“Our clients made strong profits on equity-based assets as markets recovered sharply”

Smarter money choices

Maximise your investments through wealth management

FEBRUARY 2021 Industry Perspectives / Text by Toby Waters

The effects of the pandemic have presented unique challenges and opportunities to financial advisers and the wealth management industry. Despite the unprecedented market volatility of 2020, the world has seen record levels of investments. Japan’s financial advisers are ensuring that their new and existing clients are making the safest choices about their money and assets, and the wisest decisions about how to invest — balancing today’s risks with tomorrow’s returns.

Getting the right service

Wealth management firms in Japan handle a wide range of investment issues for their clients, explains Martin Zotta, a managing director at Argentum Wealth Management.

“At Argentum, we help residents of Japan, of all nationalities, with financial planning and wealth management. We specialise in advising on investment, insurance, and real estate matters,” he says. “Locally licensed with over 20 years of experience, we provide the best solutions to meet our client’s needs.”

Making the right decisions

The drop in the markets in the wake of the pandemic initially had a lot of investors shaken. Robert Williams, AP Advisers’ senior investment adviser, was able to coach his clients through these difficult times.

“When markets fell, some investors were wondering whether or not to divest. However, we believed that those who were disciplined enough to remain invested could take advantage of the dip,” he says. “Our advice was to remain calm and consider long-term investing — and it paid off. Our clients made strong profits on equity-based assets as markets recovered sharply.”

Other wealth managers had similar insights, including Lloyd Danon, an Argentum Wealth Management managing director.

“When life gives you lemons, you have to make lemonade,” he says. “We predicted a V-shaped market recovery after the March 2020 pandemic correction, and we advised our clients that this was a buy opportunity. They followed our advice, and this resulted in many of them having excellent portfolio returns in 2020.”

Finding new opportunities

Robert Williams, senior investment adviser at AP Advisers, sees a number of promising targets for investment in the year ahead.

“We’ve seen huge interest in the healthcare, climate change, and environmental equity sectors. The Biden administration should support these sectors, as companies adopt environmental, social, and corporate governance strategies,” he explains. “In addition, we consider smaller UK companies and Chinese equities as possible long-term opportunities. Our clients use low-cost open-ended liquid vehicles for such investments.”

A little bit of help can make your investments much smarter.