Being cautious with other people’s money has paid off for Bristol wealth management firm Whitechurch Securities – the firm has won its industry’s top accolade for such an approach.
Whitechurch, which works with financial advisers to provide investment services to private clients, collected the Platinum Award for Best Cautious Manager at the recent Portfolio Adviser Wealth Manager Awards. 
The annual gala ceremony, held in London, championed the UK’s top wealth managers, from large firms to boutiques with less than £3bn in assets under management.
Winners were awarded gold or platinum prizes for cautious, balanced, aggressive and absolute return portfolios.
Whitechurch managing director Gavin Haynes, pictured, who was at the event to accept the award, said: “It is particularly pleasing to be recognised for our expertise in running monies for cautious investors, as it highlights the robustness of our risk management approach.
“This is particularly important when managing monies for pensions, trusts and charities. There is an increasing demand for cautious portfolios at the current stage of the investment cycle.
“After a sustained period of rising markets, many investors are looking to lock in gains and move to reduce risk, but they still want a cautious investment strategy that can provide potential to beat cash and inflation.”
The Portfolio Adviser Wealth Manager Awards are decided by an independent judging panel who follow a two-step process involving a qualitative and a quantitative stage.
The first step gives wealth managers the chance to pitch exactly how they would manage a client’s wealth based on a specific scenario, with the second looking at performance data – risk-adjusted returns over three years – with analysis from independent performance analysts, the Enhance Group.
The award is the latest in a long line of successes for Whitechurch. Last year it was a finalist in the Best Wealth Manager category at the Money Marketing Awards, putting it in the unique position of being the only firm to be short-listed every year for the past 11 years – and winning the award on three occasions.
It was also a PAM (Private Asset Management) awards finalist last year after winning the PAM Defensive Portfolio Investment Performance category in 2016.
Both were based on an exhaustive due diligence review of investment process, portfolios, fees and performance.
In 2016 the firm was also awarded the title of Best Overall Small Firm for the third year running at the Citywire Wealth Manager Awards and achieved an unprecedented clean sweep at the Portfolio Adviser Wealth Manager Awards, winning the highest platinum award for the Best Cautious Portfolio, the Best Balanced Portfolio and the Best Aggressive Portfolio.
