There’s a lot going on in the world at the moment. Whether it is the ongoing uncertainty about Brexit, trade wars, concerns over instability in the Middle East or the increasing awareness of the impact that climate change is having on our environment, these are all defining issues of our time and ones that are all having an impact on investment decisions facing advisers and their teams.
Here at IFA Magazine we can’t profess to have solutions to these problems, but we can help readers to explore some of the ramifications of these issues by looking at some of the detail.
One thing that has been occupying Mike Wilson’s mind recently has been Europe’s view of Brexit. In his rant this month, aside from Brexit, he considers what other issues the EU has on its mind and has to deal with. In a similar vein, Brian Tora has been reflecting on concerns around trade wars and the potential impact these can have on the investment outlook.
In other matters, we are pleased to bring you part two of our series on paraplanning in practice. This month, we’re grateful to Alan Gow and Martin Green for giving us their perspective on this dynamic sector of the financial planning profession. Our thanks also go to Julie Hansen of Unity Mutual who has been speaking to us about why and how this ‘modern mutual’ is ideally placed to help meet advisers’ needs.
We’re also very grateful to Alex Araujo of M&G Investments for his time spent with us this month. In this edition you can read the full interview we did with Alex early in September. Our thanks also go to John Gladwyn, of Pictet Asset Management, who discusses the investment case for Robotics and to Patrick Norwood of Defaqto who considers the key principles behind multi-asset investing.
There’s all this as well as regular features from Brett Davidson, Richard Harvey and others. ETFs IN FOCUS – THE IFA MAGAZINE ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION Since the turn of the millennium, the growth in the use of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) by advisers and investment managers across the UK has been an increasingly powerful force. But with tens of thousands of ETFs available to choose from, how do you decide which fund to use within your clients’ portfolios? No doubt you’ll consider key elements such as costs, access to the ETF via platforms, tracking error, the reputation and service standards of the ETF provider and the volume of assets they have under management, but what other considerations are there? In this edition of IFA Magazine, we report on the discussions from an ETF roundtable discussion which we held back in June, to look at some of the detail around how, why and where advisers are using ETFs and explore any challenges they may face along the way. You’ll find coverage of the discussions on pages 24 to 36.
As always, we hope that you will find this month’s edition of IFA Magazine of interest and of use to you in your financial planning business.
Sue Whitbread
Editor
IFA Magazine
