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discretionary investment management.

discretionary investment management.

Discretionary investment management allows you to entrust your investment decisions to experienced professional portfolio managers who act on your behalf to manage your portfolio within a clearly defined mandate. 

For many high-net-worth individuals and families, this approach offers something invaluable: confidence and peace of mind. Confidence that your managed portfolio is built around your investment objectives and overseen daily by specialists, and peace of mind that it is guided by a structured investment process and monitored with rigorous risk management. 

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Our discretionary investment management is built on discipline and rigour, and designed around you. Your discretionary mandate reflects your objectives, return expectations, investment time horizon, liquidity needs and risk tolerance, while our investment professionals assume responsibility for implementation, monitoring and portfolio oversight.

Our objective is straightforward: to deliver best-in-class, long-term, risk-adjusted returns within a transparent framework that is designed around you.

why choose discretionary investment management? 

Markets move quickly. Economic conditions evolve. Seizing opportunities and managing risks requires constant oversight.

By delegating your investment management, you enable structured, timely decision-making. That ensures your portfolio is positioned proactively, for the long term. 

With a discretionary portfolio, you benefit from: 

  • Personalised solutions
  • Structured asset allocation
  • Professional portfolio oversight
  • Continuous investment monitoring
  • Timely, informed decision-making
  • Institutional-grade risk management
  • Clear, transparent reporting. 

Each of our client relationships is unique and evolves over time – and so do our investment mandates. With discretionary investment management, you retain control over the strategic framework, to ensure it remains relevant to your needs, while we manage portfolio decisions, execution and evolution. 

our discretionary investment approach.

A successful discretionary portfolio is built on structure. We take a robust approach that blends investment research and analysis, proprietary insights and experience. 

Your discretionary mandate is built around five core elements:

1
a long-term strategic asset allocation
2
active tactical decisions when market conditions evolve
3
rigorous risk management
4
a clear and structured investment process
5
transparent communication

Each component works together within a robust and disciplined investment framework. This ensures your portfolio remains aligned with your objectives, while giving you peace of mind that your investments are monitored and managed every day.

how discretionary investment management works.

Understanding your investor profile

We design portfolios around you, and every discretionary mandate begins with a detailed discussion.

Together, we define: 

your financial goals
your investment time horizon
your liquidity requirements
your tolerance for risk
any restrictions, preferences or exclusions

This forms the foundation of your discretionary mandate: a documented, robust framework within which your portfolio managers operate. 

constructing your portfolio.

Once your mandate is defined, we construct your portfolio using our global investment expertise. Your portfolio benefits from our proprietary research, macroeconomic, asset-class, sustainability and individual security analysis, and our long heritage of investment expertise. This House View underpins all our investment decisions.

Guided by this consistent investment framework, we construct portfolios that help you achieve your objectives. We anchor your portfolio in diversification, balancing resilience with opportunity, disciplined risk management and a long-term view. 

Within each asset class, we apply our House View and rigorous proprietary top-down and bottom-up analysis to identify high-quality investment opportunities. 

Every selection is grounded in our proprietary research, valuation discipline and forward-thinking sustainability analysis, across:

1
equities
2
fixed income
3
multi-asset strategies
4
alternatives
5
private assets (for eligible investors)

Every decision is designed to reflect your financial objectives while balancing growth potential and risk management. 

Discover our Rethink Investments framework. 

 

sustainable solutions.

We can also build multi- or single-asset sustainable investment portfolios that can be tailored to match your individual goals, preferences, return objectives and risk tolerance.

These portfolios are constructed around three pillars:

  • A thematic pillar, that focuses on innovative companies leading the way in environmental and social change
  • An impact pillar, that invests in projects that seek to create measurable social or environmental benefits without sacrificing financial returns
  • A resilience pillar that helps spread risk and weather different economic and market environments, following decisions taken by our Investment Committee

In-depth reporting on portfolio performance is complemented by a sustainability report that includes detail on ESG scores, your portfolio’s carbon footprint and alignment of your investments with the Paris Agreement, environmental and social transition objectives.

The aim of our sustainable portfolios is simple: to empower you to play an active role in the sustainability transition, without sacrificing financial returns.

Contact us to speak directly with one of our experts and find out more about Lombard Odier's private banking services.

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continuous risk monitoring.

Your portfolio is monitored daily by our investment teams, who assess market developments, risk exposures and asset allocations, ensuring it continues to reflect our House View. When conditions change, our tactical decision-making is designed to ensure your assets remain optimally positioned for evolving opportunities and risks. 

This continuous monitoring ensures your portfolio remains aligned with your objectives, not just in stable markets, but during periods of uncertainty too. 


transparent communication.

You receive regular, comprehensive reporting on performance, asset allocation and updates on positioning, along with clear explanations of recent decisions and the thinking behind them. Our communication is structured, consistent and accessible, reinforcing transparency, confidence and peace of mind at every stage.


cutting-edge technology.

Our award-winning, global technology platform enables you to view and analyse your portfolio in complete security online. Customisable reporting gives you the ability to consolidate portfolios, view assets and liabilities across markets, currencies, and jurisdictions. It gives you detailed performance attribution, as well as access to market data, our research and publications, and all your banking correspondence.

strategic and tactical asset allocation.

Strategic asset allocation

Strategic asset allocation (SAA) defines the long-term structure of your managed portfolio. It is based on our long-term return assumptions and market views, which we then align with your financial objectives, time horizon, liquidity requirements and risk appetite.

Our House View determines the balance between equities, fixed income, alternatives, multi-asset strategies and private assets. Our SAA establishes the appropriate balance between growth, income generation and capital preservation based on your risk profile and investment horizon. This long-term framework provides the foundation of your discretionary mandate, and generates the majority of a portfolio’s returns.

Tactical asset allocation

Financial markets are dynamic. Through tactical asset allocation (TAA) decisions, our investment teams will adapt your portfolio’s positioning to capture emerging opportunities or adjust risk exposure when conditions shift. These decisions are grounded in a disciplined process that incorporates our proprietary research, macroeconomic, asset-class and sustainability analysis. In combination, this ensures responsiveness without compromising long-term strategy. 

Within each asset class, our portfolio managers apply rigorous analysis. Instrument selection reflects the full range of our investment capabilities. Depending on your mandate and objectives, your portfolio may include:

  • Global equities
  • Sovereign and corporate bonds
  • Multi-asset strategies
  • Alternative investments
  • Structured solutions
  • Private assets (for eligible investors).

Each selection undergoes careful analysis, taking into account liquidity, valuation, sustainability considerations, risk characteristics and suitability for your profile. 

Controlled risk-taking with appropriate management of downside risks is at the core of discretionary management. Your portfolio is monitored daily by our investment professionals. 

Our oversight framework includes: 

  • Stress testing
  • Scenario analysis
  • Correlation assessment
  • Volatility modelling
  • Liquidity evaluations 

We use ‘expected shortfall’ or the loss a portfolio is expected to experience in the worst year in every twenty, to model risk and simulate a range of portfolio outcomes.

Our teams use such tools to understand how portfolios might behave under different scenarios. Our disciplined process ensures your portfolio remains aligned with your objectives in favourable conditions and uncertain times. The goal is to limit downside risks while positioning your portfolio to participate in long-term opportunities. 

Choosing discretionary investment management is often about focus. That’s because it allows you to: 

  • Delegate day-to-day investment decisions to experienced specialists
  • Enable long-term strategic thinking with fast, informed tactical decision-making
  • Diversify exposure across global asset classes
  • Anchor your portfolio in a structured and transparent investment process
  • Benefit from timely execution
  • Avoid emotional reactions to short-term market movements
  • Have peace of mind that your assets are professionally managed. 

For entrepreneurs, executives and globally mobile families, discretionary investment management offers efficiency and peace of mind, without the operational burden. 

This service is particularly suited for busy clients who:

  • Prefer to delegate investment decisions within a structured framework
  • Value disciplined asset allocation and professional oversight 
  • Seek a consistent and disciplined approach to managing their wealth
  • Value ongoing monitoring and proactive decision-making
  • Want access to global investment capabilities
  • Prefer to focus on their objectives rather than day-to-day market shifts 

It is often chosen by: 

  • Entrepreneurs’ post-liquidity events
  • Senior executives with limited time
  • Families planning across generations
  • Investors seeking professional portfolio management. 

a disciplined framework built around you.

Discretionary investment management is about placing your portfolio within a structured framework governed by expertise, oversight and accountability. Through strategic asset allocation, tactical decision-making, rigorous proprietary research and analysis, and continuous investment monitoring, your discretionary mandate is actively managed with clarity and precision. Every decision is taken within an agreed framework designed to align with your objectives, shield against unnecessary risk and position your portfolio for long-term capital preservation and growth.

We pride ourselves on building close and long-term ties with you. We manage your portfolio, so you can focus on what matters most to you. Through our leading wealth management expertise, we seek to inspire confidence: confidence in the people managing your wealth and confidence in a process designed to endure and perform across market cycles. 

questions you may have.

It means that investment decisions are made on your behalf within an agreed discretionary mandate. You define the framework, and we manage portfolio decisions, execution and oversight. 

Yes. Your discretionary mandate is designed around your individual goals and objectives. It can incorporate your preferences, exclusions and specific guidelines.

Portfolios are monitored daily. Tactical investment management decisions are taken when our House View evolves – in line with changing economic or market conditions, and the evolving balance of risk and reward.  

You will receive regular performance reporting, portfolio breakdowns and clear explanations of positioning and recent decisions.

Where suitable for your individual risk profile and investment horizon, and based on your eligibility, discretionary portfolios can include private assets as part of a long-term allocation.

speak with our investment specialists.

Delegating your portfolio is a decision built on confidence. 

If you would like to learn more about how discretionary investment management can support your long term financial goals, our advisers are available to discuss your needs. Together, we will define your mandate, assess your current positioning and design a managed portfolio structured around your long-term goals.

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