All new policies must have a start date of no later than 20th December 2012 to secure the cheaper gender specific premiums and therefore an application must be submitted in good time prior and have been underwritten and accepted prior to this date.

As a result of these upcoming changes it is an excellent time to review your protection arrangements and requirements to ensure you have adequate protection in place now rather than later. In addition if you have a protection policy set up with reviewable premiums it is worth checking whether the plan is competitive – if you replace the plan after December 2012 you will have to pay gender neutral premiums whereas if you retain your existing plan you will benefit from gender specific rates.

For a review of your protection arrangements please contact one of our Senior Financial Planners to discuss.

*HM Treasury Consultation Document, December 2011

We are committed as a firm and individuals to supporting events and charities close to our hearts – the charity Saggy’s Trust – set up to support rugby league players and their families in distress or hardship – is one of these whom IFP and in particular MD, Kevin Ferriby, has a large involvement with. The IFP team participated in the Humber Sports Partnership event earlier this year designed to promote the development of sport in the local community.

We are therefore pleased to be involved further with sport and rugby league which is an excellent way for young adults to gain skills which will aid them throughout life in terms of teamwork, determination and leadership.

Watch out for our logos at the following events:

• England Knights vs Ireland on 16^th June at Langtree Park, St Helens;

• Ireland Student Team kit during the 4 Nations Tournament in Wrexham.

One of our administrators – Jessica McMahon – meanwhile completed a Bungee Jump for the charity Cash for Kids – a charity set up to help local children. The specific purpose of the event was for Hull Royal’s new Children’s Accident and Emergency unit at Hull Royal Infirmary. A fantastic £1,500 has been raised from this event so far and still counting.

The Bungee Jump took place at Norland Pub in Hessle on Mayday sponsored by Viking FM. To watch Jessica’s video of the jump please click here.

We are delighted to announce that Paul Bowater – Research Analyst at Informed Financial Planning – has obtained the Regulated Diploma in Financial Planning – QCF Level 4 qualification. The diploma requires the completion of six examinations in various financial planning areas as follows:

• Regulation & Ethics
• Investments & Risk
• Tax & Trust Planning
• Retirement Planning
• Protection
• Financial Planning Overview

This is a fantastic achievement for Paul who is relatively new to the financial services profession with just 18 months experience. He joined IFP in November 2010 from a National firm of Solicitors following his graduation from Hull University and has worked tirelessly to complete this set of exams which will provide him with an excellent platform for his future career with us. Well done Paul!

Informed Financial Planning were recently pleased to announce that all advisers and senior support staff had completed the qualification requirements a year ahead of target of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) in January 2013 and this new achievement further demonstrates our commitment to professional qualifications and excellence in what we do.

]]> http://www.informedfinancialplanning.co.uk/exam-success-at-ifp/feed/ 1 http://www.informedfinancialplanning.co.uk/md-of-informed-financial-planning-presents-at-national-sifa-conference/ http://www.informedfinancialplanning.co.uk/md-of-informed-financial-planning-presents-at-national-sifa-conference/#comments Fri, 11 May 2012 11:16:26 +0000 ifpgreggcrawford http://www.informedfinancialplanning.co.uk/?p=1878 Our Managing Director – Kevin Ferriby – was one of three IFA firms nationally – invited to speak at SIFA’s Annual Conference with reference as to how we work with firms of solicitors. Considering the number of firms who are members of SIFA across the UK and we were one of three firms invited to present demonstrates how we are regarding by SIFA.

Kevin spoke about how Informed Financial Planning works in partnership with solicitor firms – with particular focus on our Professional Partners Programme which we have recently launched for our Professional Connections. This Programme ensures as a firm we are able to offer other professional firms the level of reliable service we currently provide to our clients in the form of regular catch up sessions, presentations on various financial planning issues and an ongoing relationship under various business structures.

The presentation was a success with several attendees providing excellent feedback on the usefulness of the session and chance to discuss ideas with other likeminded firms. Citywire ran the story of the presentations at the SIFA Conference and you can read their article by clicking here.

Last year’s Legal Services Act, combined with the equivalent forthcoming Retail Distribution Review for financial services, has the potential to pave the way for greater tie-ups between solicitors and IFAs as each looks to diversify and offer clients more services. As a member of SIFA and as a Chartered Firm of Financial Planners with a Professional Partners Programme in place to ensure our connections receive excellent service we believe we are well placed to offer link-ups with firms of Solicitors and Accountancy practises. If you are interested in finding out more please do not hesitate to contact us.

]]> http://www.informedfinancialplanning.co.uk/md-of-informed-financial-planning-presents-at-national-sifa-conference/feed/ 0 http://www.informedfinancialplanning.co.uk/a-look-at-what-ifp-do-for-our-clients/ http://www.informedfinancialplanning.co.uk/a-look-at-what-ifp-do-for-our-clients/#comments Fri, 11 May 2012 11:02:40 +0000 ifpgreggcrawford http://www.informedfinancialplanning.co.uk/?p=1861 This section of our quarterly newsletter will look at a specific case study and demonstrate how you can identify which of your clients we may be able to help, how we provide our services and the results of providing high quality independent professional financial advice.

The Retiring Business Owner Case Study

Mr Owner aged 57 and Mrs Owner aged 55. Owner/Chairman of manufacturing business with two grown up children.

 Background

Challenges

• Wanted to consider retiring immediately or working less and uncertain whether they could afford to retire
• There was a future potential Inheritance Tax liability of £780,000 and the clients wanted to pass on as much wealth as possible to their children
• Did not fully understand pensions and tax issues – did not understand the differences between the various investments they held
• Affairs were somewhat disorganised
• Not used to dealing with investments which resulted in poor investment performance and payment of too much tax
• Worried about  value being tied up within the business and what would happen in to the business and its proceeds in the event of his death

What We Did

• Advised on specific pension options to help create the required level of income to allow the clients to reduce their working hours and gradually retire from the business
• In conjunction with their Accountant analysed the most tax efficient way to draw money from their business to supplement retirement income available
• Worked with the clients’ solicitor to re-draft wills and completed trust planning with the following results
• Saving £150,000 of the future Inheritance Tax liability immediately; and
• With a medium term gifting strategy eliminated the remaining £640,000 of Inheritance Tax liability
• Educated the clients on their existing investments with the result that they clearly understood the differences in the various assets they held
• Assessed the clients’ long term objectives, desires and requirements and created a simplified and consolidated investment strategy within their set risk tolerances
• Set up a protection strategy through Shareholder Protection and Key Person Insurance to protect the value of the business in the event of death or illness

The Results

• The clients achieved the required level of retirement income through pension plans and tax efficient drawings from the business and retained flexibility of when to retire
• Eliminated £780,000 of the future Inheritance Tax liability
• Simplified the management and reporting of the investment (so it was understandable)
• Reduced the portfolio risk and return characteristics (to improve performance)
• Provided the clients’ with the confidence of their own understanding of their investments and peace of mind with regards to protection of the business
• Continued to work together with clients regularly reviewing their ongoing requirements, circumstances and tax/finance legislation to ensure they remain on track to meet financial objectives

The situation in Europe was not much better. Spain looked increasingly jittery as the Government admitted that the country’s debt would jump to a 20 year high, with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 79.8%. To compound matters, much of the debt of the Spanish regions was downgraded to junk. The eurozone crisis claimed its latest victim when the Dutch Government of Mark Rutte collapsed over disagreements about the inevitable cuts.

Stock markets around the world were volatile throughout April – and yet surprisingly many markets finished the month little changed overall.

In the US Facebook paid $1bn for Instagram – a company that has never made a profit – whilst Warren Buffet invested $2bn in a solar energy plant that will supply electricity to large parts of California for the foreseeable future. Time will tell who made the better investment…

UK

Despite his troubles by the month-end, April started well for David Cameron. The Purchasing Managers’ Index for March showed an increase on the February figure and this is usually taken as a positive sign for the economy. The rise – from 53.8 to 55.3 – was hailed as clear evidence that the worst was over and that the UK would avoid a double-dip recession.

Unfortunately, there was always bad news lurking round the corner and despite the efforts of Mary Portas to revive the High Street, Deloittes reported that retail failures had cost 10,000 jobs in the first quarter of the year. Like-for-like sales for the first quarter were down at Marks & Spencer (they described the current outlook as “challenging”) and Tesco saw their profits fall for the first time in 20 years.

But the UK retail situation may not be as gloomy as the big battalions would have us believe. Whitbread reported continuing growth in its Costa and Premier Inns chains, and Starbucks confirmed an eleventh consecutive quarter of growth in the UK. Perhaps more significantly, the British Independent Retailers Association said that independent shops had net openings of over 2,500 shops in 2011 – the equivalent of ten small towns worth of new shops. BIRA claimed that ‘independent shops are saving our towns on their own.’

The March figures showed that UK inflation rose slightly, reaching 3.5% and the final figures for February also confirmed that the trade deficit had worsened to £3.4bn. Nationwide reported that house prices fell by 1% in March, with UK prices now generally 0.9% lower than they were a year ago. The price of a typical home is now £163,327.

Despite the bad news, and the threat of further uncertainty ahead, the FTSE finished the month virtually unchanged at 5,738 – down 30 points from the end of March.

Europe

Europe in April was the now traditional mix of doom, gloom and credit downgrades. Spain was again the main whipping boy, and several of the country’s regions are now paying interest rates on their debt that is described as “impossible.” There are genuine fears of a domino effect within Spain itself, with worries that one region could turn to Madrid for help with its finances as early as May.

The yield on the country’s 10-year government bonds hit 6.1%, the highest since December. Standard & Poor’s downgraded Spain’s credit rating to BBB+ and warned that the recession in Spain was likely to deepen by the end of the year. With unemployment at around 25% and fears that the Spanish banks may require a €120bn bailout, it was hardly surprising that the country’s Ibex 35-share index fell to 7,011 – down 12.45% on the month.

(To put Spanish unemployment in perspective, the only countries reporting higher levels of unemployment are Rwanda, Angola, Macedonia and Namibia.)

In France, all eyes turned to the Presidential election as Nicolas Sarkozy tried to hold off Socialist challenger Francois Hollande. The first round of voting was notable for a very strong showing from National Front candidate Marine Le Pen, with nearly 18% of the vote. The second round is on May 6th and at the moment most commentators expect Sarkozy to lose out to Hollande. This would undoubtedly herald loud cheers in Greece and a clash with Angela Merkel, as Hollande is far less in favour of the austerity measures currently being pursued in Europe.

Both the French and German stock markets retreated in April, with Germany’s DAX index down just over 2% at 6,801. It will be interesting to see the reaction if Francois Hollande defeats President Sarkozy.

US

In the US, April was a good month for Mitt Romney as Rick Santorum finally pulled out of the Republican race, leaving the way clear for Romney to challenge President Obama in November.

For Wal-Mart however, April proved to be a very bad month as they became mired in bribery allegations at a Mexican subsidiary. Lawyers rubbed their hands and announced that the firm would face a “two to four year investigation” under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Subsidiary companies (including Asda) in all countries came under scrutiny and, not surprisingly, Wal-Mart shares tumbled.

The economic indicators were largely positive for the US: the March figures confirmed that another 120,000 jobs had been added; inflation fell to 2.7% and when the numbers were finally crunched for February’s trade deficit, the good news was that it had fallen to $46bn.

US GDP rose by 2.2% in the first quarter and consumer spending also rose as some commentators suggested that the US had benefitted from not going down the austerity-at-all-costs route favoured in Europe. As Philip Inman put it in the Guardian, “Ultimately the US cared less about its AAA rating than about jobs and living standards, saving austerity for a time when the economy is stronger.”

The Dow Jones index finished the month at 13,214 – up precisely two points on the end of March figure.

Far East

China yet again increased its holding of US debt, buying $12.7bn of US bonds. According to the BBC, China now holds $1.17tn of US debt and continues to be the largest foreign buyer.

Significantly China had an unexpected trade surplus in March which many experts suggest heralds a rebound in the global economy. Exports rose by 8.9% from the same month last year while imports rose 5.3%, to give the country a $5.4bn surplus for the month.

China’s inflation rate rose to 3.6% in March (including food price inflation of 7.5%) and the economy continued to expand at a rate countries in the west can only dream about.

After a trade surplus in March, Japan swung back into deficit in April, with energy imports outweighing car exports.

Both the Chinese stock market and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose during the month, but the Japanese market fell back 5% to finish at 9,521, perhaps weighed down by worries about the high level of energy imports.

Emerging Markets

Emerging Markets can always be relied on to provide a heady mix of the astonishingly good and the downright frightening – sometimes within the same economy.

So while the UK and Europe worry about negative growth, some emerging economies are recording double digit year-on-year GDP growth, with particularly strong performance in many African countries. Even relatively ‘mature’ emerging countries such as Turkey and India have achieved growth of 5% and above.

The stock market phenomenon which is Venezuela has been well documented in this bulletin: the market rose another 30% in April, but Venezuela also tops the league tables for inflation, with a current rate of 24.6%, and interest rates are in excess of 15%. Something has to give at some point.

Brazil is often heralded as a success story and clearly there is going to be major investment in the run-up to the 2014 World Cup. But potential investors should note that the country has interest rates at 9% and inflation in excess of 5% – a not uncommon picture in emerging economies. The Brazilian stock market fell back by 5% in April, but remains up on a year-to-date basis. Among other stock markets Thailand was the star performer, rising by 16% during April.

And finally…

As you prepare for the May Day bank holiday and look forward to two days off in June courtesy of Whitsuntide and the Diamond Jubilee, dark forces may be at work.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research has called for all UK bank holidays to be scrapped, saying it would add £19bn to the country’s total economy. Each bank holiday apparently costs £2.3bn in lost output.

The phrase ‘get a life’ comes to mind…

Technical Support

Each of our Senior Financial Planners has a dedicated technical assistant (called Research Analysts) who will be fully aware of your financial plan, any recommendations made and the reasons for those recommendations. They should be able to help you with any queries you may have regarding any correspondence you receive from us or product providers or any aspect of your financial plan. The Research Analysts are available at our Hull Office and are shown in green below with their corresponding Senior Financial Planners. Please don’t hesitate to contact them should you not want to bother your adviser or he is unavailable.

 
Administrative Support

In addition to the technical support provided to our Senior Financial Planners we have a dedicated team of administrative support who provide the day to day running of the company. You will have likely spoken to and/or met some of our team members when you have visited our offices. Each member of the administrative support team has a unique role and are fully engaged in meeting our high client service proposition.

If you have a specific query regarding an ongoing application to a product provider Elaine will be able to provide you with an update or regarding a review meeting you should contact Jessica. All of our team will be more than happy to help you.

It’s understandable that many people involved in a divorce want to minimise the number of meetings they attend and simply let the solicitors get on with sorting it out.

Unfortunately, trying to cut down on meetings could be a serious mistake. Divorces are not just about broken relationships, dividing up the family home and arranging custody of the children. Sadly, they’re about financial planning as well – and meetings with your independent financial adviser may turn out to be even more important than meetings with your solicitor.

Even if a couple have only been married for a relatively short time their financial affairs are likely to be inextricably linked. The mortgage will almost certainly be in joint names; they could well have shared protection policies and pension benefits may need taking into account when assets are divided.

Couples who have been together for longer – and an increasing number of people are now getting divorced in later life – will find the financial situation even more complex. Pensions will certainly be an area that requires specialist financial advice as some people, particularly high-earners in final salary pension schemes, will have built up pension funds which could well be worth more than the family home.

The new rules on pensions sharing in divorce have introduced a variety of options when it comes to dividing accumulated pension funds: they have also introduced the need for some seriously complicated (and potentially contentious) calculations, making expert advice absolutely essential.

All these areas mean independent financial advice can be crucial to making sure that any financial ‘damage’ you suffer as a result of a divorce is kept to a minimum, and that you emerge with a clear idea of the financial planning steps you need to take in the aftermath of the divorce.

Virtually no-one relishes going through divorce proceedings, but if you find yourself in that position, seeking out independent financial advice will be one of the wisest decisions you make. A good IFA will help make sure that you receive the best possible financial ‘result’ from the divorce and will work with your solicitor to see that everything runs as smoothly and painlessly as possible. Whether it’s helping to sort out the mortgage, reaching an equitable settlement of pension assets or any of the other complications that a divorce can throw up, an IFA will be on your side, constantly giving advice with your best interests at heart.

If you are – or fear that you might become – involved in divorce proceedings then please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’ll provide you with expert and wholly confidential advice – and do our best to make sure that the financial pain of your divorce is kept to an absolute minimum.

A goal of outperformance against a sector or a benchmark is not a real financial goal. A financial goal is the consideration of your future and what you may want or need for that future to happen, for example wanting to pay for your children’s university education in 15 years’ time or being able to retire at age 60 with an income of £30,000 per year. These are real financial goals and once these are in place a financial plan can be created which you can set your investment expectations around.

A financial goal has to be personal to you and based on an understanding of where you are now. The financial plan will be the tool which gets you from here to where you want to be and it will change over time and should be kept under regular review. Assessment of an investment’s performance is then based around you – what you need from your money to reach your financial goals – rather than a generic benchmark which is meaningless in terms of your life and aspirations.

Getting started is really just as simple as taking the time and getting the help to:

 • Clearly define your current reality, where are you today

 • Put some framework around where you want to go

The task of assessing future financial needs can be daunting. Often we have perceptions that, under scrutiny, don’t match reality and have to be adjusted. The other wonderful thing that will happen is that often we find out that even though our perception of our future financial needs was not even close to reality, we gain a sense of control that helps us focus on living our lives NOW. In many cases, we learn that we do have enough money and time to meet our goals. It might not even be a situation of needing to grit our teeth and save more, but we never know until we take the time to plan!

To gain some control around your financial goals speak to one of our Senior Financial Planners who will be happy to help you create your personalised financial plan.