Financial Planning during your Golden Years

Many people consider the day they retire to be the finish line, the point after which financial planning and investing should be a thing of the past. Nothing could be further from the truth.

There is a great deal written about planning and investing to accumulate enough wealth so that you are able to retire, and while not detracting from the importance of such advice, it is equally important, if not more so, to manage your finances and set investment goals during retirement. Given that people are living longer, you may find yourself living just as long in retirement as you did during your working life.  So, if you spent 30 years planning and strategizing your retirement savings, why wouldn’t you be equally meticulous with your finances during your 30 years of retirement? In fact, it may be argued, that investing during retirement requires an even greater level of care as there is little room for error and little time to make up for mistakes.

Longer life expectancy means that there are plenty of financial decisions to be made in your sixties and seventies.

The cornerstone to long term financial success is to have an honest conversation with a professional financial adviser. Apart from the nuts and bolts of adding up your assets, quality financial planning and advice should incorporate holistic lifestyle aspects as well.  Remember this is your life and your plan and needs to be personalised.  So, if you want a lock up and go and lots of travel that is what your plan should cater to. If you want a bigger garden to spend time at home with your grandchildren, that is what you plan for.

Draw up a budget, have a financial plan and review the plan regularly against actual investment performance to make sure your finances stay on track.

The performance of your investments is likely to fluctuate with market cycles. One of the challenges of investing after retirement is that the income you may ideally want is usually quite constant. However, stock market returns are notoriously lumpy, and even interest rate cycles can have an enormous influence on retirement incomes. Managing these factors is critical to a long and comfortable retirement.

Even though you may be retired, a 30-year investment horizon means that you are a long term investor

Many people think that since they are now retired, they must take a very conservative approach to investing, believing that cash is king. The problem is that inflation could eat away at your retirement portfolio over the years. We know that the asset classes that make up your investments will drive your portfolio returns in the long run and that you (and your spouse) may have a 30-year retirement to look forward to.  You will therefore need an asset allocation that matches your expected returns and investment horizon, incorporating risk assets such as local and international equities.

It is a misconception that during retirement all your investments must be low risk with a propensity to cash

Retiring, living well, and being financially comfortable are not conflicting goals, so long as you maintain a strong sense of the realities of financial planning during retirement. It should never be about retiring and hoping you’ll have enough money, but rather planning and effectively using the financial resources you have to make the best choices along the way.

The Benefits of Manager Diversification

The Benefits of Manager Diversification

Multi-manager funds combine a number of professionally managed investment options into a single offering. This strategy can provide crucial benefits that are otherwise difficult to achieve

A cornerstone of prudent investing is to ensure broad diversification in your portfolio. The reason behind this is that consistently identifying the next asset or market sector that will perform well is nearly impossible. By creating a portfolio which holds a wide variety of shares and asset classes, the investor is likely to benefit from reduced volatility and enhanced long term performance. 

One of the key benefits of a multi-manager fund is the extra level of diversification it can provide. Investors gain access to all the usual benefits of a managed fund, such as company diversification and management expertise, with the added layer of multiple fund managers. This is important because rarely will all fund managers perform equally in all market conditions. By diversifying across fund managers, exposure to the performance of a single fund manager is reduced.

Manager diversification offers optimal exposure to those different investment styles, which provides a more consistent return experience throughout a market cycle. Simply put, your portfolio is exposed to specific areas of the market so that you do not miss out when one style happens to be performing better than another. This is illustrated in the chart below

The underlying fund managers that comprise a multi-manager fund should be actively monitored to ensure that they are delivering the best possible outcomes for investors in varying market conditions. Exposure to an underlying fund manager in a multi-manager portfolio can be increased, reduced, or removed completely depending on how an individual fund manager is performing, and how complementary it is with the other managers in the portfolio. Effective active management of a multi-manager portfolio is an important part of the process and can provide additional benefits for investors.

In constructing a multi-manager fund, identifying a great manager is an essential part of the process. Just as important, however, is recognizing fund managers’ varying styles or approaches to how they invest, such as value or growth investing. Manager diversification offers optimal exposure to those different investment styles, which provides a more consistent return experience throughout a market cycle. Simply put, your portfolio is exposed to specific areas of the market so that you don’t miss out when one style happens to be performing better than another. This approach blends managers together in an efficient way to the benefit of investors.

Rutherford multi-manager portfolios are a blend of leading fund managers designed to provide broad diversification of asset classes and management styles, with reduced volatility and exceptional client returns

Asset allocation - the recipe for investment success

Asset allocation - the recipe for investment success

Most investors want steady returns, however our world serves up booms and busts, volatility and crises. So, how does the rational investor manage this environment? The answer is to focus on those things within our control. This is where strategic asset allocation is so powerful.

What is Strategic Asset allocation?

It is an approach to building a long-term portfolio by blending various asset classes with different risk and return characteristics. This type of allocation is done with the goal of generating maximum returns within acceptable risk parameters.

We have precise data on how markets have performed in every developed economy for the last 100 years. This gives us an enormous amount of information on which to base our investment decisions. For instance, we know that equity markets in South Africa, the USA and Europe have all shown similar returns of approximately 6% per annum above their inflation rates in the long run.

We use this information on equities, cash, bonds, property and offshore asset classes when formulating the ideal asset allocation for a client’s risk and return appetite. In other words, the data about the historical returns and volatility of each type of asset allows us to model the most likely outcomes for the future.

In a diversified portfolio over 85% of your returns are derived from the asset allocation, and only a small percentage comes from factors such as stock selection

In the chart below we can see this in action. We know that equities are the strongest growth assets, but they can also be volatile. So, we allocate more equities to those funds which require higher returns and are suited for longer investment horizons. Similarly, we see that lower risk funds which target lower returns will have higher allocations of cash and bonds.

 

Let’s compare this to baking a cake. You have to include the correct ingredients to make the cake you want. If you don’t include cocoa, then it won’t be a chocolate cake. With investing, many people want certain outcomes, but they are not familiar with the ‘ingredients’ - the asset classes, that must be included in their portfolios to achieve the returns they seek with the lowest possible risks.

Strategic asset allocation is a foundational investment strategy for long-term investors and while it may not be the most exciting, it offers numerous advantages. It enables investors to diversify their portfolio rather than place all their eggs in one basket, and as we know, diversification minimises the risk of loss if one asset class underperforms over a certain period.

The mix of investments selected using this strategy does not change with the markets, which means you’re not constantly worried about changing your portfolio through peaks and troughs. What’s more, strategic allocation rebalances portfolios to target weights at a pre-specified period so there are no surprises.

This type of investing strategy is ideal for investors who want to achieve inflation beating returns over the long run, rather than chasing the market. They can also go to bed at night knowing that their investment decisions are not being dictated by herd mentality or speculation. In summary, strategic asset allocation is essential for retirement planning.

Disciplined asset allocation and regular rebalancing is the recipe for successful investing    

 
 
The Benefits of Multi-Manager Investing

The Benefits of Multi-Manager Investing

Multi-manager funds combine a number of professionally managed investment options into a single offering. This strategy can provide crucial benefits that are otherwise difficult to achieve.

A cornerstone of prudent investing is to ensure broad diversification in your portfolio. The reason behind this is that consistently identifying the next asset or market sector that will perform well is nearly impossible. By creating a portfolio which holds a wide variety of shares and asset classes, the investor is likely to benefit from reduced volatility and enhanced long term performance. 

One of the key benefits of a multi-manager fund is the extra level of diversification it can provide. Investors gain access to all the usual benefits of a managed fund, such as company diversification and management expertise, with the added layer of multiple fund managers. This is important because rarely will all fund managers perform equally in all market conditions. By diversifying across fund managers, exposure to the performance of a single fund manager is reduced.

Manager diversification offers optimal exposure to those different investment styles, which provides a more consistent return experience throughout a market cycle. Simply put, your portfolio is exposed to specific areas of the market so that you do not miss out when one style happens to be performing better than another. This is illustrated in the chart bel

The underlying fund managers that comprise a multi-manager fund should be actively monitored to ensure that they are delivering the best possible outcomes for investors in varying market conditions. Exposure to an underlying fund manager in a multi-manager portfolio can be increased, reduced, or removed completely depending on how an individual fund manager is performing, and how complementary it is with the other managers in the portfolio. Effective active management of a multi-manager portfolio is an important part of the process and can provide additional benefits for investors.

In constructing a multi-manager fund, identifying a great manager is an essential part of the process. Just as important, however, is recognizing fund managers’ varying styles or approaches to how they invest, such as value or growth investing. Manager diversification offers optimal exposure to those different investment styles, which provides a more consistent return experience throughout a market cycle. Simply put, your portfolio is exposed to specific areas of the market so that you don’t miss out when one style happens to be performing better than another. This approach blends managers together in an efficient way to the benefit of investors.

Rutherford multi-manager portfolios are a blend of leading fund managers designed to provide broad diversification of asset classes and management styles, with reduced volatility and exceptional client returns

The Secret to the Success of Rutherford Model Portfolios

The Secret to the Success of Rutherford Model Portfolios

The methodology used in the Rutherford portfolios has been tested in the USA and UK and is proven to significantly improve the risk-appropriate returns for investors. Combined with lifestyle financial advice, this is the surest path to financial success.

Our model portfolios are a careful blend of world-class South African and international funds, designed to achieve consistent inflation-beating returns with the lowest risk. This approach provides more stable returns through the strong diversification of manager styles and different asset classes. Our portfolios continue to prove that this approach works, delivering steady returns for our clients, well above the average.

The Rutherford model portfolios integrate the investment process and expert financial advice

The cornerstone of The Rutherford Way financial advice and investment process is your personalised Risk Profiler.

A common investment mistake is to pick a random mix of popular funds. The problem is that even if those are good funds, the selection is not expertly compiled, so the resulting risk of your combination of investments is probably not aligned to your personal risk profile. This can leave you with much greater risk than you realise. In addition, your selection of funds is unlikely to be optimised to achieve your targeted return rate.

When you have completed the Risk Profiler you will know both your personal risk score and the expected return that results from your specific risk profile. The appropriate Rutherford model portfolio will then be selected so as to achieve your expected return.

Taking the guesswork out of choosing funds and asset classes

Having determined your risk profile, the choice of the correct Rutherford model portfolio is almost automatic. Given a risk profile score of 4, the expected return rate (benchmark) for the level of risk taken by the investor is CPI + 4% and the choice of fund would be a Rutherford balanced portfolio.
 
Rutherford’s model portfolios blend world-class managers and funds together to create optimum risk-adjusted portfolio performance profiles, providing crucial benefits to our clients’ investments that are otherwise difficult to achieve.

One of the key benefits of a multi-manager fund is the extra level of diversification it can provide. Investors gain access to all the usual benefits of a managed fund, such as asset class diversification and manager expertise, with the added insights of multiple fund managers. This is important because rarely will all fund managers perform equally in all market conditions. Manager diversification offers investors optimal exposure to differing investment styles, which tends to provide a more consistent return experience through the market cycles.

The Rutherford Way – consistently improving investment returns

Simply put, the Rutherford multi-asset, multi-manager portfolios are exposed to numerous aspects of the market so that you don’t lose out when one management style or asset class performs better than another.

Your Rutherford portfolio is rebalanced regularly which has proven benefits for investors. The goal of rebalancing is to maintain your target asset allocation, and therefore keep your portfolio's risk characteristics in line with your risk profile. Rebalancing imposes a level of discipline in terms of selling a portion of your better performers, banking your profits and putting that money back into asset classes that are lagging in this cycle.

The importance of a benchmark

The Rutherford Way is a holistic investment approach whereby your risk profile score determines your risk-adjusted target return, which governs the choice of Rutherford portfolio appropriate for your investment.

If you have investments in a number of randomly selected funds, each with different risk profiles and targeted returns, it’s virtually impossible to work out the overall risk of your investments, and lengthy calculations are required to work out the aggregate return. In the absence of a defined investment target return (or benchmark), investors tend to move their money in and out of funds in the hope of gaining better returns – and because their timing is often bad, the result is long term poor performance. The Rutherford investment process is designed to avoid these pitfalls and to achieve superior returns for our clients.

Having a more focussed approach with clear investment targets will help you see the bigger picture and stick to the plan, whether it be a long term retirement plan or a final 5 years of intense investment into a pension.

In line with international trends – in the UK more than 80% of financial advisers use model portfolios as a core operating process in their business

The selection and blending of world-class funds into each Rutherford portfolio gives you the peace of mind that your chosen portfolio will achieve the targeted returns over the long term. This consistency means that you can trust the process – the Rutherford Way - and avoid common investor mistakes and biases. This will result in higher average returns and the achievement of your personal goals.

Contact Details

21 Cecilia Square,
100 Cecilia Street,
Paarl, 7646

PO BOX 665,
Franschhoek, 7690,
South Africa

T: +27 (0)21 879 5665
E: info@rutherfordam.co.za

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