Our Services

Elevate Your Real Estate Ventures with DCI – Investment and Development Excellence

Welcome to DCI, where we redefine real estate investment and development. Backed by a legacy of success, we are your premier partner in crafting visionary, design-led assets across prime international markets.

Why Choose DCI for Real Estate Investment and Development?

1. Global Presence, Local Expertise: DCI boasts a global footprint with a focus on prime markets such as Dubai, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Turkey, the UK, and Western Europe. Our local expertise ensures that your real estate ventures are strategically positioned for success.
2. Design-Led Development: Immerse yourself in a world of design-led residential, hotel, office, and retail assets. DCI Property, under DCI, is dedicated to creating iconic structures that redefine standards and captivate the market.
3. Strategic Partnership Approach: Collaborate with us for a holistic approach to real estate investment. We partner with seasoned sponsors, asset managers, and developers to bring projects to fruition. Our commitment goes beyond capital – we offer strategic insights, industry knowledge, and unwavering support.
4. Prime International Markets: Explore opportunities in key international markets where DCI has established a significant presence. Benefit from our deep understanding of market dynamics, regulatory frameworks, and emerging trends.

DCI: Your Gateway to Real Estate Success

Ready to embark on a journey of real estate investment and development excellence? Contact our team today to discuss your goals, explore opportunities, and discover the unparalleled advantages of partnering with DCI.

DCI: Your Gateway to Strategic Commodities Trading

Explore the world of commodities trading with DCI, a seasoned player in the global market. Our Commodities Trading service is tailored for discerning clients seeking excellence, reliability, and strategic insights in navigating the dynamic landscape of commodity investments.

Why Choose DCI for Commodities Trading?

1. Market Expertise: Benefit from our extensive market expertise and deep understanding of commodities. DCI is committed to providing clients with valuable insights, empowering them to make informed decisions in an ever-evolving market.
2. Diverse Portfolio: Diversify your investment portfolio with commodities trading. Our comprehensive approach covers a range of commodities, including precious metals, energy resources, agricultural products, and more. Gain access to a world of opportunities to optimize your investment strategy.
3. Global Reach: With a global presence, DCI connects clients to markets worldwide. Whether you are looking to trade in established markets or explore emerging opportunities, our international network ensures that your commodities trading endeavours are well-positioned for success.
4. Risk Management Strategies: Navigate market volatility with confidence. Our team at DCI employs sophisticated risk management strategies to protect your investments and maximize returns, providing a secure foundation for your commodities trading ventures.

Getting Started with DCI:

Embark on a journey of strategic commodities trading with DCI. Contact our dedicated team to discuss your trading goals, explore market trends, and leverage our expertise in commodities trading.

DCI Asset Management is staffed by experienced people committed to offering investors outstanding risk-adjusted returns over the long term.

The firm is headed by Andy So and senior colleagues and service partners who worked with him in his previous fund management companies globally.

We offer discretionary investment management for mutual fund investors, private clients and institutions and we offer direct real estate investment services.

Within our multi-asset business, we aim to provide investors with sound and sustainable returns through investing in a broad range of asset classes from equities, bonds and commercial property through to alternative investments such as commodities and hedge funds.

Our real estate investment team takes a core-plus approach to investing clients’ capital in investment strategies aimed at producing attractive risk-adjusted returns in international markets. The team builds relatively-conservative property portfolios offering stable and growing income returns and opportunities for value creation.

We have built a range of services designed to meet the needs of today’s investors. We have also supported our fund management team by recruiting talented people in such areas as customer service and administration.

Treating customers fairly

DCI is committed to treating customers fairly on a consistent basis in everything the firm does in accordance with the Financial Conduct Authority’s principles for business. This philosophy is embedded in our culture, systems and controls and overseen by our senior management team. We aim to treat customers fairly throughout the product life cycle

OUR INVESTMENT APPPROACH

At DCI, our asset managers recognise that correct asset class selection plays a critical role in delivering healthy risk-adjusted returns for investors.

In response we have evolved an investment approach we call dynamic asset allocation. There are three key elements to our investment process. Our starting point is to determine our asset allocation to reflect our prevailing views on global economic trends and financial market valuations. Then, we select the best fund managers we can find. Finally, we blend those managers into portfolios designed to meet our investors’ needs.

As time passes, these three elements are under constant review as we dynamically adjust the portfolios to reflect our views on fast-moving developments in the global economy and in financial markets to keep our clients’ investments on course.

To discover more about DCI Asset Management, please visit the sections of our website relevant to you or contact us for a meeting.

FUND INVESTORS

Multi-asset investing

DCI has a range of multi-asset funds that embody the dynamic asset allocation approach of our investment team, The range of funds is designed to suit the diverse needs of private investors factoring in their appetite for risk. Our Global team also deploy their disciplined investment approach in providing asset allocation and fund selection services for model portfolios and risk-graded investment strategies and manage collective investments tailored to the needs of specific client groups. Please click on the various tabs below to discover more.

Dynamic asset allocation

Dynamic asset allocation is at the heart of the DCI multi-asset investment process because we believe this will be the principal driver of returns for our fund investors. Three major bear markets since 2000 have made investors aware of the importance of choosing an asset manager focused on determining if the environment is one in which investors will be rewarded for taking risk rather than simply seeking to deliver a relative return. 

Our dynamic asset allocation approach gives us the flexibility to invest globally on behalf of our fund investors in all major asset classes. It is the principal means by which we aim to add value. Our objective is to select the right asset classes, geographical areas, and investment themes at the correct time in the investment and economic cycle. This is a demanding task and we have developed our asset allocation process in response to this challenge.

First, we use the information conveyed by economic data releases to build up a picture of the outlook for the global economy. Secondly, the message conveyed by the data is combined with our knowledge and investment experience to determine which investments we believe are likely to perform well in the prevailing economic conditions. Thirdly, we analyse the valuation case for these assets to identify the genuine investment opportunities.

We recognise the importance of building fund portfolios that are not wholly dependent for their success on a narrow range of investment outcomes. We, therefore, combine the assets in our funds to offer a measure of protection under a range of different scenarios. Careful consideration is also given to the implementation of our investment decisions and we use momentum and sentiment indicators to help refine our timing.

We use information from many sources, not just macro-economic data releases, in coming to our views. We invest in economic research produced by selected economists and strategists to improve our decision making. Our investment process involves frequent meetings with specialist managers investing across the spectrum of different asset classes and regions and we also draw on their observations and experience when reviewing our strategy.

We focus on our strengths and only invest in high-conviction ideas, seeking to avoid consensus thinking. Our consistent emphasis on forward-looking data and our strong valuation discipline often led us to consider out-of-favour assets and help us as we aim to avoid over-hyped markets and investment bubbles.

A proper respect for investment risk

Diversification is one of the most powerful concepts in asset management, allowing managers to reduce risk through investment in a range of different assets. We seek to manage the risk in our fund portfolios by diversifying across several different asset classes, geographic regions, currencies, and investment themes. The portfolio construction process is designed to ensure that performance is not narrowly dependent on one central outcome, with all investments likely to move together. We consider how our fund portfolios will be affected by a wide range of different outcomes. Our range of multi-asset funds allows investors to select the level of risk risk they are willing, and judge themselves able, to accept in seeking to achieve their investment objectives.

Investing in funds allows us to diversify risk at the individual security or underlying asset level. In a typical DCI multi-asset fund portfolio of 15-20 funds, each fund will hold a broad range of underlying investments. This means that when these funds are combined in a DCI multi-asset portfolio the contribution to risk from any one individual security is small and the principal driver of performance will be the overall asset allocation strategy, which we aim to enhance through our fund selection process.

We analyse the level of risk at every stage in the process of portfolio construction, including the volatility of the underlying funds in which we invest as well as the level of risk inherent in our multi-asset fund strategies. We utilise specialist risk analysis software to help us quantify and manage risk but we never surrender our common sense. Many risk assessment models rely too much on the historic relationships between assets and can sometimes underestimate the real level of risk. They do not work well in times of market stress when the correlations between asset classes can rise.

We do not stand behind a faceless investment committee when accounting for the decisions we make within our multi-asset funds. Responsibility for investment strategy ultimately rests with our chief investment officer, who is fully accountable both internally and to our clients.

A fund-of-funds approach to investing

Our fund selection process identifies specialist managers in our preferred asset classes, regions, and sectors. We invest in funds managed by external managers because we believe this approach will lead to outperformance. Each multi-asset portfolio typically invests in a focused portfolio of 15-20 funds. Some funds in which we invest are managed by established industry names; others are from emerging boutiques with expertise in key areas.

Once we have decided to invest in a particular asset class, we choose that which we consider to be the best fund in that sector to meet our objectives. We do not think it is credible for one single investment house to claim a monopoly over investment talent and excel in all areas. Our fund selection process has been developed with the aim of identifying the most talented managers wherever they might be. We do not invest in other DCI products.

We use our scale and buying power with the aim of gaining access to some of the most successful managers and securing favourable terms. We have a transparent fee structure and we do not profit from transaction fees. We do not retain commissions or rebates that may be generated within our investment funds.

We take an active approach to fund selection, preferring to invest with independent-minded managers rather than adopting an indexed or passive style of management. We prefer managers who show genuine commitment, either by investing in their own OEICs and unit trusts or through equity ownership, but above all our approach to fund selection is pragmatic. We will, however, consider all available investment vehicles when determining how best to gain exposure to a particular asset class. Thus, we may therefore invest in funds that mirror a particular benchmark or index if we cannot identify an actively-managed fund with the potential to meet our clients’ needs consistently and we decide that a passive investment is the most effective means of gaining the exposure we seek. Where we invest in funds of this nature such as exchange-traded funds, we will only do so if the investments are backed by the underlying assets. We may also sometimes invest in investment trusts.

Our fund selection process sifts through an investment universe of more than 30,000 funds looking for successful managers. We seek to identify managers who have not just delivered good returns but who can demonstrate consistency and have justified the level of risk they have taken. We use quantitative tools to help in the early stages of manager selection but the final decision is a subjective one. Once we have invested in a fund, we continue to monitor it closely and meet the manager regularly.

Portfolio construction

The output from our investment process is used to populate investment funds that aim to deliver outstanding performance for our investors while also catering for their diverse attitudes towards risk. Our funds have clearly differentiated investment objectives and sit within five of the principal Investment Association sectors, IA Mixed Investment 0-35% Shares, IA Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares, IA Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares, IA Global and IA Flexible Investment. Each portfolio is dynamic and changes as our investment thinking evolves. Our investment committee meets quarterly on a formal basis to review the performance and investment risk management of our strategies.

Security of assets

DCI provides discretionary investment services for mutual funds but does not take custody of investors’ assets. This segregation of responsibilities is important to many investors.