1. Investments – Tax Efficiency – Diversification
Jayne, a retired schoolteacher had a number of investments including cash and investment ISA’s, unit trusts and money held in low interest paying bank accounts.
Solution: After discussing her objectives, attitude to investment risk and timescale for investing, we recommended a portfolio of low to medium risk investments (this included holding reserves on deposit for emergency expenditure).We arranged a portfolio of ISA’s/unit trusts and fixed rate bonds which diversified the overall portfolio, ensuring the potential for growth without exposing the capital to unnecessary investment risk or volatility.
2. Wealth Management – Tax Efficiency – Simple Administration
Wendy, had a large portfolio of investments including ISA’s, unit trusts, stocks and share and a myriad range of bank and building society accounts. She was finding her investments increasingly difficult to manage and administer.
Solution: We were able to consolidate all her holdings onto one computer platform (a wrap account) which enables us to monitor her various investments easily, at the same time ensuring that her portfolio is well diversified and tax efficient. We have taken away the administrative burden and worry of looking after a large portfolio of investments.
3. Pensions – Retirement Planning
Peter had a number of personal pensions and company pension schemes accumulated over the years from various employers. He had little idea of how much the plans were worth, when the benefits could be taken, what charges he was paying, where the funds were invested and how the funds had been performing. Had the pension funds grown or lost value? Were they invested in the right funds?
Solution: We looked at each plan and agreed that the best solution was to consolidate all the pension plans into one contract. This resulted in lower overall charges, improved fund performance, alignment with Peter’s current objectives and much simpler administration. Peter has peace of mind that the funds are being monitored on a regular basis and professionally managed.
4. Corporate Pensions – Workplace Pension Schemes
Alex runs a small Limited Company with 8 employees. Legislation requires him to set up a Workplace Pension Scheme for his staff and he wanted to put a scheme in place as a responsible employer to reward his staff.
Solution: We arranged a workplace pension scheme to meet his auto-enrolment obligations. We liaised with him, his staff and his payroll provider to put the scheme in place including providing all necessary communications to his staff and payroll provider. We ensured that all procedures and registrations were followed to meet the Pensions Regulator’s requirements.
5. Corporate – Protecting Your Business
Gary, recently completed a management buyout of the company he was employed with. The bank had asked him to arrange life assurance cover to protect a loan which they required him to protect to safeguard their financing facility.
Solution: A five year renewable term assurance policy was put in place quickly and at a reasonable cost to protect the banks liability and to meet their requirements.
6. Protection – Protecting Your Family
Simon and Anna had recently taken out a large mortgage on their new home. With two young children, they wanted to ensure that their family and each other were protected in the event of death or the diagnosis of a critical illness. Simon was also a self employed contractor and therefore would receive little or no benefits if he could not work as a result of sickness or accident.
Solution: A policy to cover all these eventualities was put in place, including the life assurance, critical illness and income protection all under the umbrella of one policy at an affordable cost. This ensured that the family was protected against any or all of these risks occurring.
7. Mortgages – Buying Your Own Home or Investment Property
Second time buyers, Matthew & Rachel were buying a larger home to accommodate their expanding family. They needed to arrange a new mortgage quickly to purchase the house they wanted to move into without the ‘hassle’ of trying to arrange the mortgage themselves.
Solution: We quickly sourced the best mortgage option for them including the most competitive, appropriate mortgage lender. We also provided help and information on the type and term of mortgage, valuation and helped them with finding the most competitive solicitor to complete the transaction.
8. * Wills – Estate Planning
David & Anne had not updated their wills for many years. They had a sizeable inheritance tax liability as a consequence of their property value and other assets held. They were aware of their liability and knew that they had to make new wills, but had not got around to doing these tasks.
Solution: We helped them rewrite their wills, amend the basis on which they held their property and set up appropriate trusts to give some of their monetary assets to their beneficiaries. This helped them to reduce their current inheritance tax liability and ensured that their wills were up to date and reflected their current wishes.
* Please note the FCA do not authorise or regulate wills or estate planning.
Sweetland Associates Ltd
Personal & Corporate Independent Financial Advisers
107 Stow Hill
Newport
NP20 4ED
01633 246246 / 07711 036958
The information contained within this site is subject to the UK regulatory regime and is therefore primarily targeted at consumers based in the UK. Company Registration Number: 4689304
Country of Registration: England & Wales. Trading office address: Cathedral Chambers 107 Stow Hill Newport South Wales NP20 4ED. Registered office address: 107 Stow Hill, Newport, South Wales NP20 4ED
Telephone Number: 01633 246246 Email address: info@sweetlandassociates.co.uk Sweetland Associates Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is entered on the FCA register (www.fca.gov.uk) under reference 744333.
Further information about the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is available from their website www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk