Since the first threats of tariffs were levied in early February, Stranks has heard two major lines of concern from his business owner clients. On the business side he has heard about steps being taken to make businesses more essential and tailored to customers needs’ with the end goal of becoming ‘irreplaceable,’ as well as moves to open up new export markets. On the portfolio side, he’s hearing one core question being asked: “I’m experiencing all of this, tell me we’re not invested in a bunch of companies experiencing the same thing.”
Stranks is happy that he can reassure those clients and offer them some confidence that they have solid diversification in their portfolios. The structured defence played in their portfolios, he explains can help reassure them during these volatile times.
Private assets, Stranks says, are one of those key defensive strategies. He contrasts privates with public assets, where investors are “a passenger on that ride.” In real estate or private equity, however, there is a team of managers working to add value outside of what the market is doing. Using Nicola’s model of in-house private asset management he can show how his clients’ assets are being worked on and improved in addition to how the market for those assets is shifting.
On both the business and investment side, clients are facing ongoing uncertainty about US trade policy. Rather than a concrete decision about tariffs, we’ve seen the US administration change its tune multiple times. As a result, many businesses and investors are left without clear direction. While the decisions that this uncertainty may provoke are different on either side, Stranks addresses it by telling his clients not to make panicked decisions. Now isn’t the time, he tells them, to change strategy entirely. Tweaks and changes to de-risk businesses and portfolios may have merit, but wholesale strategy changes might not prove wise.
There are also times when business owners may come to Stranks with questions that go beyond his remit as an advisor. When those questions come, he leans on the network of professionals that he and his firm can access to help those clients. For example, many clients may be coming to him now with currency questions. Through his network he has access to FX specialists who can add value to business owners now. Lawyers, tax specialists, accountants, and other professionals can all be mobilized by the advisor to support clients’ business-related questions.
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