Simon Callow: My overriding investment
principle is to protect capital to the best of my
ability in all market conditions
Unsurprisingly the higher the quality
of the investments, the better the
liquidity.
What strategies do you deploy to
protect the capital of clients?
Two principal strategies are employed.
Firstly, clients’ capital needs to be
invested correctly in the first place.
This sounds obvious, but is forgotten
by some. The highest quality and liquid
investments need to be selected at
the outset.
The second is instituting aggressive
defensive asset allocation when markets
are falling. In simple terms, this means
reducing equity exposure (higher risk)
and ramping up cash and fixed interest
exposure (lower risk). The latter asset
classes offer a significantly improved
level of capital protection in a hostile
market environment.
What question do you get
asked most frequently?
Why did the fund fall 33% in 2008?
Why do you value transparency?
Transparency is the byword for investor
understanding, confidence and trust.
Transparency provides for a meaningful
working relationship between a fund
manager and an investor and which is
vital for a business to grow.
What’s the best investment
decision you’ve ever made?
Thomas Cook last year.
What keeps you awake at night?
Investment performance. I constantly
ask myself whether I am missing an
investment theme that is in its early
stages. The earlier you get in, the
higher the likely returns.
What wouldn’t you touch with a
bargepole?
Listed property vehicles, investing in
esoteric property schemes in unusual
geographies that levy a performance
fee.
What are your hopes for the
future of the business?
Ultimately, that potential investors
recognise the investment intellect that
exists within the Liverpool office.
Hopefully, this would translate into
attracting funds under management,
thereby re-establishing the business
as one of the UK’s leading multi-asset
investment boutiques.
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