Investment advice

Starting with the purpose, not the product

An investment only makes sense in relation to a job. Money you need in three years and money you will not touch for twenty should not be invested the same way, however attractive the returns on either look.

So the first conversation is about time and tolerance. When do you need this money, what happens if it is worth less than you put in when you need it, and how much of a fall could you sit through without selling. That last question matters more than most people expect, because the biggest destroyer of returns is usually the investor.

What the work involves

• Establishing capacity for loss, which is different from appetite for risk. One is arithmetic, the other is temperament, and both matter.
• Using the right wrappers. ISAs, pensions and general accounts are taxed differently. The same portfolio in the wrong place costs money every year.
• Diversification across holdings that genuinely differ. Twelve funds can still all hold the same large companies.
• Rebalancing and review, to make sure the plan does not veer off course. Left alone, a portfolio drifts away from the balance you agreed to.

What we will not do

We will not forecast markets, because nobody can. We will not move your portfolio around to look busy. And we will not tell you that a fund is suitable because it has done well recently, since past performance tells you very little about what comes next.

Investment decisions also rarely stand alone. How your portfolio is taxed connects to tax planning, and when you plan to draw on it connects to retirement and pensions.