The starting point of any management strategy – and therefore of the entire investment process – is the understanding and definition of the Client’s objectives and their risk profile, referring to the real risk/return expectations.

The choice of the most appropriate investment strategy for each Client is a consequence of the correct identification of their objectives and risk profile. This choice – more than any other – affects the yield obtained in the long term.

So it is essential to choose the investment strategy very carefully and review it at least on an annual basis. We propose an allocation over the different investment classes (bonds, shares, liquidity and other asset classes) capable of maximising the expected return while respecting the defined risk profile. This allocation is inspired by a principle of broad portfolio diversification and can also cater for the specific constraints and preferences of each Client. The result is a specific risk/ return objective.

Although the investment strategy represents the direction pursued through management of the portfolio, the tactical choices represent the paths that from time to time it seems more appropriate to follow in order to arrive at the desired destination. These tactical choices are based on an analysis of the levels recorded for the different market indices, their degree of risk and the forecast for future months. On this basis decisions can be made on swapping the allocation between the different investment classes within pre-established limits. Tactical allocation choices are made both on the basis of independent research, carried out on the main economic variables by our internal Investment Team, and by consulting the research provided to us by the major international investment houses.

Once the most suitable allocation between the different investment classes has been chosen, the need is to select for each of these, the investment method that seems to offer the best yield prospects. We identify some of the most successful managers in the different investment classes and follow their work. On this basis, a “short-list” of the specialists that we recommend to our clients and that we use within our management mandates is drawn up. Only in these cases is payment of management fees justified. Otherwise, it is preferable to use ETFs or other financial instruments capable of replicating the yields for market indices at a reduced cost. This is often the case in the most efficient financial markets, where it is difficult for a manager to systematically obtain better information or views than those of the market itself.

A constant verification of the allocation of assets, the risks and the results obtained is essential to maintain the necessary control over the investment process. Many of our Clients for convenience, deposit their assets with multiple banks. This makes it possible to reduce exposure to the risk of insolvency of any one of them and to take advantage of the best specific skills of each, but renders the control of consolidated assets more complex. To overcome this problem, we have acquired “INSA” software that allows targeted and consolidated reporting. All transactions carried out on behalf of our clients are entered into the INSA database, so we can constantly monitor the performance of both individual bank and consolidated portfolios, as well as produce accurate, in-depth reports based on market prices obtained independently from depository banks.

A specific feature of our approach to investments is the rigor in controlling and managing the associated risks. This stems from the conviction that the most demanding private clients are no longer willing to tolerate losses higher than those agreed with their manager as a result of the strong fluctuations in the markets. Avoiding serious losses in times of difficulty also helps to achieve better results in the medium to long term and this objective plays a central role throughout our investment process. Our efforts in this regard are not limited to evaluation and control. We are committed to pro-active use of the modern financial instruments available to reduce the risks related to wide fluctuations in the stock, bond and currency markets. In addition, we provide for a wide diversification of bond investments in order to contain the risk of insolvency of an individual debtor within a small percentage of the portfolio value. Achieving all the above aims is facilitated by the use of a modern portfolio management system for simulating and verifying the impact of certain transactions before they are executed.