A wealth management outfit which has historically focused on ultra high net worth individuals hopes to grow in the adviser space by offering better communications than some of its peers.
Bentley Reid, which has assets under management and advice of around £1bn, has begun to offer its discretionary fund management services to advice firms and is presently working with a handful.
The firm focuses on managing the portfolios of the highest net worth clients within an advice practice, with assets above £1mn desired.
The company’s chief executive Peter Clark acknowledged that the model portfolio service market is very competitive right now.
He said as fee pressure takes hold, there is a risk wealth managers all become invested in the same funds or assets, creating a scenario where it is difficult for an adviser to differentiate between the decent products on the market.
On that basis, he said he believes the way Bentley Reid will win business from advice firms, which are outsourcing their investment management function, is through offering better communication.
Advisers will have the option of a Bentley Reid wealth manager present at their annual review meeting with each client, while also having access to an app which reveals in real time not just the value of a client holdings, but also the rationale of the fund manager for the asset allocation decisions made.
This includes producing a “chart of the week” with an explanation of a piece of economic news, and Clark said he feels that in the era of consumer duty “a monthly think piece is no longer enough”.
The firm is also in negotiation with a number of advice firms about providing a “white label” version of their investment management proposition.
Bentley Reid is a long established wealth management house, but is determined to “stay small” said Peter Clark.
It currently has around 300 clients across the whole business, though that number is calculated using, for example, several generations of one family as representing a single client in that number, even though each family member has their own portfolio.
The typical client portfolio run by the firm is between £2-3mn in size.
The company now regards passive funds as the default option in client portfolios, only using active funds for a relatively small number of asset classes where they feel active managers have an edge.
David.Thorpe@ft.com
