To help provide good quality advice and support, at The Spectrum IFA Group we have built a network of contacts and we now are able to source information from the biggest and best in the World, such as Black Rock Asset Management (4.72 Trillion dollars under management) through to some very specialist companies who are experts in a narrow field, companies such as Driehaus Asset Management.
Over the last three days our Spanish team have been having briefings from a series of Investment Managers, Insurance Companies and Discretionary Fund Managers. These briefings have included updates on legislation, Spanish Tax changes, asset allocation and also the investment outlook for 2016 and 2017. Here are some of the key points from these briefings:
The impact of Quantatitive Easing will lead to more volatility as money moves around different asset types.
That volatility may make it more difficult to see the wood from the trees in the short term but some fund managers will be able to take advantage of this volatility. We as individuals will not be able to react quickly enough so we should leave the fund managers to do this part and we should concentrate on the longer term.
There is still a risk to the Euro.
Despite all the current newsflow, World economic growth is expected over the next 5 years of 3% pa. Indeed, the amount of growth is more likely to surprise on the upside.
The driver of the growth will be China, India and some of the other emerging markets. In the very short term they still have issues to resolve which will cause volatility in their stock market but several fund managers are expecting to increase their weightings to these markets.
Rising interest rates in America is one of the issues to be addressed for emerging markets as this will cause the cost of their dollar debt to rise. However, for America, raising interest rates, slowly, to more normal rates is healthy for the USA.
Gold price could rise 11% by end of 2017. However, gold should be in a portfolio as a hedge against a falling dollar and rising inflation. Consequently, it should form only a modest part of your portfolio.
As your independent financial adviser we aim to provide you value by building these insights into meeting your overall financial goals and security. We do this by understanding what you need from your savings and pensions, what you want, your fears or concerns and matching these aspects to the outlook above. We look at your overall financial position, not a product based approach. We also understand the impact of Spanish taxation, including Inheritance Tax, on your decision on how and where to invest. Indeed, for many of our clients our advisers are the Go To person for any financial matter.