How risk analytics enhance portfolio management

As Senior Portfolio Manager at J O Hambro Capital Management, James Lowen has spent 21 years building and managing equity strategies in the firm's performance-driven culture. He works closely with the risk team to understand portfolio exposures and communicate investment rationale to clients. In this interview, James explains how detailed Axioma analytics enable confident investment decisions and strengthen client relationships through transparent risk reporting.

Transforming risk into strategic advantage

Data-driven investment confidence
"Using the data from Axioma we did some modeling and we could then see exactly how overweight we are and where we're approximately double weighted," Lowen explains about a recent geographic exposure analysis. This precision enables confident decision-making even when taking significant factor bets.

Structured risk collaboration
Axioma risk models have become a prominent part of J O Hambro's quarterly risk meetings, where detailed factor analysis drives strategic portfolio discussions. Lowen notes that these formal sessions with the risk team create a structured framework where data-driven insights inform key investment decisions and validate portfolio positioning.

Enhanced client relationships
 

"The Risk team is very important in terms of our relationship with our clients. We have a number of large clients where the risk team will actively meet them. They'll go in and they'll talk through the risk modeling, they'll talk through the Axioma data that underlies that", Lowen explains

highlighting how sophisticated Axioma risk models build client confidence in J O Hambro's investment process.

The impact

Through Axioma's comprehensive portfolio analytics, J O Hambro achieved stronger collaboration between portfolio management and risk teams, creating a transparent framework that enhances both investment decisions and client relationships.