Q. I am about to start contributing to a personal pension fund and have been through a process to assess both how much risk I need to take with my investment as well as how much risk I will be able to tolerate on an ongoing basis. Whilst I am comfortable investing 70-80% of the equity [...]
Emerging Market / Pacific Rim Investing – Which Fund Should I Choose? – Hot Topics Q & A
August 27, 2010 By
Personal Pension or Individual Savings Account? – Hot Topics Q & A
July 29, 2010 By
Q. I am looking to invest a lump sum, as well as a regular amount each month. I can’t decide whether to choose an equities based Individual Savings Account (ISA) or a Personal Pension. Which do you think is best? A. It’s fair to say we’ve been asked this question a few times over the years! As [...]
Investing Company Money – Cash, Shares, Pensions…?
July 26, 2010 By
Investing company money that has built up within a business bank account poses a challenge to many company directors. If you are a dentist that has decided to incorporate (or perhaps you’ve already done it), or a doctor with private earnings that has incorporated, one of the main differences you’ll have noticed is that there [...]
Investing Your Capital – Obvious & Hidden Risks
July 17, 2010 By
As we have said consistently for many years, we favour passive funds and tracker funds when investing clients’ capital. The evidence for actively managed funds where the Fund Manager stock picks, and perhaps tries to time the markets leading to consistent long term performance above the average is thin on the ground. Especially so when [...]
Investing Your Capital, Portfolio vs Single Stocks – Hot Topics Q & A
July 10, 2010 By
Q. As an investor over many years, I have always had a liking for oil shares. As a result of this I have done very well over the last 15 years, and have built up a large portfolio of shares in BP and Shell. Needless to say, I have viewed the recent BP problems with considerable unease, [...]
Independent Financial Advice – Can A Bank Really Provide It?
July 6, 2010 By
As we read a lot of articles every week on a wide variety of subjects, a very common one that keeps on coming up is the appalling reputation of the banks. Time after time we read of the banks’ sales people selling products that are totally unsuitable to unsuspecting customers. Which? Magazine has recently carried [...]
Investment Bonds: Pros & Cons for the Higher Rate Tax Payer
April 21, 2010 By
Background A Life Insurance Investment Bond is widely available for you to invest in. As with many investments, there are advantages and disadvantages to using this form of tax wrapper. One of the main points to bear in mind is that the tax wrapper status of any financial product dictates how much tax you will/won€™t [...]
Mortgage Endowments – Stick or Twist?
March 25, 2010 By
We read a huge amount of articles on all sorts of financial matters each week. One that appeared in the press recently about the latest news on With Profits Endowment policies’ payouts grabbed our attention. Money Management magazine does an annual survey of policy payouts by various companies, and this years results have shown that [...]
With Profits Bonds – Worth Investing In? – Hot Topics Q&A
February 22, 2010 By
Q. I invested £50,000 into a With Profits Bond in 2000 on the advice of my adviser. He has told me that as it hasnt performed very well, and because the plan has a 10 year option where there are no penalties if I cash it in, he is recommending I take out another With Profits Bond with [...]
Tracker Funds vs Active Funds – Where To Invest?”
February 18, 2010 By
Readers of Financial Tips will have seen many articles that we have written talking about how to invest your money. It goes something like this: Check if you even need to invest more by having your planner build you your own financial forecast. After all, if your big picture looks very good, why not spend [...]
