Axial. Analysis... Analysis... Analysis...
If we wanted to match the more scientific diagnostic modelling techniques and sophisticated investments used successfully in investment banks, we knew we wouldn't find anything ready made in the life market. So we invested c£10m building our own in-house company, Axial
It combines fund management with asset liability management based on powerful bespoke technology - all in one office. That's unique in the UK life assurance industry
It analyses risk on a bottom-up - and increasingly microscopic - basis to quantify any probability of shortfall. For example we're looking at liquidity, sovereign, credit, interest rate, equity market & idiosyncratic risks as well as regime, event, correlation, macro & opportunity risk
We can estimate the effect on an individual fund of anything from a surge in oil prices to a change in bond yields. Yet the entirety of the Group's assets can be viewed in one asset allocation map - with every detail drawn together in one place
More to the point, as the full system comes into operation, this will be done daily - compared with an industry norm of twice a year
And, once we've analysed where money is best invested, we're more than happy to search the globe to find the best manager in that particular area or sector - wherever they may be. We don't believe we have ‘all' the best managers internally (with the emphasis on ‘all' please note). In fact, many of our funds are externally managed
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