February 2011 - Financial Planning in Wimbledon

Banks Not Lending?

I know that Banks are not the most popular bunch at present and my last post about the latest results from Lloyds TSB do make you wonder if they are really making that much headway. Anyway, if you run a business or know someone that does and they are struggling to finance their projects – I know a man that may be able to help.

Keith Park runs Capital Finance and Funding and puts finance together for businesses often when the Banks simply decline. An example may be someone that has been with a lender for 20 years, never missed a payment but has been refused further funds for expansion. There is often no obvious logic to the decisions being made, but Keith is the man to help sort through the nonsense. This might include property development or buying premises or simply re-financing.

Commercial finance is not my area of expertise, but I am happy to say that it is Keith’s. If you need finance for your business and you are based in the London area, Keith is a well worth a call. He has many years of invaluable experience in the field and what he doesn’t know about commercial financing is probably not worth knowing.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

Banks Not Lending?Dominic2023-12-01T12:52:01+00:00

Lloyds TSB – back in the black

Lloyds TSB published their 2010 figures today. The key pieces of information are that they returned to profitability – with group profit of £2,212m compared to a £6,300m loss in the previous year. The year really marked a strengthening of their balance sheet (something that we all knew was going on – calling in loans and reducing lending). They term this as “good progress” to reduce “non-core assets” by £105bn and believe that they are on track to achieve the £200bn target over the next three years.

Behind the numbers are the results of Scottish Widows and Clerical Medical who achieved increasing profits which rose 11% and also note that new business has also increased. So those pensions have been selling like… well, er.. pensions.

The numbers are enormous. Perhaps the announcement that they will set aside £500m to meet goodwill payments as a result of Halifax messing up numerous mortgages between 2004-2007 will provide a little comfort to those with Halifax mortgages – this follows a voluntary agreement with the FSA over the review of numerous Halifax mortgages. I do feel a little sorry for the group who have been landed with one “hospital pass” after another – mind you, in 2008 the Lloyds TSB Board failed to notice the problems with HBOS fully and probably wish they had avoided the entire mess. Here is what Mr Daniels had to say in September 2008 when the merger between HBOS and Lloyds TSB, something about which is pretty difficult to find in the investor/media press releases via the lloyds TSB webste. You may remember that he said of HBOS..”We spent a lot of time over the last couple of days getting to know the business…. we think we understand pretty well the risks that we are running”.. anyone convinced?

The BBC website still carries the interview and of course the previous Prime Minister, one Gordon Brown.. remember him? thought it was “the right thing to be doing”. Ah the benefit of hindsight…I’m reminded of that adage about Angels treading carefully….

I don’t wish to be alarmist, but 24 hours after the Lloyds TSB announement of the £12bn HBOS deal, shares in Lloyds TSB closed at £2.375 on Thursday 18 September 2008. Today they are trading around £0.62, on this day in 2008 shares in Lloyds TSB closed at £4.665, whilst these have been “very difficult times” for Banks, it will be interesting to see how much the top dog at the Black Horse will get remunerated this year for bringing them back into profit… albeit with shareholdings nursing an 87% discount of the price they were at just 3 years ago, but hey, who’s counting?…oh… all of us!

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

Lloyds TSB – back in the blackDominic2023-12-01T12:52:01+00:00

Blast off! Reach for the stars, not the “news”

I admit it, as a boy I was set on being an astronaut – or at least certainly spent a reasonable amount of childhood fascinated by the space race. I remember the first shuttle (Columbia) in 1981 – some 30 years ago, very clearly and being glued to the TV watching the shuttle return to earth. A childhood holiday in Florida helped feed my appetite for all things NASA with a visit to the Kennedy Space Centre – which was a fantastic “working museum” to the US space programme.

The shuttle has become so familar that it is easy to forget what a momentous achievement this is. As I remind my daughters when some things seem “impossible” that if we can conceive it, we can probably find a way eventually, admittedly the path is often difficult and potentially full of challenges, but however difficult the task, we can work towards achieving our goals.

We all have much to learn from the dedication and commitment to overcoming challenges. NASA is, to me, a wonderful inspiration. Let’s hope for a successful mission and that the work being done in the International Spacestation is a reminder that working together is far more rewarding that working alone. Do check out the NASA website and their amazing missions, discoveries and belief in overcoming huge challenges.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

Blast off! Reach for the stars, not the “news”Dominic2023-12-01T12:52:02+00:00

Inheritance Tax… changes on the cards?

If you read my recent article/document or for the social media types “white paper” about inheritance tax, you will appreciate that I suggested care is taken on making long-term IHT plans that cannot be easily altered. Today’s “Financial Adviser” (trade press) has a front page item on this very topic.

This is a timely reminder that the… wait for it… “Office of Tax Simplification” or OTS (set up last year) is currently reviewing 70 of the 1042 different tax reliefs available. My maths – thats 6.7% of them. The OTS will report to the Government in March just before the Budget. The main gripe, it that there are too many loopholes and that HMRC are keen to close loopholes.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

Inheritance Tax… changes on the cards?Dominic2023-12-01T12:52:02+00:00

Business News

All that snow seems to have caused a few problems for the airport company BAA who whilst reporting a 9% rise in earnings to £967m also reports losses for 2010 at £317m, after a year of disruptions, compared to a loss of £822m recorded a year earlier. So losing less money then – wish I could say the same for fewer lost bags…or is that just my family?

When times are hard, some people turn to drink…global drinks company Diageo has agreed to buy Turkish spirits company Mey Icki (you have to over 21 just to enter their website!) for £1.3bn in a deal that would give access to an estimated 50,000 retail outlets in the country and nearly an 80% share of the Turkish market for aniseed-based spirit Raki, considered to be the national drink. So a little more rocking the cash bar rather than the Kasbah – but you really have to admit to being over 21.

Give me oil in my lamp as Royal Dutch Shell begins to get out of Africa, selling the majority of its shareholdings in its African businesses for £617m, to Vitol, the world’s largest oil trader, and Helios Investment Partners, an Africa-focused private equity group. Meanwhile BP has agreed a 30% stake in oil and gas blocks controlled by Reliance Industries in India in a deal worth £4.4bn.

Turning to energy giants BHP Billiton has agreed to purchase all of Chesapeake Energy’s interests in the Fayetteville Shale, Arkansas for £2.9bn; the Anglo-Australian miner said it expected to fund the acquisition from its cash resources (rather than those it can dig up) in a strategy to expand its shale gas business. Shale gas is….

Wal-Mart “save money, live better” reported another drop in sales – for Q4 by 1.8% in the US, the seventh quarterly decline in a row, with a net income of £3.8bn, up from £3bn a year earlier; the retail giant’s net income for 2010 was £10.4bn, up from £9.2bn 2009. Suggesting a formula of fewer sales and higher revenue, so Wal-Mart must be living better then.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

Business NewsDominic2023-12-01T12:52:03+00:00

IHT and 3D – new resource

Inheritance tax is one of those taxes that is about as popular as a Bankers bonus at the moment. It is certainly a tax that seems to grate with most people – having paid tax all my life, I’m now asked to pay more even after death is the general attitude. Well, yes and no. In some senses IHT is an optional tax – optional if you plan. It is certainly not an option if you fail to plan and have an estate that results in an IHT liability.
There are a huge variety of IHT solutions, many of them are frankly rather too clever and given the sanguine nature of HMRC, there is a growing awareness that all that was permitted, is not necessarily to remain so. In truth many of the plans arranged by the financial services industry are complex and require testing in court – something that HMRC seems very well equipped to attempt.

I have put a new document on the website which will hopefully provide useful information for a thoughtful approach to IHT.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

IHT and 3D – new resourceDominic2023-12-01T12:52:04+00:00

Purple Cows for a Friday Afternoon

Seth Godin has been a marketeer that I have followed for some time – its been several years since I bought his book “Permission Marketing” at the suggestion of a friend and then a follow up book “Purple Cow”. I came across this video, which I hope will be of use to anyone that runs a business or works within one. However, as he says, the sentiment is relevant to anyone. Here he covers familiar themes from his books and taps into a word that I have become ever more aware of as I attempt ot get a handle on social networking like this blog, my tweet, you Tube etc – the word is “Remarkable”.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

Purple Cows for a Friday AfternoonDominic2023-12-01T12:52:04+00:00

Business News Updates

Rolls-Royce stated that the one-off cost from the mid-air failure of one of its engines last year contributed to the 76% fall in pre-tax profits to £702m in 2010 from £2.96bn the year before. The firm has announced a £1.4bn service contract with Emirates covering its Trent engines.

Barclays’ pre-tax profits reached £6.07bn in 2010, up from £4.49bn in 2009; the group’s underlying profits for the year rose by 11% to £5.67bn.

Household goods giant Reckitt Benckiser, producers of Cillit Bang and Gaviscon brands, announced a 13% rise in pre-tax profits to £2.1bn in 2010, with sales up 9% to £8.5bn thanks to strong growth in developing markets.

Electricite de France (EDF), Europe’s largest energy provider, revealed a 74% drop in net profits to £857m last year, down from £3.26bn in 2009, as a result of falls in demand.

US biotech company Genzyme is to be bought by French pharmaceutical group Sanofi-Aventis in a £12.4bn deal, which will allow the French firm access to the market in drugs that treat rare diseases.

Net profits for the world’s biggest mining firm BHP Billiton rose by 72% to a record £6.5bn for the six months to the end of December, as a result of higher prices and strong demand.

Rio Tinto reported net profits of £8.9bn for 2010, up from £3.05bn in 2009, due to rising commodity prices and strong growth in emerging markets.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

Business News UpdatesDominic2023-12-01T12:52:05+00:00

Bank of England hint at Rate rise

The Governor of The Bank of England has written his “Dear George” letter to our Chancellor – George Osborne. If you want to see the copy just click here. He hints that inflation is likely to continue to rise within the 4%-5% range before falling back in 2012. He asserts that the rate of inflation is above the Bank’s target and sites various causes – commodity prices and taxation increases being two significant factors. The general sentiment is that the Bank is being careful, aware that raising interest rates can be detrimental to recovery, but are a necessary tool to control inflation. Cautious is probably the best way to describe Mr King’s approach and frankly this does seem very wise indeed.

City analysts have mixed views, but it would seem a fair representation to suggest that May is more likely to be the month when rates are increased, albeit marginally. This gives further time for accurate data to come through enabling more informed decisions to be reached.

This in mind, there is a great little video from M&G that is worth a look at. Ben Lord one of the managers of the M&G UK Inflation Linked Corporate Bond Fund gives a very quick and straight-forward summary of the concerns that inflation poses. M&G have permitted me to make this link available, it is generally only for professional advisers, but there is nothing terribly contentious or complex within the video. They are happy for your to view this. Thank you M&G.

I have also put the link to the Bank of England’s press conference today here so that you can also hear this from the horses mouth so-to-speak. Its a fairly lengthy briefing – but you may find it of interest. If you would rather just read the briefing summary click here.

Here is a BBC interview with the Chancellor.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

Bank of England hint at Rate riseDominic2023-12-01T12:52:05+00:00

Testing Times for Test Pilots

I’m continuing to test drive new online services for clients and have asked a few to get involved with the test process. This seems to be going well and I am hopeful that we are progressing the Beta Testing phase to a really good conclusion.

One of those that has had a bit of a play with it, who works in IT for a well known phone company says

“The website is looking good, Dom. I really like the idea of being able to see everything in summary form on a single page. Good stuff.”

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

Testing Times for Test PilotsDominic2023-12-01T12:52:06+00:00