Investing

In April 2017, the government introduced a new type of Individual Savings Account (ISA): the Lifetime ISA. Designed to help people put money away for either their first home or retirement, the Lifetime ISA gave people more flexibility to save or invest for their future. But when it comes to pension planning, which is better: the Lifetime ISA or a pension?

For this month’s update our wealth consultant manager, Chandni Gupta, spoke with our chief investment officer, James McManus, on the recovery trajectory for 2021, market headwinds, stimulus policy, Asia’s performance and the breakdown of Nutmeg’s SRI portfolios.

Without a doubt, the last 12 months have been challenging for everyone. The financial markets have been no exception, with unprecedented levels of volatility across many asset classes and a long list of financial market records broken, including the fastest ever bear market but also one of the fastest recoveries.

In my early career I had various jobs in local government and the voluntary sector. My last ‘conventional’ job was information officer for a small national charity, something I enjoyed but wasn’t able to do for as long as I’d hoped. 

For this month’s investor update Nutmeg’s financial adviser, Chris Liebetrau, speaks to our director of investment strategy, Brad Holland, about the Democrats’ Senate seat wins, the stimulus expected from a Joe Biden White House, the UK’s deal with the EU, lockdown and the vaccine rollout.

Currency fluctuations are often top of mind for professional and private investors alike. Currency exposure is an important part of a globally diversified multi–asset portfolio, and therefore an important part of asset allocation decisions. Depending on the asset mix and overall risk, the level of currency risk can be a significant contributor to portfolio returns and volatility – as well as an important source of diversification. 

Nutmeg’s chief executive officer, Neil Alexander, sits down with our chief investment officer, James McManus, to review the major investment topics of the year and look ahead to 2021.

Can You Have More Than One ISA?

Active exchange traded funds (ETFs) reflect a true evolution in the investment landscape. They combine the diversification and transparency elements of passive investment with active, research-driven security selection. By doing this, active ETFs seek to offer outperformance against a typical ETF.   

Nutmeg’s goal has always been to bring wealth management to as many people as possible. The advent of digital technology has given our clients the chance to invest for their future at minimum cost and without prohibitive barriers to entry. We do not believe in being disruptive for the sake of it, but we do believe in using technology to improve an industry too often associated with being staid and exclusive. 

We recently invested in clean energy equities as a thematic addition to our managed portfolios. Thematic investments seek to capture long-term, transformative forces that are changing the world we live in, driving innovation and redefining business models – collectively referred to as ‘megatrends’. Climate change and resource scarcity is one such megatrend, where the demand for a more sustainable tomorrow is driving a shift to cleaner forms of energy provision. 

The return of lockdown, equity market volatility and a Hollywood script of a US presidential election. Our director of investment strategy, Brad Holland, takes us through what happened last month from an investor perspective and gives us the outlook for domestic and global markets going forward.