration no: 10431722. Country of registration: England. Office & Registered Office address: Collingwood Buildings, 38 Collingwood Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1JF.
