Direct investment philosophy

At Hewison Private Wealth we prefer to directly into assets such as ASX listed securities real estate and interest bearing securities, on behalf of our clients rather than via managed fund structures.

This direct management approach enables us to construct portfolios that are designed to meet specific objectives for individual clients, at the same time providing our clients with more flexibility and control, as well as being more cost effective.

Our clients’ investments are held in individually managed accounts, this structure together with our direct investment philosophy enables our clients to access an optimum investment management service and strategies that have been tested and adapted, over our 25 year history, to cope with the rise and fall in financial markets.

Individually managed accounts

Individually managed accounts (IMA) are portfolio structures where the investments are owned directly by the client, allowing greater flexibility and control than achieved with common alternatives such as buying units in a managed fund structure.

Hewison Private Wealth has offered IMAs to our clients for over 20 years; making us one of Australia’s most experienced IMA providers. Our direct investment philosophy and experience, combined with our portfolio administration software means we can offer clients a tailored, yet efficient individually managed portfolio that is designed to suit their unique needs and objectives.

IMA’s are becoming increasingly popular amongst investors who want to retain greater control over their investments. They allow clients’ greater flexibility and give them the ability to more effectively manage cash flow and taxation efficiency and avoid product commission fees.

Portfolios designed to achieve results

At Hewison Private Wealth we have honed our approach to portfolio design over our 25 year history, resulting in investment performance for clients that consistently outperforms the industry average.

We don’t use standardised risk profiling that classifies clients as a “risk type”; instead we design strategies that are based on a thorough understanding of our client’s circumstances, attitudes and objectives. We then explain the level of risk to ensure our clients are comfortable with the strategy adopted.

A risk/return trade off - that is, the higher the return the greater the risk - is often used. We agree that within the same asset class, this is usually true however the achievement of attractive rates of return does not always need to entail high risk. A properly constructed portfolio of diversified assets underpinned by reliable income and sound fundamentals can return comparatively high rates of return at relatively low risk.

To optimise performance, we adjust and rebalance clients’ portfolios when it is required and we provide our clients with advice in a timely and continuous manner. Our advisers monitor clients’ portfolios and their market position on an ongoing basis and provide advice relative to legislative change, market conditions and changes in a client's circumstances.

Independent research

To ensure our clients have access to high grade investment opportunities, across a range of asset classes, we source quality independent research from a number of credible research houses.

The asset allocation in a client’s investment portfolio will differ depending on the client objectives. Our advisers apply further qualitative and quantitative valuation analysis before presenting an investment to the client as a recommendation.

Results that speak for themselves

While each client portfolio will perform differently, the performance of the average Hewison Private Wealth balanced portfolio provides a benchmark for investment performance across our client portfolios. We publish these performance results on a quarterly basis.

Our results, as of December 31, 2009 demonstrate that in one of the most challenging years in recent memory, Hewison Private Wealth’ balanced portfolio out-performed the industry average not only in the short-term (one year), but over a longer period as well – which is crucial when considering the investment horizon of many clients. We attribute our strong performance to our meticulous direct investment selection process and constant active portfolio management.