For Financial Advisers Only
One Login, One Ecosystem: Inside the Timeline Edge
Our latest Edge session gave advisers a guided, product-focused tour of the full Timeline ecosystem, from the evidence-based philosophy behind our portfolios to the planning technology that supports every stage of the advice journey. Dan Kelly, our Business Development Manager, walked attendees through how our investment range, analytics and planning tools all connect through a single login, and how that integration is built to make your workflows simpler while supporting better client outcomes.
The walkthrough moved through five connected areas: our investment philosophy and the century of market data behind it, our Tracker and Classic model portfolios, our Multi-Asset Fund range and where it fits alongside the MPS, our Morningstar-powered analytics and reporting suite, and the integrated onboarding and planning tools that all run from one system.
You can watch the full recording of this session over on Wistia. The links at the foot of this page will take you deeper into Timeline Edge or let you book a live demo.
Watch the recordingEvidence-based investing built on efficient markets and a century of capital markets data.
A low-cost global tracker range plus a factor-tilted Classic range, 11 portfolios in each.
Unitised versions of the Tracker holdings, designed to ease CGT on rebalancing in a GIA.
Morningstar-powered modular reporting to compare portfolios like for like.
Editable digital factfind, risk profiler and digital LOAs, all in one system.
Plans stress-tested against 111 years of real market history, not modelled assumptions.
The Investment Philosophy
We update our 100-year chart of asset class returns every year, and the session opened by using it to set out the thinking behind everything we do. Over the last century, a balanced portfolio split evenly between global equities and bonds has delivered an average annualised return of around 10 per cent, and has finished the year in positive territory roughly four years in every five. These are historical figures shown for illustration, and past performance is not a guide to future returns.
Our core belief is that global markets are highly efficient. Rather than trying to beat the market, our Tracker range is designed to capture it at a very low cost. History also shows that some asset classes have outperformed over the long run, with emerging markets the highest performing over the century, though also the most volatile. That is where our Classic range comes in, adding tilts towards value, profitability, smaller companies and emerging markets.
The chart also frames volatility in a way that is useful in your client conversations. Over the last 100 years there have been 11 bear markets, and each one has been followed by a longer and stronger bull market. In the UK the average bear market has lasted around 18 months, with a fall of roughly a third, while the average bull market has run for close to seven years. Downturns are part of the process, not a fault in it.
Two Ranges, One Philosophy
Both our Tracker and Classic ranges offer 11 portfolios in 10 per cent equity steps, from 100 per cent bonds up to 100 per cent equities. You can adopt the full range or just the risk levels you actually use, so the proposition flexes to fit your existing advice process rather than the other way round.
Our Tracker range is weighted by global market capitalisation, which currently means a large allocation to North America alongside meaningful positions in Europe, the UK, the Pacific and emerging markets. We build it from funds run by managers including Northern Trust, Vanguard and Legal & General, and we actively monitor the underlying holdings, with changes made late last year reducing costs further. Fund costs sit at roughly 6 to 7 basis points, plus a low DFM fee, keeping the all-in cost very competitive.
Our Classic range adds factor tilts through funds including Dimensional, shifting weight towards value, smaller companies and emerging markets in pursuit of higher expected returns over the long run. Because around a third of the range is actively managed for those tilts, it sits at a slightly higher, though still low, total cost than the Tracker. Portfolio snapshots update daily, export to PDF and can be white-labelled to your own brand and colours.
Where the Multi-Asset Funds Fit
Our Multi-Asset Fund range holds exactly the same underlying investments as the Tracker, in the same proportions, but wrapped inside a single fund across four equity levels of 40, 60, 80 and 100 per cent equity. The advantage is in how it rebalances. Because rebalancing happens inside the fund, it does not crystallise capital gains within a General Investment Account the way rebalancing an MPS can, which makes the funds particularly attractive for clients holding assets in a GIA.
The MPS remains slightly cheaper and gives you full visibility of, and the ability to help shape, the underlying components. For pensions and ISAs, where capital gains are not a concern, rebalancing within an MPS is not an issue either. The right choice therefore depends on your client's wrappers and your own preferences rather than on cost alone. Tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future. This is illustrative and is not a personal recommendation.
The Proof In The Performance
Using Morningstar's database of more than 1,600 UK model portfolio providers, the session showed that our Tracker portfolios have ranked among the strongest performers over five years, with several inside the top 20. What stands out most is the pattern across those top performers: the common thread is low-cost passive and index strategies rather than active stock selection, and that holds true across a genuinely turbulent five years of pandemic recovery, a UK mini-budget, shifting politics and global conflict.
Wider research reinforces the point. Over 15 years, the large majority of active managers have underperformed their benchmark, even in the most developed and heavily analysed markets. We are now the third largest MPS provider in the UK, with assets under management passing 14.5 billion pounds. All performance figures are historical and past performance is not a guide to future returns.
One Login, One Ecosystem
The second half of the session moved from the investments to the technology, and to the point the whole session had been building towards: everything sits in one connected system, so you never jump between logins or rekey data.
Investment analytics. Powered by Morningstar, our modular reporting engine lets you build your own report templates and compare our portfolios against external MPS providers, multi-asset funds such as Vanguard LifeStrategy, and even your own custom models. You can run comparisons like for like, with the option to strip out transaction costs so the picture is genuinely fair, and reports export as client-friendly PDFs in your own branding.
Digital factfind. Fully editable, from a light 10 to 15 question version for a first meeting, to a detailed fact find of 100-plus questions, to a short annual-review form. You can send it to the client, share a link or complete it together, with automatic alerts when the client opens, starts and finishes it, plus reminder chasing built in.
Risk profiling. A 20-question profiler with the same delivery options and the same full editability, so the questions match how you actually work.
Digital LOAs. Built with PensionLab and included in the contract at no extra cost, the LOA tool shows how likely a digital authority is to succeed with each provider, so you know upfront whether to go digital or paper and spend far less time chasing.
Cashflow modelling. Plans are stress-tested against 111 years of real capital markets history rather than modelled assumptions, and can include assets a client holds away from us, giving a grounded view of a plan through every kind of market.
One connected system. Data entered once in the factfind flows automatically into the cashflow modeller and the rest of the ecosystem, so nothing needs rekeying, and our portfolios and funds are available across more than 20 platforms.
Questions From Advisers
Can the factfind be downloaded as a PDF? Yes. It can be completed digitally by the client or printed and completed on paper. Either way, once the information is keyed in it flows through to the rest of the system automatically, so there is no need to enter it twice.
What is an MPS, and how does it differ from a multi-asset fund? An MPS is a portfolio that holds the underlying funds directly, which lets us swap components to improve cost or outcomes. A multi-asset fund holds the same components inside a single fund, so rebalancing happens within the fund and avoids triggering a capital gain in a GIA.
If the fund holds the same investments, why choose the MPS? The MPS is slightly cheaper, and for pensions and ISAs, where capital gains tax does not apply, rebalancing is not an issue. Some firms also prefer to select their own funds, and the MPS supports that. The fund tends to suit clients with GIA holdings where the tax treatment matters most.
Will the analytics tool add more benchmarks? The tool already includes our own benchmarks and indices. A dedicated analytics session in August will explore this in much more depth, so it is worth signing up if benchmarking is a priority for you.
See It For Yourself
If you would like a closer look at how our investment range and planning tools fit together for your firm, the Timeline Edge page has everything from the session and the dates for our next live demo. You can also book a one-to-one walkthrough with our team whenever it suits you.
Important: This blog is prepared exclusively for use by financial advisers; retail distribution is at the adviser's sole risk and discretion. It does not constitute advice, an offer or a solicitation to invest.
Compiled from sources believed to be reliable. Any views, opinions or estimates expressed, including any forecasts or forward-looking statements, constitute the author's judgment at the time of writing, are not guaranteed and are subject to change without notice. None of Timeline, its directors, officers or employees accepts liability for any loss arising from the use hereof or reliance hereon or for any act or omission by any such person, or makes any representations as to its accuracy and completeness.
Timeline investing and platform services are provided by Timeline Portfolios Limited (No. 11557205), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 840807). Timeline planning software and tools are provided by Timelineapp Tech Limited (No. 11405676) and are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Both companies are registered in England and Wales with their registered office at 70 Gracechurch Street, 4th Floor, London, EC3V 0HR.
Past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than you invest. Transaction costs, taxes and inflation reduce investment returns. Any figures shown are historical and for illustration only. This content is intended for professional financial advisers only and does not constitute financial advice or a personal recommendation.
