Spend a decent amount of time in the asset management world and you will know that the most effective route to long-term investment success is not necessarily the most complicated one. Of course, that’s not to say that investment success is easy – particularly during volatile times. However, at STANLIB, our partnerships with many successful financial advisers have shown us that providing the right investment advice is more often than not the result of sticking to three basic principles – which I have summarised below as an ‘ABC approach’ to providing effective investment advice.
Ability. Or more accurately, the understanding of who in your investment ‘team’ has what abilities. This is key to delivering solid investment advice to your clients. If your particular expertise is understanding your clients’ objectives and devising the means by which they can achieve those objectives, then focus on that strength and leave the actual investment process to an asset manager with the market insights to deliver what your client needs. This is particularly important given the lack of certainty in the current investment environment. When you consider the significant influences on investments of everything from natural disasters, financial crises, political volatility and, closer to home, the increasingly legislated investment environment (think Regulation 28 in particular), it makes good sense to entrust the investment decisions to those with the proven expertise and experience to make the right calls.
Balance. In more stable and positive investment times, a balanced investment approach was sometimes looked down on - incorrectly I might add - as a potentially growth-limiting strategy. These days, this perception couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, given all the volatility factors listed earlier, balanced investment is now recognized by many astute investors and their advisors as the most logical and sustainable way of achieving their investment goals without incurring undue risk exposure. Of course, this is only possible when said balanced investment approach is managed by an expert manager with the necessary skills and market insights.
Consistency. There are very few industries where consistency is more important than the world of investment. And this consistency imperative is made all the more vital when you, as an investment adviser, make the decision to partner with a balanced fund to help your clients achieve their objectives. Balance, by its very definition, implies consistency, so the balanced investment approach demands a fund manager with a proven track record of ‘sticking to his guns’ and diligently following the same, effective investment and diversification approach over time, regardless of the ups and downs of local or global markets.
At STANLIB we strive to ensure that our financial advisers experience us as such an investment management partner. One with the proven ability to provide regulation-compliant, volatility-smoothing solutions built on consistency and expertise. Because when it comes to achieving long-term investment success via a balanced approach, like the advisers we work with, we know our ABCs.