Berry signs up for ‘Suggestus’ and receives ARC ‘Approved Due Diligence Kitemark’

Wealth management firm Berry Asset Management PLC (‘Berry’), which manages investment portfolios for individuals, families, pension funds, trusts and charities, confirmed today that it has signed up for the Asset Risk Consultants (‘ARC’) ‘Suggestus’ service, and become one of a select band of wealth managers to receive the ARC ‘Approved Due Diligence Kitemark’.

Wealth management firm Berry Asset Management PLC (‘Berry’), which manages investment portfolios for individuals, families, pension funds, trusts and charities, confirmed today that it has signed up for the Asset Risk Consultants (‘ARC’) ‘Suggestus’ service, and become one of a select band of wealth managers to receive the ARC ‘Approved Due Diligence Kitemark’.

Commenting on the development, Jamie MacLeod, Chief Executive Officer, Berry Asset Management PLC said: “The wealth management industry has become overcrowded, which makes the task of identifying the right investment manager much harder than it should be.  ARC’s Suggestus service provides an impartial view of investment managers, and as it is backed up by hard data, this is proving to be an invaluable tool for intermediaries in the manager selection process.  We took the decision to subscribe our investment data to ARC in 2012, in the spirit of transparency, so this is a logical step forward in our efforts to make the intermediary’s task easier.  We are delighted to receive the prestigious Kitemark.”

Suggestus is a free web-based solution, providing private client professionals with structured research on discretionary investment managers; as such Suggestus informs the process of selection and review.  It also offers a solution to private client professionals who wish to demonstrate a documented manager selection process with a verifiable audit trail.

Stephen McMahon, a Director with ARC said: “Since launch Suggestus has gone from strength to strength, giving private client advisers the information they need to review and manage the selection of their investment management partners.  With regulatory requirements, due diligence, directorial and trustee liability increasingly important factors in the financial services sector, decisions must be based on real, demonstrable evidence, and this is what Suggestus gives to professional wealth advisers.”

Berry’s platform-based Managed Portfolios received the Award for ‘Best Innovation’ at the inaugural Portfolio Adviser Wealth Manager Awards.  “Receiving the ARC Approved Due Diligence Kitemark, which prioritises transparency and engagement, is”, says MacLeod, “yet another important differentiator for intermediaries considering partnering with Berry as a DFM.”