Looking after the wealth of individuals, families, charities and others is a big responsibility and that is never more true than during times of a global economic crisis.

Since lockdown started in late March, we as business have gone through a lot, and I know the same is true for many of our clients. Following the unprecedented fallout from the Coronavirus across the world, we have leant on the wisdom and experience of the elder statesmen in the organisation, who have lived and breathed many a crisis. That has been complimented by an unwavering commitment from the team as whole, many of whom have had to swiftly adapt to new ways of working.

From the first time that significant market volatility emerged in March, we have made a concerted effort to stay in regular touch with our clients. We wanted to be on hand to answer questions and provide reassurance. Our message has been that we were continuing to follow the tried and tested processes that have served us so well over the last twenty years. The Church House mantra has always been successful investing is about effective risk management, so we are rightfully pleased when our clients have acknowledged our ability to help them avoid the worst ravages of the significant market volatility.

A long-term client, Malcolm Cockburn was happy for us to quote him in saying "he was most impressed by the way in which we had preserved his capital"

Many clients contacted us following the abridged Quarterly Review from our CEO and Joint Chief Investment Officer, James Mahon. One such response was "Despite the enormous difficulties caused by Covid 19,  you have managed to update us in an original way and for this I thank you all, working under what must be very difficult circumstances"

Another wrote "Just wanted to say a big thank you to you all for what you do for us. We know that it must be very tough at the moment and we appreciate all your efforts"

We are sincerely grateful for the messages of support from far and wide. It is testament to the effort of everyone in the business, from those managing the investments to our client services team responding to emails and from the relationship managers to our IT department that has successfully supported a wide scale shift to remote working.

Over the coming weeks and months, we will continue to be in regular contact and as always, we urge clients to come to us with any concerns or queries, so that we may have the chance to help in any way we can. Whatever lies ahead, we are ready for the challenge.