Our investment philosophy

Our investment philosophy

At Stonegate Wealth Management, we believe that successful financial planning starts with a complete understanding of you — your current circumstances, your goals for the future, and what matters most along the way.

By taking a truly holistic approach, we’re able to ensure that any investment solutions we recommend are suitable, well-understood, and aligned to your personal objectives. This approach supports our commitment under the FCA’s Consumer Duty to deliver good outcomes, ensuring that every investment decision is made in your best interests and with clarity around the benefits, costs, and potential risks involved.

Our investment proposition

Our investment proposition is the result of many years of development and refinement, designed to give our clients confidence that their portfolios are managed with care, rigour, and independent oversight.

We work in partnership with Hymans Robertson Investment Services (HRIS) — one of the UK’s most respected institutional investment consultancies — who act as our trusted investment partner. HRIS provide the research, governance, and ongoing monitoring that underpin our portfolios, ensuring they remain suitable, diversified, and aligned to market conditions.

Oversight of our investment approach sits with the Stonegate Investment Committee, chaired by Steve Hendry. The Committee meets quarterly to review performance, risk metrics, and strategy, drawing on insight from Hymans Robertson as well as feedback from our internal team and compliance specialists.

This structure ensures that every client benefits from institutional-grade expertise, robust governance, and a transparent process — all designed to help you achieve your financial goals with confidence.

Our investment strategy

Diversification

We believe that a well-diversified portfolio is central to successful investing. Diversification means spreading your investments across a variety of asset classes, sectors, and geographies, helping to reduce the impact of any single area underperforming.

By diversifying in this way, we aim to smooth returns over time and lower the risk of your portfolio being exposed to unnecessary volatility.

A Portfolio Aligned to You

Every client’s situation is unique, and so is every portfolio we design. Your investment strategy will always be shaped around your personal circumstances, financial objectives, and attitude to risk.

We’ll take into account the level of risk you’re comfortable accepting, how much short-term fluctuation you could tolerate, the costs involved, and the time frame over which you expect to invest.

Our aim is simple — to construct a portfolio that reflects your financial position and life goals, and that continues to serve your best interests under the principles of the FCA’s Consumer Duty.

Blending Active and Passive Investing

Our core investment strategies are built using a carefully considered blend of both active and passive investments.

• Active investments seek to outperform the market through expert fund selection and ongoing management.
• Passive investments aim to mirror market performance by tracking recognised indices at a typically lower cost.

Working with our trusted investment partners, Hymans Robertson Investment Services (HRIS), we use their institutional-grade research and oversight to ensure that each blend remains appropriate for the market environment and for you as an individual.

We don’t favour one style over the other — only the combination that we believe is most suitable to meet your goals.

Asset allocation

Your portfolio is managed in line with a disciplined asset allocation framework, which determines how much is invested across different asset types such as equities, bonds, property, and cash.

Asset allocation is one of the most important factors in determining long-term investment outcomes and plays a key role in managing risk effectively.

Independent and our LifeArch Service

As an independent financial planning firm, we consider the whole of the market when making recommendations. This ensures that the advice you receive is genuinely tailored, unbiased, and aligned with your best interests.

In most cases, investments are held through a secure platform to allow for efficient administration and transparent reporting.

Our core recommendations typically include Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs), collective investments, and retirement solutions, which we believe meet the needs of the majority of clients. However, we can also advise on more specialist areas such as multi-asset funds, Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) and Enterprise Investment Schemes (EISs), where these are suitable for your circumstances and objectives.

We provide advice on a variety of investments and have access to solutions that meet the needs of all different clients. However, in the majority of instances, our core recommended solutions are Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs), collective investments, and retirement solutions.

Important information

Investments carry varying levels of risk, and the value of your investments can fall as well as rise. You may not get back the full amount invested.

We do not provide advice on directly held individual shares, options, futures, or other derivative contracts, as we believe these are unlikely to be appropriate for most clients. If you require this type of advice, we recommend engaging a specialist stockbroker.