We continue our series getting to know the constituents of 2021 PAM 50 Most Influential, an annual list of those at the forefront of shaping private client wealth management in the UK and Crown Dependencies.
Today we hear from David Miller, investment director at Quilter Cheviot.
Mr Miller’s everyday role is managing clients’ portfolios (AUM more than £500 million) and three authorised OEICS, and contributing to the Quilter Cheviot investment process, through membership of a range of committees including asset allocation and stock selection.
His weekly ‘Diary of a Fund Manager’ is an extremely effective market newsletter that engages with its 15,000 readers in 57 countries. An expert in his field, Mr Miller uses his experience, knowledge, and insightful writing style to make the diary useful to investment professionals, financial planners, and private clients alike.
Mr Miller has now published more than 300 diary entries and counting. The quality and consistency of the communication has received industry recognition with several awards.
Mr Miller appears on the BBC, Sky, CNBC, Bloomberg, and Share Radio. The diary has secured some of the industry’s most sought-after print media coverage, with quotes included in The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones. It has also been directly quoted in an array of broadsheets.
What team or personal achievement over the past year are you most proud of?
Being able to work remotely. The same for all of us I know, but huge credit to all my colleagues and the Quilter Cheviot IT team in particular.
And as an investment manager specifically, not being spooked out of the market last March when the full force of the pandemic hit. This was the alpha decision of the year and possibly the decade to come.
At the time explaining why the elements were in place for recovery was tough, but the payback has been both immediate and substantial.
What piece of advice would you give your younger self?
Trust your judgement, not what others tell you is certain to be right.
What do you find most rewarding about your role?
Having a seat at the table of change. Investment management is about judging the future and then turning ideas into action. Just being well informed isn’t enough.
Then being in direct contact with my clients, listening to different perspectives and working out how to meet their objectives.
I wrote the first Diary of a Fund Manager to see if I had anything interesting to say. That was in January 2014. Over 320 have now gone out and the distribution list is over 15,000. Last year the website link was opened in 57 countries. Feedback from readers is investment gold dust.
What most excites or interests you about the wealth management industry right now?
The idea that post-pandemic business as usual will be good enough doesn’t cut it.
Adding value over the next 5-10 years will be a great challenge as many of the factors that drove investment markets and, by association wealth management, post credit-crunch are subject to change. Volatility for now, but as the new mega-trends emerge it will be so important to join in.
If you couldn’t work in wealth management/private banking, what other career appeals?
A fulltime writer - essays about the world around us to start with and perhaps one day a novel.
What luxury item would you want with you on a desert island?
My books. I have always been reader and so when not trying to survive, it would be great to re-read books from my past to see whether with older eyes I find different images to treasure.
What was your student job?
I had a lot of student jobs. Many were good fun, but I have two favourites.
Running a pick your own strawberry business in Herefordshire during a long and warm summer is a fond memory and very relaxing.
More exciting, however, was one I found during a gap year between school and university when I went to the US to see what I could see. With a copy of On the Road by Jack Kerouac in my rucksack I tried hitchhiking, but soon concluded that this was too much like hard work and so got a job transporting 350 cubic inch (6 litres in new money) gas guzzlers around the US for owners who preferred to fly. In total I visited 26 States, if you include Rhode Island which I drove through without stopping.
What’s a valued hobby or interest outside work and how did you get into it?
For as long as I can remember I have been a swimmer, competing not only when young, but now as a veteran. Every five years you move up an age group and so once again are the youngest and theoretically fastest.
The last 12 months marks the first time since the 1960s when I have not been in a swimming pool which is a bit sad.
