Philo Insights
Welcome to our Insights page. Immediately below is a display of Philo white papers available on the site. Click the green button below the previews to organise your personal access to these papers.
Further down the page is a full library or Philo’s blog posts in chronological order. You are welcome to peruse these at your leisure. New documents are added every two to three weeks. Enjoy!
Philo White Papers
Philo Blog Posts
Transition Management for Retail Practices
When a licensee acquires a book or merges, how portfolio transitions are handled is crucial — here’s what a clean transition actually requires.
Delivering a Professional Service Through Managed Accounts
Managed accounts have made a meaningful contribution to the professionalisation of wealth management. Read how the next generation of managed accounts takes that further.
Success Through Segmentation
Few advice practices formally segment their client base by need and value. Here’s how the Philo MDA helps firms do it without cross-subsidising higher-maintenance clients.
The Flexibility Difference between MDA & SMA
SMAs and MDAs aren’t interchangeable. Here’s how to tell which structure actually fits each client’s circumstances.
Fact Check: Are MDAs More Complex?
Advisers who’ve never used an MDA often assume they’re complex. That misconception could be costing clients the benefits of a service built for exactly their kind of advice.
Compare the Pair (…but why would you?)
A thought experiment: does your managed account strategy enhance your competitive position, or dilute it?
Is there an anchor (or two) slowing you down?
Every practice carries a few anchors from how things used to be done — a look at what’s worth cutting loose to keep the business moving.
It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near one - J.R.R. Tolkien
A reflection on the need to be prepared for market volatility, with the right tools and support
Taking action - in real time
Markets selloffs can be rapid, catching advisers and portfolio managers off guard. A look at what taking action in real time actually requires.
The good and the great
A leaking bathroom ceiling turns into an unlikely lesson about the difference between good enough and great — and what that means for advice practices.
Meeting habits for a new age
After months of Zoom, Teams and Webex, a look at the meeting habits worth keeping — and the ones worth dropping.
What have we learned so far?
A few weeks into working from home during Covid, what practices actually learned about keeping the business running close to normal.
What sort of “hibernation” are you going to have?
Not every business is hibernating the same way during Covid lockdown. A look at the different modes practices settled into, and what each demands of a plan to come out the other side.
Sharing the Burden
A reflection on the extraordinary first weeks of the Covid crisis that upended working and personal life alike, and the case for sharing the load rather than carrying it alone.
Understanding & Selecting Managed Account Services - Part B
Part two of Philo’s guide to managed account services, building on the fundamentals covered in Part A.
Understanding & Selecting Managed Account Services - Part A
Part one of Philo’s guide to the different forms available and how to choose between them.