services

The coverage of our advice is summarised below and are categorised into 3 main service areas

Financial Planning Services (FPS)

Our principle aim for your is to gather information about your financial needs and aspirations, and then to provide you with advice and recommendations.

We appreciate that a number of your needs will be linked to other need areas and as such, our advice under this service is aimed at bringing these together and presented in a way that is clear and understandable to you.

Very broadly our advice covers the areas below.

Pensions & Retirement Planning

  • Pension accumulation options (paying contributions in)
  • Pension decumulation options (taking/drawing money out)
  • Pension switching and pension consolidations
  • Alternative (non-pension) sources of income in retirement

Advice covers all Pensions options – Stakeholders, Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPP’s), Small Self-Administered Schemes (SSAS’s), Group and Workplace (Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution) schemes. Unfortunately though we do not advise specifically on what are termed as ‘Pension transfers’.

Regular funded Investment and Savings options

  • Regular Savings Plans*
  • Investment Plans*
  • Mortgage Repayment Plans
  • Adult ISA’s*
  • Junior ISA’s (JISA’s), new Lifetime ISA’s and Child Trust Funds (CTF’s)*
  • School and University fee Plans

*These investments are typically aimed towards sums (very approximately) of less than £50,000 or where funded by regular (monthly) investing. Please note that more comprehensive Investment advice is available as a fully bespoke, stand-alone service. This is aimed to be more suited to ‘lump sum’ investing and/or sums in excess of £50,000. See Investment Management Services (IMS).

Tax, Trust* & Estate Planning

  • Income Tax
  • Capital Gains Tax
  • Inheritance Tax
  • Trusts (Discretionary, Life interest, Bare Discounted Gift, Gift & Loan, Charitable)

Long Term care, assistance with

  • Understanding the UK ‘Care assessment’ process
  • Planning and funding options for different levels of care (including Equity Release)
  • Funding support available, entitlements/grants (State benefits, Local Authority, Charity)
  • Options and implications of Family member assistance (both financial and practical)
  • Help with legal documents such as Powers of Attorney and Wills
  • Choice of Care Home (sheltered, residential or nursing)
  • Options and implications for Home Care help

Please also see Additional Services (AS) which includes Probate and Stockbroking services.

Mortgages

  • Conventional mortgages
  • First time buyer mortgages
  • Re-mortgages
  • Lifetime mortgages (Equity release)

Other forms of borrowing such as Consumer Credit finance, Unsecured loans or Debt management are not advised on by the Firm.

Personal Insurances (‘Protection’)

  • Life Assurance (pure protection policies)
  • Critical illness Insurance
  • Income Protection Insurance
  • Medical and Health Insurance

General Insurances such as Commercial, House/Building, Vehicle, Pet or Travel are not areas of our expertise and unfortunately are not advised on.

Business support

  • Shareholder protection
  • ‘Key person’ insurance
  • Auto-enrolment options
  • Employee benefits

*Please note that the Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate taxation and Trust advice.

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Investment Management Services (IMS)

We offer a comprehensive, bespoke Investment Portfolio management which is designed specifically to incorporate each client’s personal investment preferences and attitude to risk. Under this service we take responsibility for the management of each account all the way from the ‘allocation of assets’ down to the individual composition of the investments themselves. It is designed with flexibility in mind aimed to suit each client and their family’s circumstances. We believe for clients with more significant sums the ability to choose direct as well as indirect investments is a key component in achieving a cost-effective and transparent solution.

Advice under this separate service can be taken in pure isolation from other aspects of each client’s finances and is most usually described as Investment Management. Alternatively we can give more pro-active advice by integrating much broader financial considerations into the investment decision making. This is most commonly referred to in the industry as Wealth Management.

Whichever the description is preferred we still apply the same principles, methodology and detail for managing the investments with the same choices of asset classes and investment ‘wrappers’ available (see below). However the degree to which each client wishes to integrate other aspects of their financial matters will always be their choice and we will always be very happy to discuss any of these aspects beforehand.

Investments – asset classes available and method of ownership

  • UK equities
    • Direct owned (shares)
    • Collective Fund
    • Tracker/ETF
  • Overseas equities
    • Collective Fund
    • Tracker/ETF
  • Fixed Interest (UK Gilts and Corporate Bonds)
    • Direct owned
    • Collective Fund
    • Tracker/ETF
  • Property
    • Collective Fund
  • ‘Cash’
    • UK Bank, Building Society or licensed deposit taker

Range of Investment accounts (or ‘wrappers’ ) available

Investment assets within can be held or owned a wide range of tax ‘wrapper’ accounts such as:

  • Personal accounts and joint (spouse) personal accounts
  • Pensions – Personal (SIPP’s, SSAS’, Stakeholders), Group
  • ISA’s (including Junior ISA’s and the new Lifetime ISA’s)
  • Trusts, most commonly considered would include, Discretionary, Life Interest, Bare, Discounted Gift, Gift and Loan, Charitable
  • Insurance Funds

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Additional Services (AS)

Areas of advice under this service will typically be of a more ‘one-off’ nature and it is only for this reason why we have made a distinction from the other two service areas which we feel, lend themselves towards more ‘on-going’ advice. Otherwise the same levels of detail, personal contact and professionalism will be applied to suit each client’s needs.

In addition assistance and advice in these activities are outside the remit of regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Legal documents, assistance with

  • Last Will and Testament (Will)
  • Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA’s – both ‘Health and Welfare’ and ‘Financial’)
  • Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPA)
  • Court of Protection/Deputyship

Probate Services

  • Preparation of Probate valuations (as per HMRC guidance)
  • Registration of probate with Registrars
  • Share and Investment verification services. (Certificated and Non-certificated holdings)
  • Lost paperwork and un-traced documents

Stockbroking services (non-investment related)

  • Specialist Capital Gains Tax advice
  • Tracing book costs/purchase dates as far back as 1982
  • Tracing ‘lost’ investments and pensions
  • Share and Investment and verification services including
    • Identification and collection of unpaid dividends
    • ‘Dissenters’ register check
    • Application for letters of indemnity

General Financial Guidance and Education (non-client specific)

  • The firm can help provide information and give guidance on a wide range of financial matters to help improve understanding in areas they may not be familiar with. The nature of the advice can be delivered in any means to suit (meeting, seminar or presentation) but the emphasis is that guidance given will be non-client specific and with no particular personal recommendations at end. In this sense it can be regarded as being more ‘educational’ and is aimed towards assisting individuals, trustees, charities, small businesses, clubs or organisations in their various roles. Also if required, these can be used for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) purposes.
  •  The outcome is designed to help recipients comprehend some of the financial principles and practicalities in subject areas they may only have modest experience in. The subject areas available are quite wide and broadly follow the same topics as those that we specifically advise on a at a personal level.

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