Like so many things, the secret of wealth is a simple discipline that anyone can master.
Just as health is a symptom of eating well and regular exercise; wealth is a symptom of investing well and regular saving.
Investment is not, therefore, the preserve of the wealthy, rather it is the means by which everyone can and should take control of their financial futures and in doing so to achieve their financial goals.
The question is how? How to develop an investment plan that maximises your chance of achieving your financial goals, while minimising the risks associated with that plan?
After 4 years of development and testing, Capital International is incredibly proud to launch its investment profiling tools, which we believe give investors and their advisers an unprecedented ability to develop and manage a long-term investment plan to achieve their financial goals.
Built around a simple input panel, the adviser can build up an investment plan over a number of phases, that might for example start with the growth phase and mature into a retirement phase. As this plan develops, the projected range of outcomes are plotted giving both investor and adviser an immediate understanding of the expected characteristics of their proposed plan.
Switching to the strategy comparison view, provides an instant comparison across a range of risk strategies to identify the best fit for the investors’ requirements. A smart utility function (the dotted line below) assesses each strategy’s likelihood of achieving your investment objectives and balances this against their respective risks and your risk tolerance, to guide the optimal strategy selection.
The process is iterative and fully interactive, giving both adviser and investor an unparalleled ability to explore different scenarios and develop an optimal plan to suit your requirements.
The strategy analysis panel (illustrated below) provides instant and detailed analysis of both the expected outcomes and the risk characteristics of the specified strategy. It is even possible to adjust the risk scenarios to explore extreme events and to apply an inflation rate to the contributions and withdrawals specified.
A quick check suitability panel reviews the success probability of the proposed strategy against risk tolerance and suggested optimal range.
The strategic asset allocation of specified strategy together with a detailed investment breakdown is provided for immediate discussion between client and adviser.
The experience for investors can be quite profound and we have already received extraordinary feedback, including:
“Wow – that is so clear and so simple.”
“This is the first time I have genuinely understood and had confidence in the ability of my investments to achieve my goals”
“Extraordinary. Game changing.”
Once an adviser and investor have settled on a strategy that appropriately achieves the specified objectives, a detailed investment proposal is sent to the investor to review and digest at their leisure.
The proposal clearly sets out:
- Investment objectives
- Risk profile and tolerance
- The proposed strategy details
- Portfolio projections and historical performance
- Expected outcomes and risk of loss analysis
- Suitability characteristics
- Reporting and fees
This investment plan can be regularly reviewed and adjusted to take into account changing circumstances and objectives to ensure that an investor remains on track to achieve their goals at all times.
Capital International’s investment profiling tools give both investor and adviser unprecedented control, knowledge and piece of mind enabling anyone to take control of their financial future to achieve their financial goals – the very embodiment of the Group’s purpose ‘to make money work’.