Model portfolios, like Tesco meal deals, come pre-packaged in a variety of flavours.

But James Sullivan, head of partnerships at Tyndall Investment Management, believes advisers should have a say in how their sandwich is made. 

Unenthused by the hands-off approach inherent to the MPS space, Sullivan is heading Tyndall’s drive into bespoke portfolios that are customised by advisers themselves. 

IFAs are given freedom to request the number of models required, set the level of equity and ESG exposure, and decide the preferred performance metrics, among other things – in essence, letting the adviser step in the shoes of a DFM for a day.  

The portfolios are bespoke to the adviser and their business but not bespoke to the end client.

He told Asset Allocator that the partnership is aimed at those who want a greater say in the investment process and, as such, they’re permitted a seat on Tyndall’s investment committee. He said that while many IFAs are happy to sit back and accept his decision-making, what’s more important is the feeling of having a say in the conversation, which is of course out of bounds in model portfolio solutions. However, this does not preclude some advisers from making somewhat more rogue investment suggestions, he joked. 

No role models

Sullivan joined the firm in 2020 and currently manages around £600mn of assets himself.

And his decision not to run an MPS, in contrast to many of his peers, has a number of reasons behind it.

“All allocators do broadly the same thing, and if there was a secret formula, everybody would be doing it, too,” he said.

He sees the marketplace as oversaturated with homogenous products, though while Tyndall’s service is customisable, its investment strategy is ‘deliberately boring’ so that advisers, and by extension clients, aren’t befuddled by the investment committee’s rationale.

Instead, valuation is his core investment philosophy, and said that the price at which you buy an asset – or anything, for that matter – is more often than not the main driver of future returns. 

Conscious of overpaying, he says the team are tactically overweight European equities which are more reasonably priced than their counterparts across the pond.

What next?

Tyndall has partnered with 20 IFAs so far and aims to increase that rate by around three per year. Acknowledging that industry consolidation has created a smaller client list, he is confident that the remaining IFAs in the market are those disposed to having a greater say in the investment remit of their businesses and that his audience is smaller, but receptive.