In December, we talked to the chief commercial officer about the firm's direction of travel as a business and got a flavour of the kind of conversations it has had with clients in uncertain times.

Nedgroup Investments says it is in “growth mode,” bucking a trend of a UK investment sector that appears to be consolidating. It is expanding its London team and did the same in Germany during 2025, with more to come, a senior figure at the business says.

“We are looking to expand our boutique offering next year [to be] aligned to client needs,” Apiramy Jeyarajah (pictured below), chief commercial officer at the firm, told WealthBriefing recently.

Apiramy Jeyarajah

Investors are taking stock of a dramatic year for political drama in countries such as the US, a stock market that has generally performed well, and the return of a need for bonds and stocks to be managed more actively.

The firm’s wealth management clients have talked about a move into active fixed income, away from passive exposure or US Treasury bills. On the equities side, there’s a bias in favour of growth funds among UK clients, Jeyarajah said. Nedgroup has also talked with clients about the merits of real estate investment trusts (REITs) versus property funds or private markets, Jeyarajah said.

“The need to have active management in fixed income is becoming very prevalent,” she said, noting that the same applies with equities. “In terms of private bankers (advisory teams), they have had discussions about moving cash into investments and which long-term thematics they would like to have exposure to.”

This is the kind of dialogue that is happening between the firm and its roster of clients. There was a lot to talk about last year after the 2 April “Liberation Day” tariff drama and the subsequent equity recovery once a 90-day moratorium was announced by the Trump administration. With 2026 already proving to be as lively as before – Venezuela being the latest flashpoint – keeping open lines of communication with clients is a big priority for Jeyarajah and colleagues.

The level of market uncertainty – as demonstrated by volatility in equities for parts of this year – has lifted Nedgroup’s engagement with clients, Jeyarajah said.

That engagement comes in “all forms” – face-to-face meetings, phone calls “wherever possible,” virtual meetings and emails.

“The level of market uncertainty at the beginning of the year created a lot of short-term noise in the market and this impacted a lot of equity portfolios. It is important in times like this to proactively engage with clients on their short-term concerns versus the objectives of the funds they are invested in,” Jeyarajah said.

It seems that this approach is bearing fruit for a business that has borne that name since 2005. It has since launched a variety of funds, such as the Nedgroup Investments Global Flexible Fund in 2008, the Nedgroup Investments MultiFunds offering in 2011, a New Best of Breed™ partnership with FPA in 2013, and Nedgroup Investments Contrarian Value Equity Fund launch of 2018. The most recent launch was the firm’s Global Strategic Bond Fund, in 2024. The firm works with boutiques, such as Palomar Fixed Income, to power the aforementioned bond fund. (See an interview in December with David Roberts, head of fixed income at Nedgroup Investments.) The bond fund was launched early in 2024, and is now heading towards $250 million in assets under management.

Expectations
An important topic, particularly when markets can move fast, is avoiding the problem of a portfolio moving away from its purported investment mandate – what’s known as “style drift.” Allied to this is the need for fund managers to explain how they achieved returns and a consistent approach to gaining results.

“As long as a portfolio manager follows through on what they are going to do, then that is all you can do. I don’t want to see any style drift from a portfolio manager,” Jeyarajah said. “I always want them to follow through [on their objectives].”

“[Regarding] a client’s expectations, it is more about why they bought the fund and [then] aligning the approach to their expectation and outlining when it will work and when it won’t in different market cycles. Proactive engagement is key,” she said.