1. I n d e p e n d e n t
F i n a n c i a l
A d v i s e r s
Latest financial planning news
NEW
I
n last year’s newsletter we were preparing clients for the
introduction of the new Pension Freedom rules – the
removal of the restrictions as to how you draw your pension
benefits. It’s no exaggeration to say this was probably the biggest
change to the pensions industry for decades, so the question is,
how has it been received?
We had few fears that clients would go bonkers and withdraw their
funds for a fancy car or blow-out vacation. In fact, as we suspected,
the new rules were greeted with great
excitement as with careful planning,
the new regime can add considerable
flexibility to how and when pension
benefits are taken. Our new cash
flow planning tool has been acquired
to help clients understand the many
scenarios, some of which turn
traditional retirement planning on its
head. Give us a call if you would like a demo.
2015 also saw another year of global market volatility and naturally
times like this bring back the question of threshold for investment
risk. Our Wealth Management Service addresses this subject
head-on and the fundamental strategy of reducing volatility is key to
the appeal our proposition.
Finally, 2015 saw thousands of smaller employers impacted
by Auto Enrolment legislation and over the next two years
every employer will be required to enrol their staff into a qualifying
workplace pension scheme. We have developed a low cost and
simple scheme to deliver an effective solution to our clients owning
businesses, details of which can be found on our website
www.staffbenefits.net
Team
Meet the
Philip Harper
Philip has been in the
financial services industry
all his working life. He formed
Financial Management in
1991 following careers
broking in London and
heading the financial services
division for an accountancy
firm in Berkshire. He is a
member of The Personal
Finance Society.
Matthew Wright
Matt has been working
in financial services for
nearly 30 years. Having
first qualified in Financial
Planning in a 14 year career
with NatWest he has spent
the last 15 years working as
an Independent Financial
Adviser specialising in both
Employee Benefits and
private client work.
Chris Hockin
Chris has been in the
financial services industry
since the early 1980s
starting off in the general
insurance side of the
business before becoming
an independent financial
adviser in 1986. Since that
time he has had several
successful managerial roles
and has been advising and
helping both corporate and
private clients alike. He is
a member of The Personal
Finance Society.
Vanessa Carver
Vanessa had a long
career in the financial
services industry. Starting
as Manager at AXA
heading a national project
in association with Law
firms. From there she
spent 10 years at Financial
Management as an IFA
specialising in Employee
Benefits. After 3 years
working in the education
sector, Vanessa returned
to Financial Management
working in research and
paraplanning.
Amyr Rocha-Lima
Amyr has many years
of experience working
for multinational wealth
management companies.
As a business consultant,
he specialised in reviewing
and restructuring financial
planning processes. Now
as a Chartered Financial
Planner and Associate
of The Personal Finance
Society, he works to ensure
that his clients achieve
their personal and financial
goals.
financial management, Penn Barn, By the Pond, Penn, Bucks HP10 8LB
01494 817151 www.staffbenefits.net info@staffbenefits.net
Paul Wakefield
Paul spent 20 years with
Barclays qualifying as an
Associate of the Chartered
Institute of bankers and
advised clients as a
Barclays Premier Banking
Manager involving Full
Financial Planning. Paul
now specialises in Whole of
Market Mortgage advice and
related protection advice
which has been his focus for
the last 10 years.
Mary Berry Cookery writer and judge on BBC’s The Great British Bake Off
“Financial Management
acquired Penn Barn from
Paul and me in 2006 and
since then they have helped
us with various aspects of
our financial planning”
financial management is a trading title of Philip Harper LLP which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Need a helping hand
with Auto Enrolment?
· Sign up in seconds
· Simple to register
· Low cost
Visit our website to request
a personalised report
www.staffbenefits.net
consolidatio
Pension
Consolidation
Bring your pensions
together and we will help
you keep them on track.
Philip Harper Managing Partner
2. ISA
A new approach to
Business Protection
“Predictability helps investors grow their assets with
lower volatility and gives them confidence in planning
for their income requirements in retirement.”
Amyr Rocha-Lima
APFS Chartered Financial Planner
Reduce Riskinvest in a diversified mix of asset classes
Celebrating
10 years of
PruFund
10
Edward and Sophie came to us on a personal
recommendation from a friend and took advantage of
our initial consultation, which is at our expense.
Following this meeting, we conducted a full
review of their existing assets.This showed us that the
couple had a number of investment products with high
charges and volatile returns.We reviewed their financial
objectives and lifestyle goals and produced a Cash Flow
A Pru–Prufund Cautious Fund 85 in GB (48.56%) B ABI Mixed Investment 0–35% Shrs TR in GB (34.55%)
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
-10%
Sep 08’ Jan ‘10 May Sep Jan’11 May Sep Jan ‘12 May Sep Jan ‘13 May Sep Jan ‘14 May Sep Jan ‘15 May
A
B
It is important to review your investments on a regular basis to ensure they continue to meet your
expectations. And, with many people expecting the current low rates of interest to continue, your
cash deposits may not provide the returns you would like.
CASE STUDY
With this in mind, investing in a multi-asset
investment fund could be an option worth
considering.
The PruFund range of funds are designed to
deliver smoothed growth. By investing in a
range of assets, the fund is less exposed to
significant changes in the values of individual
assets.
Prudential’s investments specialists will
constantly look for the best opportunities for
growth within a wide range of investment areas.
UK and global exposure to investments with
holdings in a number of different types of assets
(including company shares, fixed income
bonds, property and cash) offering excellent
diversification.
A unique smoothing process which is designed
to help protect an investment from some of the
daily ups and downs you might associate with a
direct investment.
Expected Growth Rates (EGR) applicable to
each of the funds are normally applied on a daily
basis. The EGR is set quarterly by the Prudential
Directors having regard to the expected
long-term investment return on the underlying
assets of the funds.
Prudential PruFund Growth -
Expected Growth Rate: 7.10% p.a.
The fund aims to maximise growth over the
medium to long term by investing in shares,
property, fixed interest and other investments.
The fund currently invests in UK and
international equities, property, fixed interest
securities, index-linked securities and other
specialist investments.
Please remember that the value of your
investment may go down as well as up.
You may not get back the full amount of your
investment. What you will receive will depend
on how your fund performs.
Pre-defined unit price adjustments, which
will be applied if the fully transparent
investment process requires them to do so.
Prudential PruFund Cautious –
Expected Growth Rate: 6.50% p.a.
The fund aims for steady and consistent
growth through a cautious approach to
investing. The fund currently invests around
70% in a well-diversified portfolio of fixed
interest securities and holdings of cash and
money market instruments. The balance
is invested in UK and international shares,
property and alternative assets.
Expert Guidance
www.staffbenefits.net
It’s a great target to aim for and one
we encourage all our clients to try to
achieve.
• We arrange a wide range of ISA investments
to suit beginners to advanced investors
• Ready-made portfolios, chosen and
managed by our recommended experts
• Income Portfolios delivering great levels of
consistent tax-free income. Perfect for those
in retirement.
• An alternative option to a Cash ISA paying a
highly competitive expected growth rate and
no pre-set term.
• Monthly Contributions to spread the cost.
• On-line access
£15,240 will continue to
be the ISA allowance for
the 2016/17 tax year.
If you’re the owner or director of a small or medium-
sized enterprise (SME), you will know that losing one of
your key employees could have significantly detrimental
consequences for the business.
In a survey just published by Legal General, 40% of SME directors
said that their company would cease trading in under a year if they lost
the business owner or a key employee. And yet 50% of SMEs do not
have any cover in place. Is your business one of them?
Business protection can help protect your business from financial
losses incurred as a result of an owner or key employee dying or
being diagnosed with a terminal
illness. These policies allow your
business to continue to trade by
ensuring that key individuals can
be replaced, debts can be repaid
and shares can be purchased from
the deceased owner’s estate.
Take a few minutes to run through the following key questions, which
might help you decide whether you need business protection or not:
• Does my business rely heavily on one or more key individuals?
• Could my business survive without those individuals?
• What could go wrong if the business owner were to die or be
diagnosed with a terminal illness?
• How would I – or the board of directors – retain control of the
business?
• Is there a documented agreement in place about what would
happen?
• How much money would I need to keep the business going?
• Where would that money come from?
It pays to consult an Independent Financial Adviser when it comes to
business protection. Here at Financial Management, whilst we can’t
protect your key employees from injury, illness or even death, we can
protect your business from the after-effects.
Forecast to help simplify their future needs, in line with
their attitude to risk and income requirements.
We powered their financial plan with the PruFund,
which offers the added security of stable growth and
smoothed investment returns.This gave Edward and
Sophie additional peace-of-mind, as otherwise their
investments may have been eroded if returns were poor
or volatile.With the appropriate investment strategy in
place, they were able to enjoy an income rate of
5% per annum, without creating an additional tax
liability, secure in the knowledge that they won’t run
out of money.
By having a clear understanding of their financial
objectives, we were able to simplify their investments,
helping them get the most out of their retirement
savings.
