In a move designed to fund the spiralling cost of social care, the Government announced a controversial increase to National Insurance contributions (NICs) in the form of a 1.25% “Health and Social Care Levy”. Although pensioners do not pay NICs,…

Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) are tax-efficient vehicles that allow you to save and invest without having to pay income tax or capital gains tax. They can be a good way for people to start saving or to add to their…

The UK economy will shrink 11.3% this year, the biggest decline for more than 300 years, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said in his Spending Review. He said that the total spend on Covid-19 so far has been £280…

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has encouraged a summer of spending to revive the UK’s flagging economy affected by Coronavirus. The Chancellor’s Summer Statement set out plans to bring the UK economy off life support. Rishi Sunak announced a flurry of tax…

Inheritance tax (IHT) is charged on your taxable estate at 40%. Before you look to offset IHT, however, it is important to establish what is likely to accumulate as a potential liability. For most people, the key contributor to their…

With the government announcing several measures that affect all of us during this pandemic, we felt it important to reassure our clients that our commitment to you is unchanged. For our regular reviews, we will still issue invitations to you. …

Over the last few days we have falls in equity prices around the world, and some less dramatic rises in the prices of traditional safe havens such as gold. This is the usual market behaviour to a perceived global crisis,…

What lies ahead of the EU and UK might, on the surface, appear relatively straightforward. By the end of this month, Europe and the UK will have ratified a negotiated divorce deal. As of 1 February, the UK will no…

"To err is human" said the poet Alexander Pope; however, in investment, errors can be expensive. Sometimes, it’s only hindsight that helps us realise where we went wrong – so what are the most obvious hazards? Investors face many potential…

Emerging markets continue to develop in size and importance, and their contribution to the global economy is increasingly significant.  At present, China is the second-largest economy in the world, superseded only by the US. However, by 2050, China is forecast…