We understand that by now you must be tired of reading anything related to the 'C' word but this note is positively different so bear with us...
At the risk of boasting about our achievements during one of the worst market falls in history, we thought you may like to learn about what TAM has been working on during lockdown, and how, when many of our competitors are falling down, we are rising up to continue providing you and your clients with the best possible investment management service.
ONE -TAM Europe and FEIFA
Our European entity, TAM Europe Asset Management (TAM Europe), was granted a full discretionary fund managers licence by Spain's Comisión Nacional de Mercado de Valores (CNMV). This places TAM in the advantageous position of continuing business as usual in Europe whatever card we are dealt and reinforces our commitment to our European clients as TAM continues to grow.
TAM Europe became a proud platinum partner with the Federation of European Independent Financial Advisers (FEIFA). FEIFA brings together providers such as DFMs, funds and life companies with European-based IFAs, providing them with the opportunity to gain valuable industry insight and knowledge from around the continent. TAM Europe's decision to partner with FEIFA was a simple one and we look forward to a long and fruitful relationship.
TWO - The Seafarer Saver and Yachting International Radio
TAM Europe launched a flexible online savings solution exclusively for Seafarers. They are the first company in Europe to launch a savings product aimed at a particular demographic that is completely flexible in both term and capital. More importantly, they are the first company to recognise a huge gap in the services available to the seafarer community and hope that the platform proves to be the savings initiative they've been waiting for.
TAM Europe also became a proud partner of Yachting International Radio (YIR) who provide a wide geographical audience of yacht crew with up to date information on current events in the yachting world. The station director, Rhea, was made acutely aware by her yacht crew listeners of the lack of transparent, flexible financial services available to them. Rhea has therefore given TAM Europe the opportunity to take part in regular interviews to provide her listeners with the industry knowledge and insight that they have been missing.
THREE - Staff Retention and Growth
TAM was able to implement a full working from home capability for its entire staff and prevent the need for furlough or redundancy measures. The seamless transfer saw many clients completely unaware of a change in working procedures. Going one step further, we were also able to employ 4 new staff within the firm; 1 investment personnel, 1 operations personnel and 2 sales personnel. We are extremely grateful to have been in a position to provide such opportunities and grow our teams in a time of great job uncertainty.
FOUR - TAM Talks Webinars and IFA Guide
We launched our brand new TAM Talks webinar series that has enabled us to virtually interact with you whilst in lockdown. TAM Talks provides you with research and insight from our award-wining investment management team, keeping you updated with how they're reacting to the current market conditions in order to protect your clients' assets. The webinars are interactive, giving you the opportunity to ask any burning questions throughout each presentation and vote on future webinar topics.
Further to this we designed a comprehensive guide to navigating financial markets during a pandemic. Our investment management and operations teams have decades of industry experience, having survived a number of market falls in their lifetime. This has provided them with the depth of knowledge and understanding to manage different market cycles and conditions, so they have come together to share extracts of valuable industry tips and information that they have learnt, and continue to learn during the COVID-19 crisis.
FIVE - Paperless Onboarding
TAM transitioned to a completely paperless onboarding process for IFAs and their clients. Prospective clients can now complete, sign and return our digital application form online, taking away the need to print and post paper applications which saves both time and resource, and of course, our trees.
SIX - Defaqto 5 Star Service and Portfolio Risk Ratings
TAM received a Defaqto 5 star service rating as well as risk ratings for our ESG & Premier portfolios. The ratings are highlighted below and enable us to provide a comprehensive offering to our intermediary partners.
TAMESG
TAM Portfolio Defaqto Risk Rating
ESG Defensive 3
ESG Cautious 4
ESG Balanced 5
ESG Growth 6
ESG Adventurous 7
TAM PREMIER
TAM Portfolio Defaqto Risk Rating
Premier Liquidity Plus 2
Premier Defensive 2
Premier Cautious 3
Premier Balanced 4
Premier Growth 5
Premier Adventurous 6
Premier Speculative 7
SEVEN - FE Transmission
We loaded our ESG and Premier portfolios onto FE Transmission which enables IFAs to compare us against our competitors more efficiently. Advisers can request licences from us to run their own reports from FE thus providing a huge depth of service.
EIGHT - Ascentric Platform
TAM added Ascentric to the growing list of platforms where IFAs can access a range of our model portfolios. Our current platform list now consists of; Ascentric, Aviva, Novia Global, Seven IM and Transact, with a view to add many more in the coming months so watch this space.
NINE - SimplyBiz and Compliance First
We extended our working relationship with SimplyBiz which gives us direct access to their 3,000+ UK adviser base through adviser events and specialist marketing. Our portfolios are also fully profiled via Centra which helps with DD requirements for member firms. We also signed up to provide the same service for Compliance First, which has an additional 500+ advisers in Scotland for which we can provide the same service.
TEN - Industry Recognition
TAM has been nominated for three industry awards:
We are honoured and truly grateful to be recognised for our efforts during a time of great investor uncertainty. To take home one of the awards would really be the icing on the cake.