While the UK stock and bond markets offer investors access to global, multi-national corporations, many industries are absent, and access to domestic growth in some of the faster growing world economies is diluted: an increasingly global perspective is warranted.

While there is a proliferation of new investment opportunities, the risks are often more complex: specialist skills and high levels of diversification are required.

The challenge for all investors is how to adjust and invest to best advantage in this new environment, whilst keeping the administrative burden in check: the Alpha Common Investment Funds have been created to meet these challenges.

The power that charities can achieve through pooling can be summarised as follows:

•  Diversification: multi-asset class exposure in two stand-alone funds

•  Administrative Simplicity: the ability to produce detailed “see-through” reports for clients with investments in both funds

•  Active Investment Management: strategic and intensive day-to-day investment management by Sarasin & Partners LLP