Structure over Sentiment
Structure over Sentiment
Biography
Kevin Gardiner is the Global Investment Strategist and a Managing Director at Rothschild & Co Wealth Management, having joined in 2014. He chairs the Asset Allocation committee for Mosaique portfolios. Alongside his work at Rothschild & Co, Kevin chairs the Regional Growth Board for the Cardiff Capital Region, and is a trustee of the London Music Fund. For nine years to 2018 he was a Governor and Chair of the Finance Committee at the United World College of the Atlantic. In 1994, at Morgan Stanley, he wrote the ‘Celtic Tiger’ report on the Irish economy, still the fastest-growing economy in Western Europe. In 2015 his book Making Sense of Markets was published by Palgrave Macmillan.
A framework for long-term wealth
At Rothschild & Co Wealth Management, we believe that lasting investment success begins with structure, not speculation. Emotions move faster than the business cycle. As Benjamin Graham once observed, we cannot control the markets, but we can control our reactions to them. Our role is to provide an investment framework that helps clients stay focused on long-term objectives, and in reacting to information, to distinguish between meaningful signal and background noise.
Why structure matters
Financial markets are shaped by shifting forces. Growth, inflation, interest rates, fiscal policy and geopolitics all influence how asset classes perform over time. Our Tactical Asset Allocation Committee (TAAC) ensures that portfolios remain aligned with the evolving macroeconomic landscape while staying true to clients’ long-term goals.
A collaborative, forward-looking process
The TAAC, which I chair, brings together senior investment professionals from across our organisation, including our Chief Investment Officer, the Heads of Portfolio Management in Switzerland and Germany, as well as the Head of Advisory and the Head of Fixed Income in Germany. We meet at least on a monthly basis to review the global economic outlook, assess risks and opportunities across regions and asset classes, and agree on tactical adjustments where appropriate. We are very aware of the importance of the decision-making architecture which Torben describes in the previous pages, and our discussions tend to follow a settled format, at least in their first round, whatever the immediate market backdrop might be. All members of the committee are asked for their input and are listened to carefully, with the more senior members speaking last to avoid shaping the discussion unduly. The committee’s conclusions turn our macroeconomic insights into clear, actionable portfolio positioning.
Turning insight into discipline
This structured process transforms research and market analysis into tangible outcomes for investors. It ensures portfolios remain:
- Consistent: grounded in a unified investment stance and shared macro view.
- Responsive: able to adapt to change without losing long-term focus.
- Transparent: guided by a clear decision-making framework.
- Risk-aware: continually evaluating the balance between risk and return.
By combining long-term strategic discipline with short-term tactical flexibility, we help investors navigate uncertainty with confidence. The goal is not to suppress emotion - that would be impossible - but to build a structure strong enough to keep emotion from driving decisions.