If it is decided that an investment portfolio is appropriate for you, the first stage of the investment process is discovering your feelings towards investment risk, because this is crucial in determining an appropriate asset allocation and investment strategy for you.
In essence, our view on risk in simple: you should take no more than you are genuinely comfortable with and you should take no more than you need to in order to achieve your goals - points which we think are all too often overlooked.
We use an independent, psychometric risk-profiling questionnaire which provides us with a valuable insight into your financial views, values, motivations, preferences and experiences.
It also allows us to see what differences there may be between married couples or partners, to discuss any mismatch between risk-comfort and risk-requirement and what compromises might be made in the context of your financial plan.
Our risk-profiling process is considerably more detailed than that of many other practices, because of the importance we place on getting to know our clients well.
In fact, our clients say that they like our approach to risk-profiling because it gives them the confidence that we have an accurate perspective, because the process is both interesting and informative and because it helps them to better understand the investment and financial planning work we are undertaking together.