who are we and what can we do for you?

With more than thirty years experience in the financial services sector, twelve of those dealing with expatriates and high net worth individuals in the offshore arena, we decided to make our services available to a wider audience by establishing this web site in late 2004.

The principle is to provide a single source of information both to experienced investors who do not necessarily seek personal financial planning advice so that they may more easily access information from a variety of fund management groups, both traditional and alternative, as well as the products and services of offshore life insurance companies, trust companies and others and also to not the so experienced investor who want the services of an Independent Asset Manager as defined below

For us, the benefit is obvious in that we no longer have to travel extensively and spend time in airports and hotels while waiting for meetings with clients and potential clients alike. With the technology available to us today, we have found that many people are quite happy with e-mail and telephone support of their portfolios and investments.

As a trade off for not being able to meet personally with you, we offer most of these funds and services at a discount by rebating commissions to reduce the charges of the management groups where the group allows us to do that.

Many people do prefer to meet with an advisor to build a bond and a rapport but equally, many people do not.

Travelling around the world to meet clients is an expensive business. We believe that for those clients who can accept it, and for those that prefer an execution-only style of investing, we remove the product bias created by variable commission rates and volume over-rides that may be associated with full service providers by creating  a truly level playing field.

Having an offshore investment structure is a good thing. How you can use it to your best advantage is another. That's where an Independent Asset Manager (IAM) comes in. In Switzerland alone, there are about 8,000 IAMs that manage an estimated US$5 trillion to US$7 trillion.

There are numerous advantages.

Advantage #1 : IAMs are usually small operations, which means they can build individual portfolios for each client. Most banks will try to put customers in one of three categories -- aggressive, not aggressive, or in between. However, IAMs can create portfolios that have gold only stocks or bonds only, depending on the individual client's needs and wishes.

Advantage #2 :  IAMs get to know clients on a very personal basis. Customers aren't just numbers. But small size doesn't mean limited service. The providers of the structures act as back offices for IAMs. Every transaction statement is produced by the provider and sent to the client and the IAM.

Advantage #3 : A good IAM stays at his job. The owner-operators of IAMs tend to stay in their positions for many years, since they're operating their own business. If a UBS banker gets a better offer at Credit Suisse, he's probably gone.

Advantage #4 :  IAMs don't have to trade like big institutions. We have the guts to say we don't like the market. A bank will usually be fully invested. Banks just don't have the agility to switch positions the way we can. We never change the core holdings. But we do use options to hedge.

Advantage #5 : is trust. A good IAM works with his clients to analyze their needs, based on factors such as age, health, temperament, investment experience, personal preferences, individual circumstances, and family. Once trust is established, a client can sign a limited power of attorney allowing the IAM to trade the account as he sees fit to build a portfolio to best suit the customer. And that brings us to the last advantage...

Advantage #8 : It simplifies your life. Since you've handed over limited power of attorney to your IAM, you don't have to devote time to building your own portfolio and monitoring your positions on a daily basis. A good IAM stays in touch with a client to see if circumstances change and if the client is satisfied with the performance of his or her portfolio. Since the management fee our client pays us is our lifeline, we go out of our way to make them happy.