Demand for Evelyn Partners’ Cash & Cautious Bond strategy accelerates amid global uncertainty and easing interest rates

Evelyn Partners has seen a sharp acceleration in demand for its Cash & Cautious Bond portfolio strategy, with annual inflows rising by 214% in 2025 compared with the previous year, against a backdrop of heightened global uncertainty and a gradually easing interest rate environment.

The wealth manager’s Cash & Cautious Bond portfolios were first made available to Evelyn Partners’ direct clients in 2023, before being launched into the financial adviser market in May last year – a move that has seen the strategy gain increasing traction among those seeking near-cash solutions for their money.

The active discretionary portfolio management service invests in a bespoke and fully flexible mix of liquid, high-quality and low-risk cash-adjacent securities and shorter-dated bonds, with the aim of outperforming traditional cash accounts over time. This strategy provides financial advisers with an alternative to conventional near-cash and gilt-ladder solutions for their clients - offering broader diversification across cash deposits, money market instruments and gilts, alongside carefully selected bonds issued by global organisations with strong credit ratings. 

The growing popularity of Evelyn Partners’ Cash & Cautious Bond portfolio reflects its appeal to those wanting to hold substantial balances in liquid, low-risk and well-diversified securities in a tax-efficient manner, supported by competitively priced ongoing costs of 0.15% per annum.

Individuals allocating to this opportunity over the past year include entrepreneurs following a business exit, those who have accessed their pension cash lump sum prematurely in anticipation of major policy changes in the Autumn Budget, as well as recipients of large inheritances or the proceeds from a property sale. 

Demand has also been driven by shifting interest rate expectations. With short-dated gilts and money market yields still close to decade highs, some high-net-worth investors are choosing to allocate capital ahead of further rate cuts, allowing them to lock in elevated yields before returns are gradually eroded as monetary policy eases. By securing attractive yields today, investors have the potential to also reduce reinvestment risk, avoiding the uncertainty of having to invest cash at potentially lower rates in the future. 

Liquidity has been another driver of inflows into Evelyn Partners’ Cash & Cautious Bond portfolios. Unlike term deposits, the underlying instruments offer daily liquidity, enabling the firm’s investment managers to respond quickly to changing market conditions, investment opportunities or unforeseen client cash requirements.

In addition, a narrowing tax planning window ahead of the end of the 2025-26 financial year at midnight on April 5 has supported demand, as high-net-worth clients often use tax-year-end and post-Budget periods to explore tax-efficient positioning for large cash balances.

Matthew Spencer, Head of Intermediaries at Evelyn Partners, said: “Our Cash & Cautious Bond portfolio has been a highly successful solution for financial advisers since we expanded the offering to meet their needs. Savings accounts are already delivering reduced returns and, with central banks expected to continue cutting benchmark rates in 2026 - as we saw last year – this trend is likely to persist.

“That backdrop provides scope for advisers to secure elevated short-term bond yields for their clients as part of a diversified, tax-efficient and low-risk approach.”

Ian Kenny, Head of Fixed Income at Evelyn Partners, said: “Demand for our Cash & Cautious Bond portfolios was strong in 2025 as interest rates continued their trend downwards and global uncertainty persisted. Our bespoke portfolios can suit a wide range of clients and while individual portfolio composition will vary, a common theme is a desire for peace of mind that balances are working harder than in conventional savings accounts, that liquidity is well mapped to need, and that diversification has value amid volatile market conditions. 

“While the Bank of England opted against a seventh 25 basis-point rate cut at its February Monetary Policy Committee meeting, it is widely expected to proceed with further reductions over the course of 2026. This offers investors a window of opportunity to lock in elevated short-term bond yields as part of a diversified, low-risk strategy.”

As with all investing, and unlike bank accounts, there is an element of risk and you may not get back the amount you put in.

Notes: Key features of Evelyn Partners’ Cash & Cautious Bond service:

Portfolio investments: Rigorous Evelyn Partners investment research process encompasses a broader selection of instruments than many competitors’ offerings: sterling cash, approved Money Market funds, UK Treasury-bills, conventional gilts and approved Supranational, Sub-Agency and Agency (SSA) bonds*. All bonds will have a maturity of no more than five years at the time of purchase.
  
Flexibility: There is no upper limit to how much can be invested in each portfolio and top-ups can be made at any time. Underlying investments are liquid so investors can sell quickly if needed. Maturity profiles can be tailored to meet specific target-date needs or preferences within the permitted range of underlying investments. Investment managers have the flexibility to choose investments from a ‘permitted list’ which have been researched and screened to be eligible for use in these portfolios. 

Tax efficiency: Cash & Cautious Bond portfolios can be structured in a way that can help mitigate an investor’s tax liability by investing in UK gilts and other qualifying investments that are exempt from capital gains tax for individuals and charities but not companies.  
Custody arrangements: Cash & Cautious Bond portfolios are held on Evelyn Partners’ custody platform.  
  
Risk rating: Evelyn Partners Strategy 1 (out of 7)

Pricing: for clients of financial advisers the service has an annual management fee of 0.15%, comprised of a 10-bps custody fee and 5-bps investment management fee (the IM fee component is subject to VAT, the custody fee is not). This competitive price has been kept low by the absence of commissions or transaction charges. Additionally, Evelyn Partners invest directly in individual instruments where possible, which keeps costs low by avoiding the charges of third-party money-market funds.

Minimum subscription level: From £350,000

*SSAs: This class of bonds falls within a distinct fixed income category. The issuers of these bonds are typically multinational organisations or government agencies, which have similar risk profiles to governments. Examples include the World Bank’s lending arm, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and Germany’s development bank, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW). Only a limited set of issuers are chosen for the Cash and Cautious Bond Portfolio. 

Risks:

Investments fluctuate in value, and clients could get back less than the original invested amount. Traded daily, the price and value of government bonds move based on interest rate expectations. This can have a large impact on the value of long-dated bonds but is considerably more muted for the short-term bonds that typically make up the C&CB portfolio.