Press Releases

01 April, 2010

Worldtrack launches its UK ETF advisory business

Worldtrack, under exclusive licence with Raymond James Investment Services Limited (RJIS), is delighted to announce the launch of its UK Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) investment advisory business.

Worldtrack is a new breed of investment advisor that specialises exclusively in offering tailored ETF portfolio solutions for private clients. It is designed to eliminate unnecessary costs and risks that are so typical of advice today in the financial services industry. Rather, it offers highly diverse and precise asset returns and avoids the frequent and speculative turnover that is commonly associated with actively managed funds.

Anthony Christodoulou, Worldtrack’s founder, explains: “We estimate that through using entirely passive ETF portfolios, we are able to improve performance by up to 5% p.a. compared to equivalent active fund approaches. These amounts, when compounded in a low growth economy, are extremely significant to clients’ overall net returns.”

It has taken several years for Worldtrack to develop its purpose built infrastructure which concentrates resource and value on asset allocation and passive investing. At the same time ETFs have grown substantially and, whilst they are today widely accepted as a simple and highly efficient form of investing, they do now require professional research and implementation to be most effective and secure. Worldtrack analyses ETFs across all asset classes and providers, selecting and combining only those with optimal structure, transparency and liquidity. Worldtrack’s streamlined approach includes a proprietary and sophisticated ETF investment system known as ‘EIPOS’. As part of its structured advisory process, EIPOS constructs and customises portfolio allocations with precision to meet client’s risk and return expectations. EIPOS uniquely captures data from over 10 years covering 2,500 trading days with more 500,000 individual observations.

RJIS provides the ideal institutional platform and security for Worldtrack. RJIS and its US parent company, Raymond James Financial Inc (RJF), have been pioneers and leaders in support services for independent managers. RJF’s total of approximately $232bn* in assets, together with a global network of over 2,300* offices, provides a powerful and secure foundation for Worldtrack clients. “RJIS is excited to be working alongside Anthony whose reputation and expertise complements very well our history and experience with private client investment management. We see a significant opportunity for The Worldtrack business and are pleased to be supporting its rollout,” Peter Moores, Chief Executive of RJIS.

Worldtrack has an open and transparent fee structure and has no retrocessions or complicated pricing or incentive structures. It has been designed to improve financial advice for private investors. Worldtrack works directly with private clients, IFAs, wealth managers and intermediaries.

For more information about Worldtrack or to arrange an interview with Anthony Christodoulou, contact: +44(0)203 402 2200, email: info@world-trackers.com or visit: www.world-trackers.com

Anthony Christodoulou is the founder of Worldtrack. He is an experienced advisor to private clients and has held senior positions at a number of leading wealth managers. He is held in high esteem by senior figures in both the ETF and banking industries. A passionate advocate of passive investing, Anthony believes that ETFs should make up a far greater proportion of clients’ investable assets than is currently the case and that the costs and incentives of active management, by and large, contribute significantly to a dilution of investment performance.

* RJF Stats as at 30 December, 2009.

Enquiries

WorldTrack
Anthony Christodoulou, Branch Principal - 0203 402 2200 Anthony.Christodoulou@raymondjames.com

About Raymond James Investment Services

Cynthia Poole, Director of Relationship Management and Business Support – 0207 096 6751
Cynthia.poole@raymondjames.com

Notes to the Editors

About Raymond James Investment Services Limited (RJIS)

Raymond James Investment Services Limited (RJIS) is the UK private client investment management arm of Raymond James Financial, Inc., a diversified financial services company headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA. The firm commenced operation in 2001 and now has over 10,500 client accounts representing total assets of £1.75 billion** (US$2.8 billion). Figures for December 31^st 2009 show RJIS has 52 affiliated offices, which represent a number of experienced and well regarded private client investment managers, stockbrokers and wealth managers located throughout the UK.

RJIS is a member of the London Stock Exchange and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Registered in England and Wales No. 3779657. Registered Office: 77 Cornhill, London, EC3V 3QQ. For more information go to www.rjis.co.uk

**RJIS Stats as of December 31^st, 2009.