Common Questions and Answers
Q. Is my money safe if something happens to JBCM?
A. JBCM are professional advisers only; we never handle your money. If something did happen to us you would simply need to appoint new advisers. Your funds would not be at risk.
Q. How can a relatively small firm compete with the big investment houses and private banks and keep abreast of all the different markets?
A. Our expertise is in financial and pension planning, broad based investment advice and fund manager selection. These are the core services private clients need to coordinate and invest their wealth and they are more often than not in short supply in both private banks and stockbroking firms whose background and tradition is banking and share trading. In effect we will act as your chief executive in managing your wealth, providing big picture strategy, taking in market information from a whole range of third party sources and utilising the best fund managers, without commission bias or the conflicts of seeking to promote our own funds.
Q. How do JBCM costs compare to other companies?
A. At 1% (+VAT where applicable) per annum, with all trail commission reinvested for clients, JBCM's fees are very competitive. Do not forget that most banks will make more than 1% per annum on your money for just leaving it on deposit. By charging you directly and not relying on transaction commissions we align our interests with yours, which includes sourcing third party services as cheaply as possible to lower the overall costs of your portfolio.
Q. I heard a great deal of bad press recently about hedge funds. Can these be excluded from my portfolio?
A. It is possible to exclude any asset classes from your portfolio although we would not recommend it. The press on hedge funds has been, and often is, indiscriminate, and brands a whole sector the same when in practice different hedge funds can be like chalk and cheese. We remain confident and committed to hedge funds and our clients who are using them are generally very pleased with the results.
Q. I have read that most fund managers don't beat the index. Why don't you use index tracking funds?
A. Utilising index tracking funds can be effective within portfolio management in certain sectors and market conditions. We do utilise specialist index tracking funds on occasions such as exchange traded funds. However, we maintain our independence towards both active and passive management styles.