Antonia Medlicott on LinkedIn: #investing #stockmarket #hargreaveslansdown (2024)

Wow! Hargreaves Lansdown's business model is "structually challenged... it has a very high market share, but it provides an inferior product and overcharges for it"."...they are one of the most expensive providers in the market"HL is "still paying the price for its role in one of the biggest British investment scandals of the decade""A majority of own-brand funds have underperformed their benchmarks over the past five years"I'm usually an advocate of 'price is what you pay, value is what you get' but when you're over-paying and getting poor value, it surely must be time to look for an alternative?To be fair to the majority of HL's customers, the missing ingredient is actually advice. If you would like an impartial view of your Hargreaves Lansdown account, please get in touch.#advice #value #invest #ISA #pension

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A great piece. Competition is increasing, which is a huge positive. Value for money is top of the agenda for a growing number of investors, but the concept of what ‘good value’ looks like can be a tough one to crack. And Robin Powell is right - it can depend on your own circ*mstances, and how much (and how) you invest. Doing your homework and getting that all important value for money can add up to meaningful amounts over a lifetime of saving. Which is why articles like this are so important. #investment #platforms #charges

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We always say that venture backed companies need to bring on a more strategic CFO as they reach a certain level of maturity. Venture firms are no different. Invest in a strategic forward thinking CFO who is solutions oriented like Primary has with Mike.

A lot of "Beetlejuice" situations out there in private markets. In spending the past few weeks at various private markets conferences and fund manager annual general meetings, the reminder of the lengthy duration of private markets fund partnerships has been as prevalent as ever. This is an insightful article from Bloomberg on how many private markets fund managers and their fund partnerships can turn into "zombies" given the illiquid nature of the asset class and the potential for prolonged hold periods, ie 15-20 years post initial investment. Zombies are pretty much unique to money managers who make illiquid, complex wagers such as in private markets. In contrast, funds that pick stocks and bonds can collapse relatively swiftly after major missteps and an exodus of investors. Limited partners cannot force private equity managers to sell. They can’t pull money from a fund without typically paying a price. Nor can they replace a manager unless there's evidence of wrongdoing. That means zombie funds can go on for years, sucking up pension managers' time and eroding returns. Continuation funds have recently been focused on allowing fund managers to hold their winners, but previously, and likely more so going forward, they will serve as a way to provide managers more time to salvage underperformers.It will be interesting to see how the mass of secondary and continuation fund capital raised the past few years will be deployed into these end of life and extended fund situations. Firms like Hollyport Capital, who specialize in end of life fund secondaries, could be well positioned to capitalize on the current struggles of private market managers. As private markets fund managers struggle to launch new flagship funds or find other ways to shore up their fees, they can eventually lose staffers en masse, leaving a skeleton crew behind to resolve old bets and manage bills. Funds — typically designed to last no longer than 12 years — end up going long past expiration dates, with firms sometimes sliding assets into continuation funds to keep managing them.Years-long delays have become common in the industry. Private funds that launched before 2010 still held roughly $80 billion as of last year - Preqin. And there are now 645 firms that haven’t raised a new buyout vehicle since the start of 2015.Reports from 10 major public pensions show that they have a median 4% of their private equity portfolios locked up in funds older than 2009. Collectively, that’s $6.8 billion across more than 900 fund investments, some of which date back to the 1990s. #zombies #beetlejuice #privatemarkets #fundmanagers #alternativeinvestments #institutionalinvestors #privateequity #capitalmarkets #limitedpartners #secondaries #continuation #liquidation #partnerships https://lnkd.in/gZ4wsyYs

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One of the many myths about investing, as Moira O'Neill explains in her latest article for the FT, is that the more funds there are in your portfolio the more diversified it is.It’s not unusual for my colleagues at rockwealth to onboard a new client and find they own THIRTY or more different funds.That’s not a diversified portfolio: it’s a mess. Worse still, it’s likely that many of those funds will be investing in the same things, which adds concentration risk —the very thing that diversification is meant to address!Personally, I choose to invest in one fund. It gives me exposure to many thousands of securities —stocks and bonds —around the world, and it automatically rebalances in line with my personal capacity for risk.If you own more than ten different funds, you may well need to look for another financial adviser.#Investing #EvidenceInvesting#Funds #PortfolioConstruction

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"Across the $12 trillion industry, hundreds of private equity firms are lumbering on years after their funds’ intended twilight with no new fundraising in sight — a cohort that investors and regulators have dubbed “zombies.”"Now, a historic shakeup of the industry is threatening to impose the same fate on more fading money managers whose past funds are inching toward limbo.""If money managers don't launch new flagship funds or find other ways to shore up their fees, they can eventually lose staffers en masse, leaving a skeleton crew behind to resolve old bets and manage bills. Funds — typically designed to last no longer than 12 years — end up going long past expiration dates, with firms sometimes sliding assets into continuation funds to keep managing them.""It creates headaches for clients, who have to decide whether to press for an exit or hang on, hoping things turn around. The steep discounts to ditch problematic fund stakes prompt many investors to spend years crossing their fingers.""Years-long delays have become common in the industry. Private funds that launched before 2010 still held roughly $80 billion as of last year, according to Preqin. And there are now 645 firms that haven’t raised a new buyout vehicle since the start of 2015.""Zombies are pretty much unique to money managers who make illiquid, complex wagers. In contrast, funds that pick stocks and bonds can collapse relatively swiftly after major missteps and an exodus of investors.""Sticky bets can create dilemmas. Pensions and endowments can’t force private equity managers to sell. They can’t pull money from a fund without typically paying a price. Nor can they replace a manager unless there's evidence of wrongdoing. That means zombie funds can go on for years, sucking up pension managers' time and eroding returns.""That’s an inconvenient counterpoint to private equity’s pitch that it can reliably take cash from teachers, police, firefighters and other civil servants and hand it back with significant returns a decade later.""Pension funds stuck with aging investments don’t have many good options."Conclusion: Private Equity is no panacea for investors, especially now that the cost of capital is higher than inflation.

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Unlike full title property ownership, life rights ownership entails purchasing the right to use the property for the remainder of your life, with security of tenure forming the foundation of this type of contract: Craig Torr - Crue Invest.#Moneyweb #RetirementProperty

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🚀 Big Moves in PE! CalPERS Shifts Gears! 🚀The landscape of Private Equity is changing, and CalPERS is leading the charge! 🌟 Embracing a strategic shift, they're prioritizing co-investments and separately managed accounts, revolutionizing their $30.8 billion program. Why? For better cost efficiency and stronger partnerships. 💡💼In the latter part of last year alone, they committed a staggering $4.3 billion to private equity, focusing on lower-fee structures. 📈 This monumental shift saw them dive deeper into co-investments, linking arms with industry giants like Blackstone and Onex.🔍 But they're not stopping there! With an eye on the future, CalPERS is also ramping up its venture capital focus, aiming to transform their investment strategy and portfolio performance. 🚀Read more about their strategic pivot and the potential industry-wide impacts here: 🔗 👇 https://lnkd.in/eh5hB8Gm#PrivateEquity #InvestmentStrategy #CoInvestments #VentureCapital #CalPERS #PrivateEquityFunds #PrivateEquityFirms

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Mutual funds, mutual understand. Get up to speed on all things mutual funds in this Wealth Report.https://lnkd.in/efQZ7bnr

Proves that the market is open to schemes of all sizes with the right approach and preparation.

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