Vermeer Partners

TODAY THERE ARE just 36 surviving paintings by Johannes Vermeer, one of the world’s greatest painters, whose art works are among the rarest and most exclusive. Vermeer was an innovator who pioneered new ways of layering paint to create rich colours and textures, adopting an intensely personal artistic style and relationship with his subjects.

When we decided to set up Vermeer Partners in 2017, we wanted to embody this attention to detail and personal relationship with our clients through a genuinely entrepreneurial partnership of investment managers. This culture is strengthened by a proven team, made up of individuals who have spent much of their careers working together.

Vermeer Partners was created to deliver a personal service to clients that is entirely compatible with modern investing, based on decades of industry experience. The business is owned by its partners and all our investment managers are investors in the business. This helps us to focus exclusively on our clients, without having to navigate unaligned external shareholders. More importantly, by being invested in the business, we are fully aligned with the interests of our clients.

Great wealth management succeeds by painstaking attention to detail, focusing on the needs of each client. Johannes Vermeer’s paintings are renowned for their attention to detail in the glass on the table, the flower in the vase; each detail adds to the overall composition, in the same way that each investment builds a long-term portfolio.

When we set up Vermeer Partners, we had observed that focus on clients was eroded by larger organisations, causing clients to be treated as a homogenous mass rather than individuals. Investment solutions were commoditised and benchmark based. At Vermeer Partners, we add real value and insight to the process. We are not model-driven and do not have a set portfolio strategy; this is core to our investment philosophy. We build bespoke investment strategies based upon research, our collective investment experience and passion for stock-picking. This investment philosophy relies on diversification, to offer protection and growth to our clients’ portfolios, which is especially important in today’s uncertain economic and political environment. We believe that this approach, supported by robust processes and systems, with the very highest levels of client service and integrity, delivers superior, risk-adjusted returns over the long term.

Each client has individual needs, and this is why our advice is tailored and our clients are offered their own bespoke investment portfolios. Like Vermeer’s paintings, it is rare for two portfolios to be the same. This philosophy rests on a simple principle of accountability and transparency: our clients are served directly by the people managing their assets. There are no client relationship managers in the middle, allowing for clear and transparent – and effective – communication. We believe this is the best way to understand our clients and help them manage their wealth. The benefit to this approach is that the process is more interpretive: investment managers can immediately assess what each client’s need is, and whether the investment solution is right for them – and act on it. Some of this can go missing with additional layers of relationship managers who are not central to the investment process.

Vermeer Partners is an entrepreneurial venture, and as such we are not afraid to use technology where it adds value to our clients. While the sector has traditionally fallen behind the digital wave, we are not of the view that integrating technology for the sake of it is always valuable to clients. Technology can play a useful enabling role in streamlining certain processes such as disseminating research and monitoring risk and portfolios. But it is only one part of the story: ultimately, it is about a personal touch and treating clients as individuals.

We are proud of our entrepreneurial flair and the diversity of approach from our partners. Every week we debate investment ideas, and we constantly encourage people to challenge each other constructively. This team-based approach to wealth management ensures continuity of service so that our next generation of investment managers will continue to serve the next generation of our clients. Having different perspectives, and fostering a collegiate approach in the firm, inspires creativity and drives innovation – all with the central philosophy of putting the client first.

FOCUS

We are detail orientated and provide a completely bespoke service to clients; We are not model-driven and do not have a set portfolio strategy; We are completely accountable and transparent; clients are served directly by the people managing their assets.

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