Brewin Dolphin

Brewin Dolphin claim that their approach through their Discretionary Service is to treat each client as an individual, and build portfolios that precisely meet their requirements.  This gives every investment manager the autonomy to manage clients’ portfolios as they deem appropriate.

Whilst we have no doubt that all Brewin Dolphin managers are suitably qualified and experienced, for us, this rings alarm bells.  Freedom to go off-piste, whilst exciting, is inherently more dangerous and risky.  Human beings do make mistakes, and this can be costly.

Via Brewin Dolphin’s Bespoke Discretionary Service, portfolios may include directly held shares, bonds, investment trusts, OEICs and ETF’s.

Unlike some discretionary fund managers (DFMs), Brewin Dolphin does not have any in-house funds, which could possibly give rise to a conflicts of interest, and can therefore claim to offer unbiased recommendations from the whole of the market. 

Unit classes for the funds they select are super clean, and the lowest cost available.  We approve! 

We also approve of their open-minded approach to the use of passive funds, often combing active and passive funds in line with clients’ objectives and chosen level of risk in an effort to achieve the desired results. 

The in-house research team is the force that drives the Brewin Dolphin investment process, making active calls in an effort to predict major sector and geographical trends, as well as picking individual companies that look set to outperform in their industries.  Sometimes these decisions are obvious, sometimes these decisions are less obvious, and sometimes these decisions are wrong!

We believe there is inherently more risk in this approach.

Brewin Dolphin also offers a Managed Portfolio Service.

The Managed Portfolio Service (MPS) was launched for the IFA market, and is designed to provide fund management to underlying clients for whom a bespoke service may not be necessary or cost-effective.

It is administered by third-party platform providers, and MPS clients can choose from five risk profiles.

Five risk models:  Cautious, Income, Balanced, Growth, Global Equity

Eleven platforms:  Aegon, Ascentric, Aviva, Axa Elevate, Fusion, James Hay, Novia, Nucleus, Standard Life, Transact and Zurich         

Minimum investment:  £2000 lump sum / £100 per month regular

Fee:  0.3%  plus VAT clean fee structure

Competitive TERs on underlying holdings

Management:  Monthly rebalancing

No dealing charges on:  Aegon, Aviva, Axa Elevate, Fusion, James Hay, Novia, Nucleus, Standard Life, and Zurich.

Brewin Dolphin’s MPS is designed for those who would like to make an initial lump sum investment, but who also make regular payments into their portfolio.

The MPS is offered via a platform to make investment management a realistic option for clients who may have less to invest, or who are steadily accumulating wealth.

We think this is an interesting proposition.