Discretionary management
Clients can elect to place their investments into a portfolio that is managed for them by a third party fund manager. The clients will have little involvement with the day to day management of the portfolio but will receive regular updates with respect to performance.
Advisory portfolios Clients can elect to have greater involvement with their portfolio management as the chosen fund manager will regularly discuss the portfolio and his recommendations with the client and they can make the final decisions together.
Bespoke portfolio management Clients can have a tailor made portfolio incorporating their own ideas with those of the investment manager. These portfolios can be constructed using exotic assets as well as typical asset classes and can be managed closely between client and manager.
Unit trusts & Mutual funds These investments are pooled investments where clients can buy units in a fund similar to buying a share in a company. A manager will typically run the fund buying assets that fit with the funds objective and clients will benefit from performance expressed in the value of the units they hold. There are literally thousands of Unit Trusts & Mutual Funds available today. Jigsaw can either help you buy your chosen funds, recommend funds to you or assist to construct a portfolio from these assets.
Offshore funds Similar to Unit Trusts and Mutual Funds, Offshore funds are pooled investment structures which typically benefit from their favourable offshore taxation treatment.
Guaranteed funds These investments can come in all shapes and sizes but are typically in fund form. They will normally protect an investor's principal placement amount to a certain level to help reduce the risk associated with investing. It is normal to have up to100% of ones initial investment guaranteed as long as the investment is held until maturity.
Structured products These investments are typically structured by a bank or other remisier in the form of a note/contract. They can vary greatly but often hold a basket of indices, shares or funds and tend to benefit based on upward or downward moves which are pre-agreed with investors at outset. Some versions have principal protection and all varieties tend to have short term maturity dates, typically 1 to 3 years.
Alternative Investments Alternative investments are those that seek to benefit from investing in alternative ways to conventional Equity, Bonds and cash investments. Alternative investments today tend to encompass Hedge funds but genuine investments of an alternative nature would participate in more obscure investments such as say Debt Restructuring or perhaps Alternative Power. There are many different focus of traded asset within this category. This category of investment is rather non specific and can vary greatly in terms of risk and reward.
Hedge funds Hedge funds are fast becoming recognised as an essential part of any well balanced portfolio. Typically Hedge funds benefit from not being correlated to traditional investments such as Equities, bonds and cash and tend not to follow benchmark driven performance such as say and Equity fund might follow the FTSE 100 but seeks to return gains on an absolute return basis, meaning in adverse markets the manager can sell his positions and remain in cash until he can see further opportunity. Hedge funds in more depth
Other collective investment schemes Other collective investment schemes that can become available from time to time are those that have been specially designed to meet a specific market. An example of another collective investment is perhaps a Property Company, where one buys shares in the company based on the company's business objective. It might focus on buying Thai property or Hotels in India ; clients would benefit from rental income and capital appreciation calculated based on the company's annual valuation expressed in the share price.
Private Equity Placements and Venture Capital Very similar to the above, clients investing into Private Equity or Venture Capital invest their money into a company structure in the belief that the company's business objectives meet with those they consider will benefit them in the long term. The company might have a unique product or invention that could become a best seller one day. Alternatively, the manager of the company might participate in an extremely focused subject like perhaps medical research or space navigation and could one day patent a technique or theory and sell it to government or large corporate businesses. By participating in these kind of investments you are taking a view on the business and effectively lending your money to the organisation in return for the eventual share of the profits should they occur.
Currency & Foreign Exchange The worlds largest single market is the Foreign Exchange market and most international investors will tend to hold currency of differing denomination at one point or another. Dependent on ones risk appetite, currency can be used as an assets class in its own right but foreign exchange is volatile and would normally form a small proportion of ones overall position. Most investors will consider currency exposure relevant to the underlying asset they choose to invest into, such as for example, a client buys a Japanese Equity fund which might be denominated in Yen. The client might be more interested in Japanese Equities but in this case would also have to carefully consider the currency of the fund and the ultimate impact on that investment when converted back to the client's currency of reference.
Deposits, Banking services & Offshore bank accounts Various banking services can be facilitated by Jigsaw. We will recommend the best prevailing rates and advise over what term to hold deposits. Offshore banking facilities are also available and can often attract higher rates of interest for our clients.
Lending Loans to buy property or to pay for renovations can be obtained for our clients. We also have the ability to lend against existing or new investments. Gearing portfolios for further investment into additional funds, Equities, Bonds etc can also be achieved.
Offshore tax wrapper facilities A tax wrapper is an I nsurance contract that is not life A ssurance which is issued to the plan holder in exchange for ownership. It is a bespoke investment structure - a 'multi manager' investment strategy that can appoint a professional investment adviser (JIGSAW) to select investments on his behalf. It centralises the ownership of the assets - holding investments via an offshore bond centralises the investments in one place which helps to alleviate administration.
Trusts A trust is an agreement under which money or other assets are held and managed by one person for the benefit of another. Different types of trusts may be created to accomplish specific goals. Each kind may vary in the degree of flexibility and control it offers.
The common benefits that trust arrangements offer include:
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Providing personal and financial safeguards for family and other beneficiaries
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Postponing or avoiding unnecessary taxes
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Establishing a means of controlling or administering property
Offshore companies Once formed, an offshore company -- or, in fact, any company -- is an entity in its own right. Having the status of a legal person, an offshore company is quite separate from its owners (shareholders) and managers (directors). Just like any limited company, an offshore company is managed by a board of directors for the benefit of its shareholders. Shareholders have the power to elect the company's directors. Most offshore companies are permitted to conduct any business activity that is not specifically prohibited by the legislation of their place of incorporation. A typical offshore company can do what any limited company can, and more:
Open bank accounts worldwide
Own cash, securities, commodities
Own real estate, land
Own intellectual property
Trade worldwide
Foundations & Unit trust creation A foundation is a popular estate planning vehicle for client's accustomed to civil law and is a simple and efficient way to protect and pass assets on to heirs. A Foundation is a flexible asset holding and protection vehicle, which can hold a variety of assets including the shares of an underlying company owning assets in various jurisdictions. The statutes of a foundation do not contain confidential information.
The advantages are:
Comprehensive and flexible succession planning
Discretion and continuity
Confidentiality
Taxation advantages
Retirement Schemes, School Fees Programmes & Savings Plans These are investment scheme that enable investors to make a regular contribution to a portfolio of funds for a predetermined period of time. Typically an investor will set the term of the investment to the date of the obligation or desire. Fore example, a 30 year old male might initiate a retirement saving scheme over a 25 year term to coincide with the date of retirement or perhaps a family might commence a plan for their new born child over an 18 year term. These plans can be fairly flexible and the proceeds can normally be used at the client's discretion upon maturity.
