As we go through life, some of the most important decisions we have to make relate in one way or another to money

Such as

• Buying a home
• Planning for the future
• Raising money for business or private use
• Having children and educating them
• Insuring your health
• Choosing the right pension & providing for the future of the family are just a few of those important stages.

The difficulty is choosing the packages and companies that best meet your needs. Young or old, no matter what backgrounds we come from, at some time we all make financial decisions.

By making the right decisions we can gain significantly. But making the wrong ones can prove expensive, not just for us, but also for those who depend on us. Genuinely independent advice therefore is relevant to everybody.

Stock markets have provided excellent returns for many investors, generating both rising distribution income and substantial capital growth.  However, stockmarket investments can be volatile, with values moving down as well as up.

Unit Trusts & OEICs

It is normally important to achieve a spread of holdings across a wide range of fixed interest bonds and shares, sectors and markets to reduce volatility.  Often the best way to invest in the world's stock markets is buy unit trusts and OEICs, because they provide you with active professional management, diversification and capital gains tax advantages.  There is a large selection of ethically screened and green investments in the form of unit trusts and OEICs.

ISAs

Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) allow you to build up investments free of UK income tax on interest and capital gains tax.  The investment can be made as a one-off single payment or on a regular monthly basis, but there are restrictions on how much can be invested during any one tax year.  We can identify the best plan to meet your particular financial investment needs as well as comply with your ethical considerations from a wide selection of ethically screened and green ISAs.

Bonds

You may be interested in investment bonds [single premium life assurance policies] which are similar to unit trusts in some ways.  However, they are taxed differently and also allow the investor to hold a mixed portfolio of equities, gilts, property and cash deposits within the one plan.  Bonds may be particularly attractive to trustees and investors who pay higher rate income tax. There are also specialist income and growth bonds, whose availability and rates can change on a daily basis. 

Banks and Building Society Deposit Accounts

You normally need cash deposits to meet your short term liquidity requirements.  But if you are concerned where your money is put to work you cannot use just any high street bank or building society and may need our advice. We can advise on which banks and building societies provide the most appropriate service for your particular ethical needs.

Portfolio Management

If you have a larger amount of money to invest [more than £100,000] we can arrange for funds to be invested economically on an individual basis by an experienced portfolio manager and offer ethical selection to your own specification. Read about our ethical Stockbroking service.

Pensions can be a confusing subject.

You should harness the privileges given to Tax Approved retirement plans:

•  Tax relief is granted on the contributions, enhancing the purchasing power of your contributions.
•  Pension investments are free of UK tax on all investment income and capital gains.
•  Substantial tax-free capital sums can be paid on retirement together with a life-time income which is taxable as earnings.
•  Life assurance cover can be provided where tax relief is granted on the premiums and the lump sum benefits are free of income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax.

Self-employed

If you are self-employed you can still invest in personal pensions.  Your pension plan can be the main way for you to achieve long-term financial security.  It is especially important for you to start planning as early as possible.  Your pension is one of the most important investment decisions of your life. Your financial well-being for many years is likely to depend on it, so do not choose your pension plan or pension adviser at random.  It will pay to obtain independent professional advice from us.

For clients who have at least £150,000 to invest

These days it is a high-risk strategy to invest in shares and manage them yourself, unless you have the necessary knowledge and can devote considerable time to buying and selling on the stockmarket. In practice we find that few clients wish to do this.

By investing in shares through a Stockbroking portfolio, the shares can be actively managed on a discretionary basis to meet your specific requirements.

Better still, this enables you the client to own a portfolio of shares, select your own ethical criteria, and filter out particular sectors or companies that conflict with your principles.

We work with a number of stockbrokers chosen for their combined skills in ethical investment and conventional portfolio management. We would meet with you initially to assess whether a Stockbroking portfolio would be a useful part of your investment planning.

In addition to using the EIRIS screening to follow your chosen ethical criteria, we favour ethical stockbroking teams who also conduct their own research into companies. Like us at The GÆIA Partnership, they are also active in a number of organisations and campaigns to try to effect change in company policy towards corporate and environmental responsibility, and practices such as fairtrade which will improve living conditions in the Third World.

Note: A discretionary managed portfolio will be invested in stocks and shares the value of which can go down as well as up.
Stockbroking services are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.