New challenges, mixed with some familiar themes

There has been more change than usual at Investment Adviser, too: this issue marks my first as editor, and I would like to outline my own to-do list to readers.

Advisers know better than journalists not to mistake short-term noise for something more significant. What, though, to make of current concerns which seem strangely familiar?

When I last changed jobs, in 2011, suspicions of an imminent hike in interest rates, the prospect of a Greek bailout and fears over a slowing China sat atop investment agendas. Plus ça change.

These walls of worry and others have been successfully climbed over the past four years – and some turned out to be molehills rather than mountains.

Nonetheless, investors are now having to think much more carefully about how and where they allocate. We document those trials elsewhere in these pages, and will continue to do so each week.

We will be seeking to shine a closer light on the structure, costs and performances of these offerings

But there is also a great deal of uncertainty around these portfolios themselves. Comparing discretionary propositions is still not as simple as it should be. Multi-asset funds, meanwhile, have been cast as the new hope of the fund management industry, but many have yet to be tested by a true down cycle.

So over the coming months we will be seeking to shine a closer light on the structure, costs and (risk-adjusted) performances of these offerings.

Finally, a word – if only it were as simple as one word – on regulatory changes.

Four months on from the advent of pension freedoms, eight away from the implementation of the sunset clause, advisers are now also contending with the Treasury’s Financial Advice Market Review and its proposed changes to pensions tax relief.

There is more to come. The second Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, as well as other legislation like Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products rules, are fast emerging over the horizon.

These European regulations have the potential to be very significant indeed for advisers and their investment decisions. Investment Adviser intends to be at the industry forefront in our coverage of these still-evolving reforms and their implications.

But, as ever, it is our readers who will define our content, and we are eager to hear your thoughts and ideas about our coverage. I’d welcome your feedback at dan.jones@ft.com.

Dan Jones is editor of Investment Adviser