News Items

News Items

Some relevant news items and general reading:

FSA: IFAs most popular and trusted source of advice

Weekly Insurance, Investment & Pensions clinics in Monton - Wednesday mornings, at my Office. Just bring me your papers, problems, annual statements, etc, I will go through it with you, assist with making sense of it, sort things out with Insurance companies. Anything from tracing old pensions benefits, review investments, review all your various pension plans, decipher reports into plain English, assist with life insurance claims, probates, trusts, best cash ISA lists, top performing funds lists, risk analysis (so you know what funds you should be in, in the first place), research your pension annuity options, or anything else you need sorting out quickly without fuss. Ring on 0161 950 5329 or 07708 410381 to arrange, or email me and I will come straight back to you. Generally, free, or just a nominal fee for time and phone/post work, as long as it is a genuine problem. Obviously, if it is something that is going to demand a considerable input of time, there could be more time costs but I would fully inform you there and then, if that is the case. Please note: phone or text me in advance is best. Browsing/downloading and printing off our usual Client Agreement and Initial Disclosure Document prior, and bringing along with you, is helpful. I will go through these documents with you anyway, when we meet, as it is required by Law.

If you have recently received advice from a BANK and might just value a second opinion before you commit to anything, please let me know/browse. I will, free of bias, quickly research possible alternatives, so you have proper choice. This applies to most products and to life assurance costs in particular.

If you need an Accountant who is geared up to offer first class advice quickly, please email me.

If you have lost a loved one and need URGENT HELP sorting financial matters out, make me aware and I will deal with everything either immediately or very quickly. Don't worry about formality. Phone numbers 0161 950 5329 or 07708 410381. Give me a ring and we will be half way to resolving the problems. Sad to say, but after 26 years in Insurance I think it is reasonable to state that I have experience in this area; and would be aiming to assist quickly.

A good site about Independent Financial Advice http://www.unbiased.co.uk/

If you just prefer to work with an experienced lady Accountant, based locally, I have an excellent contact. Please email me.

I don't usually deal with MORTGAGE problems nowadays - that's because I have a mortgage-dedicated colleague with 25 years experience: she can usually sort most problems initially by phone/post and/or visit. Just give me a ring and I will put you in touch with her.

If you are interested in investment funds and performance, this is a must-see site.

.....Is simple and straightforward: I will take on board and bring up to date everything you already have; then work to understand your view of the next five and ten years in light of your financial aims and aspirations, then set about shaping a course to meet those aims, in order of priority to yourself, over the coming years.

..... some personal information about me. I started in insurance/financial services with Sun Alliance, in Eccles, in December1985, when I was 28, but once I had three years under my belt I realised that in order to be able to offer clients the very best service, going forward long term, it would be necessary to leave Sun Alliance and go Independent, so as to be able to offer the best products from the whole of the UK market and not just from one single company. I joined DBS Financial Management in February 1989 and traded as Collingwood IPI and then had a further 14 years as an Independent Adviser, based in Monton. I then had four years out, having surgery! I re-qualified asap in 2007/08, joined a small brokerage in Bolton in 2009 and then in 2011 reformed Collingwood IPI.

So, from 32 years in Financial Services I think I can honestly say I have encountered most situations life can throw up and I've seen every side of the Life Insurance, Pensions and Investment coin, good and not so good. Through experience, I learned early that the reality is, in my sphere of 'people' work, you always have to think in terms of "the least expected thing happens mostly".... because that's just the way it is. (A quote from Frank Bettger). The risks and other matters that I deal with are not 'everyday' things for most of us, as individuals, I am glad to say; however, when you are seeing a significant number of people over many years, people's main life events become part and parcel of any adviser's work. You pretty quickly come to understand the gravity of the responsibility you have to clients and treat everything with the utmost seriousness where applicable, always going 'the extra mile'.

With life there is no 'crystal ball' so in looking to provide service as best as possible for clients you have to take a pragmatic and realistic view. We mostly usually WILL in due course get married and have children; we all WILL probably take on large liabilities - mortgages etc; we all WILL from time to time get ill and have to have periods off work; we WILL get older and probably rue the passage of time. For some of us, death will impinge on our lives earlier or more frequently than might be expected. For most people, life assurance etc is 'a necessary evil', for others it is a natural and commonsense thing to have in place. We all have different opinions on such matters. Some things can be planned and as with most things in life they are better started early, and improved gradually as time and money permits. Savings plans, longer term investments etc come into this category. I can't think of anyone I've ever met who has been unhappy about a savings plan coming to maturity. Sometimes it is a life saver! Then, of course, you always wish you had saved twice as much! Pension planning is another one. It can be a very complex topic but when you show people a simple but accurate graph of how much pension is built up, starting at various ages, without exception everyone wishes in hindsight that they had started a few years earlier; suddenly it is not all so complicated. The chances are, in my experience, that unless someone is communicating with you regularly about these topics, and raising them on a regular basis, you probably won't consider them as often as they will come to deserve.

Presently, the industry is going through continuous shake-up with a constant stream of new regulations and focuses on various aspects of advice and client dealings. Methods of earning a living as an adviser are subject to continual scrutiny and change. The landscape is forever changing and challenging to work within.

However, for the adviser, the really important yet basic things don't alter, because at the end of the day you are always dealing with the things that matter the most to people. How can this family really best withstand the real consequences of an untimely death? Given the current situation, how can this client best manage to accumulate a decent sum of money over the coming years, to fall back on, which won't be subject to tax, so that there is something when wanted, or if the need should arise? If this family breadwinner had a significant health problem happen, how best to make sure his or her partner and/or children will be able to cope, if his or her income stops or dwindles to state benefits levels? How can I, as the adviser, best be there to help and assist this family in the good times, but also be there for this family to assist in the not so good times too? What will happen to all the employees/children of this business if the owner or someone else, vital to it, dies or becomes unable to work through illness?

In dealing with my clients, plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. When you enter our annual review cycle, we will first and foremost take an overview of your situation and put all the above various possible financial goals and outcomes etc in YOUR order of priority and then set out to deal with them in turn, according to what's most important to you, over the coming years. Just concentrating on YOUR OBJECTIVES this way, we will always have an important, vital, relevant agenda.

If you decide to become a client you can expect that I will plan to review everything you have at least once per year. It might not be something on your immediate agenda, nevertheless I will review it myself, anyway, on your file. I often see clients much more frequently than annually - - - it depends on what suits you. For investments, I often produce quarterly reports and summaries, but valuations can be obtained and supplied usually with just a few hours' notice, if you telephone or email me.

For new clients, it is necessary to sit down and firstly go through the Regulatory items and issue the relevant paperwork. After this I would take a snapshot of your current situation and then concentrate on your immediate requirements, followed by sketching out your medium term aims. I never charge for initial meetings. After this, I am paid either through product charges or fees, or a mixture, whichever is preferable to you. I will then set an annual review date to fit in with you. Clients often find a good time is about a month before a birthday, each year.