A 22 minute watch.  

Charlie Parker is the recently appointed MD of Albemarle Street Partners, a small team that works with advisers to help deliver consistent client outcomes. Chatting with Lee Robertson, he aims to help them keep hold of the value they create through the relationships they build with their clients. 

Tackling the investment proposition head-on, he points to the history books and how fees have shifted from margin on selling stocks to selling mutuals to selling diversification strategies over time, and why now “you’re really in trouble if you’re selling diversification at 1%”.

With the vice tightening on fees derived from investment propositions, Charlie reveals where advisers can unlock value, and where DFMs could be doing more to sing for their supper.

Having worked for consolidators in the past, he goes on to point out the ramifications of his strategy when advisers sell-up:”Higher valuations don’t come from recurring revenues and collected assets, it’s EBITDA – it’s profitability”.

He rounds-off his advice by listing five recommendations for adding value.

Inevitably Woodford pops-up: “It’s a shame, Neil has avoided heuristic errors for a long-time”, and references his shunning of tech stocks during the early noughties bubble.

He then gives his view on the two key problems with Woodford: fund manager diversification and illiquidity in unsuitable vehicles, and goes to explain what he means.

If you want more from Charlie, he’s also written for us on robo-advice posing little threat and in more depth on Neil Woodford and the lessons learnt, as well as on camera for our 3 Questions.