This article was updated on January 14, 2021
Today I will carry on my review articles by reviewing Brooks Macdonald Funds, which are multi-asset funds widely sold in the expat market and beyond.
If you are looking to invest, or better options than this one, don’t hesitate to contact me, email (advice@adamfayed.com) or use the WhatsApp function below.
Who are Brooks Macdonaldand where are they sold?
Brooks Macdonald have offices in the UK, Guernsey and Jersey, and provide multi-asset funds. They have since expanded overseas to South Africa and are sold worldwide within the expat market.
The International Bespoke Portfolio Service is available to international investors who want to invest 200,000GBP or more, whilst the International Managed Portfolio Service is available to those with 20,000GBP or more.
What are some examples of their funds?
They have four main investments: Defensive Income, Cautious Growth, Balanced Fund and Strategic Growth. The defensive income holds a lot of fixed income investments, whilst the more aggressive portfolios, have more exposure to equities.
As an example the Strategic Growth Fund has close to 25% linked to UK stock markets, 12.6% to North American equities, 18% in various equity markets and the rest in alternatives, cash and fixed income.
On the defensive fund side, however, the majority of the assets are in government bonds.
What are the fees associated with these investments?
That depends on which funds you use, and where you invest. If you invest with Brooks Macdonald from the UK, then it isn’t an expensive way to invest. In some expat investments and platforms, and fees and costs can indirectly be up to 6%-7% per year.
What has been the average performance of Brooks Macdonald Funds?
The defensive portfolio has increased by about 4% per year since inception, with the most adventurous fund gaining by around 10% per year. Most of these funds have lost out to their relative index – meaning that 10% per year is below what markets as a whole have produced in the last 6 years.
Held within expat investments, the net performance will be much lower. On a 4% fund, the investor might get minus or 0 returns, because of the various fees for the advice. On a 10% per year fund, the investor might come out at around 4%-6% per year gains.
What are your options if you have these funds within your expat portfolio and you aren’t happy?
You have three options; completely surrender the policy. Partially surrendering (partial withdraw) or lowering the cost of the existing investment. I have seen positives and negatives to each strategy, depending on the specific situation, and have helped people with all three
What are your contact details if I want you to review my expat portfolio?
advice@adamfayed.com is my main email address.
Further reading
1. Read customized wealth management strategies in Utmost International Managed Capital Account Review.
2. My answers on Quora.com have received over 219 million answer views in the last few years, making me one of the most popular writers on that social media platform.
In the answers below I focused on:
- Why do people fail to realise the need to invest for retirement at a young age, even though most people know, deep down, that they should set something up? Is it just human nature to procrastinate and delay?
- Who tends to be more motivated? Rich, middle or lower income people or is the answer more complex than that?
- Do stocks move the index or do indexes move the stocks? Or is it more complicated than that?
- Do you need to get a degree to become a millionaire in 2021?
Here is a preview of one of the answers:
Most people spend two, three or even five times as much time planning their holiday/vacation compared to investing:
There are many reasons for this.
The biggest are:
- People have been taught to assume that life gets worse when you get older. The book below tells the story about how most surveys from younger people assume that life gets worse as we age. What’s the point, therefore, of having all that money, if you will be old, fail etc? Some teenagers and people in their early 20s even think that people in their mid 30s are past it! Many people in their 30s assume those above 60 will lack in energy. Whilst it is true that we are more likely to get healthy problems as we age, times have changed. It is pretty normal now for people to feel healthy in their 60s, 70s, and even above 80. I personally know plenty of older people with more energy than the average 20 year old.
2. Most people find investing boring or complicated, often because of the media, schooling and other reasons. It is a bit like setting up a will. Most people know it is a necessary evil, but few do it quickly.
3. Sometimes people have been let down by big institutions like the banks and then they are “once bitten twice shy”. This was especially the case in the 1980s and 1990s when the services on offer tended to be poor.
4. Some people assume that you need to be rich to start investing, and investing small amounts is pointless, despite the reality of compounded interest rates .
5. Bad spending habits. As time has gone on, marketing from bigger companies has became bigger, and is often linked to fear of missing out on “stuff”.
6. Some people really can’t afford to invest unlike those who fall into category five.
7. A certain percentage of people want to put all their eggs into the basket of their own company or working till……
To continue reading click on the link below:
