Whitehelm Advisers spends considerable time focusing on the most important driver of returns for client portfolios, namely investment strategy
Whitehelm Advisers has been providing asset consulting and advisory services to institutional clients since 1996. We build investment strategies for clients on a customised basis, driven by client investment beliefs and incorporating preferences on key considerations such as absolute risk, absolute performance, relative performance and liquidity risk.
Asset allocation is the biggest driver of absolute returns, typically delivering in the order of 85% of the total return outcome, with alpha (excess returns above benchmarks) generating the residual. Given this, we spend a lot of time focusing on the state of the macro economy and the investment environment. Our views and insights shape what we do with financial markets. Please see our research on capital markets and our thought leadership articles.
Whitehelm Advisers have developed a proprietary mean variance optimisation model to help our clients identify an optimal set of Strategic Asset Allocations (SAAs) based on specific risk and return objectives.
To provide our clients with further insights into their portfolios, we augment the mean variance approach through the utilisation of tailored scenario analysis exploring both generic shocks (risk on and risk off) alongside very specific macro and or market environments that we see as plausible over the medium to long term.
Our Dynamic Asset Allocation (DAA) framework is bespoke and is used to assess our positioning in the risk cycle and whether our clients’ SAAs remain appropriate or whether the portfolio should be tilted for greater, or lesser exposure to specific market risks.
Our focus on asset allocation is not confined to the traditional approach of assessing asset classes independently. Rather, to complement this, we have built customised risk factor models allowing for the analysis of client portfolios on a holistic basis, aggregating common risk factors across asset classes.
TDF is the market leader in the provision of TV and radio broadcast networks, telecom infrastructure solutions and digital terrestrial media platforms in France. The company has a portfolio of high quality real assets in key locations with the widest geographic coverage in France, which are critical to the reception of TV and radio channels, and to the functioning of mobile telephone networks.
Kvitebjørn Varme is the district heating network in the city of Tromsø, the largest urban area in Norway inside the Arctic Circle. It produces more than 170 GWh of thermal energy annually, primarily from sustainable and low carbon generation technologies (including a modern 22MW waste to energy plant with an annual capacity of 56,000 tons). The heat is distributed through a network of 55km of underground pipes.
Arqiva is a UK telecommunications company which owns and operates the UK’s terrestrial transmission network with respect to television and radio broadcast. Arqiva also provides satellite transmission services to content providers; transmission and access services to mobile network operators and public safety organisations; and smart metering services.
One of the world’s most experienced infrastructure managers & investment strategy advisers