Wealth manager Brewin Dolphin is today announcing the launch of the MI Select Managers (MISM) Alternatives Fund as the fifth fund in its segregated mandates range. These funds are the building blocks for its successful Managed Portfolio Service (MPS) and the MI Brewin Dolphin Voyager fund range for advisers. MPS has seen strong growth since its launch in 2008. In the last five years it grew from £1.6bn in 2016 to £6.6bn in 2021.
The new alternatives fund invests in property, commodities and absolute return to give diversification to advisers’ clients’ portfolios and to counter times of equity market volatility. The fund, which sits alongside the four other segregated mandates covering UK Equity, UK Equity Income, North American Equity and Global Bonds, will reduce the cost for advisers’ clients of accessing the alternative asset classes.
In line with its segregated mandates strategy, Brewin Dolphin, as fund sponsor, will run the mandates for this fund alongside exceptional third-party managers, including Schroder, Muzinich and NN Investment Partners. In addition, there will be holdings of precious metals through ETCs (Exchange Traded Commodities) along with investments into collective funds and investment trusts. Asset allocation decisions are made by Brewin Dolphin’s in-house research and investment solutions teams and are implemented monthly. The company has appointed Maitland, a global advisory and administration firm, as the ACD (Authorised Corporate Director) and administrator for the fund.
In 2018, Brewin Dolphin enhanced the structure of its MPS to make it more cost efficient and scalable, and to leverage its economies of scale to reduce the third-party manager charges.
In the four years since the launch of the MI Select Managers segregated mandates, advisers’ clients have seen significant cost savings. The addition of the alternatives fund will see further anticipated cost savings across the range of £1.2m each year for advisers’ clients.
David Hood (pictured), head of investment solutions at Brewin Dolphin, said: “We are excited to launch the new MI Select Managers Alternatives Fund, which will enable us to offer access to some parts of the investment universe that our fund research team have covered for many years but have been difficult to access through platforms in a cost-effective way. We have chosen some of the best investment strategies in the alternatives space and are pleased to be able to offer this service to advisers’ clients.”
Antony Champion, head of intermediaries at Brewin Dolphin, said: “When we decided to enhance our MPS by launching the segregated mandates strategy, at the heart of that decision was a desire to offer a cost-effective, streamlined investment solution that catered for the needs of more advisers’ clients. Today’s launch of the MI Select Managers Alternatives Fund is testament to the continued innovation and enhancement of our propositions for the benefit of advisers’ clients.”
