Services

Retirement and investment planning

The case for pension investment can often be made on tax relief alone, but there are other opportunities to use such investments as an essential part of a long-term wealth management strategy.

Careful cashflow modelling enables defined pension products to be combined with other valuable tax wrappers and investment products to determine the most tax expedient financial/retirement plan for you.

Wealth management

Wealth management is about taking care of all your financial needs together with those of your family; but realistically very few of us manage our finances as best we might. This is hardly surprising – achieving a successful outcome means spending vast amounts of time researching those choices and options.

Wealth management should provide a holistic plan for all aspects of your affairs. For a successful relationship, you need to trust your wealth manager and there should be empathy with your aspirations so that you can create a successful strategy for your financial affairs.

Inheritance tax planning

Creating and retaining wealth are goals many of us aspire to. However, when our objectives change and it comes to providing for future generations, protecting this accumulated wealth becomes important, including the incidence of Inheritance Tax. There are three practical courses of action that may be taken to preserve and enhance your wealth for your heirs:

• Make sure your financial affairs and your Will are arranged to ensure the efficient transfer of your assets on death, while saving the maximum amount of tax.
• Transfer assets before your death through the prudent use of lifetime gifts.
• Create a tax efficient fund to provide a legacy or to enable the beneficiaries of your estate to meet any IHT liability.

Financial protection

Life and health insurance protection ensures that, if the worst should happen, the right amount of money will reach the right hands at the right time.

The best way to ensure that the proceeds of a life policy are paid to the people you intend to benefit is to arrange for the policy to be in a trust. If you die, the policy proceeds will be paid to the trustees and then the beneficiaries – not into your estate. Health insurance provides some money beyond state benefits if you fall seriously ill or have an accident, potentially affecting you for many years. 

Education fee planning

Money is not everything but it is one way to help give children a head start. Money can give children an excellent education, open opportunities and help them become established when they grow up. Starting to save money now might be the difference between whether they can afford to do what they would like when the time comes.

Long term care fee planning

Decisions about care are often made at a time of crisis, and the process can feel overwhelming and complex, whatever your current position, it will always pay to be prepared. Some simple planning in advance can help you and your loved ones save a lot of time and expense.

The planning and advice process will include the important use of Powers of Attorney which allows someone to be designated to act on your behalf, without making application to the Court of Protection.

Mortgages

Buying a home might be the most substantial purchase you ever make; and it is vital that you have the right mortgage. Through our panel of experts specialist mortgage advisers will help guide you through the complexity of today’s mortgage markets, making the process as straightforward as possible, and ensuring that you not only have the right mortgage to suit your individual needs, but also the best rate from the most appropriate lender.

You will have access to innovative intergenerational mortgage options which are designed for parents and grandparents to help children/grandchildren purchase their first home. 

Financial education

Poor financial wellbeing is widely recognised as detrimental to employee health. Stress and anxiety from money worries can result in lower productivity from poorer job performance to absenteeism.

Our panel of experts can assist you in improving the financial wellbeing of your employees by helping them understand their own financial circumstances and empowering them to make informed decisions.

At the core is a workshop programme to engage your employees and allow them time to relate to their own situation. Our panel of experts will consider their circumstances and financial goals, highlighting and explaining the things they might encounter and the options open to them.

Employee benefits

Key benefits include tailored benefit packages of group life, critical illness, income protection and medical cover. Our panel of experts arrange flexible salary sacrifice/benefits allowances for staff to ensure benefit from tax savings. Clear communication of these benefits is vital, as is a renewal strategy to ensure that company benefits remain competitive and are structured tax efficiently.

Auto enrolment advice

A group pension scheme is a retirement savings plan provided by an employer for its employees. Employees who are members of a pension plan benefit from favourable income tax treatment on contributions. The pension scheme is a key benefit for employees in the UK and, since October 2012, all companies must auto enrol staff into qualifying pension arrangements or rely on the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST). Besides setting up or reviewing an existing scheme, our panel of experts also provide personalised face-to-face advice for employees.

Our panel of experts advice will extend to the implementation, compliance and governance support of qualifying workplace pensions schemes and the impactful auto-enrolment rules of the Pension Regulator.

Key person protection

What makes a business successful often lies in the knowledge, experience and skill sets of its key people. Have you considered the risk if you or another key person in your business suffers an untimely death or is struck down with an illness or disability? What impact would their departure have on your business? The consequences could be far more distressing than expected and include not only the emotional loss but also commercial ones that could erode potential profits.

Shareholder and partnership protection

What would you wish to happen to your shareholding in your business on your death or critical illness?

Without a Business Will, you risk financial implications if you or another shareholder dies or suffers a critical illness.  As a result, your family / dependants may not receive their legacy and there may be difficulties for the future of the business.

Our panel of experts will handle your legacy in the way you would wish.  They will work with the right specialists to construct your Business Will and product solution, as part of their advisory service.