Demand for risk targeted investing grows as outsourcing trend continues
Octopus Investments (‘Octopus’) today announced that its flagship discretionary fund management service Octopus Portfolio Manager (OPM) has reached its five year milestone. OPM is managed by Octopus’ award-winning multi manager team and provides a risk targeted outsourcing solution to financial advisers. The team is mandated to run the various investment profiles available through OPM to a specific level of risk by using a multi asset and multi manager approach to investing. One of the first to market in 2009, OPM is one of only a few risk targeted solutions to offer a five year track record.
Working hand-in-hand with financial advisers, OPM ensures their client’s individual goals and the financial risks they are willing to take are correctly matched to the investment portfolios available through the product.
Oliver Wallin, Investment Director on the Multi Manager team at Octopus, said:
“OPM provides financial advisers with a valuable service in providing an investment portfolio for their clients that really reflects their individual requirements. Advisers can confidently outsource their clients’ fund management needs to us in the knowledge that OPM has a successful and established five year track record and can demonstrate an ability to do what we say it will.
“We’re proud to have been one of the first fund managers to recognise the importance of a risk targeted approach to investing, which enables the interests of the adviser, their client and us as the investment manager to be as closely aligned as possible, and the value it can deliver to financial advisers and their clients.”
As the popularity of risk targeted solutions has grown, driven in part by the Retail Distribution Review which has seen more financial advisers outsource fund management services, the market for similar investment solutions has grown rapidly.
Oliver Wallin added:
“OPM is one of only a handful of risk targeted solutions in the market to offer a five year performance track record. When we first launched the product there were very few managers in the space. There has been a marked increase in the number of advisers and their clients using risk profiling and risk targeted or risk rated funds, and with this has come a number of new entrants to the market in recent years. The development of risk profiling tools like Distribution Technology has helped spur growth, and it’s clear that the appetite for risk targeted funds is stronger than ever – the IMA Unclassified sector seems to be housing the majority of them and is now one of the largest and continues to grow as a result. That’s why the IMA is now looking at providing a home for them all”
Last year OPM was awarded a 5 Star Rating by Defaqto. Since launching its first multi manager fund in 2008, Octopus’ Multi Manager team has seen its assets under management grow to more than £1.3 billion. The team is currently responsible for 18 multi manager funds including managing multi manager funds on behalf of Openwork (Omnis funds) and Paradigm (Tatton Oak funds).
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Notes to editors
Performance
| Investment profile | Annualised return % | Volatility % |
| 1 – Cash | 0.48% | 0.03% |
| 2 – Cash Plus | 2.18% | 1.30% |
| 3 – Defensive Capital Growth | 4.72% | 3.46% |
| 4 – Conservative Capital Growth | 5.72% | 5.37% |
| 5 – Moderate Capital Growth | 6.38% | 7.17% |
| 6 – Progressive Capital Growth | 7.05% | 8.96% |
| 7 – Managed Equity Growth | 7.20% | 10.24% |
| 8 – Advanced Equity Growth | 7.49% | 11.65% |
| 9 – Global Equity Opportunities | 7.69% | 13.01% |
| 10 – International Equity Focus | 7.39% | 13.46% |
Source: Octopus Investments. Data is annualised, since launch (28/09/09) to 30/09/14. Returns are in Sterling and are based on published dealing prices excluding any initial charges, with net income reinvested and net of all fund fees.
This press release is issued by Octopus Investments Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for use by journalists in their professional capacity and should not be relied upon by retail clients. The value of investments, and the income from them, may fall or rise. The information in this document should not be construed as offering investment or tax advice.