Managing Partners News
July 30th, 2009
LONDON, 30.07.2009 – New research from Managing Partners Limited (MPL), the boutique fund manager, shows that the oldest investors in with-profits products are the most disappointed by them. Nearly one in four (23%) of with-profits investors who are aged 55 years and over plan to stop investing in them, and three out of four (75%) are unhappy with their performance, including 41% who are not very happy and 34% who are not at all happy. With-profits investors in the next youngest age group - 45 to 54 year olds - were slightly more unhappy with them (76%) but planned to do less about it, with just 6% planning to stop investing in them. Of those investors in the next age group - 35-44 year olds – 62% were unhappy with their with-profits policies and 9% intended to stop investing in them. Jeremy Leach, Managing Director of MPL, commented: “The more senior investors are likely to have suffered many more years of poor performance than their younger counterparts so it is understandable that they feel much more disappointment in them. They should be careful however as cashing in their policies a few years short of maturity means they will be hit by punitive early redemption charges – just one of the reasons with profits have built up a bad name for themselves.
“The concept of steady, predictable returns is not one that is lost on investors though – it is just that with-profits has failed to deliver. What many investors are increasingly realising is that they can achieve such returns from funds that invest in traded life policies.”
Investors looking for an alternative to with-profits investments that provide steady, predictable returns should consider investing in traded life policies (TLPs). TLPs are US-issued whole of life policies sold before their maturity date to allow the original owners to enjoy some of the benefits during their own lifetimes. By building diversified portfolios of them and carrying out the right actuarial analysis, fund managers can use them to deliver steady, incremental returns that are uncorrelated to other financial asset classes.
For retail investors, MPL offers a Sterling Growth share class in its Traded Policies Fund. The fund is a fully-regulated Cayman Islands mutual fund that can be included in personal portfolio bonds, wraps and SIPPs. It was an outstanding performer in 2008. The GBP Growth share class in the fund returned 10.47% net of all charges in the 12 months to 1 January 2009. Over the 12 months to 1 June 2009, the GBP Growth share class delivered 9.78%. The minimum direct investment in the fund is £35,000 but the fund can also be accessed via insurance bonds or SIPPs for £2,500.
For further information on Managing Partners Limited range of funds, call 0203 397 0525 or visit (www.managing-partners.com).
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