Alec McNeill

Spear’s Review

Alec McNeill is deputy head of portfolio management at EFG Asset Management, having previously spent almost two decades with Pictet.

McNeill considers EFG to be a rising star in wealth management, being little more than 20 years old. It has a huge advantage in terms of flexibility of solutions and service, he says. ‘We essentially had a blank sheet of paper to answer the question: “What should an asset management business look like?”’

There has been continuity, too, as EFG has had the same CIO, Moz Afzal, at its helm since its inception. ‘There is a very joined-up feeling to how our organisation has evolved,’ McNeill says. This benefits its varied HNW clientele through a more considered approach to portfolio management. ‘Our role is to deliver the investment return appropriate to what you need,’ he concludes; ‘it’s not about seeing which solution we can fit a client into.’

McNeill’s day-to-day job mostly involves ‘reading and talking with experts from different areas: economists, strategists, political analysts, experts on particular sectors or countries … We need the long-term structural picture in order to grow someone’s assets while protecting against short-term volatility.’ 

He refuses to be drawn into generalising about his client base: ‘Each client, and the solution required in a portfolio, will always be different.’