Investment Philosophy

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Allied Wealth Investment Committee

Allied Wealth uses a centralised asset allocation and investment committee approach. This means that all investment decisions are considered centrally by the Allied Wealth investment committee and implemented across the entire client base (unless individual circumstances override the change). This provides the discipline and robust process that clients expect when we are dealing with their assets.

We take advantage of the size of large research houses such as Morningstar and Lonsec to narrow the universe of investments and asset classes to consider for clients. This is further enhanced by using the experience of the committee members to design portfolios to meet client’s risk profile.
The committee comprises of the three principal advisors along with two independent committee members all with equal voting rights. The combined experience of the investment committee is over 90 years. The investment committee meets at least quarterly to review our asset allocation models and investments, any proposed changes are then implemented taking care to minimise transaction and any other unnecessary costs.

At Allied Wealth, clients gain access to the resources of large research houses and the rigor of a disciplined investment committee process. However, clients also retain the advantage of each portfolio being tailored and managed for their individual needs rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

Investment Committee

Jessica Brizuela

CFP®, MAppFin, Bcom

Director and Principal Financial Advisor

Jessica Brizuela has been working in the financial services industry for over 17 years and joined Allied Wealth in 2022 to focus on delivering unbiased advice to clients, where product conflict is not part of the advice process. Jessica believes that clients deserve to receive genuine independent advice as it builds a stronger long-term relationship with her clients.


Greg Barter

CFP®, BSc, Dip FP

Director and Principal Financial Advisor

Greg Barter has been working as an advisor in the financial services industry for over 23 years and joined Allied Wealth in 2022 to pursue his desire to provide independent boutique financial planning advice.

Greg has over eight years expertise in key investment decisions, serving as a voting member on the investment committee for one of Australia’s largest managed discretionary accounts. His clients are a combination of individuals, not-for-profit and corporations. In addition to being a principal advisor for Allied Wealth he also Chairs the Allied Wealth Investment and Asset Allocation Committee.


Chris Rae

Founding Director and Principal Financial Advisor

Chris Rae has been working in the financial services industry for over 22 years and established Allied Wealth in 2020 to provide his clients with tailored unbiased financial advice.

Chris is a former director of the Profession of Independent Financial Advisers and has extensive experience in running boutique financial planning offices


Hugh Dive

Committee Member

Hugh Dive founded Atlas Funds Management in 2016 and manages the Atlas Core Australian Equity Portfolio. Before Atlas, he managed over $1 billion in accounts for Centric Wealth as Senior Portfolio Manager at Aurora Funds Management and was Head of Basic Materials at Citigroup Investment Research. In the 2011 Reuters StarMine Equity Analyst Awards, he was rated 5th overall in Australia for stock picking and first in Diversified Industrials and Chemicals. He has portfolio management experience at Investors Mutual, where he's managed small and large value funds, and CC&L Investment Management in Vancouver. Hugh holds degrees in Economics and Law from the University of Sydney, is a CFA charter holder, and earned Honours in the Canadian Securities Course.


Eddie Lee

Committee Member

Eddie Lee sits on the Allied Wealth Investment Committee as an Independent Investment Committee Member. Eddie has more than 12-years of experience across investment strategy, asset allocation and multi-manager portfolios. Over his investment career, he has held multiple roles in investment management and research working in asset consulting, superannuation, and wealth management. Eddie holds a Bachelor of Economics and Finance from RMIT University in Melbourne, Victoria.


ALLIED WEALTH INVESTMENT PHILOSOPHY

Allied Wealth is an institutional quality wealth management firm with a focus on providing unconflicted financial planning advice.

The Investment Philosophy may be summarised as follows:
1.
Focus on client’s long-term return outcomes with an awareness for downside risk.
2.
Strategy seeks to outperform the market median net of fees via a combination of:
3.
The investment process seeks to incrementally add value via appropriate selection and sizing of investment positions.
Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA) – 
Long-term approach to asset class forecasting and asset allocation optimisation to determine the appropriate Strategic Asset Allocation.
Tactical Asset Allocation (TAA) –
Short-to-medium term tactical tilts/positions taken to add-value to client portfolios relative to the Strategic Asset Allocation.
Strategy Selection and Blending –
Curated selection of quality investment managers with a range of different investment styles across multiple asset classes with the view of adding uncorrelated sources of Alpha.
01
Focus on client’s long-term return outcomes with an awareness for downside risk.

Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA) –
Long-term approach to asset class forecasting and asset allocation optimisation to determine the appropriate Strategic Asset Allocation.
02
Strategy seeks to outperform the market median net of fees via a combination of:

Tactical Asset Allocation (TAA) –
Long-term approach to asset class forecasting and asset allocation optimisation to determine the appropriate Strategic Asset Allocation.
03
The investment process seeks to incrementally add value via appropriate selection and sizing
of investment positions.
Strategy Selection and Blending –
Long-term approach to asset class forecasting and asset allocation optimisation to determine the appropriate Strategic Asset Allocation.

Manager Selection, Allocation and Blending

Allied Wealth takes a wholistic portfolio construction approach to the manager selection, allocation and blending. Across each asset class, investment managersare reviewed, selected and sized to achieve a total portfolio outcome. Portfolios in aggregate seek to generate a consistent level of alpha across different marketcycles via a blend of investment managers with differentiated styles. Portfolio construction is specific to each asset class. Manager selection can also be amended to reflect client’s investment philosophysuch as passive, active, listed and ethical.

Getting Started

You may be thinking about getting your finances in order and potentially starting a savings plan to invest for the future. You may be unsure of how to reach your financial goals and how long it will take you to get there. Getting started on the financial planning journey early in your career can change your life’s trajectory.
Should I purchase a home to live in, an investment property or an investment portfolio?
What’s the best investment approach for myself?
How much does it cost to insure myself against injury or illness?
Should I look at borrowing money to purchase an asset?
What is the best structure for me to accumulate wealth in?

Growing Wealth

Life may now be a little more complicated and financial responsibilities have grown. Income levels may be higher, but debt and taxes may be impacting your ability to reach your goals. If children are now in the mix, further planning and restructuring is essential to maximising wealth creation, whilst ensuring your income and assets are protected.
Do I have the “right” amount of debt or is there a better way to structure this?
How do I ensure my capital is invested in the best possible manner?
How do I ensure my capital is invested in the best possible manner?
How do I make sure my family is looked after if something happens to me?
How do I ensure my capital is invested in the best possible manner

Consolidating Wealth

At this stage you may be considering leaving the workforce, but you are unsure if this is financially possible. You may have adult children that are no longer financially dependent, and your expenditure may have steadied. At this point you are seriously thinking about what your retirement lifestyle will look like.
How much income do I require in retirement and is my asset base on track to meet this?
Understanding the different tax structures available to you and the pro’s and con’s related to each of these.
Should I focus on repaying debt, adding to my investment portfolio, or making contributions to super?
How can we ensure our children receive our estate in the most efficient manner, whilst protecting the bloodline?
Do I still need insurance?

Financial independence

You have either left the workforce or have significantly reduced your working hours. You are looking for a steady and reliable source of income and would also like to maximise any benefits available in retirement. You may also be thinking about your assets being passed on to the right people and in the most tax efficient manner.
Will I outlive my portfolio and how can I ensure that I don’t run out of money?
If I help my children will this compromise my retirement income?
Should I downsize my home to add to super and live more comfortably in retirement?
 How can we ensure our children receive our estate in the most efficient manner, whilst protecting the bloodline?
How much can I spend on travel
How much can I spend on travel

Business Owners

You might be an entrepreneur looking to start your own business, a fast-growing company looking to accelerate your growth, a family-owned business wanting to leave a legacy or an established company looking to exit. You are focused on building your business and likely struggle to find time to think about how you are tracking with your long-term goals. Regardless of the business lifecycle you are in, you will need support to navigate the hurdles that come with owning a business.
How do I extract the value in my business for my family to enjoy?
How do I protect my family’s assets from the business?
Understanding the different tax structures available to you and the pro’s and con’s related to each of these.
Understanding the different tax structures available to you and the pro’s and con’s related to each of these.
What will happen to the business when I am no longer around?
Should I consider adding any funds to super as opposed to investing in the business?

Corporations and Not-for-profit

Your Board or Committee may have a considerable portfolio it manages on behalf of stakeholders, who are increasingly demanding for transparency and accountability on funds. Understanding the level of risk required to grow and protect the portfolio, along with bespoke portfolio construction is key to appropriate governance and meeting the Board’s objectives.
How do we know if our investment strategy needs updating?
What is the appropriate level of risk required to meet our objectives?
How do we construct a portfolio which manages short term and long term objectives along with planning for ongoing expenses.
Are we meeting our reporting obligations and responsibilities?
Australian Equities
International Equities
Property and Infrastructure
Alternatives (Hedge Funds)
Fixed Interest
Australian equities are typically benchmarked to the S&P ASX 200 or 300 capitalisation benchmark. Given the small size of the market and large sector concentration in mining and banks, we select a blend of high conviction managers with distinct investment styles.
International equities are split Developed vs Emerging Markets. Developed markets are investment jurisdictions characterised by developed equity and debtmarkets; high levels of market liquidity; political and financial market stability; clear and defined legal frameworks; and ease of foreign capital movements. This compares with Emerging Markets which are in various stages of development and therefore carry a materially higher level of risk. We have selected to include Developed Market Equities as a static long-term allocation but allow an EmergingMarket exposure on a tactical basis.

Developed Market Equities represent a large universe of investable securities (more than 5,000 eligible securities). We select a range of stylistically diverse managers, all with deep research capabilities. Given the broad range of industries and companies, we have a preference for large research teams (with sector specialists) where compensation is aligned with long-term return outcomes. Preferred investment managers within this space are expected to demonstrate strong ESG engagement with their portfolio companies.
Listed property and infrastructure represents a smaller universe relative to their international equity counterparts. The asset class is characterised by securities and underlying assets which have inflation linkages and earnings stability. This asset class is expected to exhibit more defensive and stable return characteristics relative to equities.

Given the smaller allocation, we select investment strategies with defensive characteristics. These strategies reflect investments in core/stable property or infrastructure assets with a steady income stream. This compares with development or greenfield exposure which are not preferred.
Alternatives as an asset class refers to a wide range of assets and investment strategies. These can vary from return-seeking (maximising) investment; illiquid investments; or defensive strategies. Our definition focuses on defensive strategies and adheres to the more traditional definition of “hedge funds” with a focus on mitigating downside risks.
Fixed interest represents the defensive asset class within the portfolio due to the stable coupon payment attached to bonds and the negative correlation with equity markets. Specific to this asset class, we seek investment managers with a proven track record managing rates and credit across different market cycles and macro environments.
Our investment manager selection process seeks to identify investment teams with a broad range of relevant backgrounds. Preferred managers in this space tend to exhibit well-structured risk management framework, strong trading capabilities and broad investment networks.

Strategic Asset Allocation Methodology

Our SAA process is based on long-term return forecasts over a 20-year period. Over the long-term,growth assets generally outperform defensive assets. However, growth assets tend to have a more volatile return profile over the short-to-medium term.

Allied Wealth offers a range of model portfolios which can be tailored to suit the individual client needs. Each portfolio is constructed to provide a diversified asset allocation specific to the risk profiles and objectives of each client. The model portfolios can also consider the client’s preferred investment style, such as passive, active or ethical.

The SAA is the ‘neutral’ position for the portfolio assuming there are no short-term influences on performance of individual asset classes. The establishment of the SAA is a deliberate three step process which is reviewed on an at least annual basis.
1. Forecast Returns and Risk
2. Strategic Asset Allocation Modelling
3. Investment Committee Discussion
Forecast returns are constructed by asset classes based on a decomposition of the long-term return drivers. Forecast risk utilises historical standard deviations observed over the 20-year historical period. Research suggests that over long investment horizons, the historical volatility observed tends to be a good reflection of the future volatility of returns.
SAA modelling seeks to identify the appropriate combination of asset allocations which meet the specific client’s risk-return tolerance. Allied Wealth’s process incorporates both quantitative and qualitative elements.
Quantitatively, a mean-variance framework modelling the long-term historical and forecast returns (and risk) are used to identify the optimal quantitative solution. The purpose of the quantitative process is to model the interactions between asset classes, as well as compare the historical total portfolio experience vs. forecast portfolio outcomes. This is shown in Figure 1.
Qualitative constraints are added, and additional quantitative modelling is conducted to arrive at the preferred asset allocations. Qualitative adjustments are made to capture additional asset class characteristics not accounted for in a quantitative process such asset class liquidity, market depth and investability.

The process combines the quantitative and qualitative inputs to arrive at a set of optimal SAAs specific to each portfolio models. SAA are presented and discussed at an Investment Committee meeting based on an annual review.
Figure 1: Unconstrained Optimisation Based on 2022 Forecast Risk-Returns
SAAs are discussed at the Investment Committee meetings. Inputs into the SAA process, the investment rationale and qualitative asset allocation adjustments are discussed. If required, steps 1 and 2 are revisited post Investment Committee meeting, once a Strategic Asset Allocation is agreed to by the committee.

Tactical Asset Allocation Overlay

The TAA represents any short term ‘tilts’ the investment committee wants to apply to the SAA in either asset classes or investment styles.

The process seeks to add value over short to medium-term horizon, broadly 6-18 months. TAA seeks to position portfolios to take advantage of market dislocations and investment opportunities which arise at different points of a market cycle.

This process is managed and reviewed on a quarterly basis by the Allied Wealth Investment Committee

Key inputs into the TAA process:
1. Review of Macroeconomic/Market Themes
2. Review of Economic Data
3. Review of Short/ Medium Term Financial Market Indicators
4. Review of Asset Class Valuations

At each quarterly Investment Committee meeting, Tactical Asset Allocation positions are implemented for each model expressed as an asset class over/underweight relative to the SAA.

Testimonials

Cate T

The financial advisor at Allied Wealth has been my financial advisor for a considerable period of time. I have always much appreciated their ability to understand my evolving financial requirements, their relevant advice and ability to translate the information given into well-researched and appropriately flexible solutions.

Ian P

We have dealt with Allied Wealth for several years and always found their financial advisor to be totally professional in all our dealings. Their follow-up on required information is immediate. We would recommend Allied Wealth to our family and friends

Kevin T

Our introduction to Allied Wealth has proven to be a successful decision for our future lifestyle. The prompt response and service provided by Allied Wealth has given us the confidence in our fund investments.

John H

We would highly recommend the team at Allied Wealth. We have known one of their advisors for over 20 years and our recommendation is based on their management of our portfolio, and the relationship we enjoy with the advisor as our financial advisor from Allied Wealth.

Lynne M

We chose Allied Wealth because they are INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL ADVISORS. We chose an advisor from Allied Wealth because they have vast experience as financial advisors and communicate exceptionally with us, their clients.

F.C.

As a person with only basic knowledge of the financial sector, I have been grateful over the years for the unfailingly timely and professional advice provided by the team at Allied Wealth. In particular, I have appreciated the personal touch which a small but highly professional financial advice firm like Allied Wealth can bring to the relationship.

Hayley K

Financial advisors certainly walk with us through our challenging transitions - growing families, retirement and ageing, widowhood. In our case, the uncertainty of cancer has been the most challenging transition. So many what ifs. I thank my surgeon and oncologist for my life but I thank the financial advisor from Allied Wealth for easing our financial anxieties and helping us make decisions. The advisor held steady when everything else was rocky - or burnt.

John L.

Allied Wealth became my personal superannuation financial advisor. I cannot speak highly enough of them. Professional, knowledgeable, explanatory of circumstances, issues and concepts. They guided me and my financial situation though all the ups and downs of these past 8 years.

Merle G.

Allied Wealth takes the time to understand my specific needs and goals, and then creates a personalized plan that is tailored to my individual situation. They are also great at explaining complex financial concepts in a way that is easy to understand, which is something I really appreciate.

Alex M.

Allied Wealth has advised me for over 5 years. They have helped me structure my superannuation and other affairs tax efficiently while ensuring my estate planning met my objectives. They found low fee investments which achieve good returns.

RM

I’ve been working with Allied Wealth since 2020.  Allied Wealth’s ability to be completely independent and provide advice in my best interests (rather than their own) whilst working in tandem with my other advisers has resulted in an outcome that I’m very happy with.

Joe

We are excited to be working with Allied Wealth as it ensures our continued partnership with a trusted team. The team at Allied Wealth has managed our affairs for many years and we have been extremely happy with their expert and dedicated service at all times.

Frequently asked questions

Independent financial advice is advice that is unbiased, has no conflicts or other relationships that may impact providing financial advice services to you.
No, there are approximately 16,000 financial advisers in Australia with less than 100 classified as Independent Financial Advisers
An Independent financial adviser isn’t beholden to any other larger institutions or fund managers, they run their own business and they are not influenced in any way to push a particular product or platform.A non-independent financial adviser is generally employed by a large industry player with a large number of advisers operating under a dealers licence. They also have a limited product range, and those advisers are either required or encouraged to use that product range for the clients that they see. This is quite common as the licensee receives commissions and/or kick-backs from the products that the adviser recommends.
The use of the word ‘Independent’ is enshrined within the Corporations Act and says that financial advisers can only use this term if they meet the following standards:• Must not receive commissions from a product issuer • Must not charge forms of remuneration calculated on the volume of business (a legal way of saying ‘don’t charge percentage-based fees’) • Must not accept gifts from a product issuer that might influence them • Must not have any additional product restrictions imposed on them by their AFSL (another legal way of saying you can’t have a restricted list of investments that you advise on) • Must not have any association with either a financial product or a financial product issuer.
The recent royal commission into the banking system has highlighted that the financial planning industry is littered with conflicts of interest and general self-interest. We believe financial advice providers should hold themselves to a higher standard that the minimum standards within legislation. Consumers have the right to know if the financial advice they receive is truly independent or whether it’s been influenced by other factors. Knowing this information may affect the choice of a financial product.
All three Principal Financial Advisers Chris Rae, Greg Barter and Jess Brizuela are equal shareholders and directors of Allied Wealth.
We are an Independent Financial Advice provider and have no conflicts or other relationships that may impact our Independence in providing financial advice.
We typically charge a fixed fee for twelve months service, charged in monthly instalments and is the only remuneration we receive. Our minimum fee for a twelve-month agreement is charged at $550 per month (inclusive of GST) and is generally tax deductible. Please note that your individual circumstances derive the fixed fee.
Our fixed fee will include the cost of preparing advice for you so there will be no additional charges once you have engaged us for a twelve-month period.
No, given we do not charge asset-based fees, there is no minimum amount required to engage our services.
Yes, we mostly engage our clients on holistic basis to ensure a more comprehensive service.
Yes, as part of discussing your preferred investment style, we will offer an ethical screening option.

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We would love to help everyone. However, based on our highly personalised approach, our clients are generally: high income earners, pre-retirees, self-funded retirees, business owners and people with lump sums or large savings.

If you are a Corporation or Not-for-profit, please click here.
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