COMPANYPROFILE

suffolkbusiness December 2010 15

Hawksmoor Investment Management will soon be celebrating £100 million worth of funds under management; so what better time to reflect on the story so far?

Investment opportunities in Darwinian companies

HAWKSMOOR has been consistently successful in attracting new business from other professional

intermediaries. The Ipswich office’s Investment Team of Max Weatherby, Alex Boyle and Ed Lowe work alongside their Exeter based colleagues and form part of a growing team of investment professionals.

Thanks largely to the performance of the Hawksmoor Vanbrugh Fund (launched in February 2009) the firm is attracting considerable interest from independent financial advisers, as well as a number of solicitors in the region for their personal injury and trust work. Funds under management now exceed £90 million, justifying the recent recruitment of additional professional staff.

With offices on the Ipswich Waterfront, Hawksmoor has been pleased to support the University of East Anglia. During the summer months two final year business students were employed on an internship, gaining some hands-on experience of financial markets and portfolio management.

Said Max Weatherby: “For Hawkmoor’s clients, 2009 was all about making the right macro decisions and ignoring the forecasters of doom. From the start of the year when markets were discounting a global economic depression to ending on expectations of a resumption of healthy economic growth, our investors benefited from a powerful rally.

“2010 has proved a more challenging environment for investors which has required a more tactical approach.”

Alex Boyle picks up the story: “Some of the themes we have identified and played during the course of the year have included a focus on so-called ‘absolute return’, that is, actively creating a real increase in wealth rather than passively linking our fortunes to an index which may actually decline in value. In the same robust vein, Hawksmoor actively seeks out those funds which invest in companies demonstrating ‘Darwinian’ characteristics.

“In a highly competitive environment, it is the strong companies that get stronger, that is, companies with a strong balance sheet, a strong franchise and which can grow their dividend based on solid cashflow

streams. Again, as well as providing a decent yield in a low interest rate environment, an important consideration during uncertain times is to find an acceptably low level of volatility for clients who seek peace of mind. Hawksmoor searches out the optimum combination of these two elusive factors thanks to a broad global remit, which enables us to scan a very large universe for many less well-known types of investments or asset classes which are ignored by the majority of mainstream investors.

“For example, our in-house expertise enables us to play the discounts on investment trusts or to discover funds investing in US high yield, short-dated bonds or to actively investigate the relative merits of certain structured products. However, one of our main themes lies in monitoring secular growth stories around the world through observing the rapidly changing dynamics of different economies globally. Careful consideration of these uncover many new opportunities for investing in companies which will benefit from, for example, environmental issues where water or waste management,

renewable energy sources and

agricultural or

infrastructure concerns are paramount.”

“In a publication that champions small companies and entrepreneurs,” said Max, “we are seeing pockets of strong performance in the smaller company sector. Many UK companies are benefiting from a weaker pound and attracting the attention of foreign buyers. So we expect an increase in merger and acquisition activity.”

Hawksmoor is an owner managed business. Max and Alex have been looking after the wealth of private and corporate clients in Suffolk for over six years. Please feel free to contact them or speak with your independent financial adviser.

Hawksmoor Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Alison Self, Max Weatherby and Alex Boyle of Hawksmoor Investment Management

Hawksmoor Investment Management

Waterfront House Ipswich Tel: 01473 341930

www.hawksmoorim.co.uk