EPIC Investment Partners is one of the latest MPS providers to go live on Analyser, and is now available for review as part of your MPS due diligence.

The company was founded in 2001 by Giles Brand and Hiren Patel, who both have backgrounds in private equity. The MPS range was launched in July 2021, and has £2.1m in assets under management.

EPIC counts itself as among the first in the UK to create a purpose-built, risk managed portfolio specifically for decumulation. Built with Dynamic Planner, the portfolio is designed for clients in retirement and aims to deliver around 5% gross income, while also preserving clients’ capital.

The objective is to mitigate sequencing and drawdown risk, and the portfolio focuses on monthly risk over annual risk.

EPIC’s approach is built around what it calls its two “lines of defence” – portfolio construction and a rules-based approach to risk.

On portfolio construction, this involves holding less in fixed income, no exposure to illiquid assets such as physical property and a “tactical use” of cash.

On the rules-based approach to risk, EPIC monitors monthly volatility and also carries out monthly rebalancing.   

EPIC decumulation portfolio co-manager Pushpanshu Prakash says: “The decumulation stage can be one of the most challenging periods for advisers to navigate and will be a focus for the industry, particularly in light of the FCA’s ongoing thematic review of retirement income advice. 

“It’s why our multi-asset team has created a purpose-built solution that sits on multiple platforms, providing advisers with new ways to tackle the associated risks with portfolios in drawdown.”

He adds: “We are delighted to add our decumulation portfolio to the lang cat’s Analyser tool to help advisers navigate the challenge of retirement income.”

There are currently 34 MPS providers available to research in Analyser. You can find out more about each of these, including EPIC, on Analyser’s MPS directory