A New Year 2014

So it’s the end of the first full week back at work. I have been very busy getting back up to speed, meeting clients and getting the new year 2014 heading in the right direction. I was reminded on Tuesday of how precarious life can be and how risk comes in various forms. A good friend (and client) had a very bad car accident on the way home from Heathrow, the car span out of control on the A3 heading towards London, rolling a couple of times. He and the other passengers, which included his daughter were all incredibly fortunate to climb out alive and were rushed to Kingston Hospital where they were very well cared for. So please drive carefully in these very wet conditions!

Lessons from a hostage negotiator

On Tuesday night, I attended an IFP event and benefited from the wisdom from a hostage negotiator. He provided some really good ideas about helping to improve listening skills…and no I won’t be taking anyone hostage if they fail to return forms in time.

Portfolio Reviews – Investment Committee Updates

Speaking of time, 2013 came and went pretty quickly didn’t it! Now we are set for 2014 and our investment committee have reviewed portfolios for the coming months. There are no really major changes, but its worth a look at the minutes and the performance packs, which you can do as a client with a password (you will need to contact the office for this by going to the what we do tab. You will also find the economic outlook for the year ahead…which if you know me well, will appreciate that we do this for sense checking, not as a prediction of what may or may not happen. I have also put the latest asset wall chart, within that section of the website. This reveals the performance of difference asset classes over a calendar year… the pattern is that there is no pattern, hence why we diversify and apply some clever maths to get the portfolios tuned. Anyway, I do hope that you had a good break, after the fireworks along the Thames, we are now very much back and ready to go.

Dominic Thomas: Solomons IFA