Investments should be managed by appropriate professionals.

That’s why the highest qualified Individuals carry out Worldwide’s research process.
Whilst many advisers seem to pick the best fund based on who has produced the best returns over the last year or five years, you will no doubt be aware that this is meaningless in deciding which is best for the coming years. Most people who have chosen on this basis have lost money, as you are more than likely buying a fund at its peak, perhaps because it is overexposed in one market segment. 

We have two stages to our research which are both quantitive and qualitative.

Quantitive research involves studying a funds true performance using the FT award winning measures called Portfolio Planning for Value – PPV. 

We analyse a funds consistency by ranking it in ten divisions over each month over the last 5 years. We then apply numerous risk measures but standard deviation and Sharpe ratio are the two we place most weight on (Read our section on Investment Risk for an explanation). What we are trying to see is if the fund is consistently producing sufficient returns for the risk.

Qualitative research involves visits to fund management groups to ascertain their approach to their relevant Investment funds. 

Managers are questioned on: 

- Their viewpoints of their fund
- Where they consider it will be invested
- What its direction is
- How will they achieve their objectives?

The holdings of the fund are then studied to ascertain their true value in achieving ongoing objectives. 

The study of the manager’s history is taken into account and an analysis of the team behind the fund’s performance.

Criteria include the size of the fund, the length of time it has been in existence, the management skills in the sector, charges to the fund and whether or not the fund has to take a higher risk to recoup the charges. They also look at the assets the fund is investing in – as an example, a UK Income Fund should typically be investing in companies that have a target yield of 110% of the FTSE All-share Index; however, it was seen in 2000 that many of these investment managers carrying out the investment began to invest into technology companies. This of course increased the overall risk of a client’s portfolio, and many clients saw a drop in their funds unnecessarily.

After applying the above we then select the most appropriate funds to maximise your returns and minimise the risk.

Find out why many people switch their Investment adviser to Worldwide Financial Planning by calling 0845 230 9876 or complete the enquiry form in confidence. 

Worldwide Financial Planning – Investment Adviser of the Year, Ethical investment Adviser of the Year