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After turbulent times across the world Quilter Cheviot chair Geoff Cook says the firm’s innovative approach offers investors “peace of mind and reassurance”. Emily Moore reports
“WE can’t change the weather. If there is a storm, there is a storm but we can help people to adjust their sail so that they can navigate the challenges more smoothly.”
These words, from Quilter Cheviot International chair Geoff Cook, followed the firm’s annual seminar, during which panellists reflected not just on another year of economic and geopolitical uncertainty but also on 12 months in which the firm has implemented a number of changes designed to offer investors “peace of mind and reassurance in an increasingly uncertain world”.
Titled A Wealth of International Opportunity, the event at The Royal Yacht Hotel highlighted both the ever-evolving regulatory and political landscape, as well as introducing the firm’s new financial planning division and an “innovative new approach” to its international portfolio management services.
“Critically, during this year – as we mark our 50th anniversary in the Island – the Jersey office was incorporated, a move which aligns us with our Dublin office and gives us a great foundation on which to build for the next 50 years,” explained Quilter Cheviot International chief executive Tim Childe.
“This, together with the new services we have launched and our continuing recognition of the importance of face-to-face interaction with our clients, demonstrates how adaptive we are as a business.”
Having stood on the same stage a year ago and reflected on one of the “most extraordinary years in history”, Mr Childe said that the events of those tumultuous 12 months had still been felt this year.
“While the landscape is always changing, we are still feeling the hangover from 2022,” he acknowledged, “and, of course, inflation is the biggest issue. The impact of inflation and the resultant rises in interest rates are creating several challenges, as clients see their expenditure increase and worry about achieving their financial goals. Against this backdrop, that personal service and launch of our financial planning division are more important than ever.”
While he said that the picture was “improving”, he admitted that the lack of stability around the world was raising a number of questions.
“Geopolitics are really coming to the fore,” added Mr Cook. “With war in Ukraine and the Middle East, many clients are turning to us for reassurance and advice, something which, thanks to the combination of our Jersey-headquartered international division, Dublin and Dubai offices, we are uniquely positioned to provide.”
His views were echoed by head of Dubai office Mark Leale, who said that “being on the ground” transformed the firm’s relationships with clients.
“Our clients see the news and they want to know how worldwide events should influence their decisions,” he said. “While digital connectivity is great, nothing beats being able to sit down with your financial planner or investment manager face to face. And this is something which, as wealth moves down the generations, becomes even more important, as you build relationships with the beneficiaries as well as with the original investors.”
Complementing Quilter Cheviot International’s long-established wealth management services, the new financial planning arm is led by head of advice Kevin Speake.
“In a complex world, financial planning can reassure people that, while economic and market conditions remain volatile, often the impact that these events have on their financial plans can be minimal,” he explained.
Having worked in engineering before switching to finance, Mr Speake said that the biggest element of the team’s financial planning was to be client-centric in its thinking, getting to know clients and understanding what they want to achieve.
“That may sound very simple,” he smiled, “but to achieve that simple goal uses lots of technical resources, insights and understandings. By doing that, we can bring clarity and simplicity to the client and, in conjunction with the investment management team, assure them that their money is invested in a way which takes both their short-term cashflow needs and longer-term financial goals into account.”
And having both financial planning and investment management capabilities in the same office is, adds Mr Speake, more “powerful” than it may appear.
“Being able to sit down together and talk about clients’ needs and changes in life circumstances as and when they take place gives us a massive tactical advantage,” he said. “There are no blurred lines, so the quality and transparency of service which the client receives is therefore that much higher.”
“From an investment management perspective, having the financial planning team really expands our scope,” added investment director Damien Maltwood. “While investment managers have always teased out details from clients, involving a financial planner gives us a much more scientific approach and more detailed targets and objectives around which we can build a portfolio.”
Having already attracted interest from trustees, Mr Leale added: “This collaborative approach also enables us to look at cashflow modelling for the beneficiaries of the trusts we look after and ensure that we have the right strategy in place to deliver the outcomes the settlor intended.
“It is also particularly beneficial for multi-jurisdictional clients, whose financial affairs are a lot more complex than they may realise. If, for example, you live in Dubai, you don’t have to pay any personal taxes in the UAE. However, that doesn’t mean that you won’t have an obligation to pay taxes in another jurisdiction where you have been domiciled, hold assets or have business interests.
“People often over-simplify the situation but this illustrates the value of financial advice. And, as circumstances change and you move through the lifecycle or acquire new assets, it is vital that you maintain that conversation and update your financial plan accordingly.”
While Brexit has, as Mr Cook acknowledged, complicated the situation for Britons with interests in the EU, he said it was more important than ever for such people to obtain “good advice”.
“Many of these international residents have interests in the EU and elsewhere. If, say, you live in Dubai but own a business in Europe, there are several complications surrounding your capital, where it is invested and how you can move it from one territory to another. There are then questions over how and where this is taxed, what your country of origin is and who has a permanent claim on you. It is hugely complex and while many residents may struggle to access advice, our Dublin office enables us to provide such services into the EU.”
Supporting both the financial planning and investment management spheres is Quilter Cheviot’s team of researchers.
“We have a considerable research resource from which to draw, and their analysis really helps us to identify the best opportunities for clients,” said Mr Childe. “Adding that research to our integrated wealth offering in the EU, Crown Dependencies and Middle East gives us a pretty powerful offering, with a holistic service which has particular appeal for the advisory community.”
The firm’s research ability is also critical, says Mr Maltwood, to its new international managed portfolio services, which he describes as offering a range of centralised core strategies in addition to existing “made-to-measure portfolios and bespoke portfolios”.
“Excitingly, we can now offer an ‘off-the-rack’ portfolio built from the same cloth as our bespoke offering,” he explained. “For many years, our investment managers have been creating genuinely bespoke portfolios around, for example, Sharia, fixed income or sector-focused mandates and they will continue to do so.
“Now we can extend our offering, using the same full suite of investment instruments within our discretionary portfolios but using ‘building blocks’, such as global equities, fixed income as well as alternative assets that traditional managed portfolios couldn’t use, such as infrastructure, commodities and private equity, in different proportions, to create existing strategies ranging from cautious to growth in line with the client’s risk tolerance and aspirations.
“This approach, as it can be managed effectively at a lower value, also gives us access to clients who are building their asset base, rather than working solely with those who have already achieved this and are now living from their assets. It is a great tool for supporting the creation of future wealth.”
However, supporting the creation of wealth during such turbulent times is not easy, which is why the team is hoping for a little more stability over the next 12 months.
“While it is difficult to predict the future, returns have started to stabilise and there are definitely opportunities for both low-risk and high-risk clients again,” said Mr Maltwood.
“We are also very excited about the opportunities in the Middle East and the launch, and growth, of both our financial planning team and our international managed portfolio services,” added Mr Childe.
“We know that more change is on the way, with more tensions between great powers inevitable, and having a trusted adviser can really support clients through those changing times,” added Mr Cook. “As I said at the beginning, we can’t stop the storms but we can provide the peace of mind and reassurance to help navigate this increasingly uncertain world.”
