Are you checking out UK investment platforms or the best companies to invest in? In that case, this review of Credo Group will aid you in assessing if their trading platform, wealth platform, and other investment solutions are suitable for expat investment.
If you want to invest as an expat or high-net-worth individual, you can email me (advice@adamfayed.com) or use these contact options.
Who is Credo Group?
Credo Group is an independent wealth management firm that has been around since 1998 and has offices in both the UK and South Africa. The company provides individualized services to its clients and offers helpful advice to citizens on how to minimize their UK Inheritance Tax (IHT) by setting up trusts and making gifts of money.
Credo Group also provides a variety of solutions to reduce or eliminate potential tax penalties, so it is wise to think forward even if one’s estate is not now subject to IHT.
Credo’s asset management skills have shown sustained success over a variety of market conditions as well. Their knowledge is well-grounded and covers investing in stocks, fixed-income solutions, and multi-asset portfolios.
Credo Services
Investment Management
The firm’s investment strategy takes the client’s unique goals for return and comfort level with risk into account when developing individualized investment strategies. To minimize overall risk and maximize returns throughout the investment horizon, they allocate capital among numerous asset types.
Credo Group offers an array of investment solutions, from fixed income and equities mutual funds to diversified multi asset funds.
Credo administers over 750 million pounds worth of discretionary assets under management (AUM) in the equities industry. This portfolio gives investors access to some of the most liquid stocks in the world, with a focus on developed market large-cap firms.
The fixed-income investment options they provide are structured to appeal to investors with a broad range of comfort levels with risk. Credit risk mitigation is a primary focus for them.
Multi-asset portfolios utilize external, best-in-class funds to give investors diversified exposure to an extensive selection of asset classes, making them a viable option among multi-asset solutions.
Credo Group is flexible in meeting the needs of clients with diverse risk tolerances by modifying its asset allocation strategy.
Trading Services
The firm connects its customers to a cutting-edge, practically real-time trading and execution system, meeting the needs of investors who want access to several markets and financial instruments.
More than 60 markets, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds (unit trusts), hedge funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs), private equity funds, and currencies, are available to traders through Credo’s platform. Clients benefit from increased portfolio diversity and investment opportunities thanks to this all-encompassing market access.
Wealth Planning
In order to help its clients achieve their long-term financial goals, Credo Group provides comprehensive wealth planning services that include retirement, tax, estate, inheritance, and insurance planning. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorizes and regulates Sense Network Ltd, through which Credo Wealth Planning Limited (Credo) provides these financial planning services in its capacity as an appointed representative.
Credo Services for Financial Intermediaries
Financial intermediaries in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Europe, Australia, and South Africa can take advantage of Credo’s Wealth Solutions. This includes Wealth Managers, Financial Advisory Firms, and Family Offices.
Two separate business models are provided, allowing Financial Intermediaries to pick the one that works best for them. As the business requirements of Financial Intermediaries develop and mature, Credo Group also offers continuing support for the transition between various business models.
Wealth Platform
Their wealth platform gives clients access to numerous investments across multiple asset classes, as well as research, portfolio modeling, trade execution, onshore and offshore global custody, white-labeled investor reporting, an online investor portal, and support for more than 20 currencies.
This hub provides access to numerous investment solutions, such as discretionary management, managed portfolio services, and actively managed funds. Integrating research, portfolio modeling, trade execution, and white-labeled investor reporting into a streamlined user experience, this platform is both efficient and easy to use.
Modern monitoring capabilities, such as the wealth platform’s dashboard heatmap, allow users to quickly identify portfolio drift and implement remedial steps. Credo also allows for model portfolio management by a discretionary investment manager and takes into account the ecosystem that customers’ businesses operate in.
Credo Group’s investor portal may be completely white-labeled so that it matches not just the client’s logo but also the company’s overall branding. Credo is a reasonably priced platform that places a premium on social responsibility in its development. Client funds are held in custody with BNY Mellon unit Pershing Ltd.
BNY Mellon is one of the world’s largest custodians.
Investment Services
Credo Group presents a diverse array of investment solutions, enabling Financial Intermediaries to establish and nurture relationships with their investors.
Their investment portfolio encompasses a spectrum of products, spanning from direct equity and fixed income to versatile multi-asset portfolios and funds.
For investors who prefer being the direct beneficial owners of securities, Credo provides a selection of managed portfolio solutions. Additionally, for professional investors or those who favor the liquidity and tax advantages associated with fund structures, Credo offers unit trusts or UCITS.
Global Equity Fund
The Global Equity Fund is actively managed in accordance with Credo’s value-based investment approach, and it takes a long-only, developed-markets-focused strategy to its holdings. It has varying share classes for investors, with a 5,000 pound entry point for Class A and B Retail Shares and a 10 million entry point for Class A and B institutional shares, respectively.
Annual management charges (AMC) are 0.75% for retail shares and 0.40% for institutional shares, and trading takes place every day at 10 pm Irish time. Both retail and institutional investors can choose between two different share classes: A for British investors and B for American investors.
Fund investors can benefit from international stock market diversification, favorable tax treatment as an Irish UCITS fund, prudent risk management via limitations on leverage and derivatives, and an unwavering dedication to transparency as evidenced by fund documents and disclosures thanks to the fund’s adherence to the UCITS structure.
BCI Credo Global Equity Feeder Fund
South African-based unit trust BCI Credo Global Equity Feeder Fund invests solely in Irish-based Credo Global Equity Fund. Due to the fact that the Feeder Fund didn’t begin operations until February 3, 2020, there isn’t enough information to make any solid claims about its success.
Dynamic Fund
The Dynamic Fund (UCITS) follows the same tried-and-true investment methodology employed by Credo Group’s regular stockbroking unit for many years. The fundamental goal of the fund is to maximize long-term capital growth while also delivering income for investors. Its investment strategy can be adjusted to suit the current market environment and gives special weight to the markets in the UK.
This Ireland-based fund requires a minimum investment of 5,000 pounds from prospective investors. The market closes each day at 10 p.m. Irish time, making it accessible 24 hours a day. The fund has an AMC of 0.75% per year, and investors can choose between the A Retail (GBP) share class and other options.
Multi-Asset Portfolios Core
Using a research-backed strategy, the Credo Multi-Asset Portfolios’ (MAP Core) underlying holdings provide diversified exposure to global assets through a carefully chosen mix of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. The risk levels of these portfolios span the spectrum and can be purchased in either British pounds or US dollars.
- 20/80 portfolio: This is a good fit for conservative investors who are willing to take on some loss in exchange for the potential for higher returns compared to cash deposits.
- 45/55: Tailored to investors who are comfortable taking on some financial risk but want to limit their exposure to the possibility of loss, this portfolio allocates less to growth assets.
- The 60/40: Designed for risk takers who don’t mind a little up and down in exchange for the potential for significant long-term capital gain.
- 70/30: Intended for investors who are comfortable with high levels of risk in pursuit of higher potential rewards; best suited to growth-oriented profiles; very volatile in the short term.
- 100/0: Made for those who have the wherewithal and the time to take on extreme risk. These investment plans stake all their chips on the stock market, increasing their long-term returns at the expense of more short-term volatility.
Credo Multi-Asset Portfolios ESG (MAP ESG)
This uses curated funds and ETFs to diversify global asset exposure using evidence-based investing. These GBP and USD portfolios offer four risk alternatives (20/80, 45/55, 60/40, and 70/30) to match clients’ risk preferences and financial goals.
Credo Best Ideas Portfolio
This is an alternative to a single fund that pools together stocks from all over the world in the hopes of outperforming the wider equity market over the long term. With a focus on mature markets and large-cap firms, this strategy aims to outperform major market indexes over the long term through careful stock picking.
Credo Dividend Growth Portfolio
To provide investors with a steady and growing dividend and share repurchase income stream, the Credo Dividend Growth Portfolio is a diverse collection of global equities rather than a standard fund. Companies with attractive dividend yields that they have shown they can sustain and grow over time are of particular interest. The primary goal is to generate a total return in excess of the MSCI World Index by investing primarily in developed markets and large-cap stocks.
Conservative Yield Portfolio
The major goal of the portfolio is to outperform bank interest rates while also reducing the total volatility of an investment portfolio. This portfolio is riskier than keeping your money in the bank because it could suffer volatility depending on market circumstances and the interest rate environment. Individuals with a “Moderate” risk rating on Credo Group should consider this investment choice.
Enhanced Yield Portfolio
The major objective of the portfolio is to generate a higher rate of return than would be possible with a more conservative yield strategy. While this portfolio does take on more risk than the safe yield option, it is still constructed to see only modest swings in value. As a result, it has a risk profile somewhere between that of safe cash and more aggressive equities, making it ideal for those with a Credo risk rating of “Growth.”
AIM IHT Portfolios Core
Unicorn Asset Management Limited (Unicorn), a third-party specialist, was brought in to do extensive research and identify high-performing stocks for the portfolio. After carefully evaluating the several asset managers operating in the AIM IHT market, Credo Group decided to work with Unicorn because of the firm’s exceptional concentration, depth of experience, and remarkable long-term track record, especially in the smaller UK-based, AIM-listed companies.
As of August 30, 2022, Unicorn managed an AIM-listed stock portfolio worth over 1 billion pounds across open-ended funds and venture capital trusts (VCTs).
Approximately 25 to 40 stocks that have been handpicked using Unicorn’s tried-and-true methodology are included in this portfolio. And to make sure they qualify for business relief, an outside organization assesses their situation. These firms have carefully spread their investment capital over a range of markets in an effort to lessen their vulnerability to any one set of circumstances.
Investments in the Growth portfolio are prioritized if they are considered to be either lucrative market leaders or inventive disruptors that are taking part in long-term structural changes. These firms show consistent outperformance of the market through high earnings growth, strong portfolios of exclusive intellectual property, and high barriers to entry.
The Dividend portfolio, on the other hand, focuses on companies with a track record of consistently paying dividends and gives investors the choice of getting a dividend yield of 2% to 4%. The ability and constancy of the underlying companies to pay dividends is a higher priority for this portfolio. For this reason, it features established companies, which by definition provide better safety against market fluctuations.
AIM IHT Portfolios ESG
Both the Credo and Unicorn AIM IHT Growth and Dividend portfolios place a premium on responsible investment and incorporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG investing) factors into the management processes.
Trading Services
Credo Group’s innovative and almost real-time trading and execution system gives them and their investors the tools and services to suit the different needs of customers seeking access to various financial instruments and markets.
Through their trading apps, they enable their investors to trade in more than 60 markets, encompassing equities, fixed income, mutual funds, hedge funds, exchange-traded funds, private equity funds, and various currencies. This extensive market coverage offers their clients a broad spectrum of investment options, facilitating effective portfolio diversification.
Clients can expect expedited and dependable trade execution, competitive pricing, and access to a proficient team of professionals who are fully dedicated to helping investors achieve their investment goals.
There are many ways to grow your wealth and so many options are in the market from the usual stocks and equities, to investment funds, alternative investments, and properties. The trick is to get to know which investment provider is right for you.
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Adam is an internationally recognised author on financial matters, with over 760.2 million answer views on Quora.com, a widely sold book on Amazon, and a contributor on Forbes.
