Who invests?

 

• Personal customers for income, growth or both

• Trustees or Powers of Attorney looking after funds for others

• Businesses reinvesting company profits

 

Why do people invest?

 

People invest for many different reasons, but most have a specific goal they wish to achieve. It could be to generate an income to pay for school fees, top up their retirement income or to fund their hobbies and interests. Others invest to grow their capital for a specific purchase in the future, a child’s wedding, dream holiday, to pay off a mortgage or buy a classic car.

 

Whatever your reason for investing, making investment decisions whether for new investments or existing holdings can be a daunting prospect. The sheer number of investments or accounts on the market is huge as is the level of financial information which is available. Whilst valuable, this information can be confusing to the smaller investor or inexperienced investor and time consuming for the more experienced investor.

 

The decline of the traditional building society, the rise of online banking and the results of the credit crunch has changed the savings landscape considerably. Low base rates mean that many accounts are paying little interest and while inflation generally remains higher than the return on cash, the value of money is eroding.

 

Whether you have received some inheritance, built up a pot from regular savings or realised a profit from the sale of a property, if considering investment, your money should be wisely invested to preserve it against the effects of inflation.

 

Like our approach to all aspects of financial planning, at Paramount Financial Planning, we will work with you to develop an investment plan that is as unique as you are.

 

We use the following approach to recommend a bespoke suitable solution for you:

 

Step 1: Identifying needs and objective

 

Firstly, we will seek to understand your specific aims depending on your personal circumstances. These could include:

 

• Investment for growth, income or growth and income

• Preserving capital against the effects of inflation

• Minimising tax liabilities and maximising tax allowances

• Managing investment risk

• Retaining easy access to funds

• Ethical considerations

• Some clients already have a clear understanding of what they which to achieve, while others may welcome the opportunity to discuss their plans with a trusted adviser to help clearly define your goals.

 

At this stage, it is time well invested to consider your understanding of risk and rewards and your attitude to these when considering your objectives. Your adviser will assess your tolerance to risk and capacity for loss using a risk based questionnaire and question based discussions.

 

Step 2: Wider consideration

 

No investment operates in isolation. It is therefore prudent to take a step back to examine your wider financial situation to ensure that any new recommendations compliment your existing investments. Today many benefits, tax credits and tax liabilities are closely interlinked and it is vital for our adviser to understand how any investment may impact on these. This may be in the present or in the future when you may wish to access your investments. Ultimately our aim will be to protect benefits and minimise tax liabilities.

 

Here your adviser will add value as they help to navigate you through the complex and changing legislation without jargon and explain this in a simple straight forward way. Your adviser may also at this point wish to discuss your affairs with your accountant to ensure any potential recommendations do not impact on future business plans.

 

Step 3: Research

 

We will analysis the information available in the market to assess whether your existing investments remain fit for purpose and continue to match your attitude to risk profile. We will consider costs, performance, volatility and stability of current investments before making a recommendation.

 

Step 4: Report and recommendation

 

Having fully understood your objectives and researched the appropriate investment options your adviser will provide a report detailing our bespoke recommendations and the reasons why they believe the solutions are suitable to meet your needs. Your adviser will take the time to talk you through the recommendations so that you fully understand the benefits and any potential disadvantages, if applicable.

 

Step 5: Implementation

 

Once you have agreed with your adviser to proceed, your adviser will arrange your investments, liaise with product providers on your behalf and keep you informed of the status of your investment applications.

 

Step 6: Review service

 

One thing that is constant within the investment market is that things will change. Changing legislation and market movements can both positively and adversely affect the performance of investments. It is therefore important that you review your investments with your adviser on a regular basis. This means that your adviser will rebalance your investments, reassess your attitude to risk and make fund switches or further recommendations, if appropriate or necessary.

 

You may have experienced a change in circumstances or have a new objective which may require a change in strategy for your investments. If nothing has changed then an investment health check will help to ensure your investment remain competitive.

 

Failure to review your investments may mean that your portfolio is no longer in line with the level of risk you are comfortable with and could ultimately fall short on delivering your goals and aspirations.

 

If you would like to arrange an initial meeting with us at your convenience and at our cost to discuss how we may be able to help please contact us.