Creating a financial plan to meet your present needs and future objectives. Working together to review and adapt the plan to ensure it stays on track.
By developing your financial strategy, we will help you to manage your wealth in a way that suits your present needs, aims, and attitude to risk.
We will help you to create and enhance your wealth, minimise your liabilities and ensure the taxman gets no more than his fair share. You may have very specific objectives in terms of a target amount and timescale, or you may simply want your assets to work more efficiently for you than presently.
Our recommendations encompass a wide range of financial products. As we are fee-based, there is no bias toward commission-generating products and we are holistic in our approach. For example, National Savings & Investments products and Investment Trusts are actively considered where appropriate.
An assessment of the risks which may affect the success of your plan such as ill health or premature death will be undertaken. You will then know what contingency plans may be made to ensure that the plan stays on track and your wealth remains secure. We also advise upon the transfer of assets to your intended beneficiaries.
Your Wealth Management Strategy will be reviewed periodically (at least annually) to determine what adjustments should be made.
We take the time to understand your relationship with your
money:
| 1. | Asset allocation and Attitude to Risk Asset allocation is the term given to how assets are allocated to different assets classes. There are four basic classes of asset – cash, fixed interest, property and equities. Each of these classes can be sub-divided. There have been various studies in recent years as to the relative importance of asset allocation, stock selection, market timing and other factors in the success of investment performance. It is now widely accepted that diversifying a portfolio in line with the attitude to investment risk is of utmost importance to the planning process. Rather than ask clients to declare themselves a low, medium or high risk investor which is too open to interpretation, we take a more involved approach and use psychometric questions to help determine a client's appetite for risk. Following this, we develop an asset allocation to match the client's understanding and experience of risk. |
| 2. | Ethical or ‘Socially Responsible’ investing This form of investing is no longer at the fringes of financial advice in the UK. An increasing number of investors are becoming aware that they can invest ethically without compromising returns. We seek an understanding of your investment criteria at an early stage of the Optimal Planning Cycle and revisit your areas of interest at each review meeting. Whilst the options for investing ethically or environmentally are broadening, it is not always possible to get a match between your attitude to risk, your objectives and your ethical concerns. Where this is the case, we will highlight the compromises that may be made within your Wealth Management Strategy and guide you as to the risks and benefits of different approaches. |