The fundamentals of investing have come to the fore recently as yields have risen, geo-political boundaries have altered, and the need for energy and food security has been amplified amidst a question of localisation versus globalisation.
Given paradigm shifts in the market in motion at present, investors will have to think anew about their portfolios. A set and forget approach will not be adequate. Ongoing reviews and due diligence on investments will be critical.
For many investors, this is beyond them but financial advisers can add value to those investors as the risks in the market grow. For many investment portfolios, these risks will emanate from investments in managed investment schemes.
The recent note from the Financial Markets Authority (available here) provides guidance in relation to reasonable grounds for providing financial advice about financial products purchased for investment purposes. Specifically, the guidance note states: “you need to apply cogent reason – not irrational or uninformed factors – to the formulation of your financial advice. Exercise your professional judgement based on your competence, knowledge, and skill. You should be able to explain your reasoning and the factors you took into consideration, and why the grounds for the financial advice you give are reasonable in the circumstances. Research is one input that may support reasonable grounds. If you rely on someone else’s assessment of a financial advice product or strategy, you should be able to demonstrate that it is reasonable to rely on their assessment. This also requires the exercise of professional judgement.”
Ultimately, the financial adviser must be aware of the individual client needs and objectives, and how a financial product meets those stated needs and objectives. Independent third party research can assist, but not replace, this process by helping you better understand the product.
Exercising due diligence and thoroughness is critical to ensuring the interests of financial advisers’ clients are met. Research IP believes qualitative and quantitative research has a critical role to play in this relationship. We currently offer qualitative managed fund research on over 70 funds available in the New Zealand market. By leveraging the skills of specialists, Research IP is able to provide innovative and tailored financial services solutions to the market place. In addition we now produce the RIPPL Effect reports across the full Managed Fund universe in New Zealand, as well as a broad range in Australia. The RIPPL (Research IP Pty Ltd) Effect is a free offering for financial advisers and consumers. The RIPPL Effect is designed to bridge the gap between our Quantitative Tear Sheets and full Qualitative Research Reports. The idea is to provide a simple summary of every fund in the market. We collect simple data points and put them in the same place on every report, in particular key information typically found in the PDS, SIPO, or on the manager’s website, but often hard to find.
Where to from here?
Research IP currently has over 300 reports for managed funds available in the New Zealand market, as well as a range also available in Australia. The initial coverage also includes all default, balanced and growth KiwiSaver offerings. Coverage of funds and data points is expanding daily.
- You can find our research embedded at the point of sale on the new investment platform Flint Wealth.
- The RIPPL Effect reports are also available on interest.co.nz (announced here The RIPPL Effect – The future starts here – Research IP (research-ip.com)).
Looking for something in particular or have some feedback? Please reach out to one of the RIPPL team
Research IP delivers high quality investment fund research and consultancy services to financial advisers, charities & NFPs and the broader financial services industry. Our experience spans well over 20 years working directly across the multiple facets of finance, so we understand the key drivers and challenges for managers, as well as the impact for investors and the broader industry.
We strive to give you the best information, so you can help your clients make better decisions, and feel more confident about doing business with you. We believe that not only can everybody win, everybody should.
Reach out to us today about your research and consulting needs, and how to make the data work for you, and your clients.
Would you like to see research on a Managed Fund, then enquire here?
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