Psigma is celebrating strong financial growth two years on from becoming a separate Discretionary Investment Management division of the Punter Southall group of companies.
Since then, Psigma has experienced extensive growth under the leadership of senior investment director Andrew Cantouris, and is looking forward to the further expansion opportunities offered in the planned acquisition by Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management (CGWM).
Andrew explains, “Two years ago, the new strategy for Psigma was to focus purely on our external financial adviser relationships. In doing so, we have been able to build even stronger connections with external advisers, and work more collaboratively, providing education and training for them in key areas such as Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) and AIM IHT. We have also worked with paraplanners to provide guidance and tools for them to use when selecting solutions and comparing Discretionary Fund Manager (DFM) costs and charges.
“This education-centric approach has supported advisers just when they needed it and has been very successful, resulting in the firm’s significant growth despite launching only three months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. We are excited to continue this approach as the acquisition by Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management opens up more opportunities for us – giving advisers and clients access to a broader range of solutions and services.”
The focus on educating advisers and paraplanners became particularly important to Psigma’s service proposition during the pandemic. The Psigma team responded quickly to the change in working patterns to support advisers and paraplanners. They focused on delivering education and delivering excellent services, hosting over 50 webinars since March 2020, ranging from CPD-qualifying, strategy-specific talks to investment updates with guest fund managers. These were followed up with educational material advisers could use with their clients. These methods have enabled Psigma to educate advisers to an even higher standard than was possible before the global crisis.
The success of this strategy is clear in the figures Psigma has seen over the past two years. Since December 2019, Psigma experienced a 23% increase in IFA relationships, and its Assets Under Management have grown by 36%. To support to this growth, Psigma has also increased its distribution team, with three new team members joining to broaden the division’s reach into new areas of the UK. Their efforts were rewarded with a Gold Defaqto DFM Service Rating for the first time in 2021, and then again in February this year. They have also received Defaqto 5 Star Ratings in both the DFM Bespoke and DFM MPS Direct categories for the tenth year running (2013 to 2022 inclusive). Psigma is one of only eight DFMs to have both the Gold Service Rating and three 5 Star Ratings; it is also one of two DFM to have all these ratings and received Defaqto Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reviews on its SRI solutions.
Lee McDowell, Head of Business Development at Psigma Investment Management, said: “On the second anniversary of becoming a separate division focused solely on the advisory market, we are pleased to report that the business is going from strength to strength. Psigma’s focus on multi-asset, inflation-plus investing, led by Thomas Becket, our Chief Investment Officer, has played a key role in this success. With this investment proposition we offer clients products designed to grow and protect the real value of their assets while matching their attitudes to risk.
“Looking further ahead into 2022, we want to build the business further as we join forces with Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management. SRI will be a major growth area for financial advisers and their clients, together with AIM investments and bespoke investments. We believe that this greater scale will enable us to expand our service offerings and our educational efforts, and continue to improve the service we provide to advisers – helping them achieve successful investment outcomes for their clients.”
