Mission, Values, Credo and Code of Ethics
Mission
Company Mission:
Together we aim to build an investment company that’s fair, transparent and honest. We believe that our reputation as an ethical, trustworthy service provider is essential to our core purpose of helping you achieve your financial objectives.
Client Mission: To help you achieve your financial objectives.
Core Values
Togetherness
'Shadow Investment’ is a unique service which gives ISA and SIPP ‘DIY’ investors, the opportunity to look over our shoulder and buy the same funds that we personally own. That's why our motto is, 'Let’s grow wealth together'. By following our lead, we get to share the good times and the difficult ones. It’s a partnership, it’s companionship, it’s teamwork, it’s togetherness.
Togetherness means warmth, closeness, friendliness and care. Our aim is to build solid working relationships that are intensely personal, helping us to retain clients throughout life-long investment cycles. Our aim is to engage with you in the same way you’d engage a family member. This gives you peace of mind – knowing we will always be on your side and always act in your best interests.
Integrity
Honesty in professional services relationships is paramount. A person of integrity is one who practices and speaks the truth at all times and keeps the promises they make with helping to create and maintain trust. We are completely independent of all other institutions and by not holding client assets, we avoid conflicts of interest. As stated in our company mission, our aim is to build an investment company that’s fair, transparent and honest. We believe that our reputation as an ethical, trustworthy service provider is essential to our core purpose of helping you achieve your financial objectives.
Expertise
You receive clear daily guidance from a team with an impressive track record. Stephen Sutherland, ISACO’s Lead Investor and Chief Investment Strategist has extensive experience and has been investing in ISAs since 1997.
He has also achieved an enviable record of ‘beating’ indices such as the FTSE 1001. Our aim is to help you achieve your financial objectives by offering clear daily guidance and continuous market insights from a star-performing investment team. This gives you the potential of making much better informed investment decisions throughout the year.
1January 1st 1998 - December 31st 2023. Total return over 26 years: ISACO 231.8% vs FTSE 100 50.3%. ISACO outperformed their benchmark (the FTSE 100) on average over a 26-year period by 3.0% per year.Credo
Our Credo challenges us to put the needs and well-being of the people we serve first.
People First
If we focus on helping all of our stakeholders achieve their goals, the company will achieve its goals at the same time. People first, products second, profits third.
Products Second
Create the best products and services to help our clients achieve their financial objectives.
Profits Third
If our focus is on people first and products second, profits will inevitably follow.
Code of Ethics
We do, of course, comply with all applicable laws and regulations when carrying out our business activities. However, we see this as a starting point rather than a ceiling for our approach to treating our clients fairly. For ISACO it is not good enough for a business action just to be legal, we always act in a trustworthy and ethical manner.
Specifically this means that we will always adhere to the following standards.
- We provide a complete and truthful picture of the service we provide, including the limits on our activity and your responsibilities as our client.
- We never accept any inducements (such as services or hospitality) from fund or platform providers.
- We are fully transparent about the costs of our service – there are no hidden or additional costs.
- All our clients have the opportunity to invest in the same funds that we personally own and buy them at the same price that we buy at.
- We fully and clearly explain the reasons for all of our investment decisions.
- We always measure our performance against the most relevant benchmark, the FTSE 100, so that clients receive a consistent and clear picture of our results.
- We deal with all client enquiries promptly.
- We treat client information confidentially and do not share it with anyone outside of ISACO.
- We undertake a regular programme of continuous professional development in order to maintain and enhance our knowledge so as to provide you with a highly informed service.
- We use external assistance where we feel this will enhance the service we provide, but we monitor and take full responsibility for all such third party services.
We will undertake, and report on, an independent audit each year to ensure that our business activities continue to comply with this code of ethics.
About ISACO
ISACO are a specialist in ISA and SIPP Investment and together with our clients have an estimated £75 million actively invested2. Our ‘Shadow Investment Service’ gives high net worth ‘DIY’ investors, the opportunity to look over our shoulder and buy the same funds that we personally own, effectively piggybacking on our expertise.
We are a small, warm and friendly investment company that was started back in 2001 by brothers Stephen and Paul Sutherland. Stephen, a best selling investment author and Paul are known as two extremely likeable, down to earth individuals who both live in Manchester. Our main office is situated on King Street, arguably one of the best and most exclusive streets in Manchester city centre. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). ISACO’s FCA firm reference number is 525147.