A look back at the most popular stories on thewealthnet last week....
10.
Ardonagh Advisory, the broking platform of independent insurance distribution platform Ardonagh Group, acquired specialist distribution business Hoxton Risk Services.
Founded in 2020 by high net worth (HNW) underwriting specialist Justin Gott, Hoxton Risk Services specialises in protection for private clients, including cover for cars, houses, travel and investment properties.
The business trades solely with brokers, offers a digital trading platform and is backed by insurer Hiscox.
9.
Fast-growing wealth manager GSB made another three hires.
Hannah Gribbin has joined as group chief financial officer, Theresa Todd as a private client manager, and Rebeccas Simpson as an executive assistant to the board.
All three are based in Dubai.
8.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved “a number” of Bitcoin ETFs, sending the cryptoasset market into a frenzy, Katie Royals reports.
There was some confusion over the announcement after a hacked ‘X’ account earlier in the week led to the news being leaked earlier than planned.
This move has been described as a “coming of age” moment for the digital asset space, by wealth managers.
7.
The Fundsmith Equity Fund, the UK authorised open ended investment company (OEIC) launched by Terry Smith in November 2010, returned to form in 2023 posting a total return of 12.4 percent for the year. This partially offset the negative return of 13.8 percent recorded for the previous year.
Fundsmith, which invests in large cap equities on a global scale, underperformed the 16.8 performed by the MSCI World index (£). Nonetheless, with annualised returns since inception of 15.3 percent, Fundsmith still outperforms the 11.5 percent posted by the MSCI World index by a substantial margin.
It also outperformed its UK authorised peers in the Investment Association’s (IA) global sector category, generating a cumulative return of 549.7 percent since inception. [Read more from Ian Orton]
6.
The chief executive of Saxo UK resigned.
Charles White-Thomson will leave his role at the end of this month.
Mr White-Thomson has been in post for five years and is particularly known for sharing his bold predictions and opinions on the wealth sector.
He previously spent over 17 years at Credit Suisse, latterly as a managing director.
5.
The WS Blue Whale Growth Fund, a UK authorised open ended investment company (OEIC), resumed its record of outperforming its peers by posting a 2023 return of 30.7 percent, according to its latest factsheet.
This compares with the 12.7 percent recorded by the Investment Association’s (IA) global fund sector average over the same period.
It also compensates for the 27.6 negative return posted for 2022, the first time the fund had posted a loss since its inception in September 2017. [Read more from Ian Orton]
4.
Private bank C Hoare & Co promoted 10th generation Hoare family member Abigail Malortie to partner.
Becoming the 51st partner in the bank’s history, Ms Malortie joined C Hoare & Co in December 2020 and has held a number of roles within the product, trusts and estates, risk, finance and treasury teams.
In particular, C Hoare & Co said she was instrumental in embedding the bank’s purpose - to be "good bankers and good citizens" - within the business.
3.
LGT Wealth Management promoted 11 of its employees to partner level.
Alice Gerry, business development director, joined the firm six years ago from Morgan Stanley where she was latterly a financial analyst.
Andrew Archer, an investment manager, has been at LGT Wealth Management for over 15 years, initially joining from UBS Wealth Management where he was an associate director.
Daniel Fresnais, an investment manager, has spent almost a decade at the wealth manager, having joined in 2014 from Julius Baer where he was a private banker, director. [Read more]
2.
Arbuthnot Latham and Co appointed Carolyn Moore as head of executives and professionals, private banking.
Within this role, Ms Moore will lead Arbuthnot Latham’s executives and professionals team to develop the proposition and strengthen connections with existing clients.
Ms Moore joined the bank from Coutts where she was a director and broker team lead. She spent over nine years at Coutts, having previously spent over 11 years at HSBC.
1.
Based in Guernsey, The International Stock Exchange – TISE – is aiming to revolutionise the shareholder experience at private companies through its latest offering, Katie Royals reports.
Chief executive Cees Vermaas told thewealthnet that, especially with the rise in private companies, there is a market for the firm’s platform.
The premise is relatively simple. TISE has a platform that facilitates buying and selling shares in private companies in order to make sure the whole process “goes seamlessly”.
Currently the process is quite convoluted and not particularly transparent, often relying on overworked CFOs to execute the transactions, taking on significant personal liability through the process.