Information for the General Public

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Also in this section:

• Questions to ask an investment manager
• Understanding investment risk

How to choose an investment manager

ASIM exists to encourage and support the provision of high quality investment management services by its members. The association also aims to make the general public more aware of the services which ASIM members are qualified to offer as well as to help those firms maintain high standards through training and education programmes.

Solicitors' firms have traditionally been associated with prudence, independence and trust where money is concerned. Reforms of the stockmarket in the 1980s and 1990s allowed ASIM member firms to combine these traditional qualities with the investment expertise of their own qualified personnel. With the benefits of modern technology, ASIM member firms became able to offer a range of investment services which might previously have been available only from a stockbroker or the trustee department of a bank. Today ASIM members include other professional firms who deliver high quality investment management services to their clients in keeping with the ethos and philosophy of ASIM.

Before they can become members of ASIM, professional firms (and companies controlled by them) and investment management businesses must:

• be regulated by the FSA under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000;
• provide continuing discretionary and/or advisory portfolio management services with regular reports and valuations (rather than just offer advice when money is first invested);
• have their own personnel qualified and authorised specifically to manage portfolios and to advise clients on investments.

If your investment management firm is a member of ASIM and uses its logo, then you can be assured that it meets these three basic conditions. There is of course much more that you will want to know about the member firm and its investment services before entrusting it with the task of helping you. You will need to discuss this directly with the firm because ASIM cannot be responsible for the member firm's performance of its duties. We encourage you to ask your own questions before committing yourself and some are here. ASIM member firms are committed to giving you full and open answers.

ASIM members are also committed to offering a personal, efficient, independent, rewarding and - above all - trustworthy investment service that brings peace of mind to their clients.