The London and West Country-based independent discretionary manager City Asset Management has launched its Elite Discretionary Portfolio, a UK-authorised open-ended investment company.  It will initially comprise two multi-asset sub-funds offering either a cautious or balanced portfolio and with a target return of the UK Consumer Prices Index plus 2 per cent and 4 per cent respectively. 

The funds are intended to give investors access to discretionary risk-rated multi-asset portfolios at a significantly lower investment threshold than would otherwise be possible.

The funds are unitised versions of CAM’s bespoke cautious and balanced portfolios and will mirror the same investment philosophy and process as the existing portfolios.

“For some time we have been concerned that investors with smaller discretionary managed portfolios have been unable to access the same level of diversification as larger ones and believe the Elite CAM Discretionary Portfolio provides the solution.  With a minimum contribution of £1,000 [about $1,625] we will invest in a wide range of asset classes, according to where we are in an economic cycle and have the flexibility to include cash, bonds, property, equities, commodities and alternatives.  Whilst the CPI over the last decade has been relatively benign, it has still outperformed the rise in the FTSE 100 over this time span.  We believe that investors at the very least want to maintain the value of their money in real terms, and traditional equity only markets have simply not delivered this result since the turn of the new millennium,” said CAM Director, Helen Angove.