In order to provide a good and consistent investment experience it is necessary to apply a structured and disciplined process to the construction of investment portfolios.

This process should consider each asset class and sub-class, examine the evidence for and against holding it, and recommend whether it is likely to add risk-adjusted return to portfolios.

Model portfolios should then be tested for the most appropriate combination of each asset class, using the latest developments in Modern Portfolio Theory. Finally, the funds available in each asset class need to be reviewed against a range of criteria, including cost and how well it fills its brief.

The EBIS investment committee's role is to identify and present the evidence the group needs to make portfolio decisions for their clients. Thus the resources of the EBIS group - the experience and intellectual capital - are combined to produce what we believe are some of the most rigorously researched portfolios available.

As well as the expertise within the group, EBIS makes extensive use of external consultants, to challenge our thought processes, to source the data necessary for the research we conduct, and to validate our own decisions. We are continually seeking to stay at the forefront of developments in the science of investing.