QUILTER CHEVIOT WEALTH MANAGEMENT, OR LACK OF?

Fatinvestor

Some of my friends in the London area have become disillusioned with how their investments are doing over the past 7 or 8 months with the wealth management firm, Quilter Cheviot. 

In relative terms they seem to be underperforming for investors. My friends generally fall into a medium risk category,

I am trying to see if any forum members are with Quliter Cheviot and have found that their own investment portfolios have been underperforming in recent months. 

Thx 

Thrugelmir

Underperforming in comparison to what benchmark ? 

Rollinghome

I doubt if you'll find many, if any, on this board who use Quilter. They offer a range of different services with different pricing structures.

The difficulty is that it's extremely difficult to beat the markets so, when there are large management fees involved, it's inevitable that they'll  underperform - even  if good luck saves them over the short term, then that won't last over the longer term.  The bigger the company name, the bigger the fee, and the greater the likelihood of significant underperformance.

The most reliable route to matching markets is to use index tracker funds, DIY if you feel capable, but if you need advice, make sure the fees are as low as possible - you won't get that from the big names.

Albermarle

Fatinvestor said:

Some of my friends in the London area have become disillusioned with how their investments are doing over the past 7 or 8 months with the wealth management firm, Quilter Cheviot. 

In relative terms they seem to be underperforming for investors. My friends generally fall into a medium risk category,

I am trying to see if any forum members are with Quliter Cheviot and have found that their own investment portfolios have been underperforming in recent months. 

Thx 

Without knowing the funds involved etc and 'medium risk'. can cover a wide range , it can only be a guess.
However a typical 60:40 multi asset fund is down about 6% in the last 7 to 8 months .
If measured from Jan 1st it will be more in the region of 10%.
The higher charges from wealth management firms, maybe will add one or two per cent to those figures.
How does that compare?

dunstonh

I am trying to see if any forum members are with Quliter Cheviot and have found that their own investment portfolios have been underperforming in recent months. 

How are they underperforming?    (in relation to how they normally perform against their assets)

Some of my friends in the London area have become disillusioned with how their investments are doing over the past 7 or 8 months

So, it may not be relative to other similar assets but just the current negative period on the markets?   

Fatinvestor

Thanks for your feedback to date.

I understand that their portfolios are benchmarked again something called the PIMFA Pivate Investor Balanced Index. Whilst that index has dropped by around 5-6% this year my friends' high value portfolios have dropped by more than 10% this year, and did not do well against the PIMFA benchmark in the last quarter of 2021. They keep getting pro forma letters (which I understand are a regulatory requirement) informing them that their portfolio values have recently fallen by 10% plus. When they ask what's going on they are told to think long term and that their has been a lot of volatility in some funds which focus on American tech stocks, inc several firms on the NASDAQ market. Since when have Nasdaq Tech stocks been considered to be medium risk as I thought they are notoriously volatile. 

One friend complained and was given the standard 'complaint not upheld' response. They will know go to the Ombudsman. 

I am looking at investing say one quarter of a million £'s with a decent wealth management firm and i'd hope they can do a better job than me and my husband can do in picking stocks and bonds. I was thinking of Quliter Cheviot, but have been put off by my friends' experiences. I could turn to a financial adviser but all they seem to be full of promises that can't be fulfilled. Have any forum members any recommendations which we could look into? 

Linton

Fatinvestor said:

Thanks for your feedback to date.

I understand that their portfolios are benchmarked again something called the PIMFA Pivate Investor Balanced Index. Whilst that index has dropped by around 5-6% this year my friends' high value portfolios have dropped by more than 10% this year, and did not do well against the PIMFA benchmark in the last quarter of 2021. They keep getting pro forma letters (which I understand are a regulatory requirement) informing them that their portfolio values have recently fallen by 10% plus. When they ask what's going on they are told to think long term and that their has been a lot of volatility in some funds which focus on American tech stocks, inc several firms on the NASDAQ market. Since when have Nasdaq Tech stocks been considered to be medium risk as I thought they are notoriously volatile. 

One friend complained and was given the standard 'complaint not upheld' response. They will know go to the Ombudsman. 

I am looking at investing say one quarter of a million £'s with a decent wealth management firm and i'd hope they can do a better job than me and my husband can do in picking stocks and bonds. I was thinking of Quliter Cheviot, but have been put off by my friends' experiences. I could turn to a financial adviser but all they seem to be full of promises that can't be fulfilled. Have any forum members any recommendations which we could look into? 

No reputable advisor should give any promises as to what returns you will get.  What the markets will do in the future is unknown.  The role of the advisor should be to ensure that your investments are suitable for your situation.

In my view if you want advice on managing your money you would be better off talking to a local high street IFA, perhaps one recommended by friends or family..  The I stands for Independent and ensures that they are regulated and do not get benefit from from the choice of particular investments.  £250K is not a very large amount of money in the scheme of things and a local firm should be perfectly capable of dealing with it.

Eyeful

There are those on this site, that would suggest avoiding any firm that has "wealth management" either in their title or advertising. This is on the grounds that such firms, usually charge higher fees than a IFA, so over time, money is transferred from the pockets of the customer into that of the firm, Over the longer term making sure that even if the companies invested in do well, their customers returns will be lower than they should be.

No one can foretell the future. Your friends can however compare the various charge and fees they are now paying with that of different investment companies and investment vehicles.

Eyeful

If you have no experience or lack the confidence in investing  £250 K, I would suggest that you employ the services of an Independent Financial Advisor (IFA).

Before going to see an IFA it would be sensible to look at the following:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-financial-advisers/
 https://www.kroijer.com/
https://www.ifa.com/indexfundsthemovie/

Thrugelmir

Fatinvestor said:

One friend complained and was given the standard 'complaint not upheld' response. They will know go to the Ombudsman. 

Sounds as if they weren't listening to nor read the risk warnings. As investors they have choices as to where to invest also feet to walk away with. 

eskbanker

Eyeful said:

If you have no experience or lack the confidence in investing  £250 million....

Expecting that sort of growth from £250K is probably rather ambitious!