FAQs FAQs

We have created a unique investment approach. Rather than bet and speculate, we adopt a methodical investment strategy that is cost effective, academically proven and fully transparent. At the heart of our approach is a risk profiling assessment to ensure you take on just the right amount of risk with each of your investments. We also look carefully at your aims and objectives for each investment to ensure you meet your targets with our portfolio . Each one is carefully researched using cutting-edge technology and reviewed regularly. We carefully combine a variety of different asset classes to provide great returns and mitigate some of the volatility. We then regularly monitor your portfolio to ensure it delivers what you need and rebalance your assets to make sure the portfolio remains in great shape.

Yes. We believe you should be able to check how your investments are doing whenever you like. You can monitor your investments any time by using login into your profile. This will give you an up-to-date valuation of all your investments as well as providing a breakdown of what you are investing in. If you need any more detailed information on your investments, we can provide this to you via email [email protected] or Live-chat.

Absolutely. We wouldn’t dream of investing our money in another other way than we recommend for our clients. We have complete confidence in our investment philosophy and know that our process will deliver exceptional long-term returns. The directors and financial planner at Bistonfinance have their pensions and other investments invested in the same portfolios we offer to our clients.

No. We don’t believe in tying anyone in to long-term commitments so we do not operate any tie-in periods. You are free to move your money to another financial adviser or another investment provider at any time. Just let us know, and we can help facilitate this for you.

You are of course free to manage your own investment if you wish. Some of our clients have a great knowledge of investment strategies and are confident to mange their own money. We may help them with financial planning but they choose to invest their money themselves. However, for the majority of our clients, they see the value in our investment management services. For a low fee of 0.9% per annum, they know that they will be getting an investment portfolio that has been expertly crafted and is tailored to their specific needs. The investment management team at Bistonfinance have numerous professional investment qualifications and many years of successful investment experience.  The team are able to dedicate their time to research funds and wider investment strategies to make sure our investment recommendations deliver the results they need. Clients investing with Bistonfinance also benefit from regular rebalancing and investment reviews to ensure their investments continue to deliver for them. Ultimately, you have the choice about whether to manage your own investments or have them managed by the experts.

We believe in being totally clear and transparent about all our charges. When it comes to investment charges, there are three main costs. Fund charges, platform charges and advice charges. We always use the most accurate measure of fund costs (the ‘ongoing charges figures or OCF’) to ensure our clients know exactly what they are paying for their investments. The Bistonfinance Portfolios range from 0.36% to 0.66% (as at December 2018). The primary investment platforms we use, typically charge a maximum of 0.4% per annum (to facilitate these investment funds). We charge 0.9% per annum to provide you with ongoing investment advice and portfolio reviews. This means that the total all-in charges range from around 1.56% to 1.86% per year depending on the Bistonfinance Portfolio you are invested in. This the total cost. There are no hidden charges, no fund switch fees and no exit penalties.

The performance of the Bistonfinance Portfolios has been very strong over recent years and we are pleased with the returns they have provided for our investors.  Should you want any other performance figures or investment information on Bistonfinance Portfolios contact us at [email protected] and we can provide this to you.

Yes, most investments are protected by the Financial Service Protection Scheme (FSCS). The FSCS acts as a safety net for clients of financial services providers. For investments, such as pensions, the maximum compensation is 90% of the claim with no upper limit. For more information see the FSCS website.

Each Bistonfinance has its own assets benchmark. This is a measure by which we judge the investment performance. The aim of every portfolio is to provide returns in excess of the relevant benchmark over a investment horizon period. Please refer to the specific portfolio for detailed information on assets benchmarking. We always display the performance of the assets benchmark against each portfolio so you can see if these objectives are being achieved.

The prices we report are in current U.S. dollars.

No, we report benchmark prices which are representative of the global market. However, country-specific commodity price indices can be derived from the Commodity Terms of Trade database which can be found here: http://data.imf.org/commoditytermsoftrade. This database includes a set of country-specific terms-of-trade indices for 182 economies from 1962.

We do not report futures prices; however price projections for two years ahead are available on the IMF World Economic Outlook website. Click on the most recent publication. Select "By country groups", click on "world", then select the commodity prices and indices you are interested in. Lastly, choose the date range for the data and click on "prepare report".

Our indices are based in 2016 (average of 2016 = 100). We first calculate individual commodity price indices in U.S. dollar and SDR terms, basing the price series in those currencies in 2016. Group indices are weighted averages of individual commodity price indices, with respective commodity weights derived from their relative import trade values compared to the total world import trade as reported in the UN Comtrade database.

You are welcome to use our commodity data for written work as long as you cite the database accordingly. For copyright and usage information on Bistonfinance.

Our prices are period averages.

Bistonfinance commodity portfolio market strategy manager do use Futures and options commodity trading contracts. Investors who enter into futures contracts agree to buy or sell commodities on a fixed, future date, at a fixed price, irrespective of the commodity's market price on the contract maturity date. Our investors can also enter into options contracts with more or less the same conditions as the futures contract. However, Our commodities Investors have the options towards the right or option to exit the investment if it does not prove profitable.

Investors can derive the following benefits on Bistonfinance commodity portfolio Investment: -Commodity portfolio investment allows investors to diversify their investment portfolios by adding a different asset class to them. -Commodities portfolio assist investors in hedging their investments against inflation since the prices of assets commodities typically rise during high inflation periods. Hedging allows investors to maintain their purchasing power parity. -Geopolitical events like natural disasters, economic crises, wars, etc., lead to scarcity of commodities, and by extension, increased prices. -Investing in Bistonfinance commodities portfolio allows investors to guard their losses by leveraging price swings strategically.

Certainly. First, you might want to check out the other FAQ pages to see if your question has been answered already. If not, please contact us [email protected] with questions regarding our data, or use the ‘live chat’ at the bottom right of every page. We’d love to answer any questions you have about Bistonfinance and how we can help you achieve your financial goals.