A new service aimed at helping investors to better understand the risks involved in the management of their portfolios has been launched by a Jersey-based consultancy, Enhance Investments.
The service, which is available now, is designed to provide investors with “comprehensive” information on individual investment managers’ operations and investment processes, Enhance said. It noted that the service had been developed in response to a growing need in the marketplace.
A key element in the new service are what Enhance Investments calls its “Investment Manager Due Diligence information packs”, which cover such areas as investment team members’ experience and qualifications and how investment decisions are taken, as well as providing an overview of risk controls and compliance processes.
It also provides investors with an independent overview of the individual investment managers’ processes and their performance and risk analysis.
Competition concerns
Investment houses traditionally have been reluctant to permit the widespread distribution of information about their systems and investment processes for fear that it could reveal secrets to rival firms, according to Enhance Investments director James Painter, who said that for this reason, the firm will only provide the information to existing clients and strong prospects of the investment managers, and then only once they have given their permission.
“When investment managers complete such due diligence questionnaires, they provide insight into their individual process, beliefs and ideas, so there is a risk that they are letting go of an incredible amount of intellectual property,” he explained.
Founded in 2005 and based in St Helier, Jersey, Enhance Investments has points of contact in nine jurisdictions, including Bermuda and Singapore, and provides investment consultancy services to charities, individuals and trustees. It has seven people in its Jersey office.
More information may be found by calling Enhance atl +44(0)1534 832 434, or visiting www.enhanceinvestments.com.
