Financial Services

A longer-term perspective

July 01, 2009

Global

July 01, 2009

Global
Our Editors

The Economist Intelligence Unit

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The current financial and economic crisis has changed the way that investors view their investments, according to Guillaume Taylor, a Partner at de Pury Pictet Turrettini & Co. Ltd. (PPT), an independent financial wealth management firm based in Geneva. “Investors today are looking at performance over a much shorter time frame, and are much more concerned about liquidity,” he says. “These are aspects that we need to take into account when structuring portfolios currently."

Like many, Mr Taylor believes that investor confidence has been badly hit by recent events. “Investors want to have more transparency and better understand what they’re investing in, and they want to have a much closer emotional tie to their portfolio,” he says. In response to this need, Mr Taylor notes that PPT, which has around US$3bn under management, is paying a lot of attention to how it communicates with investors to make sure that they have a full understanding of the underlying risks across different asset classes.

Mr Taylor is a strong believer in responsible investment. “Investors need to understand the notion of ownership,” he says. “When you buy a stock, you are part owner of a company, so you should be investing because you believe in the firm and in its potential and its impact on sustainability issues. It’s not just about financial returns. And to do this, you need a longer-term perspective.”

He believes that there are now plenty of investment opportunities available, and notes that some investors are already starting to invest again. “There are a lot of opportunities around, including outside of mainstream investing. Investors need to move away from this notion that the market is only about blue chip stocks.”

The company is also paying a lot of attention to international investment opportunities, particularly in emerging markets. “We think that large developed markets currently trade at attractive valuations, but their economies offer limited growth potential,” he says. “Emerging markets on the other hand offer significant opportunities in terms of growth.”

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