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B94 5JZ
T: 0121 744 4886
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Early falls driven by continuing eurozone fears reversed as data show increase in job openings.Wrangling among eurozone ministers and the Greek government over a fresh bail-out plan continued yesterday, with the country missing a third deadline over a new €130bn package, prompting fears of...
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Date Added 08/02/2012
S&P once again enters bull market territory but slips back following the release of data that points to a continuing fall in property values.US markets had opened in buoyant mood, with the S&P 500 entering bull market territory for the second time in 2012 on the back of news of a fresh...
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Date Added 01/02/2012
Annuity specialist Living Time has relaunched under the new name of Primetime Retirement ahead of its official rebrand today.The company has also confirmed that its new retirement income product, the launch of which was revealed by Money Management earlier this week, will be called the Income a...
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Date Added 01/02/2012
The Investment Management Association (IMA) has launched the Mixed Investment 0-35% Shares sector, after it was delayed earlier this year due to lack of demand.The sector had originally been planned for launch alongside the other multi-asset sectors at the start of the year, but low demand in a...
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Date Added 25/01/2012
The UK economy shrank by 0.2% during the fourth quarter of 2011, with negative growth blamed on “weakness” in the production sector.The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal that growth in the construction sector was “slightly negative” and...
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Date Added 25/01/2012
EEA Fund Management has written to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) after the regulator described traded life policy investments as “high risk, toxic products”.In a written response to the regulator, EEA says the use of the term “toxic” in relation to traded life as...
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Date Added 25/01/2012
George Osborne was braced for a battle with Conservative backbenchers yesterday as the International Monetary Fund asked member countries for an extra $500bn (£324bn) in firepower to help meet what it says will be $1trn in global demand for bailouts over the next two years, reports the...
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Date Added 19/01/2012
Financial Times:" New EIS aims to top up fine wine returns". Venture capital investors are set to be offered exposure to alternative assets this year, as scheme managers seek to combine the attractions of upfront tax relief with returns uncorrelated to financial markets.
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Date Added 12/01/2012
The Times:"Complete your tax form early and win £100,000 cash prize". Workers who pay their tax bill early will have a chance of winning £100,000 in a plan by the Government to ease the pressure on HM Revenue and Customs, The Times has learnt
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Date Added 12/01/2012
Financial Times:"Cameron out of step on top rate of tax". David Cameron insisted on Monday that the 50p top rate of tax was a 'temporary measure', in spite of a growing view in Treasury circles that its abolition within the next few years – and probably this side of the is...
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Date Added 11/01/2012
The government has responded to its consultation on the removal of a range of tax reliefs and confirmed that it will remove tax relief on life assurance premiums in Finance Bill 2012, including those paid by employers under employer-financed retirement benefit schemes. The decision comes as part...
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Date Added 06/12/2011
Standard & Poor’s has downgraded a raft of US and UK banks, including HSBC, Barclays and Goldman Sachs, following an overhaul of its ratings criteria.Barclays, HSBC, RBS and UBS have all seen their long-term credit ratings cut one notch in a move which will shake investor sentiment and...
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Date Added 06/12/2011
DWP pushes back implementation of auto-enrolment for businesses with less than 50 staff after the next election.The government today confirmed that implementation of automatic enrolment will begin as planned in autumn 2012, but has announced that small businesses will have an extension of a year...
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Date Added 06/12/2011
Source: Mortgage Solutions The government has published its strategy on “unblocking” the housing market, stimulating buying, lending, construction and job creation.The Prime Minister David Cameron has promised the plan "will break the current cycle in which lenders won't lend,...
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Date Added 22/11/2011
Consumer watchdog highlights benefits of IFAs as study reveals failings in bank advice, with many recommending unsuitable, high-charging bonds. Researchers found that only five out of 37 advisers in banks and building societies gave “good advice” about investments, while out of six...
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Date Added 22/11/2011
It has recently been reported that HM Revenue and Customs has handed out fines to over half a million people who were late filing their self-assessment tax returns for the 2009/10 tax year, so that’s half a million people, many of whom will be clients of financial advisers, who are to 6...
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Date Added 15/11/2011
The Treasury will not allow investors to use scheme pension to fund the minimum income requirement for flexible drawdown despite the Department for Work and Pension’s decision to reclassify the arrangements as defined benefit.In April, the Government dealt a blow to pension providers and IFAs...
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Date Added 15/11/2011
Housing market ‘resilient’ as prices rise in OctoberDespite deterioration in outlook for the UK economy, house sales and supply of properties for sale have remained very stable in the past year.The average house price across the UK rose by 1.2 per cent between September and in a a...
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Date Added 08/11/2011
HMRC targets foreign property ownersHM Revenue & Customs is to target overseas property used to escape tax, with an extra 200 investigators and specialists.HMRC said the team, which began work this month, will look to uncover a number of areas where wealthy individuals are avoiding and be...
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Date Added 08/11/2011
Annuity rates tumble again Annuity rates have fallen by around 3 per cent over the past three months, the biggest drop since September 2010.The news comes after figures released last week show life expectancy is still increasing.In 2010, average life expectancy at birth across the UK, for men...
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Date Added 03/11/2011
Clause 1 of the Pensions Bill 2011 provides for the equalisation of male and female State Pension Age (SPA) at 65 by November 2018 and also accelerates the increase in SPA to age 66 for both men and women by April 2020. In other words, SPA for women is set to increase from 60 to 66 over just ten on...
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Date Added 01/11/2011
ISA savers will be able to invest around £600 more in the next tax year after the Office for National Statisticsannounced that inflation hit 5.2% in September.Investors are currently able to place £10,680 in the tax-efficient vehicles. However, that number is set to riseto £11,280...
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Date Added 25/10/2011
Junior ISAs – Final regulations published On 27 July 2011 the Government laid detailed Regulations, amending the existing ISA (Individual Savings Account) Regulations, to provide for the establishment of Junior ISAs to replace Child Trust funds, which ceased to be available from January...
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Date Added 09/09/2011
Tax Deadlines Various deadlines need to be borne in mind by clients for efficient personal tax administration and to avoid HMRC automatic penalties. These are set out below:6th April 2011 – Clients should receive a paper tax return, or a notice, to file the return online31st July 2011 a...
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Date Added 09/09/2011
It is essential that we take advantage of any tax breaks we can as and review where we have our money invested asHM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is close to signing an agreement with Switzerland which could see tax recouped on money held in Swiss bank accounts. Wealthy Britons are believed to have...
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Date Added 02/09/2011
With Nest coming into operation in October 2012 are all employers ready and do they understand their responsibility with respect to auto enrolment?In addition most smaller companies do not have to do anything until two, three or even more years, so become aware of how we can help you prepare.
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Date Added 02/09/2011
The Institute of Professional Willwriters has issued advice on how to find a good will provider after reports of a rise in 'cowboys' within the sector.Paul Sharpe, chairman of IPW, has offered tips to help find reliable willwriters following press reports of people being duped.He said the firm this...
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Date Added 25/07/2011
Pressure mounted on Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, to make a quick decision on how to get private bondholders to pay part of a new €115bn (£100bn) Greek bail-out, with senior Italian officials and the IMF warning that continued uncertainty risked undermining the eurozone, reports...
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Date Added 15/07/2011
Rents hit another record high in June, surging beyond the £700 per month barrier for the first time as property investment proves to be "increasingly lucrative".The buy to let index published today (15 July) by LSL Property Services showed the average rent for June in England and by...
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Date Added 15/07/2011
The UK housing market faced a stalemate during June as demand failed to pick up and supply of new property fell back, according to Rics.Demand for property remained broadly flat in June as it has done for the last six months, data from the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' (Rics) UK...
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Date Added 14/07/2011
While a third of the eurozone is facing an economic crisis, countries in northern Europe are "firmly back on the road to recovery", according to LGIIM.The north of Europe is on its way to recovery although the south is vulnerable, according to Legal & General Investment Management at...
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Date Added 14/07/2011
Conventional annuity rates have fallen by 0.18% since March 2011 and enhanced rates have declined by 3.50% Between June 2009 and June 2011, inflation (RPI) increased from 1.8 to 4.5% The latest findings from the MGM Advantage Annuity Index, which tracks the income paid on enhanced and on...
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Date Added 14/07/2011
Prudential finds one in ten pensioners now question the wisdom of taking a lump sum upon retirement and spending the money.Research published today (13 July) by Prudential found 43 per cent of pensioners say they are living a "cautious" retirement as they worry about having sufficient to...
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Date Added 13/07/2011
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