December 05, 2024
Article
Political parties come, and they go. Taxes go up, and occasionally down. Markets go up, and often down too, and we don’t have a lot of control over any of them.
We do however have control over the way we invest our clients’ funds.
Almost 10 years ago, our team launched the Albert Goodman investment portfolios, and we applied our principles of using low cost, evidence based investments. This means investing only in ways that have
been shown over time to enhance returns,, and controlling only the things you can control; like cost and asset allocation, then leaving markets to themselves.
Over that period we have had 6 Prime Ministers, 3 US Presidents, equities have had 48 negative months and 69 positive months[1] for markets, but our portfolios have rolled along nicely, contributing to our clients’ wealth.
Let’s compare what would have happened if you’d taken our advice 9 years ago, and invested £10,000:
If you’d remained in a Cash[2] account for the duration, it’d now be worth £11,305
If it kept pace with inflation[3] it would now be worth £13,403
If you’d invested in an Active Managed Balanced Portfolio[4], it’s now worth £14,375
Invested in the AG Balanced fund[5], now worth £17,506!
What’s the lesson? Stay in the market, apply core principles of keeping costs low and maximising returns for your risk profile and you’ll get your reward. Play the long game; there’s no need to check every day, week or even month (remember the 48 negative months?), stay put, and get your returns.
[1] FTSE All World
[2] Interest earning account at Bank of England Base Rate
[3] CPI Inflation
[4] Asset Risk Consultants Balanced Fund made up of real Active Portfolios, after fund charges but no advice fees.
[5] AG Portfolio including assumed 0.3% platform fee, after fund charges, but no advice fees.
Notes:
Returns are not guaranteed, past performance is not an indicator of the future, and you should seek advice before investing.
Data Source: FE Analytics. Data points on AG portfolio figures are daily, so may appear more volatile than other indices.