The Principles by which Moore Stephens Financial Services operate
Savings & Investments The economic troubles of the last few years mean that saving money has never been so important, but that doesn’t mean that is has to be complicated. Inflation is the invisible killer that gradually eats away at the real value of savings. Achieving good returns on your savings and investments ahead of inflation is vital to protect the true buying power of your money. We can help you maximise your returns however you wish to invest your money, whether that is in bank or building society deposit accounts or in a risk rated investment portfolio. As independent advisers we can advise on the whole range of investment choices available across the whole market. We can advise our clients on how best to use their annual ISA allowance, either through regular savings or by lump sum investment.
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Our aim is to offer financial planning to all from cradle to grave. We will never exclude anyone on the basis of how much money they have to invest or what their needs may be. Our ethos is to align the interests of our business with the interests of our clients.
We provide high quality financial advice as independent Chartered Financial Planners in tandem with our in-house investment management service. We take full responsibility for the services we provide and we do not outsource any aspect.
We understand that our client’s needs will change over time and we are here to review their changing needs and guide them every step of the way, from their first steps of regular savings through to retirement planning and beyond.
We believe that there is no such thing as a typical client. We want to be accessible to you, to your family and to your friends. Individual circumstances may differ as may needs, but we will able to adapt our advice process to suit everyone.
We will never sell you a product and walk away. We will review your circumstances with you at least annually, if not every six months – we are as accessible as you want us to be.
We are judged by our service. We will never lock our clients in to long term contracts or apply penalties or charges if they wish to terminate our services. We know that you can choose to vote with your feet at any time and so we work tirelessly to ensure that our clients receive the best possible service at all times.
Above all, our guiding principle is to become and to remain your trusted adviser.
We provide a range of solutions to help you save on behalf of children or grandchildren. We can assist you with school fees planning or to perhaps help to build a nest egg for them when they leave education and give them a start in life. Many of our clients have built up savings over time, often in a variety of different places including different banks and building societies ISAs and other investments. Over the years it can be hard to keep track of everything and so we can review these investments for our clients and advise on how best to manage them in the future. Making sure that investments are tax efficient and remain appropriate for our client’s circumstances is an important aspect of our review process. In an ever changing world it is important to make sure that you are not losing out when interest rates fall and inflation rises.
Tax & Estate Planning Paying less tax doesn’t have to be complicated and it doesn’t mean that you need to fear falling foul of the Tax man by doing something questionable. There are plenty of tried and tested means of quite legitimately reducing your tax bill by using mainstream schemes such as ISAs, Pensions, EIS, VCTs and Trusts. We have expert knowledge in all these areas and we can advise you and help you to select a solution that best suits your needs. We believe that all clients should have a will and increasingly all clients should consider setting up Lasting Powers of Attorney. Improvements in health and medicine means that we are all living longer, it therefore follows that the likelihood of needing care is also increasing. We can help our clients plan to ensure that they are properly looked after when the time comes. We can advise our clients about using trusts to allow them to gift money to their beneficiaries and reduce their potential inheritance tax liability. Whole of life insurance policies can be considered to ensure that beneficiaries have sufficient capital to pay inheritance tax liabilities upon death in order to leave the estate intact. Writing pensions into trust is becoming increasingly popular. Pensions are often forgotten about when it comes to inheritance tax planning, but there are some relatively simple ways to ensure that they don’t become a problem. For those who wish to leave money to charity after their death, charitable trusts are a means of leaving a legacy after your death, preserving your memory and ensuring that those causes that you wish to support can continue to benefit on an ongoing basis.
Pensions & Retirement Planning
Protection Planning
Retirement planning is not just about pensions, it is about a client’s complete financial circumstances in the round. However, for those individuals who want to build up pension pots, it is never too early to start saving.
Planning in this area can be used to cover a wide range of different risks and ensure that if the unexpected happens, you and your family will be protected.
We can advise clients on the best way to start saving and how much to invest into pensions, and we can also advise on other forms of long term savings that may suit some individuals better than pensions. We often find that many of our clients have pension pots scattered around with different providers and also from various previous employers. Often these pension pots have not been reviewed for quite some time and have performed poorly. We can help our clients to get their pensions working effectively for them. Although pensions don’t tend to get good press coverage, they do offer significant tax advantages. Careful planning on our part can substantially reduce our client’s tax bills. Retirement involves a big change for most individuals. The outlook for their finances switches from growing capital to preserving and enjoying it. Our role is to help maximise the funds available at retirement and then to provide the ongoing management of those funds after retirement. These days, buying an annuity does not have to be the default choice when you retire. New rules mean that you can choose to draw down income generated from investment portfolios to support you through your retirement years. There is much more flexibility on how you take your benefits and as your circumstances change, we will be there to help choose the option that suits you best.
Most clients have mortgages at some stage in their life and it therefore follows that clients will need to provide a capital sum to pay off the mortgage in the event of their death. Cover can be arranged for parents with young children to provide an income every month to their survivor to ensure that the bills are paid and that the family will be looked after should anything happen to them. Often there is an imbalance between the wages of two partners and sometimes a family is more dependent upon one partner. Cover can be arranged to replace lost income should you be unable to work and in the event of death, provide a lump sum to the survivor to support them through the coming years. The chances of contracting a critical illness are increasing and whilst survival rates are improving, it may mean that you are unable to work for a period of time or need specialist assistance. Cover can be arranged to provide a lump sum to protect you against this possibility. The earlier that protection planning can take place the better, generally speaking the younger you are, the lower the premiums will be. We can assist with all of the above and since we are entirely independent we can search the whole market to find the right cover at the lowest cost. Protection planning is relatively inexpensive, but the peace of mind it brings is priceless.
Corporate & Trustee Services We provide a range of solutions to corporate clients and trustees alike. Employee benefit provision is a key service to corporate clients, for whom the spectre of NEST is looming large. There can be significant financial benefits to employers making pension provision for their employees and we are able to work in conjunction with their accountants to calculate the optimum contribution levels. Employee benefits covers much more than just pensions though, we can advise on group death in service, private medical insurance and key person protection. Many of the schemes available today are not expensive to run and a well thought out benefits package can build and maintain good employee relations. Corporate clients suffer inordinately from continuing low interest rates, often companies are earning nothing on the funds they deposit with their bank. We offer a cash management service to corporate clients, Trusts and individuals whereby we offer access to high street banks and building societies but at significantly higher rates of interest. We advise Trustees with regard to their investment management needs. We manage funds to suit their needs generating income and/or growth as required. We can assist with tax and advice issues or work with existing accountants, solicitors and tax advisors to ensure that the monies are invested in accordance with the Trust Deed and are providing the requisite level of distribution. Our role is to use our expertise to assist trustees as per their requirements, providing regular reports and attending trustee meetings as required.
We offer all potential clients a free initial meeting to discuss their needs and requirements, and to explain the details of our services and how we charge for providing them. To arrange your meeting, telephone us on 01536 462700 or email us at enquiry@msfs.co.uk.
Moore Stephens in the UK Moore Stephens is currently the UK’s11th largest independent accounting and consulting association, comprising over 1,500 partners and staff in 39 locations. Our objective is simple: to be viewed by clients as the first point-of-contact for all their financial, advisory and compliance needs. We achieve this by providing sensible advice and tailored solutions to help clients achieve their commercial and personal goals. Clients have access to a range of core and specialist services including audit and tax compliance, business and personal tax, trust and estate planning, wealth management, IT consultancy, governance and risk, business support and outsourcing, corporate finance, corporate recovery
Who to contact Corby Oakley House Headway Business Park 3 Saxon Way West Corby NN18 9EZ Tel: 01536 462700 enquiry@msfs.co.uk Peterborough Rutland House Minerva Business Park Lynch Wood Peterborough PE2 6PZ Tel: 01733 397300 enquiry@msfs.co.uk
and forensic accounting. Our success stems from our industry focus, which enables us to provide an innovative and personal service to our clients in our niche markets. Specialist sectors include energy and mining, financial services, insurance, not-for-profit, pensions, professional practices, real estate, shipping, transport and public sector. Moore Stephens globally Moore Stephens International Limited is a global accountancy and consulting association with its headquarters in London. With fees of US$2.24 billion and offices in 98 countries, you can be confident that we have access to the resources and capabilities to meet your needs. Moore Stephens International independent member firms share common values: integrity, personal service, quality, knowledge and a global view. By combining local expertise and experience with the breadth of our UK and worldwide networks, clients can be confident that, whatever their requirement, Moore Stephens will provide the right solution to their local, national and international needs.
www.msfs.co.uk This document is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute any form of financial or investment advice. Past performance is not a guide to future investment performance. The value of your investments as well as any income derived from them can fall as well as rise and you could get back less than the amount invested. We believe the information in this brochure to be correct at the time of going to press and is based on our current understanding of legislation and tax allowances which may change in the future. As such changes can’t be foreseen we cannot accept responsibility for any loss accessioned to any person as a result of action or refraining from action of any item herein. Printed and published by Moore Stephens Financial Services (East Midlands) Limited. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
October 2012