CompaniesAug 31 2016

Firing Line: Adrian Lowcock

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Adrian Lowcock has made a career move within Axa Group two years after joining the life assurer – to become investment director at Architas, the multi-manager business owned by Axa.

As from the beginning of August he has been tasked with developing the firm’s understanding of consumers and improving communication with them through advisers and the media, and he is also charged with providing support to the marketing department.

His communications brief entails anything from producing educational material to podcasts.

It is not a dramatic change in tack. In fact, Mr Lowcock’s job specifications appear to be a culmination of the responsibilities he has undertaken in his previous employments.

He served as head of investing at Axa Wealth, a role he held since joining the group in 2014. Prior to this, Mr Lowcock was the senior investment manager at Hargreaves Lansdown for two years from 2012.

Before that, he held a number of roles – including head of PR and communications – at Tilney Bestinvest, and he also served as an investment adviser at NatWest Stockbrokers.

His appointment came off the back of significant change to the wider Axa Group, with the sale of SunLife, its wealth unit’s pensions and protection businesses to Phoenix Group; its Isle of Man-based offshore investment bonds business to Life Company Consolidation Group; and the ‘Elevate’ platform to rival Standard Life – all in 2016.

Within Architas, Jaime Arguello was hired as chief investment officer after the departure of Caspar Rock for Cazenove Capital.

Mr Lowcock said: “A change like that can be quite disruptive for individuals who have been in a job for 20-odd years. I had been at Axa for 18 months so I was already in the period of change so it did not affect me as much.

“With all the change going on, there was a review of what jobs were going where. I had a conversation with Hans [Georgeson, managing director of Architas] and Cedric [Bucher, Architas’s head of UK funds] and they were quite interested in me joining. Having spent a while with them and getting to know that team in my two years at Axa, I was interested in joining them too. As a business, Architas is growing very quickly and that creates a really energetic and exciting atmosphere.”

Mr Lowcock has developed a reputation in the industry press of lending his view on financial products, mergers and acquisitions as well as some of the more pertinent and contentious issues. He revealed that the ability to maintain an independent voice and not be forced to promote products or in-house funds was a stringent condition before accepting the role.

He said: “It was something that was important to me, but it was not particularly hard to fight for because Hans and Cedric knew what I had done and were aware of me within the group. I think they understood that if they wanted me, they would have to give me that.”

Jollies

The manner in which industry providers communicate with intermediaries has come back into the spotlight, following the publication of the latest Financial Conduct Authority guidelines on inducement in April.

The dossier represented a stark warning to advisers who participated in lavish sporting and social jollies laid on by deep-pocketed investment managers.

According to Mr Lowcock, providers that host events with a clear educational aspect run the risk of falling foul of the rules, but he added: “The breakfasts and the lunches and those sorts of things are a good way of making it interactive, more personable and less of an interrogation or interview. It is right to make sure that funds are recommended for the right reasons, but you need a good environment where you can be working and sociable at the same time.”

Hidden gems

The fallout from the EU referendum vote has been a headache for wealth managers. They have been urged to exercise a degree of caution and calm clients’ nerves by educating them on investment philosophy during periods of uncertainty.

Mr Lowcock said unearthing hidden gems when it came to investments amid a period of heightened uncertainty would prove to be an ongoing challenge.

He added: “Liquidity is also a big issue because it is distorting markets at the moment. It seems that when quantitative easing is announced, every asset class goes up – everything seems to be in a liquidity bubble so it makes it very hard to make rational investment decisions, and that is something we are concerned about.”

He said diversification remains the name of the game, adding: “Advisers do not want a solution that gives them sleepless nights. They want to be confident that their clients’ money is secure. They would love it if their investments blow the lights out, but that creates the sleepless night that nobody wants.”

ADRIAN LOWCOCK’S CAREER LADDER

2016-present

Investment director,

Architas

2014-2016

Head of investing,

Axa Wealth

2008-2012

Head of PR and communications,

Tilney BestInvest

2007-2008

Client advice team leader,

Tilney BestInvest

2003-2007

Senior investment adviser,

BestInvest

1997-2003

Investment adviser,

NatWest Stockbrokers