Month: December 2016

We’re delighted to announce that we have appointed four new advisers. Karen Black, Seainin Campbell, Raymond Hart and Paul McCord all join the firm from Ulster Bank in Belfast. Read the full story here.   

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has recently voiced concerns that new Lifetime Individual Savings Accounts (LISAs), due to launch next year, could be putting some savers at risk if the product is not fully understood. LISAs are being sold as a way to earn bonuses if the money put into them is put towards the...

A recent study has revealed that almost a third of the population are putting no money at all into savings. The report by the Social Mobility Commission found that 31% of people in Britain have nothing left to save at the end of every month, with 4% saving under £10. Around half save £100 or...

Probate is the process by which a person takes legal control of another person’s assets after their death. The current system, in place since 2014, means that no fee is charged for estates worth less than £5,000, with any estate worth more than that figure subject to a flat fee of £155 if probate is...

The housing market is set for a slow start in the new year due to a shortage of homes for sale, according to a survey by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Although property transactions may increase at the beginning of 2017 after slowing since the spring, the survey suggests that any acceleration is...

The first premium bond was sold on 1st November 1956, with £5 million worth of premium bonds sold on the first day alone. There are now 21 million people holding more than £63 billion in premium bonds, proving that they are still a popular form of investment. The first draw was held on 1st June...

VAT avoidance could cost the UK tens of millions of pounds this Christmas thanks to the increasing number of non-EU sellers on sites such as Amazon and eBay. The huge increase in traders from countries such as the USA and China is difficult to control, resulting in an overly complicated system which is open to...

Whilst New Year’s resolutions are always made with the best of intentions, the truth is that they often prove difficult to keep beyond the first few weeks in January. The main reason for this is that the goals we set ourselves are admirable but simply too lofty to achieve. It’s far better to choose a...

Introduction Well, for the second time this year the pollsters and the bookmakers had it spectacularly wrong. First Brexit, now President-elect Donald J Trump. By 306 Electoral College votes to 232 the 70 year old billionaire overturned the predictions and beat Hillary Clinton. Yes, there is still the small matter of challenges to the result...

Recent statistics from City of London Police suggest that losses due to fraud after pension freedoms were introduced could be around 25% higher than was initially estimated. The figure originally reported to the force for the first six months from April 2015 was £10.6 million.This figure has recently been revised to £13.3 million following updated...