IFA of the year: Everyone a winner

LAST year was an unpredictable and volatile time for the fund management industry. Cash and money markets continued to produce low levels of returns with the UK bank base rate running at 0.5 per cent.
By The Newsroom
Published 10th Jan 2011, 17:10 BST
Updated 15th Jan 2011, 00:53 BST

Government bonds and index-linked gilts started off the year with above-average returns but this situation was quickly reversed as the effects of quantitative easing (QE) started to filter through the system. Commercial property returns surprised most people by producing around 10 per cent and both UK and global equities rallied strongly throughout December, closing at all-time highs for the year on Christmas Eve. The absolute return sector (a relatively new asset class) came into its own and helped our IFA competitors control and deal with the high level of volatility they experienced throughout the year.

As our readers will see from the pie-charts on this page, all eight competitors have produced year-end returns in excess of 20 per cent which, in comparison with the average return from the Global Growth sector (8.46 per cent) and the Active Managed sector (8.51 per cent), is a fantastic result and should more than meet the expectations of Chris and Fiona Anderson, our case study clients.

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• IFA of the year: Emerging markets help IFA competitors escape the doldrums

The fund performance part of our IFA of the Year competition finished officially at close of business on 31 December although the judges have not, as yet, chosen the winner because the final selection will not only be based on fund performance. Additional points will be awarded for the quality of their initial report, the ongoing management of their clients' portfolio, the IFAs' commentaries and whether the judges felt they fully satisfied the original remit of the competition based on the case study.

The winner will be announced at a special award ceremony to be held in February in one of Edinburgh's top hotels. The Scotsman also plans to produce am IFA of the Year 2010 supplement dedicated to the competition and its competitors.

Good luck to all competitors and thanks for their participation - they should all be very satisfied and proud of their portfolio management skills. The financial benefits of using an experienced and highly qualified IFA/financial planner cannot be underestimated.

• Raymond Ellis is a director of Scott-Moncrieff Wealth Management and a judge of the competition