About the Award
Investment Team of the Year applies to firms that specialise in managing investments. Entries should demonstrate how the team has achieved strong risk-adjusted performance; attracts and retains clients through providing an excellent client-experience, strong client communications and clarity and transparency, particularly in relation to fee structures and risk.
All entrants will need to submit a written submission (A), which carries a weighting of 60% and an additional data submission (B), which carries a weighting of 40%. Please read full entry guidelines below before submitting an entry.
Part (A) – Written submission (60% of award)
Focusing on the year 15 April 2022–14 April 2023 only, address all of the following three criteria: they are equally weighted.
1. Your client service proposition and team capabilities in particular:
- Your client onboarding process.
- Experience and knowledge of working with the more complex structures used in trust and estate planning.
2. The way your firm communicates and engages with clients and their advisors including:
- The frequency, relevance and clarity of communications in particular the way fees and risks are explained to clients. *A redacted copy of a client report to support this will need to be sent through to [email protected] by midnight on 14 April.
3. The overall investment proposition of the firm including details of the following:
- The key investment decisions made over the past 12 months (15 April 2022–14 April 2023) and how they affected client outcomes.
- How the firm monitors and manages investment risk.
- How the firm integrates Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria into the investment process and/ or reporting.
Part (B) – Quantitative data questions and assessment (40% of award)
Please provide performance (net of fees) and asset allocation data for the 36-month period (January 2020 – December 2022) using the data submission spreadsheet. The submission should be based on your core multi-asset strategy for portfolios typically over GBP1 million (or equivalent in USD and EUR) and on a medium-risk mandate (based on the MPI risk ranges).
The performance assessment will be made by MP Analytics using an objective measure based on the past three years' data, taking into consideration both performance, risk, and with particular focus on the most recent 12-month period.
Please include the following details about the investment strategy you have submitted.
- A description of this strategy and its objective.
- Any benchmark(s) used by the strategy.
- The approximate assets under management (AUM) invested in this strategy across all risk categories.
- A description of the data used in the submission (e.g. actual client data, reference portfolio, model)
The Role of MP Analytics
MP Analytics Limited is an independent index provider and risk/performance consultancy firm. They publish the Managed Portfolio Indices (MPI) as a free to use STEP Member Service for trustees and other approved private client advisors, based on verified data from over 130,000 trust and private client portfolios. The indices are constructed from verified performance data for over 130,000 trust and private client portfolios collated from over 50 investment manager firms and are available in Sterling, US Dollar and Euro currencies across Low, Medium and High risk categories.
MP Analytics provides analysis of investment providers to assist the judges when they are considering the submissions for Investment Team of the Year. The analysis includes a review of investment performance and risk over a 36-month (January 2020–December 2022) and 12-month (January–December 2022) period to confirm that investors have not only received good service (which will be included in the written submissions) but also good results.
