Our head of research, John Royden had his article in place, but felt the election couldn’t be ignored, despite the likelihood of election fatigue amongst readers. What John didn’t account for was that our production schedule would mean he’d have to pen the article before the election, only for it to arrive once the result is known.
Having courage in his conviction, an essential trait for a research analyst, he plugged on regardless confirming his view, that despite the inextricable link between markets and politics, little is likely to change in terms of his investment thesis, whichever way the vote falls.
My own view on markets remains very much as it was last quarter; the FTSE 100 continues to flirt with all-time highs and we still await the moment when, as is highly likely, the pound eventually rallies, thus I have a preference for domestic companies. But, as ever, timing is everything.
Within JM Finn & Co it has been a busy quarter. We started the period by hosting our investment conference, where more than 200 clients attended to hear various investment insights from our investment managers, and an overview of the changes that have taken place in the pension world. Anna Murdock, Head of Wealth Planning at JM Finn & Co explains these important changes on page 30 and I would encourage anyone who has yet to grasp the new found flexibility in the options at retirement to seek advice in these areas.
In the last edition I briefly referred to a new piece of regulation that will affect us all, called MiFID II. We have described the changes in brief on page 28 and will write to all clients in due course with further details. The biggest change that clients will notice is that the information we will provide as part of our regular reporting will be significantly enhanced, with the most visible change for clients being the frequency and content of the regular valuation reports. Clearly, this will increase the amount of paperwork that clients receive, which is why we are encouraging clients who have regular access to the internet, and who would like to reduce the amount of paper they receive, to take advantage of online reporting through our client portal.
We have updated our portal and launched the new app, for those with smartphones and tablets, and by the end of the summer will have completed a project that allows those clients who want to, to elect to receive their regular reporting electronically.
Finally, I am proud to report that we won the award for the Best Discretionary Service at the City of London Wealth Management Awards for the second year running. This is particularly pleasing as it is voted for by clients and peers and is a huge testament to the quality of the services we offer, which together with our focus on providing a personal service, has stood us in good stead over the years, and which will help us continue to stand the test of time.
James Edgedale
Chairman
