Independent Financial Advisers     

Savings & Investments

Invest for the future and make the most of your money.

Whether its savings for a rainy day, providing a college/university fund for your children or building up a nest egg, getting the right advice is critical to help achieve your financial goals.

There are many different factors that may influence what is suitable arrangement, how long that person has to invest, what they are trying to achieve, how much risk they are prepared to take.

There are three main investment area's (or asset classes as they are known) outside of the bank or building society that a person has the choice to invest in and these are as follows;

Fixed Interest

This area invests in two area's gilts and corporate bonds.  Gilts are issued by governments and are considered to be one of the safest forms of investment, however the returns are generally considered to be modest.  Corporate Bonds on the other hand are issued by companies, they are considered to be riskier than gilts but pay a correspondingly higher interest rate to investors.

Property

This area invests in property of a commerical nature such as office blocks and retail parks, historically these funds have enjoyed low volatility and reasonably stable returns.  Some funds will be purely 'bricks and mortar which means the majority of the investment fund is pooled together for the purchase of properties, some funds however have an equity (or stocks and shares) nature to them.

Equities

Equities or Stocks and Shares as they are more common known as normally seen to be the most volatile asset class however historically these have provided the greatest returns.  Equities can be purchased in all of the world's stock markets such as UK, European, North America, Far East and Emerging Markets.  Equities themselves range in volatility with some offering certain levels of protection or guarantees to those that offer the greatest chance or return however also the greatest chance of loss.

The next step

To guide you through the investment maze our advice and expertise will help you to find out which investment area's are suitable for you.  Once we have done this we will then assist you with a suitable plan or investment vehicle for your money, some examples of which are as follows;

Individual Savings Account (ISA)

ISA's represent a tax-efficent way of saving in both a mixture of cash and investments such as equities.  The cash position currently stands at a maximum of £3,600 for the under 50's giving a total allowance of £7,200 (this is increasing to £10,200 from 6 April 2010).  For the over 50's the overall subscription limit is £10,200 of which £5,100 can be put into cash.

Collectives

The two main types of collective investments are Unit Trusts and Investment Trusts.  As with the ISA there are may different fund options to chose from, the one big difference however between ISA's and collectives however are the tax paid on any gains.  Collectives are not as tax efficent as ISA's.

With all these investment fund and product choices its easy to see how getting the right advice is important, for a no obligation initial consultation do not hesitate to contact us.

Investment performance can fall as well as rise, any past performance of investments is only a guide to future performance and is no guarantee.

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