What to ask your investment manager in a review meeting

During one of our financial awareness courses for deputies and trustees, a delegate asked what an investment manager should cover in an annual review meeting. We have created this checklist on what the investment manager will likely want to cover and secondly, what you should be asking your manager:

What might your investment manager want to know?

• Has there been any material changes to the client’s health, life expectancy or financial position? 
• Is there any planned capital expenditure over the short and medium term?
• Is there enough held in cash to meet ongoing needs?
• Does income remain sufficient to meet anticipated expenditure?
• Have there been any changes to the investment objective?
• Has the decision maker’s view on risk changed?

What you should understand as part of the client’s annual review?

• We’ve previously agreed an investment objective and risk profile. Do these remain suitable given the client’s current circumstances?
• How has the portfolio performed against the benchmark?
  • What is a benchmark?
  • Why are benchmarks important?
  • What is a relevant benchmark?
• Is there any ‘financial house keeping’ to be undertaken?
  • Is the client eligible for an ISA and has it been subscribed in the current tax year?
  • What is the capital gains tax position?
  • Changes to tax rates and opportunities to better structure and mitigate tax
• What changes have been made to the portfolio over the last 12 months and why?
• What is your market outlook and how do you expect the portfolio to perform over the next 12 months?
• Details of all costs and charges applicable to the portfolio, not just those levied by the investment manager

What should the investment manager provide to follow up?

• Each investment manager should formally confirm the ongoing suitability of the investment portfolio to meet the client’s needs, given their circumstances. The format might look different from one firm to another.
• We include an anticipated lifetime cashflow projection which illustrates how the portfolio might behave over the client’s lifetime given an agreed set of assumptions. This is not guaranteed and is intended to provide the basis of ongoing discussions to ensure all parties are informed. We can model alternative scenarios depending on the client’s circumstances and potential changes.
• The formal follow-up allows you to document you are meeting your responsibilities as deputy or trustee.

Rathbones’ specialist personal injury and Court of Protection team delivers complimentary financial awareness courses, which cover why deputies and trustees should think about investing for their clients in light of the impact of inflation, an overview of asset classes and the types of investment which might be considered. If this is something you might be interested in, please get in touch.

For further information view Rathbones’ specialist personal injury and Court of Protection services.