Two of this year’s Top 30 Under 30 work in family offices, offering them a different perspective on the Covid-19 crisis.
The worst of times can elicit the best in people. Family office investment specialists Simon Dawes and Ivan Tan both say the challenges of getting to grips with a financial crisis during unprecedented disruption to national life have reminded them of what they value in their careers.
‘This situation is one where it can really bring out ingenuity in people,’ says Tan, junior portfolio manager at London & Capital. ‘Especially when you’re young in a company, it’s quite an exciting time.’
Both he and Dawes, a portfolio manager at Grandwood, have been at their respective firms for 18 months. Tan previously worked at Clerville Investment Management. He says the last few months have accelerated his progression and reinforced his confidence in what he does.
‘It feels like a time where you earn your stripes, but at the same time so much is happening,’ he explains. ‘The flow of information is so great and we have to make decisions quickly – that’s where a lot of the fun is.’
Similarly, Dawes (pictured below) says the crisis has reinforced a lot of the positives of his working environment, in addition to posing new challenges.
‘We are fortunate that we have a client with a long time horizon, and can view our work through an almost endowment-like lens,’ he says. ‘Taking a step back and viewing this period in relation to other historical bear markets means we can see opportunity to add risk for the future.
‘Our client knows this will pass and we are set up with quality-focused investments, so their focus is on keeping themselves safe while we continue what we are doing.’
Dawes, having worked in various roles within institutional asset management, says that each time he has changed employers it has been to a smaller firm. These testing times have reinforced the reasons he chose that path, but also helped him understand the specific strengths of his workplace.
‘I enjoy the small-office feel, as you get involved in a myriad of things and get a lot of responsibility fast. This can be doubly true in a single family office as you may have access to opportunities you would not get in a more institutional setting. From my understanding, each family office will have a unique culture so it is important to determine the suitability for you.’
Tan echoes the sentiment, explaining that he loves getting a feel for lots of different variables. ‘What I love about working with ultra-high-net-worth individuals is the variety. You’re dealing with multiple asset classes every day, not just analysing one type of equity or fixed income. You have fingers in a lot more pies!’
Dawes’ team of three manages £350m for a single client and Tan directly runs £30m, in addition to being deputy manager to a further £370m.
Tan explains that, even compared to its normal defensive bias, London & Capital has been in a historically defensive position for the past nine months.
‘During 2019 we may have lagged slightly, whereas now we’ve hit this downturn it has meant from an allocation standpoint we haven’t really done much.’ He is pleased to say that he thinks ‘clients have really appreciated that.’
Dawes says his current focus is now essentially ‘reinvestment risk – where and at what levels should we reinvest profit from earlier protection and diversifier strategies’, most of which he created when he joined the firm.
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