Luxembourg-based VAM Funds has signed a deal with Close Brothers Asset Management (CBAM) to give its non-UK-based advisers the chance to tap into the latter’s discretionary fund management services.
Hong Kong-based advisory firm, the Capstone Financial Group, has unveiled its own discretionary fund management (DFM) service to help centralise client accounts and steer the business towards a fully fee-based structure.
A significant majority of advisers expect the demand for bespoke discretionary fund management services to rise in the next few years, but only those that offer high levels of service quality are likely to survive, research by Investec Wealth and Investment shows.
Financial Express (FE) has launched a service allowing financial advisers to directly compare DFM model portfolios.
Morningstar Inc, the US-based research provider and financial services group, said it has been granted a licence to provide discretionary investment management and advisory services to South Africa-based financial institutions and advisers.
In an effort to bulk up its offering to high net worth clients, Old Mutual Wealth has agreed to buy discretionary manager Quilter Cheviot for £585m.
According to GAM CEO, David Solo, the restructuring process is now largely complete and the results are evident.
Discretionary fund managers are struggling to focus on clients’ investment objectives because they still measure their performance against indices rather than individual client goals.
45% of IFAs were outsourcing their investment propositions in 2013, with more than half doing so via discretionaries, a pointer that the DFM sector is on a growth path, according to Defaqto.
