ZEDRA Jersey has launched the ZEDRA Fiduciary Investment Fund. The Fund addresses a gap in the market for an investment solution built for trustees. The structure is highly innovative and offers reduced asset manager risk and reduced portfolio volatility.

The Fund is suitable for trustees wanting to ensure that trust assets are invested in a safe and secure fashion and benefit from best of breed investment management. The fund is an open-ended fund based in Jersey.

The innovative structure and design of the ZEDRA Fiduciary Investment Fund is the attraction for those charged with ensuring trust assets are invested in the most appropriate manner, with a focus on reducing manager risk and lowering costs. There are currently two sub-funds, both with a medium risk strategy with one aimed at total return investors and the other more considerate of generating a stable income flow, currently targeting a yield in excess of 3%. The sub-fund assets are managed by some of the best investment management houses in the marketplace, with each being appointed to meet the specific investment objective of the sub-fund.

Unlike other multi-manager funds, ZEDRA are not making any investment decisions or asset allocation calls; however, clients will profit from their manager selection expertise. Investors will benefit from a diversification of the management process and style as well as a diversified underlying portfolio. In addition, when appropriate, assets can be switched between managers within the ZEDRA Fiduciary Investment Fund, minimising transition costs. In some jurisdictions this may also be beneficial from a capital gains tax perspective.

Against a backdrop of regulatory and market pressures increasingly weighing on Jersey’s finance industry, the funds sector has continued to grow and attract new business helping the Island to maintain its reputation as a leading international finance centre. The new ZEDRA fund is more good news for Jersey and a sign of ZEDRA’s confidence in the jurisdiction.

Mike Farley, Managing Director of ZEDRA Fiduciary Investment Services, says:

‘The launch of the Fund is great news for ZEDRA and also for Jersey. We developed the Fund because we saw the need for an investment solution built for trustees, which isn’t constrained to one investment manager’s process where you are tied to a specific strategy and style.

‘If a trustee has £50 million to invest, you can allocate your financial assets between two or three different investment managers, to reduce manager risk, and still have sufficient assets with each manager to be able to negotiate competitive costs at the manager level. However, this is not so easy if your trust fund has £3 million or less to invest. This is where our new Fiduciary Investment Fund comes in: it allows trustees to reduce active manager risk and, in turn, portfolio volatility, but also benefits from lower ongoing management charges as the collective assets of the Fund are significant.

‘As ZEDRA is not making any active investment decisions, we have been able to price the Fund very competitively for our clients. History shows that minimising costs feeds directly through to performance and compounds into higher net returns.’

The ZEDRA Fiduciary Investment Fund is currently only available to clients of the ZEDRA Group and, more specifically, Sterling investors. However, Andy Cunningham, Director of ZEDRA Fund Services, added:

‘We have already seen a lot of interest in this innovative approach to managing fiduciary assets and anticipate launching a US Dollar version and also opening the fund to other service providers in due course. The appointment of individual investment managers today is becoming more and more expensive for trustees and can often be a reason why a trustee will stay with an underperforming manager rather than switch elsewhere – clearly not always the right solution for the trust and its beneficiaries. The ZEDRA Fiduciary Investment Fund overcomes this dilemma.’

The Fund was launched on 1^st August and has assets in excess of £250m. ZEDRA were advised by Martin Paul of Bedell Cristin. The ZEDRA Fiduciary Investment Fund Limited, ZEDRA Fund Services Limited and ZEDRA Fiduciary Investment Services Limited are regulated by the Jersey Financial Service Commission.

Over the past few years, the Relais & Châteaux hotel Longueville Manor has noticed an increase in guests who are taking a break due to stress or who are searching for a wellbeing escape. Responding to this demand, the hotel has launched a unique package and treatment, in collaboration with world-renowned skincare specialists de Mamiel, to help remedy modern day stress that impacts on mental health and sleep deprivation.

A 2018 Forth survey* found that 85% of British adults are now experiencing stress regularly and 54% of these people are worried about the impact it is having on their health. One of the major stress causing factors is not getting enough sleep. Modern day poor sleep routines are proven to be influenced by watching television (38%), checking emails (14%) or using laptops/tablets (12%) in bed. All of these electrical devices emit bright light which can disrupt the production of the body’s natural sleep hormones (The Sleep Council, Great British Bedtime Report**).

The ‘All Things Sleep’ package is designed to encourage guests to take a break from everyday life, leave their stress behind and give them a chance to recharge their batteries and catch up on sleep.

The package includes:

• 3 nights bed and breakfast at the AA 5 Red Star Manor
• A de Mamiel ‘Rest Easy’ treatment per person in the Cottage Garden boutique spa
• A de Mamiel sleep oil blend per person
• Many more special touches designed to make the customer’s stay restful and rejuvenating

The de Mamiel Rest Easy treatment, which is exclusive to Longueville Manor in Jersey, consists of a 15-minute consultation to understand a customer’s specifc needs and a blissful, hour-long combination treatment. The treatment includes a whole body experience, designed to create a space for the client to unwind and either drift off into an easy sleep or continue through the day with an increased sense of focus. A Sleep Oil formulated to target particular sleep concerns is selected before moving on to breathing techniques, meditation and a tension relieving back-massage. Restorative cleansing balm is applied to the face, neck and décolleté to deeply cleanse the skin. A specialised massage focuses on relieving tension, increasing circulation and lymph drainage and a hydrating facial mask locks in moisture and soothes the skin.

The founder of de Mamiel, Année de Mamiel, is a leading authority on high-performance natural skincare and the effects of stress on the skin. Année says, ‘In developing the botaniques Sleep Series, I have looked at the causes of what keeps us awake and how holding that stress in our bodies prevents quality sleep. A lack of quality sleep is one of the biggest contributors to daily stress. Creating a product that makes you sleepy wasn’t enough; my intention has always been to create a product that supports quality sleep by addressing the root cause and not the symptom.

‘The Rest Easy treatment begins the process of releasing the tension of the journey and easing us into a goods night sleep. I love working with Longueville to develop these bespoke treatments, they were our first spa partner and care deeply about providing only the best, most effective treatments to their guests.’

Longueville Manor’s Spa Manager Clair Howell, who has over 20 years’ experience as a therapist and beauty therapy lecturer, has been trained by de Mamiel in this bespoke treatment. She says: ‘It’s a truly revolutionary treatment. It honestly feels like you’re healing people. We drive out the stresses that can come from day to day life or perhaps trauma, grief or sleep disorders. The skin responds immediately to the products due to their potency – they are made with love and it shows.’

• 2018 Forth Survey

•• The Sleep Council, Great British Bedtime Report