Discretionary fund management firm Waverton is currently pulling in net inflows of £100mn per month specifically from financial advisers, FTAdviser can reveal.
FTAdviser understands that of the £100mn per month net inflows in 2022, around 85 per cent was into the model portfolio range.
Waverton believes the growth in demand for its models has come partly as a result of the structural shift in the advice market towards outsourcing of investment management.
It also said that since 2020, there has been an uptick in demand from advisers and clients to own real assets exposure and absolute return strategies.
Right now, more than 30 per cent of the assets in the model portfolios are allocated to those asset classes, considerably higher than for most of its peer group.
Despite the inflows, Waverton’s total assets under management of £8.6bn is broadly static since the start of the year, as a consequence of adverse market movements.
The firm, which has assets under management of around £8.6bn, works with 500 advice firms in the UK, offering a range of model portfolios.
Unlike many other providers in the market, Waverton does not allocate to external funds, and instead invests directly in equities, bonds, real assets and absolute return funds.
The investment team is led by Bill Dinning, who holds the role of chief investment officer.
The vehicles created to invest in those assets directly can also be invested in directly by advisers via platforms.
Waverton began life as JO Hambro Investment Management, and was owned by Credit Suisse from 2001 to 2013 when a private equity backed management buyout took place. The firm subsequently renamed itself Waverton in 2014.
It is, and always has been, a completely separate firm to JO Hambro Capital Management, the asset management firm.
In its most recent portfolio rebalancing, it increased allocations to bonds across the managed portfolios, while reducing exposure slightly to absolute return strategies.
david.thorpe@ft.com
