Oury Clark Independent Financial Advice A new approach to professional services - Specialist advice from our team of FSA regulated advisors for both companies and individuals.

A personal wealth management service

Very few of us manage our finances well. That is hardly surprising: the financial world is complex and fast changing and we have neither the time nor, very often, the inclination to make the most of what is on offer. At one time or another almost all of us take financial advice. Your financial situation is unique and so, if financial advice is to be truly valuable, it must be based on an appreciation of your individual circumstances.

That is precisely what we mean when we say that Oury Clark offers a personal wealth management service. We do not provide off-the-shelf solutions. We provide face-to-face advice and we specialise in meeting the financial needs of people who have created more capital, or who earn higher incomes, than average, and whose circumstances are therefore more complicated than usual. Our clients ask us to help them address simple and straightforward issues and also to resolve complex and multi-faceted problems. In every situation, though, we respond with reliable and personal advice designed to suit their individual requirements.

The Oury Clark approach to investment management

Successful investment is critical to your future financial well-being, but it is a field which presents a unique problem: future performance is unpredictable. As a result, when you choose a fund manager, no matter how successful, you can never be sure that you have made the right choice. And even if you have, it may not continue to be the right choice over the years to come.

The Oury Clark Wealth Management Group adopts a radical and effective solution to this problem. We do not place your money in the hands of our own team of investment managers: indeed, we have no investment managers of our own. Instead, we are free to choose any investment manager from any fund management firm anywhere in the world. The responsibility of maintaining the shortlist of funds and fund managers available at any one time falls upon our Investment Committee.

The Committee meets quarterly to review performance and consider detailed reports and research. If a change in the marketplace calls for the addition of another firm, the Committee will select one. If the Committee loses confidence in the ability of an existing firm of managers it will replace them, without any tax or charges being paid by clients. By selecting a number of leading investment managers and investment houses with their own distinctive investment styles we are able to offer our clients the opportunity of aiming to obtain consistent, superior investment performance over the long term. To sum up our two most important and distinctive characteristics, Oury Clark offers you expert advisers who will take a broad perspective of your situation, maintain a lasting relationship and provide trusted advice; and an investment approach designed to ensure that at all times the best and most appropriate selection of investment managers are available to you.

Wealth Management Process

The Wealth Management Process is a three step process:-

1. Risk Profile Questionnaire
2. Asset Allocation
3. Tax Efficient Investment Vehicle

Risk Profile Questionnaire

An essential part of developing a deep and thorough understanding of your personal circumstances and current financial situation is an assessment of your attitude to investment and other risks.

This is critical to the construction of a suitable investment portfolio and we must ensure that we truly understand your willingness and ability to tolerate risk through the use of psychometric risk profiling techniques.

The risk profile questionnaire will help us determine your attitude to risk, based on your current thoughts, motivations and attitudes.

It is possible you may have a different attitude towards some of your pension and investment plans than others. For example, you may have a cautious approach to your pension but a more aggressive investment attitude on other savings plans, where you are prepared to take more risk. If you feel this may be the case, you should complete separate questionnaires for the different plans. In any case, the results of this questionnaire are only indicative and provide a basis for a more detailed discussion.

Asset Allocation- Maximising Return While Minimising Risk

The main goal of allocating your assets among various asset classes is to maximise return for your chosen level of risk, or stated another way, to minimise risk given a certain expected level of return. Of course to maximise return and minimise risk, you need to know the risk-return characteristics of the various asset classes.

Figure 1 compares the risk and potential return of some of the more popular ones:

Figure 1 demonstrates that when you choose investments with higher risk, your expected returns also increase proportionately. But this is simply the result of the risk-return trade off. They will often have high volatility and are therefore suited for investors who have a high risk tolerance (can stomach wide fluctuations in value), and who have a longer time horizon.

It's because of the risk-return trade off - which says you can seek high returns only if you are willing to take losses - that diversification through asset allocation is important. Since different assets have varying risks and experience different market fluctuations, proper asset allocation insulates your entire portfolio from the ups and downs of one single class of securities. So, while part of your portfolio may contain more volatile securities - which you've chosen for their potential of higher returns - the other part of your portfolio devoted to other assets remains stable. Because of the protection it offers, asset allocation is the key to maximising returns while minimising risk.

Deciding What's Right for You

Asset allocation is a fundamental investing principle, because it helps investors maximise profits while minimising risk. Choosing an appropriate asset allocation strategy and conducting periodic reviews will ensure you maintain your long-term investment goals and reach your desired return at the lowest amount of risk possible.

As each asset class has varying levels of return for a certain risk, your risk tolerance, investment objectives, time horizon and available capital will provide the basis for the asset composition of your portfolio.

Choose Your Level of Risk

Nothing is set in Stone

Note that the above outline of model portfolios and the associated strategies offer only a loose guideline – in consultation with you, we can modify the proportions above to suit your own individual investment needs. By doing so, you can achieve a specialised risk-return potential within one portion of your portfolio.

Maintaining Your Portfolio

Once we have built your individual investment strategy, it is important to conduct periodic portfolio reviews, as the value of the various assets within your portfolio will change, affecting the weighting of each asset class.

In order to reset your portfolio back to its original state, you need to rebalance your portfolio. Rebalancing is the process of selling portions of your portfolio that have increased significantly, and using those funds to purchase additional units of assets that have declined slightly or increased at a lesser rate. This process is also important if your investment strategy or tolerance for risk has changed.

Conclusion

Asset allocation is a fundamental investing principle, because it helps investors maximise profits while minimising risk. The different asset allocation strategies described above can help any investor do this regardless of their risk tolerance and investment goals. In turn, choosing an appropriate asset allocation strategy and conducting periodic reviews will ensure you maintain your long-term investment goals and reach your desired return at the lowest amount of risk possible.

Tax Efficient Investment Vehicle

Once we have ascertained the above we must decide which is the most appropriate vehicle to use. This will depend on your own individual situation and would normally mean a combination of vehicles to maximise the tax efficiency.