Where can I find out what investments are held in my fund?
You will find a full list of all the underlying holdings along
with the latest commentary from Graham Frost, our Chief Investment
Officer within your Client Centre. Just log on to our website and
click on your IFSL Bestinvest Portfolio holding.
Can the funds go into cash?
Yes they can, in line with asset allocation controls.
How does Bestinvest maintain its impartiality with respect to
the rating of competitor funds?
Bestinvest will continue to monitor and rate competitor funds in
the same way as we do now. Our independent research will be
paramount to choosing the funds held within the MAP funds.
Who is managing the portfolios and making changes to the
models?
Graham Frost our Chief Investment Officer is the lead manager.
The asset allocation and fund selection process does, however,
include contributions from many other analysts, investment managers
and advisers, as is currently the case.
Why was Graham Frost selected to manage the MAP funds?
Graham Frost holds an MBA from Manchester Business School and is
a Member of the Securities Institute. he worked in South Africa in
1982-2001 and held various senior positions in equity and fixed
interest portfolio management, including derivative overlays.
Before moving back to the UK in 2002, he was head of Strategy for a
Life company and director in charge of offshore fund of fund
investments. he was responsible for both segregated and fund of
fund mandates. he also managed an S&P award winning unitised
global equity fund of funds from Johannesburg, which was first
place in its peer group for 1, 3 and 5 years in 2001. From 2002 to
2006, he was UK investment director for the multi-manager division
of Dexia Private Bank. he joined Bestinvest as CIO in January 2006
and is responsible for fund research and portfolio management
strategy. Duties straddling these two areas put him in the ideal
position to manage the MAP funds.
Which asset classes could be included within the range of
investments?
The diversity of the underlying portfolios will be very similar
to larger institutional portfolios. This could include closed-ended
funds (such as Investment Trusts), structured products, offshore
funds, alternative investments, fund of hedge funds and collective
investments etc. This is a considerably wider universe than can be
accessed via supermarkets.
Aren't hedge funds and structured products very risky?
Every asset class has inherent and individual risks, which are
carefully balanced and actively managed to achieve different
investment objectives, through effective diversification and asset
allocation.
Does Bestinvest have any of its own money invested in the
fund?
Yes, many of our staff have invested personally into one or more
of the MAP funds.
Will all the funds in which MAP invests be rated by
Bestinvest?
Yes, all the underlying funds will be rated, but some specific
asset classes (e.g. corporate bonds or zero dividend shares) which
carry lower risk, may not be rated.
How is the asset allocation set?
Asset allocation is set, using underlying asset allocation
models, tapping into our in-house expertise through rigorous
research.
What happens if markets fall very quickly?
Since our asset allocation models are designed for a minimum
investment horizon of three to five years, they should prove
resilient to short-term market fluctuations. Plus, as this is a
multi-asset portfolio, the risk is balanced across many different
types of asset. however, as with any investment, there are no
guarantees.