Who we are
Fundamentally our business is about two things – service and people. Our promise to you as a client, or future client is to offer exceptional service of the absolute highest standard, delivered to you by highly-skilled, highly-experienced investment experts grounded by principled integrity. We are the custodians of our clients’ savings, pensions and financial assets. We employ decades of investment expertise and market knowledge to find and take advantage of the best risk-adjusted returns to grow their capital. From individuals to charities, from trusts to clients of financial advisers, our bespoke investment management approach remains at the heart of what we do. Our mission is to preserve the capital entrusted to us and deliver superior risk-adjusted investment returns for our clients.
Melville Douglas was established in 1983 to provide a customised private client wealth offering for a small group of private clients and has been providing international investment solutions in Jersey, initially under the Standard Bank brand, since 1989. Melville Douglas was acquired outright by the Standard Bank Group in 2001. Since the acquisition, substantial resources have been invested in building our investment and operational capabilities, and we now offer a fully integrated global investment management service to the Group’s clients, who are investing both from and into the African continent. Our “multi manager” solution trades under the business name of Standard Bank International Fund Solutions (IFS) and continues with the tradition of careful manager selection that has been in place since the late 90s.
What we do
We believe that only fundamental research aimed at establishing the true intrinsic value of the investment opportunities can provide true insight. Therefore, we focus on identifying the intrinsic value of an investment opportunity and then ensuring we invest only when there is an appropriate margin of safety. This margin of safety allows us to absorb short term market shifts, strengthens our ability to take a longer-term investment view and allows portfolios to benefit from the power of compounding returns.
Our philosophy has been adopted and carried forward since the inception of the company. It has been a core principle of the firm and its investment professionals. The investment process has been refined and improved over the years, but the core investment approach has been unwavering.
What differentiates us from other investment approaches is a combination of our emphasis on quality and our long-term investment approach which we believe are intrinsically linked. Long term investing is genuinely implemented at Melville Douglas and our low portfolio turnover clearly demonstrates a commitment to long holding periods.
