DISILLUSIONED PENSIONER CREATES FIRST UK INVESTOR INTELLIGENCE TOOL TO EMPOWER PEOPLE TO TAKE CONTROL OF THEIR FINANCIAL FUTURE
London: Tuesday, August 23 2011 – Douglas Chadwick, a former merchant naval seaman turned successful furniture manufacturer with a degree in theoretical physics today announced the launch of Saltydog Investor. Saltydog Investor is a system and subscription newsletter which allows people to actively manage their investments. They focus on Unit Trusts and OEICs which are the underlying investments behind many pensions, ISAs, and Investment Bonds. Firstly, subscribers select their risk profile which then acts as a ‘navigational chart’. Easy to read performance figures on the top performing funds are listed according to risk/performance categories. Subscribers need an account with a platform provider, such as Hargreaves Lansdown or Fidelity Fundsnetwork, where they have access to a wide variety of funds. Once their money is on the platform, subscribers are able use the weekly data provided by Saltydog Investor to learn which are the best performing funds in their risk category. They can then move their money – online - into those funds. It is as simple as using an online bank account.
Douglas Chadwick thought of the idea for Saltydog Investor after successfully managing an Investment bond on the Skandia platform. He soon realised that he and others could run their pensions and ISAs in a similar way. He said ‘I am on a campaign to transform thinking about pensions; we can’t rely on government pensions schemes any more. I want people to realise that they have the power to have much greater choices and opportunities over their finances.’ He continued ‘This is unique and the first investment tool in the UK to provide the performance data in a format that allows an individual to have the confidence to move their money between funds they have selected themselves.’
Douglas went on to say: ‘I wanted to enable the average person to have access to up-to-date data on the top performing funds – this has previously been the sole preserve of the pension/portfolio manager. Many pension funds have failed to beat inflation over the last ten years, and hidden fees further deplete the average person’s investments.’
Saltydog Investor also runs its own in-house portfolio and publishes its performance in the newsletter on a monthly basis and more frequently on the website. The fund performance data is updated weekly and made available to subscribers through the website.
The Saltydog Investor team has developed a highly sophisticated algorithm-based system which sorts and produces fund performance data. Nautical language makes it accessible to the less financially savvy and is used throughout, including differentiating low risk from high risk fund groupings, e.g. ‘Slow Ahead’, ‘Steady as She Goes’ and ‘Full Steam Ahead’. Fund performance data is displayed showing returns over the last 4, 12 and 26 weeks, along with decile rankings. Hypothetical portfolios are put into three risk groups representing cautious to more aggressive investing: The Tug, Ocean Liner and Speedboat. Optimum conditions as well as the latest market conditions are displayed as pie charts in each category. Using these hypothetical portfolios as a guide, subscribers can create their own pie chart and establish the funding groupings best suited to their tolerance for risk.
In addition to Douglas Chadwick, the Saltydog Investor team comprises Richard Webb, a graduate engineer who has developed the reporting and analytical tools which underpin Saltydog Investor with the help of fellow engineer David McCrea ; Alex Bennigsen, a former marketing consultant to Visa with degrees from Harvard and Insead; James Meston with 20 years’ experience in financial products distribution and Paul Milnes with 24 years’ experience in sales relating to the financial services industry, both from an adviser and consumer standpoint.
Saltydog Investor is designed as a common sense tool which empowers through easy to understand, up-to-date fund performance data. Once a subscriber has overcome his or her natural fear of graphs, charts and maths, they become more confident and the results speak for themselves over time. The fund management industry has up to now greatly benefited from the public’s fear, reluctance and passive approach to investing. Saltydog’s goal is to gradually change attitudes in much the same way Jamie Oliver changed dietary attitudes to school dinners by educating the public about the basic facts on nutrition.
The Saltydog Investor website is www.saltydoginvestor.com
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