Indices have new sign-up

A LOCALLY created yardstick for monitoring the performance of the investment industry has benefited from another Guernsey contributor. Financial consultancy firm Asset Risk Consultants has launched a set of benchmarks based on the actual returns being delivered to private clients by a range of discretionary portfolio managers.

The private client indices can be accessed free of charge to trustees and private-client advisers through a web-based subscription service.

Credit Suisse Guernsey has signed up as the latest contributor to the dataset.

It has joined 20 other participating investment managers, including the likes of GAM, Merrill Lynch, Newton and Schroders.

Each provides monthly performance data. In return all receive a quarterly peer group analysis report and the right to use the indices in their private-client reporting.

ARC managing director Graham Harrison said Credit Suisse had added high-quality performance data.

'Their contribution will enhance the unique insight that PCIs give to both contributors and trustees into how discretionary private-client portfolios are really performing.'

Jean-Luc Le Tocq, head of relationship management and member of the executive board of Credit Suisse, said it had welcomed the opportunity to contribute.

'Previously, the choice for some private clients when establishing a new investment portfolio could have been considered overwhelming. With the advent of the PCI, investors gain greater clarity of actual returns as delivered by real investment managers over the previous three-year period,' he said.

'The comparison of these returns and their relative risk characteristics plotted on an equal footing assist clients to make a more informed choice when selecting an investment manager.'

The asset classes included within those portfolios include bonds, stocks, hedge funds and property.

'The PCI is a measure for private clients to compare the portfolios holding these asset classes in the different variations as invested by the contributing investment managers and calculated by an independent source, ARC.'