I was interested to read Ian Horne’s recent take on how technology is shaping investments in Citywire’s WealthTech feature on Technology and the future of wealth and advice.
Three areas that he touched upon are already a reality for PortfolioMetrix:
- “Technology allows us to scale propositions that are tailored to the individual.”
This is something that is in the DNA of PortfolioMetrix. We launched over a decade ago with a technology-driven investment proposition that gives financial advisers the ability to take the output of our proprietary risk profiler, align that with their knowledge of client-specific needs and implement using our risk-rated portfolios. This customisation can be run in a scaled way that is not time or labour intensive.
We remain the only discretionary investment manager offering this service. We can do it because we designed the technology based on what we know advisers want.
- “We are nearing an environment where investments are personalised and speak to more than just the returns that someone wants.”
As outlined above, our proposition is all about having the ability to personalise risk-rated portfolios. As well as being scaleable, which saves huge amounts of time, they can be personalised to factor in ESG, Income or Passive preferences. Returns are just one piece of the puzzle, meeting clients’ aspirations and needs is just as important.
Our proposition highlights that we are not “nearing an environment where investments are personalised and speak to more than just the returns” – we are very much delivering on this and have been for many years.
- “Companies could theoretically run several different propositions simultaneously.”
At PortfolioMetrix, every end-client gets a portfolio that is unique to them. They can even have a different set-up for their GIA, ISA & SIPP so each person could have 3 distinct portfolios. As a result we run over 10,000 client portfolios in the UK alone. All of which are monitored on a daily basis and can be rebalanced on an individual or bulk basis.
With the traditional DFM model this would require an army of people but again, at PortfolioMetrix, we use our proprietary technology to do the heavy lifting whilst ensuring human oversight is retained for any investment decision.
The future is now
PortfolioMetrix doesn’t have a huge marketing budget, which is possibly why some of the tech commentators may have missed us. Our success, particularly in the early days, was down to word of mouth and referrals. The adviser partners we started out with remain our biggest supporters and we continue growing strongly and steadily. It is also great to see our technology being recognised in industry awards like Citywire Adviser Choice & Professional Adviser.
Our founders started PortfolioMetrix based on an astute understanding of what advisers want and need from an investment partner, the technology was designed with that as its driving force. The technology is there – it has been there for a decade. The only surprise to us is that more providers haven’t found a way to deliver like we have.
