Discretionary Managed Portfolio Service (MPS) provider FE Investments has seen assets under management (AUM) rise by nearly 30 per cent so far in 2020 to more than GBP3 billion.FE Investments, the investments arm of global fund data company FE fundinfo, has also significantly increased its presence on third party platforms in recent months. Its range of managed portfolios are now available to advisers using the AJ Bell, Elevate and Embark platforms, taking its total number to 14.
Having been formed as an investment consultancy to advisers in 2012, FE Investments has grown significantly each year and was last year named by Platforum as the second fastest growing among DFMs on platform. The same report also revealed a 40 per cent growth in adviser firms using FE Investments’ portfolios during this time. In the last two years, FE Investments has also won a number of awards, including ‘Best Model Portfolio Service’ at the 2020 and 2019 Professional Adviser Awards.
Underpinning this success in a highly competitive market is FE Investments’ proposition, which is formed from a range of risk targeted portfolios that have been designed to meet the needs of a wide variety of investors. Constructed using a selection of funds from the FE Investments’ Approved List, which have undergone qualitative review, the portfolios are designed to produce superior risk adjusted returns.
FE Investments is set to continue this growth in the year ahead with more platform and product launches. While the demand among advisers for quality MPS providers is growing (research from FE fundinfo’s 2019 Financial Adviser Survey found that the numbers of advisers using managed portfolio providers grew by 50 per cent in the past year, with the majority of the industry now using at least one external provider), the MPS provider is planning on further enhancing its proposition. In 2021 FE Investments plans to develop extra income models and revamp its Responsibly Managed models among other new initiatives.
Rob Gleeson, Head of FE Investments, says: “One of the founding principles which has guided us since our formation at FE Investments, is that we avoid the inherent risk of predicting markets. We don’t make calls on the movements of equities, gilts, bonds, or any other asset, and instead focus on managing risk. Active strategies have inherent risk management properties as it is possible to correct for the style and sector biases of the markets and exploit the lower correlations of active strategies to reduce our risk of drawdown.
“The purpose of adopting this strategy was to deliver on a simple concept – no one should lose more than they’re expecting to. Having faced the first real test of the process after 8 consecutive years of rising markets following launch we’re proud to say we passed with flying colours and the inflows we’ve received this year are reflective of the fact that advisors and investors appreciate a product that delivers on its promises. Given the state of the world, we think this strategy is well placed to continue to perform well and hope we can continue to grow and deliver for more clients in the future.”
