Our Clients
We already manage over £20 million of client’s money.
We offer an individually tailored and holistic financial planning service for each of our clients, ensuring that every element of advice is consistent with their long term objectives and marries the risks they have advised they wish to take.
Clients piece of mind and confidence in our abilities is maintained by regular reviews. We will keep clients up to date with tax changes, product improvements and market outlooks and compare how existing strategies have performed against industry benchmarks.
Popular Investment Products
Risk and Reward
You will have seen with great alarm the problems of Equitable Life and Northern Rock. We place great emphasis on one of the most important issues any financial adviser must address with his client, namely the one of identifying and matching the level of risk the client is happy to take for the likely returns to be made.
Our long experience has taught us that what one person considers low risk might be totally different for someone else.
Investing for specific reasons
These are some of the areas clients regularly seek advice on.
- School fee planning
- Investing for income in retirement
- Investing for grandchildren
High Network Clients and Tax Shelters
For specific high network clients wanting to shelter tax or higher risk takers other forms of investments may be suitable, namely
- Enterprize Investment Scheme
- Venture Capital Trusts
- AIM Companies
- Discretionary Management Portfolios*
- Film Partnership
- Forestry Schemes
*We are not discretionary fund managers but have many contacts who are.
Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax Planning
Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax Planning
Most individuals would not volunteer to pay more than their fair share of tax. Tax planning ensures that full advantage is taken of all available relief and exemptions. This is particularly important, whether looking towards wealth creation or towards wealth preservation. Tax planning may take many forms including:
- Investing in products that produce little or no income. Any tax charge may then be deferred until that investment is encashed.
- Transferring investments to an individual who pays tax at a lower rate - most particularly a spouse (but not your child if under eighteen years). Gifts of assets should be unconditional and non-returnable. Since independent taxation began in April 1990, married women have been entitled to their own personal allowance and rates of tax in respect of their taxable income. Income from assets jointly held by a married couple is automatically slit equally between them for tax purposes. However, if a couple wish to be taxed on the income arising on their actual share of joint property they may elect to do so.
- Investing in tax-free products and products that attract tax relief
- Taking advantage of the provision that tax on savings for basic rate taxpayers is at only 20% rather than 22%
- Reducing chargeable income by charitable donations
- Retaining age allowances by investing in assets that produce little or no income. Transferring income-producing assets to a spouse who is not in danger of losing age allowances and who is not a 40% taxpayer
- Investing, where appropriate, where tax relief is available.
The benefits of investing offshore
The myths
There are four myths about offshore investing
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It is unregulated and risky
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It is complicated and expensive
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It is all about tax evasion
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It is only suitable for the very rich
Many UK and international investment companies have set up offshore companies in UK dependent territories like the Isle of Man and Channel Islands, or EU member states like Republic of Ireland or Luxembourg. All these states benefit from stable governments, strong regulatory contracts and investor protection measures.
Benefits
- Virtual tax free growth often referred to as gross rollup where investments grow virtually free of income and capital gains tax.
- Switches do not trigger a CGT liability
- Greater control over how much and when tax is paid
There are many uses of offshore investing
Investing in offshore bonds is now commonplace, with the ability to assign policies to other people in lower tax brackets without triggering a chargeable event. They are regularly used for school and university fee planning.
For people planning to retire abroad offshore investments are becoming a very attractive alternative to investing in the UK when encashment could lead to UK income tax or Capital Gains Tax liabilities.
ETHICAL INVESTMENT
More and more investment houses are introducing ethical funds, global climate change funds and those accounting for environmental concerns as UK investors become more socially and ethically conscientious.
There are now transparency guidelines for SRI (Socially Responsible Investment) funds which investment houses now adapt to enable consumers to understand policies and practices relating to the fund.
Ethical funds have performed more or less on a par with their non-ethical equivalents . – Investment Management Association.
THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AUTHORITYYDOES NOTREGULATE TAXATION ADVICE, ENTERPRIZE INVESTMENT SCHEMES, FILM PARTNERSHIPS AND VENTURE CAPITAL TRYSTS
