Investment Process
Although we do not operate standard portfolios we consider that it is vital that those who make recommendations to clients or construct their portfolios are armed with excellent information on potential investments and a clear and coherent view of the outlook for financial markets.
Speirs & Jeffrey views independence of research as vital to independence of advice. We therefore employ our own internal Research Department. Periodically the Department prepares strategy documents that examine the global economic environment and provide a more detailed analysis of the UK economy. These documents also contain analysis of UK financial markets and equity sectors. Following preparation of the strategy documents the Research Department present their conclusions to the directors and those involved with client portfolios and the papers are debated. These debates are very important in identifying which asset classes and sectors we consider to have the best medium term prospects. They also serve as a means of focusing our research efforts on areas which we believe will offer the best rewards.
In addition to preparing the strategy document our Research Department is responsible for analysing around 200 individual companies and around 50 investment companies on a regular basis. We maintain "background" notes on all these stocks. Background notes are designed to provide a general description of the company, information on recent trading and some standardised financial ratios. To see an example of a background note please click here.
Periodically we also publish other, more specific research documents.
Members of our Research Department have an average of over 15 years of relevant investment experience. They have access to a range of analytical tools including computer systems such as Datastream, Thomson One and Global Topic. We spend a lot of time meeting companies - sometimes at their initiation, sometimes at ours. If company meetings are impractical we view live webcasts of company presentations to the analyst community or participate in telephone Q & A sessions.
Further investment ideas are generated from third party research, and from the directors and investment advisers. 4 mornings per week there are research meetings involving the directors and investment advisers and focusing on a structured discussion of a specific stock, sector or investment theme.
Our Directors and other Investment Advisers share a floor with the Research Department allowing a constant sharing of views and information. Investment advisers also have the resources of the research department at their fingertips through a customised database. Because all our staff are based in a single office research staff can respond quickly to urgent ad-hoc requests for information or views.