The power of combined wealth management

It’s important to ask yourself, does your investment strategy satisfy your financial planning needs? Does your financial plan compliment your investment portfolio? Are you clear on what your financial planning and investment needs are? Sadly, for too many people, their investments are not aligned with their overall, long-term financial goals in a coherent and integrated plan. 

Some people work separately with financial planners and investment managers who have never even spoken to each other, let alone met in person. This could lead to an investment portfolio and financial plan that are on two entirely different trajectories.

On the contrary, two specialists working together under one roof could ultimately achieve better outcomes for you and your long-term financial plan. A combined approach means that your portfolio and your planning will be fully aligned, decisions are made in line with your attitude towards risk and tax-efficiency is considered, to help you reach your long-term goals.

At Evelyn Partners, we provide combined wealth management. Our investment managers work alongside our financial planners to create a bespoke and comprehensive approach to meeting your financial goals.

A financial planner will create the strategy and structure your assets, with your investment manager building your investment portfolio.

Here, we take a closer look at the roles of a financial planner and an investment manager and the key benefits of a combined approach to wealth management advice.

At Evelyn Partners, our financial planners will work with you to gain an understanding of your personal situation, goals and changing circumstances.

With the help of powerful cashflow modelling software, they will create your bespoke financial plan and forecast your future finances, along with answering questions such as:

• When can I afford to retire?
• How long will my money last?
• How can I manage my tax liability and make the most of my allowances?
• How much of an investment return will I need to achieve the lifestyle I want?
• Can I afford to give money to my loved ones and still enjoy my current lifestyle?
• Is it possible to reduce my potential inheritance tax bill?

Our financial planners will work alongside your in-house investment manager to create a financial plan that compliments and optimises your agreed investment strategy.

They can advise on the most effective way to structure your assets, which could be through pensions, ISAs or other tax-efficient wrappers, and ensure that you use your annual allowances along with managing thresholds.

A financial planner will carry out ongoing reviews of your financial position to ensure that your plan is on course to meet your goals.

At Evelyn Partners, your dedicated investment manager will work with you to understand your objectives, goals and priorities, along with your attitude towards investment risk, before designing your bespoke investment portfolio. We will uncover how long you can leave your money invested for and show you how much or little investment risk you may need to take to reach your goals.

Remember, investing carries risk and you may get back less than invested.

Once all of this has been established, your investment manager will build your portfolio by:

• Using the framework from our asset allocation committee and strategy team in order to decide on an initial asset allocation based on your goals and attitude to risk
• Employing the output of our research function to select the individual investments from each asset class that are best suited to your circumstances and requirements
• Allocate these investments among the available tax wrappers (ISAs, pensions and bonds) to ensure your portfolio is as tax-efficient as possible

Ongoing reviews are also key to investment management. Our investment managers will review your portfolio regularly, taking into account the latest views of our asset allocation committee and research team to make or recommend any necessary adjustments.

Life doesn’t always go to plan. Your finances, priorities and goals could change over time. There may also be changes to tax and investment legislation that could affect you personally. We expect to see many such changes in the Autumn Budget. A key advantage of having two in-house specialists managing your finances is speed and ease of communication. Any changes to your circumstances, reactions to arising opportunities or possible adjustments to your investment portfolio can be communicated quickly and clearly.

Additionally, your investment manager and financial planner will both have an established relationship with you, getting to know you and your situation well. Along with a good working relationship with one another, this fully collaborative approach to wealth management means that over the long-term, your plan and portfolio will always reflect your individual needs as your life and priorities change.