It dawned on us when walking between meetings in London recently, that we are now five years old, and therefore we really ought to write to you marking the milestone, offering our thanks and best wishes.
We have grown at a rapid pace and are now pleased to carefully look after £1.55 billion of client assets, at the point of writing. That is some responsibility and one we are proud to fulfil by delivering our proprietary Risk First investment process underpinned by a strong value for money ethos and quality client service.
In the short message that follows I do not want to bore you with endless details of our journey so far, but I do want to make some important points of difference which underpin our philosophy and delivery culture.
“Truth be told, there were no good options available. So, we created our own.”
Investment and risk engine: We set out to democratise the “top end” institutional investment process for the benefit of advised retail clients, delivering the service through a straightforward value-for-money proposition. Performance has been credible in each year so far and our Risk First approach, acutely tested through the pandemic market environment and again now, has never breached any stipulated risk corridor – keeping investor assets in line with the advice our clients give. Our proprietary Dynamic Asset Allocation seeks to add value across the full spectrum of delivery mechanisms – passive, active and sustainable. Income strategies offer competitive yields for defensive and balanced profiles. Our Core range has been awarded the coveted Defaqto 5 Diamond rating for five consecutive years, marking out the quality and repeatability of our investment approach. Likewise, our entire proposition has retained Defaqto’s 5 Star rating for five years in a row.
Serving our clients: We do not sell products – I can’t think of anything worse! We collaborate with clients agreeing a destination and route map and, in many cases, end up manufacturing a complete Centralised Investment/Retirement Process designed to meet demanding standards and economics. We aim to keep everyone in the chain updated by effective communications about markets, performance, news and views. Our digital delivery has grown massively in its popularity including podcasts, voice-over presentations and our traditional investment updates. Our portfolios are accessible across 14 retail platforms. It feels trite to say we place clients at the centre of what we do – but we actually do!
“Savoir-faire, or know-how comes with the richness of experience. That is something we have in spades.”
Taking the long road: Delivering a viable value-for-money proposition from a standing start is not easy. We have not been tempted to deviate from our commitment to sensible transparent fees and our approach bears scrutiny when viewed alongside the peer group. Removing VAT has helped investors to control overall costs. Likewise our low standard fees have been maintained when set against an inflationary backdrop for just about all other overheads. The onset of the FCA’s Consumer Duty regulation is a framework we naturally embrace - as a business we are always open to new ideas and improvements that can enhance investor outcomes.
Future forwards: We are excited by the opportunity and gap in the market for a credible investment proposition to provide feasible withdrawals in retirement. Our collaboration with leading academics in this field is advanced and continues. Our sustainable portfolios link sustainability and investor suitability in a way which is rare indeed. We look forward to making more of it, supported by Consumer Duty. We have the skillset to offer an unconstrained long-only global macro type portfolio. We are investigating ways to bring this offering to market and to satisfy the demands of our clients.
Thank you again for your support and belief in us so far. The first five years have been truly rewarding and Alpha Beta Partners looks ahead to the horizon with optimism and a degree of excitement. Rest assured the successful formula we have devised so far will be reasserted to ensure a successful journey from today onwards. May I politely request, if you are not yet a client, please get in touch and let’s find ways we can work together to improve the outcome for investors.
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