Why 7IM

it's personal

At Seven Investment Management (7IM) we understand that choosing an investment manager can be a thought-provoking process. We aim to make it less daunting by working with Financial Planners and Advisers, so that by the time you come to making a decision about investing your hard earned money, it has already been included as part of a plan that will take into account all your financial goals. 

Above all, we aim to provide you with a very personal, straightforward offering. We always use our own staff to answer the telephone, for example. We think phone calls are far too important to outsource to someone else - and we certainly don't ask you to push a range of buttons and remember a menu just to speak to someone.

 

A little bit of history

We never court awards but are very proud to have been recognised for our investment, our technology and our service.

 Best Investment Service 2011    Best Platform (ABZ) Award 2011 Best Wrap/Platform 2011  Fast50 Award 2011/2012
  

 

So what makes us different?

We started 7IM in 2002 because we couldn't find a company that could offer the approach and level of service we wanted for our own pension money. Since then we have grown to look after over £3 billion in client assets. We have an outstanding Discretionary Service and a range of funds that are designed to reflect your appetite for risk, all of which are underpinned by some strong beliefs.

  • Institutional quality management without high retail charges
  • Management of risk as well as money within portfolios
  • Independent investment management
  • Broad diversification of investments, with active asset allocation
  • Straightforward investment portfolios


No investment manager can be the best in all markets all the time. So we don't have 'star' managers, we have a team approach and bring in external experts to supplement our own views. You therefore have a unique combination of very fine minds applied to your portfolios with us.

What is the 7IM approach to managing investments?

You may have heard that 7IM concentrates on 'asset allocation' as the major building block for our investment process. Asset allocation - the spread of different asset types in your portfolio - is said to be responsible for around 91% of the variation in returns for your portfolio over the long term.

why 7IM

We see the management of money as also the management of risk. Structure, process and team are at the heart of our investment management discipline. We don't do 'star fund managers'.

Our objective is to produce portfolios that are:

  • Well diversified
  • Up to date
  • Cost conscious
  • Independent
  • Transparent.


 

 


What does this mean for your money?

Firstly it means that any portfolio we manage for you, or any 7IM fund that you hold, will invest across many asset classes and across many countries. This is known as diversification - also known as not putting all your eggs in one basket.  Traditionally, private client money was invested across two asset classes: UK based equities ("shares") and bonds ("fixed income").  Property and cash would sometimes be added to bring the asset classes up to four.

We think two to four asset classes simply don't give the spread of risk (and potential rewards) that clients need in today's uncertain times. So we have added at least another seven asset classes to our portfolios. You can find out what the current holdings are by clicking here.

By harnessing the research and brain power of external experts at Ibbotson Associates and the 7IM Asset Allocation Committee as well as our own highly regarded Investment Management Team, we have pushed the boundaries of building optimal portfolios.

Look at the graph below and you will see that a portfolio made up of just UK based equities and bonds follows the red coloured line in terms of risk taken and performance achieved. Look again now at the 7IM optimal portfolios - the blue line.  By broadening out the holdings to be multi-asset (28) and multi-region (global), we can reduce the risk but without sacrificing performance.

Efficiency frontier

 

How do we do this?

We look at how different asset classes interact with each other and work out the optimal combination of them depending on how much risk you wish to take. The holdings in the resulting portfolios are managed as a 'strategic core' and a 'tactical overlay', split roughly 50/50. 

The strategic core is based on backward looking research and data spanning over 100 years.  The asset mix in this part of the portfolio is reviewed at least annually as more data arrives.  This part of the portfolio is therefore based on cold, hard facts - what we know about how asset classes have performed individually in the past and how they have performed against each other in previous years. This is where Ibbotson Associates Inc., give their input for consideration by the 7IM Investment Management Team.

The holdings in the tactical overlay are the ones that are reviewed much more frequently and are based on a forward looking view - what is happening today and what we anticipate will be happening in the next 3-12 months.  This is the subject of intense discussion during the quarterly Asset Allocation meetings as well as daily review by the Investment Management Team.

The Asset Allocation Committee is the collection of fine minds and grey hairs below:

Asset Allocation Committee(2)

Left to right: Michael Hughes (ex-Barings CIO), Alex Scott (7IM), Chris Charlton (Centa Consult Owner/Manager), Dr Gerard Lyons (Chief Economist, Standard Chartered), Charles Diamond (Econostat Owner/Manager), Tony Norris (First International Advisors LLP), Justin Urquhart Stewart (Committee Chairman, 7IM), John Thompson (Ibbotson Associates), John Gibbon (ex-BAE Pension Director), Ros Price (CIO, 7IM), John Hatherly (ex-M&G Research Director).

Not Pictured: Henry Boucher (Sarasin LLP, Deputy CIO).

The Committee members all have an area of expertise in particular asset classes and have on average 25 years experience each of investing money. We don't let junior investment managers cut their teeth on 7IM clients' money.

The result is a series of portfolios that do what they promise - steady performers with lower than average volatility (extremes of risk) and lower than average costs. We drive costs down by using 'passive' holdings (tracker funds and Exchange Traded Funds) to a greater or lesser degree in all our portfolios. Our Discretionary and Multi Manager portfolios have a mixture of active manager funds and passive holdings. Our AAP portfolios have only passive holdings.

Click here to see the factsheets for the 7IM funds.