The winners of the Financial Planner of the Year awards 2008 were announced at a special gala dinner, held at The Dorchester on Park Lane and hosted by Gyles Brandreth.
Adding to his collection of industry awards, we are delighted to be able to say “congratulations” to our very own Dennis Hall, winner of the Investment Company Planner category. The award was presented by Annabel Brodie-Smith Communications Director of the Association of Investment Companies.
Organised by Money Management magazine (a Financial Times publication) in association with the Institute of Financial Planning, the awards aim to “showcase excellence within the industry and reward those excelling in their field.”
To get as far as the shortlist is an achievement in itself, as competitors have to submit a case study for review by a panel of judges, followed by an interview to determine the winner in each category.
You can read more about the Financial Planner of the Year awards and Dennis’s case study on the Money Management awards website.
We all know we aren’t supposed to put all our savings eggs in one basket, especially because of the limited protection against losses for savings deposits in the UK.
UK deposits in bank or building society savings products are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). FSCS is an independent body created by the Government to pay compensation if a financial instituion is unable to pay claims against it. Currently the first £35,000 per financial institution is protected. So if you have more than £35,000 where should you put your savings?
One solution is to spread your savings around a number of accounts with different financial institutions. With larger balances this approach becomes a little unwieldy. For example an investor with £500,000 will need to open 14 different accounts to take full advantage of the protection offered by the FSCS.
An alternative approach may be to invest in a money market fund. A money market fund invests in a large number of short-term debt instruments on an investor’s behalf. As an investor this allows you to diversify your savings and spread your risk, while offering competitive interest rates.
The money market funds we have researched in depth have all been given the highest triple-A ratings by independent credit ratings agencies.
You can read more about the benefits of these funds and how to invest in our Money Market Funds article written by my colleague Mushtaq.
Samantha Potter, 31, a geophysicist from Warrington, divides her time between her job on board a ship, her partner in China, and her friends and family in the UK. She has no rent or utilities bills to pay, but is concerned about her long term savings. “I don’t know whether I will have enough money to retire on,” Samantha says. “I don’t know what my options are apart from my pension, I also don’t own a property in the UK, and don’t know if I should invest in a buy to let.”
Three independent financial advisers offer Samantha their help this week including Dennis Hall of Yellowtail Financial Planning.
You can read the complete article on the Independent website.
Dennis gives advice to a student trying to cope with debt that must be repaid later.
Helen Stevens, 20, is keen to enjoy her remaining two years of student life before tackling the £30,000 debt she faces on graduation. She estimates she will owe this sum, made up of tuition fees and maintenance loans, on completion of her four-year degree in French and German at University College London (UCL).
“We’re always hearing about how awful debt issues are, yet in doing a degree you can’t avoid it,” says Helen.
You can read the complete article on the Independent website.
The changes to inheritance tax rules announced last October in the pre budget speech allowed the transfer of unused allowances between spouses and civil partners following the first death. Yet many people with existing nil rate band discretionary trusts might have considered the change to be largely irrelevant, but it would be a mistake to ignore the potential effects of this change.
Under the new rules, if the first spouse who dies now with a nil rate band of £312,000 gifts this into a nil rate band trust as a result of their will, and then a few years later the surviving spouse dies when the nil rate band has increased to say £400,000, then the total amount of money that is exempt from 40% inheritance tax is £712,000.
Under the new rules however, if the first spouse simply passed their assets to the surviving spouse, then on the second death, the estate has the benefit of two nil rate bands, but at the then current rate. Under the same scenario of using a £400,000 nil rate band, this would equate to a total of £800,000 that would avoid inheritance tax at 40%.
Of course, if the asset was placed in the nil rate band trust and it grew at a greater rate than the rise in the nil rate threshold then it might still offer a better solution. Yet in my experience, nil rate band trusts are for couples who really cannot afford to physically give the money away, and tend to want a very low risk investment within the trust, it is after all there to provide additional income for the surviving spouse. In this regard I would suggest that the nil rate band trust is no longer needed in a number of instances. The legislative changes have brought about a similar end result, and removed the need for an additional layer of complexity that a trust brings.
“Really, if you’re hanging on to your policy you want a degree of predictability… [t]hose who do not feel they have this may want to move on.”
Dennis is quoted in an article in the FT on with-profit policies.
While the Aviva payouts announced this week are good news for some with-profits investors, those with money in other life offices may be feeling less fortunate.
Stock markets remain volatile and the Financial Services Authority is paying closer attention to the financial strength of life assurers and banks, in the wake of the Equitable Life and Northern Rock scandals.
Financial advisers say policyholders would be wise to do the same.
You can read more of the article, which explains some of the related jargon on the FT website.
Dennis Hall gives financial advice to a twenty something buy-to-let investor in The Times.
Sara Turner owns “a two bedroom house…has a devoted boyfriend and recently landed her dream job in travel journalism after an ‘amazing’ year touring India.”
Unfortunately it doesn’t look as if Sara’s finances could cope with any stress, such as periods where her property was not generating any rental income.
You can read the complete article including Dennis’ advice on the money section of The Times website.
Dennis Hall comments on asset allocation and the correlation between asset classes, noting the recent convergence in returns between property and equity.
Asset allocation becomes even trickier when the issue of which asset classes are non-correlated is considered. Over the past year, as the credit crunch has taken hold, some asset classes that are usually thought to be non-correlated - property and equities, for example - have in fact fallen at the same time.
Dennis Hall, a financial adviser at Yellowtail, suggests that the recent convergence may be because property has been treated more as an equity, with people investing in it for capital growth rather than for its long-term rising rental yield.
You can read the entire article on the FT website.
Dennis Hall wrote an article containing Top Ten Tips for Worried Investors.
Are you worried about the markets? Thinking of cashing in your chips at the investment casino? It’s been a dreadful year for most investors, and the last few weeks have been particularly dire.
His advice is to stay calm and bear his points in mind. You can read the rest of the Top Ten Tips for Worried Investors in the articles section of our website.
Retirement planning seems to be one of the more difficult things we do when managing our personal lives. This may be because retirement planning is so long range – peering far into the future is not something my brain was designed to do.
Our Government is very keen that we all take retirement planning very seriously, and so have provided a swath of information now accessible online. On the Directgov website, they even show their caring, sharing side with a how retirement will feel article.
Retirement is a challenging new phase in life. While it ranks high on the scale of stressful life events, it also provides the opportunity to enjoy a new lease of life. You are likely to enjoy the freedom to develop new interests but on the other hand may feel lonely, isolated and bored at times. An important step is to plan your goals and work towards them.
With my retirement planning I am looking forward to enjoying a new lease of life!
The retirement planning approach they recommend is rare in our industry – but at Yellowtail it is the way we choose to work with all our clients. We work to understand your goals and values and then create a plan to help you achieve them – to me there is nothing more rewarding than working with clients to help them achieve their retirement goals.
Now for a shameless plug –if you are looking for help with retirement planning read about the Yellowtail approach to retirement planning on the site, and then feel free to contact us to find out more
