The investment arena is enormous in its breadth and depth.
However, before clients keen on a reset can even begin to make sense of everything that is out there, this dazzling array has to be available in the first place.
This is why platforms that notably restrict investors’ options in searching for opportunities can be of negligible appeal.
The principal problem is that clients could discover there is nowhere else to go.
By extension, they might also find achieving or maintaining favourable diversification within and between asset classes becomes surprisingly difficult – if not impossible.
Getting the most out of clients’ decisions
A fundamental reason why investors should not panic in the face of uncertainty lies in one of investing’s most reliable maxims: time in the market beats timing the market.
This adage is by no means infallible, but it tends to hold true more often than not.
Relatedly, while many political and economic twists and turns fall into the 'mostly harmless' category in the long run, dipping in and out of asset classes, sectors and regions can be perilous.
Those who miss a recovery are likely to end up as downcast.
Yet the fact is that some clients will want to act – and in a lot of cases they may want to act rapidly. They are entitled both to their opinions and, crucially, to an effective response.
What investors do not need in such circumstances are further grounds for panic and potential harm. They do not need unnecessary complication and lack of clarity. They do not need limited horizons or dead ends.
Instead, ultimately, they need flexibility. They need people and systems manifestly capable of supporting, implementing and getting the most out of whatever decisions they make.
Granted, this might not quite qualify as the the answer to life, the universe and everything. As trusted providers, though, we have a duty to treat it as such.
Steve Andrews is chief executive of Novia Global
