She is also looking to expand the business outside the UK as well as the institutional market. "I don't think we've reached capacity in the UK — if you look at market share you can still grow in the UK. It's more a question of diversifying our client base and client channel and thinking about the investment strategies," she says.
But in terms of UK retail investors, there are other, more logistical challenges that UK fund managers are facing: the power of the platforms.
Altinger says: "The way we need to engage with platforms has had to evolve. It's not just about the best-performing funds, it's about really understanding each of the firms' clients we work with, and where is the value proposition to the end client. What role do we [as fund managers] need to play for their proposition."
"This means, for example, thinking about what kind of building block they are providing for which type of portfolio, ranging from aggressive to conservative.
"What's the expectation? What's the return expectation across different market environments? How do we help advisers position the fund — if it's been positioned as a single fund, how do we give them the tools to talk about it effectively to help them understand how it captures value?"
In addition, there is greater pressure to be more transparent about holdings, and to deliver real-time information to the client, especially when holdings change, assisted by an improved technological interface.
"As a mid-sized firm, that's a challenge. The big companies are years ahead in terms of technological interface," she says.
"There's this idea that if the market environment changes suddenly, that end clients will be able to see [that their] portfolio has changed. I think that's one of the challenges for us.
"It's the desire to have a little bit more control and oversight, it's not just having [more] data. We saw the Woodford debacle play out, and that was all about liquidity risk management. A lot of clients wanted to have more oversight: what do we have in that fund? What's my money invested in? Would I be in a position not being able to redeem?"
Altinger has been running JO Hambro for three years, having previously run a multi-family office. Half Italian and half German, she has been in financial services her entire career.
