Week two of the boss man’s holiday is normally when he finally switches off, and radio silence is maintained. I last saw/heard from him 5 days ago via Strava, heading off for a walk in 32-degree temperatures. I’ll give it a couple more weeks before I send for a search party.
Anyway, on to the matter in hand. Six or so weeks on and there is still only one story in town, certainly if you read the weekend financial pages, so as much as it pains me, a few more thoughts on #thatfund…
Last Friday we had the news that the Bristol massive have kicked Lindsell Train off their Wealth 50 list. You can read the reasons why, straight from the horse’s mouth, here. This has brought the subject of best buy lists back into focus, with most of the consumer press writing articles about what should be done about them. So, I thought I’d take a quick look to see what is on offer…
First up, staying in Bristol, HL have their Wealth 50 range of funds, which instantly earns minus points for numerical accuracy by containing 60 funds. Or 58 when they kick Lindsell Train off at the end of July. All of these are funds, so no investment trusts or ETFs here, but there are 10 trackers from HSBC, LGIM and iShares (but no Vanguard). And as has been well documented, no Fundsmith Equity.
Moving up to Manchester, AJ Bell Youinvest has their “Favourite funds” list. This comprises 87 funds, cheekily including 8 in-house funds, however they also included ETFs as well as a handful of Vanguard trackers. Still no sign of Fundsmith, however plus points to the AJB gang for being transparent about the process for selection and showing a full history of funds added/removed from the list. The call to remove #thatfund in September 2018 is something I expect they are insufferably smug about.
Finally, we complete our tour of the D2C big boys by taking a trip to the big smoke to see Interactive Investor. They have their “Super 60” list, which I’m delighted to say contains exactly 60 funds. But wait, it’s not just funds, they also have investment trusts, ETFs and trackers. Fundsmith Equity fanboys will be pleased to note it is included, and there is also a detailed methodology document explaining how the Super 60 list is selected, if that’s your thing.
So, what does this all tell us? As an investor you effectively have a sliding doors moment when you choose your platform. Depending on where you end up, they are not only going to shape your platform experience, but also how you invest. Now, of course not everyone is influenced by a best buy list, and the FCA’s own research conducted as part of the Platform Market Study (page 47) proves this, however recent events mean these lists are coming under the spotlight. For what it’s worth I think the rules for how best buy lists can be constructed, promoted and governed are pretty sound and don’t need to be changed. However, providers should be much more transparent with exactly what is going on. There is a lot of misinformed speculation doing the rounds at the moment. By being clear about how funds are selected, the ongoing monitoring and governance process and, most importantly, how consumers should use these lists this speculation can quickly be put to bed.
IT’S COMPETITION TIME!!!
Summer holidays are the best time of the year. The weather is great, and it’s time to relax away from work with family and friends. To celebrate, we are running a competition until the end of August. Tweet us your best holiday pictures using #langcatholiday. It could be a #hotelview, the beach, whatever you fancy, however to win you need to include something lang cat related in the picture. For example, you could be reading one of our fine publications whilst enjoying a cocktail on the beach. Send us your pics and the prize for the best will be whatever the boss brings back from France, so almost certainly alcoholic.
IT’S LINK TIME
Really good and detailed article from the mighty pen of Tom Ellis, and a great reminder of why you should always get the details in your press release nailed… https://www.professionaladviser.com/professional-adviser/opinion/3078424/tom-ellis-commission-based-advice-is-back-how-words-can-deceive
How wealthy are you? Find out here… https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48759591
And finally, if you are an adviser or paraplanner we are interested in your views on the technology you use within your practice and would be hugely grateful if you could complete this brief (5 mins max) survey. As always, you’ll receive a copy of the results if you do, so you can benchmark you firm vs your peers. https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/TCWUTech
This week’s musical treat? Got to be Boney M covering the 10cc classic Dreadlock Holiday…. If this doesn’t break the bosses radio silence, nothing will….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xjl0ObjE8U
Toodle-pip.
Mike
