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.