February 2017 - Making a Difference

To laugh often and much, To win the respect of intelligent people, and the affection of children, To earn the appreciation of honest critics, and endure the betrayal of false friends, To appreciate beauty, To find the best in others, To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social situation, To know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. When I started this month’s newsletter I was going to talk about our technical developments where we are making independent financial advice available online at no initial cost and a very low ongoing cost. However the funeral of close member of the family put that on hold and returned me to the eternal question of ‘what is it all for?’ The quote above has been on the front page of my website for over ten years and while in the meantime much has changed on the website this quotation has gained intensity and meaning. When I started helping people with financial advice 27 years ago in January 1990 I became aware that many people do not understand money, they needed help, and this was my chance to make a difference. In this aim I have been successful most of the time. I am lucky to have some wonderful clients and I am always delighted to receive their comments such as the comment that I received from Marie last week: I just wanted to say a big thank you for your words of encouragement. True friendship multiplies the good in life and you have it in abundance. I'm so lucky to have you as my Financial adviser and friend. Comments like this are worth far more than money: I haven’t always got it right and sometimes service could have been better (even Marie knows that because she has been kept waiting at times), however balancing giving my time for often ‘too little’ return has meant that sometimes it was impossible to do more. I chose not to focus on higher paying clients because I was reluctant to leave the clients on lower incomes and with low levels of assets to the wolves. My first two clients from January 1990 are still my clients and I am now helping their children. I am currently working on a series of ‘client stories’ to illustrate where I have made difference which will be coming out over the next few months and I hope that you will find it interesting reading. I am reluctant to finish on a cynical note but on reading the above my business adviser said: “Clients have to be able to take good advice and recognize what is being offered and follow through. Clients often get ripped off to the point to which they deserve!” This is very sad but true - another way of saying: “you can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink”. So well done to you for having followed through on my advice because I know that you are all better off as a result. I’ll pick up news of the online services next month. In the meantime, if you have any queries please get in touch.

January 2017 - Known knowns

“There are known knowns. There are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we do not know we don't know.” Donald Rumsfeld US Secretary of State for Defence February 2002 We live in uncertain times and we may not know what 2017 will bring however when it comes to investment one of the things that we know is that Capital Markets work. We may or may not like many of the things that are happening in the political world but investment markets are neutral and they will strive to obtain a market return regardless of politics or circumstances. In case you haven’t read our Investment Policy statement for a while I repeat the number one clause below: ‘Capital markets have consistently rewarded investors for the capital they supply. Companies compete for the supply of investment capital and millions of investors compete with each other on a daily basis for the most attractive returns. This competition drives prices towards fair value so that on any given day a point of equilibrium is reached between the buyers (optimists) and sellers (pessimists) on the price of a security. This price moves randomly and almost instantaneously to reflect new information such that it is difficult for any individual to systematically profit from market miss-pricings. We therefore accept market rates of return. Many investment managers believe that they can actively exploit market mis-pricings by stock-picking or market-timing - the traditional activities of active fund management. If markets were not efficient then the brightest, hardest-working and most highly paid fund managers would be able to beat a simple buy-and-hold strategy over time. But nearly forty years of academic research has shown that traditional investment managers are unable to outperform markets by anything more that the amount we would expect by chance. Indeed, a multitude of studies has reached the same general conclusion: the average actively managed fund does no better than the market after fees, transaction costs and taxes.’ Our investment portfolios are designed to provide you with the market return and over time you can expect to receive a return on your capital. The amount of that return will depend on your risk profile which determines the amount of volatility that you are comfortable with. Risk and return are related so if you are a higher risk person you can expect a higher return over time. However a word of caution: it has been shown time and time again that investors who invest in portfolios which are too high for their risk profile usually get out when the markets go down and over time they receive much less return than the investor who chooses the correct investment profile at the start and sticks with it. If you would like to discuss our investment policy in more detail please get in touch. You can download a copy from our website at: http://www.interfaceifa.co.uk/documents.php Please get in touch if we can help.

December 2016 - Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

I hope that you have a relaxing break and share some good company over the next week or so. As we look back over the news of 2016 there is certainly a lot to think about and I expect 2017 to be just as ‘interesting’. I received a newsletter from another IFA company a couple of weeks ago and they started by saying that they were not going to comment on Trump’s election because they operated a “value neutral” business and they went on to say that they did not express opinions beyond their (narrow) focus of investment. You will know that this is the polar opposite of where Interface has always positioned itself. For us values always come first and financial matters come second. We believe that there is little point to money unless you can use it to make a difference, whether that is to a single individual, or to create a charitable trust as one of my clients is currently doing. Schindler’s List provides us with a philosophy common to all great world beliefs: “whoever saves one life saves the world entire” -- make a difference to one person and your life has been worthwhile. Financial markets are value neutral but we don’t have to be. The first principle of our Investment Policy statement states: “Capital Markets work” which means that you will get a market return for your investment. Your investments are constructed so that you will receive a return over time and all you need to do is to relax and get on with your lives. Our investment strategy is constructed so that we operate as farmers and continually reap what we sow: we are not prospectors who gamble on finding the strike of a life time. A client said to me last month: “it is not the gold prospectors who get rich it is the shop keepers who sell picks and shovels.” Anyone who wants speculative investment is talking to the wrong company. Our strategy might be less ‘exciting’ but it gets results. The Christmas break gives us time to reflect and hopefully you will share some precious time with your family and friends. It is those times when we remember what is important and think of our values and what we value. This is my Christmas letter and it is my intention to steer away from politics but I will comment on a discussion taking place this month about swearing an oath to British values. This discussion mentioned democracy and the Queen as being British values and while we have a strong belief in both they are not values; they may be something that we value but they are not values they are belief systems. It is the underlying values which provide the basis for these belief systems. For example neither of these belief systems would be supported without the values of equality and respect. I recommend that you look at www.interfaceifa.co.uk and spend ten minutes thinking about your own values. My top ten values are: integrity, compassion, respect, contribution, honesty, trust, fairness, loyalty, sincerity, and equality. I think that some of the politicians promoting this oath would do well to take my values exercise themselves (though it might make some of them feel uncomfortable about their promotion of an oath to shared values!) As we come up to Christmas I reflect on three of my dear clients who passed on this year and are no longer with us. I cherished their company and my thoughts are with their family and friends. I have been very lucky to have shared the last 26 years helping and advising some wonderful clients. I value your loyalty and friendship and I am looking forward to helping more and making a difference in your lives during 2017.

November 2016 - Palace of Westminster

On Thursday 22nd October I was invited to take part in a discussion group at The Palace of Westminster to discuss providing financial advice and education to young people and the financially challenged. The meeting was presided by the Right Honourable Jonathan Edwards who was introduced as part of the Brexit Unit, fortunately for him he immediately diffused any antagonism by saying: “don’t blame me, I voted Remain.” The tension in the room eased which allowed us to move on to the topic for discussion and for the next two hours or so we discussed how younger people could effectively be provided with financial advice. The meeting was held in one of The House of Commons committee rooms which allowed me to view the wonderful décor and artwork not available to the general public. After the formalities we were treated to wine and snacks in Portcullis House which is where over 200 MPs have their offices. Of necessity security was extremely tight though it was good humoured and efficient. While I have had the privilege of visiting The Commons, The Lords, Downing Street, and Buckingham Palace previously the latest visit gave me a reminder of what a great political system we have where ordinary people like myself can visit and take part. I have been trying to help a few ‘younger’ people for the last year or so and the FCA regulatory requirements with the associated costs certainly make this job difficult. I believe that the internet has to be part of the solution to providing cost effective advice. Clients’ use of the Personal Finance Portal grows almost daily and I now receive more secure messages through the Portal than I do from emails, phone calls, and post, put together. Via the Portal we not only exchange messages and documents but clients also view details of their plans and investments where the valuations will soon be updated daily. The Premier Service is normally a paid for service but I provide it to all clients free of charge and clients can link their bank accounts, credit cards, and other investments so that they get a complete overview of all of their assets (and liabilities) in one place. Using this facility they can analyse their spending, set up budgets, set up goals such as saving for a holiday, saving for retirement, or reducing debt. Within the next couple of weeks personalised investment reports will be delivered to clients via the Portal and there is a lot more in development which will be released over the next few months. With the younger investor in mind the ‘Automated Advice’ section of the Portal was released a couple of weeks ago to a select group of clients and using this facility clients can invest in an ISA or general investment account. Currently the facility to invest lump sums is live but regular premiums will follow soon and pensions and protection is in development. Where this will come into its own is with children of my existing clients who know they ought to be saving in an ISA or a pension but do not want to go to the expense of a full advice review. They will soon be able to start an ISA or a pension at say £25 or £50 a month from the comfort of their own iPad or tablet and then log into their account and see the balance of their accounts alongside their bank accounts and goals. And not only is there no initial fee, the ongoing charge is less than half of the charge of other major companies such as Hargreaves Lansdown. With the smaller investor being taken care of via the Portal more time will be available for my existing clients. However they are not being missed out of development and one great example is DocuSign which is being added to the Portal within a month or so. DocuSign allows you to sign documents digitally without returning a “wet” signature and though some of you will have used it already the integration with the Portal is going to put everything in one place. I was impressed last month when one of my clients aged 78 signed up to The Portal and started exchanging messages and documents, though I appreciate that some of you may need help so please get in touch.

October 2016 - Nightmare

On 24th March 2015 Germanwings Flight 9525 was deliberately crashed by the co-pilot killing all 150 people on board. There are few of us who fly were not affected by the recordings of the screams of the passengers and the shouting of the pilot who was outside the cockpit trying to break in with an axe. Well last night I awoke in a sweat because I was on that plane except this time the plane was being flown by Theresa May. We know that there is going to be a crash but no one is taking any notice of those of us outside who are trying to hammer the door down. I heard the brexperts saying: “Don’t worry these modern planes can bounce”, and “It will be bumpy but we will be better after the experience.” I am really feeling for my clients whose continual comment is: “I didn’t vote to leave so why should I be so much poorer?” I have tried to put their minds to rest but what I haven’t told them is that you may not have seen anything yet. One retired client with about £200,000 in cash who likes to travel was almost in tears when he said that his cash had gone down in value by about 15% -- “that’s a loss over three months of about £30,000 off my retirement plans he said”. He went on to tell me that he should have listened to me and put more of his cash into investment because his investment portfolio had gone up by almost 10% over the last year. I didn’t disillusion him but all we try to do when we invest is to beat inflation and make a bit more and managing to do that with what is to come will be challenging for all of us. When Article 50 is triggered and the banks start relocating from the UK who knows how low the pound will go. A month ago the experts (the ones that I respect) had suggested that we could reach parity with the Euro by the end of the year, well that was reached last week in some Exchanges and now there is talk of it going much lower perhaps 80 pence to the Euro instead of the £1.30 that is was on 31st of May. So putting on my financial advice hat what do I recommend: You keep your money invested in one of our low cost, highly diversified, portfolios. These are risk rated to each of you and they aim to keep any volatility to a minimum. They have a global presence so that they have some shielding from what is happening in the UK. I am very pleased that all of my clients are very happy about their investments but there is little that I can do about the suicidal team in control. If you have cash it is not too late to invest because the fall in the value of the pound has some way to go. (As an alternative you could get ‘a bigger axe!’ – I’m going to the Birmingham Liberal Democrat Conference in Birmingham next month which is the first time that I have been involved in politics.) One of my concerns is the possibility that Mark Carney, The Governor of The Bank of England, will not stay around too long. He has been one of the voices of sanity but has come under increasing criticism from the ‘brexperts’ some of whom are saying that we need higher interest rates. If he goes and interest rates go up you may think that would be good for your cash savings but that will fuel inflation even more and your savings are unlikely to keep up. If you have debt then it may be the time to look at getting a good fixed rate. My nightmare didn’t go that far but I vividly remember Black Wednesday on 16th September 1992 which resulted in interest rates going up to 15% (that would add about £1000 a month to an average mortgage). The chancellor then was Nigel Lawson, a leading Brexiteer, and I listened to him again last week – he is living in world of his own and thinks high interest rates could help the economy. The only ‘good’ news that I’ve been given over the last few months was from my business adviser when she said: “clients need good independent financial advice more than ever and you are going to be busy.” She is absolutely right though I wish that I was helping clients in calmer more happy times.

September 2016 - Autumn Equinox

Today is the Autumn Equinox (well almost) which is the time in the Northern hemisphere when the length of the day and night become equal; it is the start of Astronomical Autumn. We usually say that it occurs on the 21st September but because of variations in the calendar and the movement of the earth and the stars it can occur at any time between the 20th and the 24th. This year in the UK it’s at 15.21 BST on 22nd September. The movement of the seasons is as predictable as life itself. We all know where we are in the passage of time though it is not something that we choose to dwell on. We like to live as if we are immortal but deep down we know that time is precious and that it ebbs away with each passing day. Three of my clients have died this year: the first was 88 and the second was 91, they lived life to the full and they made me feel uplifted each time we met. They are sadly missed but as my mother used to say: “they had had a good innings”. On the other hand my third client died last month at age 37 and this is tragic. She leaves behind a husband and two children. What has made it more tragic is that despite my attempts they were always “too busy” to review their finances. They were after all ‘immortal’, and who can blame them, I felt like that at 37 and I still do! She died with insufficient life insurance and no Will in place and I am helping the husband to sort things out as best as we can (a little like bolting the stable door). Money had to be borrowed from family in order to pay the £6000 for the funeral. PLEASE do not make the same mistake. Everyone needs to have their Will and Lasting Powers of Attorney in place and they need to be reviewed regularly. Your finances need to be organised and arranged using trusts if necessary and you need a pre-paid funeral plan in place. Many of my clients reading this will be feeling satisfied at this point because they can say that they already tick all of these boxes. However if you have yet to complete one or more do not delay and get in touch with us today. We know that the Equinox will occur within two days of the 22nd but death or disability is not so predictable.

August 2016 - Providing Client Value and Service

I have spent over 25 years trying to help my clients navigate the maze of financial planning and I have always aimed to put people before profit. I have approached my business from the perspective of how much value and service I could provide to my clients so I was not inspired by the title of one of the sessions at a seminar for IFAs last month which was called: ‘How much should you should charge your clients for your services and make a profit’. The seminar demonstrated that many IFAs think differently to me, they put profit at the top of their priorities, and they charge considerably more for their services. The presenter started by telling us that we are available for work 44 weeks of the year after taking out 8 weeks for holidays, bank holidays, Christmas, illness, and so on. For a 5 day week this equates to 220 working days. Two days each week are taken up with seminars, keeping knowledge up to date, regulatory reporting, and other essential matters, which leaves only 132 days for client work. If one day each year is spent on each client this means that the business can manage 132 clients, if two days are spent on each client then we can only help 66 clients and so on. I was looking around the room at this point, many of the attendees were nodding in agreement, but I was sceptical, and not sure that I even wanted to be there. However I stayed and he next asked us how much it cost to maintain the business, he wanted the base cost before we paid any money to ourselves or made a profit. People started getting involved and various figures were mentioned, all of them much higher than mine. I operate from a room at my home address, all support is outsourced, and I use technology to maximise efficiency and drive down costs. For the financial year to 31st March my base costs were £82,000 or almost £7000 a month. It was no surprise to find that many IFA firms had a base cost much higher with some saying £15,000 a month, and for some approaching £30,000. We were then asked to add what we thought was a reasonable personal income considering our experience, qualifications, and financial risk. This is where people started becoming animated and there was a heated discussion with some ‘loud’ differences in opinion. To the disgust of many I put mine down as £40,000 a year and they protested that the figure ought to be at least six digits. However I refused to budge so I arrived at a total of £122,000 after the base costs and personal income were added together. I thought that we had finished but at this point he mentioned the FCA requirement that all businesses should be profitable, sustainable, and build up a capital reserve, so we had to add in another figure. I decided to keep quiet and for simplicity I added £10,000 to bring the total income to £132,000 because I had anticipated what was coming next and I wanted to keep the sums easy. You don’t need a calculator to show that my rate was £1000 per working day but I was surprised when some said that their minimum daily rate was £5000 or more. And while I was expecting that my rates were much lower but it did surprise me to realise that after taking out the base costs and capital reserve, only £300 is left for personal income out of every £1000 received by the business. I would like to bet that very few of you know how much it costs to maintain an IFA business! So while I was a reluctant attendee, the seminar was useful because I was left feeling satisfied that I am providing good value for the service that I provide and that clients could pay a lot more elsewhere that is if they could get independent financial advice at all. I am sticking my neck out and I hope that you agree so if you have any questions or comments I would be very pleased to hear from you.

July 2016 - Your Financial Wealth in times of Political & Economic Chaos

“Good news we’ve voted to leave the EU” – I received this message mid-day on Friday 24th June from an IFA marketing group. The second part of their sentence said: “your clients have never needed your advice more than they will now”. Unfortunately this attempt at being upbeat has not been reciprocated by the investment companies and financial institutions. Over the last 14 days the only companies that have been excited about Brexit have been companies which sell high risk investments which are totally unsuitable for my typical clients. These companies see the coming relaxation in regulations from Brussels as an opportunity to sell more of their products so that they can make more profit. I remember the bad old days of ‘flog for a profit and sod the client’ only too well and personally I dread any return. So why have I taken two weeks to communicate to my clients since the referendum result? The answer is in two parts: Firstly the shock and disbelief that people would ignore the experts and vote for economic uncertainty. Secondly because I knew that my clients’ portfolios were already well placed to stand the uncertainty and volatility. For example over the last few days several property funds have suspended activity where investors could not withdraw their money. Property funds hold a certain amount of cash to allow for investors withdrawals and so many investors have withdrawn cash that they have had no cash left. The only way to generate more cash is to sell property and selling a commercial property such as an office block or Retail Park does not happen overnight. Several years ago when our investment service proposition was put together we did not include property funds. Illiquidity was one reason among many for them not to be included and hence my clients are not affected. There has been a lot of talk about the FTSE 100 and you will hear a lot more over coming months. It started by going down but has since recovered and gone well above where it was before the 23rd June. This is not (I repeat not) a good indicator. The FTSE 100 is made up of the largest 100 by capitalisation of companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Almost no one holds a portfolio made up of these companies and it would not be a good investment strategy if they did. Most of these top 100 companies are by their nature global in scope and there are several reasons why they have currently increased in value. Bizarrely the weakness of the UK economy as a result of Brexit may be one of the reasons why the FTSE has increased. My clients’ portfolios are typically highly diverse and they may have of the order of 8000 companies in their portfolios. This diversification includes global diversification which in turn means that you are less exposed to the fluctuations in the UK market. So hold tight because you are in the best place that you can be. And what about Bonds? It seems that interest rates are likely to fall with the suggestion of 0.25% being floated. What does this mean for your cash in the bank? Well for every £10,000 in the bank if inflation is 2% that means that at the end of every year your money needs to grow to £10,200 just to stand still. Anything less and it will actually be falling in value. If you are getting 0.25% this will only give you £10,025 and you have lost £175 by keeping your money in an account where it only earns 0.25%. Holding money in the bank gives you a guarantee – a guarantee that you will lose money every year for as long as this situation continues. If you think that is bad then spare a thought for other countries such as Japan or Sweden which have negative interest rates. These mean that you are actually charged for leaving your money in the bank – a negative interest rate of 1% could make your £10,000 become £9,900 by the end of a year. Bond prices usually correlate with bank lending rates so we will be considering the potential of tilting the portfolio balance in favour of equities but there will definitely be no hurry to do so and nothing will happen until we have a clearer view of direction. I am taking a well-earned break to the Costa del Sol for 10 days in the middle of the month. I am so pleased that I have my Euro account because I will be unaffected by fluctuations in the value of the pound. Being a financial planner and being prepared has its advantages. Hopefully matters will be less chaotic by next month but I’m not holding my breath this side of Christmas. As usual if you have any questions or need any help please get in touch.

June 2016 – Your Financial Wealth and the EU Referendum

Your Financial Wealth and the EU Referendum We are so lucky to live in the UK because we are privileged in so many ways. One of those privileges which unfortunately too many take for granted (and some abuse) is our right to hold and express our own opinions. I know that many of my clients will have different views to my own on politics and religion though I am sure that they all share high moral values, they want to do the right thing, and they want to make a difference. On Thursday 23rd of June 2016 we all have been asked to vote in an EU referendum and according to most respected authorities there will be considerable financial implications if the UK votes to leave. Taking the FTSE 100 as an indicator it reached a low point this week and the value of the pound has also fallen with the announcements that the Leave campaign are in the lead. Why has the investment market and the value of the pound fallen in value? I believe that is down to one word: ‘Confidence’. There have been lots of facts and figures presented by both sides and whose set of figures you believe is down to whether you are in the Remain or the Leave camp. However I believe that ‘Confidence’ is a more important factor than any set of facts and figures because the international markets operate on confidence. If it is seen that the UK is in a better financial position after June 23rd confidence will rise and the value of your investments and the pound in your pocket will rise again. If the UK enters a period of uncertainty confidence will not return for some time and you can expect your investments to linger or fall, and the value of your pound to fall with the cost of imports rising. Regardless of where you place your vote I passionately believe that we should all exercise our democratic right and turn up to vote. However it is rare that one person’s vote makes a difference to the outcome so all that most of us can do is sit back and wait for the result. Should you make any changes to your investment portfolios? The answer is a very definite ‘No’. My clients with Dimensional Fund Managers held on the Nucleus platform are in highly diverse and low cost portfolios with a significant international element which should help to counteract any fall in the UK market if it happens. I believe that moving out of investment into cash is the wrong thing to do and if you are overweight in cash, then now is probably a good time to invest. I have watched the EU debates and read the literature and I’ve been as confused as most of us by the facts and figures. I have swayed between Leave and Remain and discussions with family and friends have followed extensive and sometimes heated discussions. I have made up my mind by looking at who was supporting each side and who I wanted to identify with. This might help you so my list is below: My apologies for those that I have missed from either camp because space is limited but the list was enough for me. The following are all recommending ‘Remain’: The Governor of the Bank of England; the International Monetary Fund; The Institute of Fiscal Studies; The Confederation of British Industry; President of the United States of America; The leaders and heads of state of every other single member of the EU; Eight former US Treasury Secretaries; President of China; The prime ministers of India, Canada, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand; The chief executives of most of the top 100 companies in the UK including Marks & Spencer, BT, Asda, Vodafone, Virgin, IBM, and BMW; Kofi Annan the former Secretary General of the United Nations; All living former Prime Ministers of the UK (both parties); The Prime Minister of the UK; The leaders of the Labour Party; The Liberal Democrats; The Green Party; The Scottish National Party; Plaid Cymru; Sinn Fein; The current chancellor and his predecessors; Martin Lewis the money saving expert; The Secretary General of the TUC; The National Union of Students; The National Union of Farmers; The Chief Executive of the NHS; Stephen Hawking; Secretary General of NATO; Churches of England, Scotland and Wales; Greenpeace; World Wild Life Fund; The World Bank, The OECD; a huge number of reputable and recognised economists; Justin Urquhart Stewart of Seven Investment Management; Hundreds of leading arts figures including Benedict Cumberbatch, Sir Derek Jacoby, Sir John Hurt; Jeremy Clarkson; about 220 (96%) of Labour MPs; about 170 (60%) of Conservative MPs; I think that’s enough! The following are recommending Leave: Boris Johnson (who many have suggested saw it as his quickest route to number 10); Michael Gove (my apologies for mentioning his name in the presence of my clients from the teaching fraternity); The Leader of UKIP Michael Farage (he seems like a nice man and shares my passion for real ale); The BNP; British First; Donald Trump; Vladimir Putin; Marine le Pen; ISIS; about 10 (4%) of Labour MPs; about 130 (40%) of Conservative MPs. If I’ve got this right it makes the Leave camp seem rather unattractive and quite lonely. I promise that I’ll get back to my usual newsletter next month by then we should know whether Confidence has returned (or not!)

May 2016 - Helping clients in later life

As we get older many of us have difficult decisions to make because of declining health or limited finances. Financial needs in these circumstances are special and they are not within the expertise of most financial advisers. The Society of Later Life Advisers, SOLLA, recognised the need and was founded in 2008 with the aim of assisting people and their families in finding trusted and accredited financial advisers who understand financial needs in later life. The following is a quote from their website: “What is needed is not simply a well-qualified financial adviser but somebody who you feel you can rely upon to understand the plans you need to make for your retirement years. The complexities of the many decisions you or your family may need to face when looking at issues such as care funding matters or whether equity release is the right thing for you, will need careful and considered advice. SOLLA links you with an adviser who can help you explore the solutions that work for you and where they are involved, your family too.” For the last 4 months I have been going through SOLLA’s stringent application process and I have now completed all of their paperwork requirements including verification of my qualifications and credentials. I have a two hour viva voce assessment with an assessor on June 15th and then my application will go before their committee for approval so hopefully I will have some good news for you in my July newsletter. SOLLA provide many resources to members and opportunities for increasing knowledge. A two hour SOLLA webinar yesterday gave me a moving insight into the complexities of care and the required funding. Live in care, visiting care, day care, 24 hour care at home, the home share scheme, and staying at a care home were all considered. With state provision in the range £54 to £81 a week and the likely cost of care up to £1000 a week or more, there was never more of a need for specialist advice. Please get in touch if you would like further information.

April 2016 – Why create a plan for your life?

Why should you create a plan for your life? 1. Because there is power in planning. When plans are carefully thought through and written out, they tend to come true, whatever the obstacles. 2. Because a life plan can serve as a guide, helping you align your deepest values, beliefs and goals with your earning power and financial resources so you can realise your dreams. 3. Because by combining proven investment strategies and an honest, heartfelt life planning process, you are quite likely to get where you want to go. Your financial life planning is vitally important and it needs to be continually reviewed. The pilot taking off from Heathrow didn’t make his or her plan six months ago and then go to sleep. They have to continually readjust in accordance with changing circumstances so that they get to where they plan to get to. Your financial plan is no different and if you want to stay on course it needs to be reviewed regularly. If you would like us to review your life time cash flow planning to see where you will be in next year, in 5 years, 10 years, and beyond, then give us a call to arrange a financial review. The three points above are an extract from one of the Interface Financial Planning web pages. If you haven’t visited in a while I recommend that you take a look. When every day more and more is going onto the Internet and operating in the Cloud, Interface is no different and more and more facilities are being added all of the time. Why not take a look and give us your feedback using the Client Feedback link?

March 2016 – Technology moving so fast

Are you keeping up? Is it me or is technology moving so fast that it’s difficult to keep up? Almost every day something else moves on line, or a new service, gadget, or gizmo becomes available. When I started in business the post was too heavy for the postman to carry and it was delivered by a Royal Mail van. Just ten years ago Lyn spent two hours a day opening and filing the paperwork. What a change, the tiny amount of stuff that arrives by post is almost negligible and is dealt with in five minutes. But email, well there’s another story – I typically get 350 emails a day dropping into my Inbox. Even The Royal Mail communicates with us by Email! I think that you might find the following 2015 facts from the Office for National Statistics interesting: • The internet was accessed every day, or almost every day, by 78% of adults (39.3 million) in Great Britain in 2015, compared with 35% (16.2 million) in 2006, when directly comparable records began • Almost all adults aged 16 to 24 (96%) accessed the internet “on the go”, compared with only 29% of those aged 65 years and over • Social networking was used by 61% of adults, and of those, 79% did so every day or almost every day • In 2015, 76% of adults bought goods or services online, up from 53% in 2008. “Clothes or sports goods” were purchased by 55% of adults, making them the most popular online purchase • In the last 3 months, 22% of adults purchased online once or twice, while 28% of adults purchased 11 or more times. Online purchases totalling £100 to £499 were made by 42% of adults who had bought online in the last 3 months • In 2015, 86% of households in Great Britain (22.5 million) had internet access, up from 57% in 2006 The fact that you are reading this eNewsletter means that you are one of the winners but spare a thought for those who have been left behind, I really don’t know how they manage. We are trying to keep up and this week we have launched a business Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Interface.IFA/ – I would be really pleased if you log in and click ‘Like’. And just to give you something to think about: in December 2014 I bought my new car on line – the first time I saw it was when I was driving it away from the Ford garage where I had arranged to pick it up.

February 2016 – People before profit

Interface Financial Planning was formed in 1992 with the aim of providing professional advice and quality service to people with modest income and wealth. It started with the values of putting people before profit, and contribution before reward. These values have endured throughout and they have remained at the forefront of what we do. We believe that this mission statement has been vital because it has been our torch to light the path ahead and without an ideal we would not have a standard by which to judge our shortcomings. So where are we today after 24 years: We are satisfied that high quality advice has always been provided and our record and client testimonials provide the evidence. However providing a consistently high quality service has not always been easy without sufficient resources and support and is in the area of service that we are focussing our improvements during 2016. For those of you who have looked at our website recently you will be aware of the many people who are now engaged by Interface Financial Planning. Nicola has proved to be the rock on which we have built over the last couple of years and to add further support we have added Sarah Harvey and Eileen Murphy. Nicola or Sarah may contact you in the near future to ensure that you are getting everything that you need so please look forward to receiving their email or telephone call. Before we leave the topic of values, Alan’s top ten values are: Integrity, Compassion, Respect, Contribution, Honesty, Trust, Fairness, Loyalty, Sincerity, and Equality. Are your values similar? I dare you to log on to our creation at: www.interfaceifa.co.uk and find out what yours are! Please let me know how you get on.

January 2016 – Watch your behaviour!

Watch your behaviour! It has been proven that the best indicator of investment return is not the funds where you are invested, nor the quality of your fund manager, but it is your behaviour as an investor that makes the biggest difference. The DALBAR 2015 Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behaviour report has shown time and time again that the returns that investors actually realise is hugely influenced by their behaviour. Since 1994 DALBAR’s QAIB has been measuring the effects of investors’ decisions to buy, sell and switch into and out of mutual funds over both short- and long-term time frames. The results consistently show that the average investor earns less – in many cases, much less – than mutual fund performance reports would suggest. Just give some thought to the current situation: We are bombarded by the FTSE index at almost every news bulletin so we know that the ‘market’ has fallen over the last 6 months or so. For my clients their portfolios are balanced by bond investments so that they will not experience the same fall, however let’s continue our focus on the equity portion of your investment. Prices have gone down so the intelligent investor will be rushing out to buy, they will be converting their cash into equity investment. It may still go down further but we don’t know where the bottom of the wave is because none us has crystal ball. However one thing that we can be sure about is that after every downturn there is always a significant upturn. The stock market crash of 1987, 2001, and 2008 to mention just some of the downturns shows that people who invest when the markets are down always make significant returns when the market bounces back. Today represents good value to get into equity investment and if you already own equities it makes just as much sense to stay put. What does the unintelligent investor do? They panic and sell their equity holdings after the market has gone down and then wait until the market has gone up before they get back in. It’s just like doing your weekly shop at Asda or Tesco and before you put anything into your trolley going to the service desk and saying: “please give me a list of your offers this week because I don’t want to buy any of those. I just want to wait until things have gone up in price before I stock up on them!” It might sound silly but it’s one of the reasons why the average investor earns much less than they should. I may return to other investor behaviours which reduce their investment return in a later newsletter. Please let me know what you think?

December 2015 – Merry Christmas

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. As we approach 2016 I wonder where 2015 has gone – it seems that time has gone so quickly. It is a time when I will be thinking about those of my dear clients who are no longer with us and thinking of those now left on their own. There have been too many client funerals this year. When I have been driving home from saying goodbye to a client I realise what a privilege it has been to try to make a difference in their lives: January 2016 will see my 26th anniversary of being a financial adviser and throughout that time my main intention has been to help ordinary people see through the maze of financial planning. According to some recent comments I have not done too badly: “I haven’t mentioned it before but I don’t know what I would have done without you over the years, I am very grateful and I hope that you are going to continue for a long time yet.” [CFH] Well please rest assured that I intend to be around for quite some time, I have wonderful clients and being there when they need me is very important to me. This is not to say that there weren’t times during this year when I could have thought about it. 2015 has been particularly demanding with the constant changes in regulations, changes in pensions, keeping up to date with knowledge and professional development, reporting requirements, changes in technology, and ensuring that professional support staff are available to provide client service and support. However when I get comments like the one above it makes it all worthwhile. Focusing on the developments in technology: when I became independent in February 1992 my first business card had an email address and many people asked me what it was for! Now, almost 24 years later, it is the people without email and without internet who are being left out. It seems that every day another service is being delivered digitally. According to recent survey’s over 90% of the UK has internet and I find it difficult to understand how those without email and internet manage – they are certainly missing out. In order to enhance client service and embrace the benefits of technology our new client communication system, Personal Finance Portal (PFP), was launched this year and many clients are already loving what it offers. If you haven’t registered yet please do so as soon as you can so that you will not miss out. I wish you a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2016.

November 2015 – Lasting Powers of Attorney

I was leaving Sharm el Sheikh late on Saturday 17th October when I said to Tricia: “Putting on my financial planner hat: if the plane was to drop out of the sky it’s comforting to know that everything is place and that all of our affairs are in order.” Tricia shrugged it off and I could tell that she was saying ‘don’t be silly – planes do not drop out of the sky.’ The news less than 14 days later on the morning of Saturday 31st October has shocked me to the core. It has made me stop to think and re-examine our financial arrangements and I am pleased that everything is in place just as I thought. Without wishing to dwell on the aeroplane theme I am reminded of a story that I was told several years ago: When you are in your aeroplane if the oxygen masks drop whose mask do you put on first – yours or your child’s? The answer is your own because if you stop to put on your child’s first the likelihood is that you will both die. In order to help others, you must ensure that your own house is in order first. Well mine is in good shape so how about yours? Everyone should have properly drawn up and registered Lasting Powers of Attorney (there are two) and they should be securely stored in a place that your Attorneys can access then when needed. If you don’t have them or you only have an old Enduring Power of Attorney (these ended in October 2007), now is the time. Drawing up a Will is no longer adequate on its own and everyone should have a Will, an Asset Protection Trust, and a Memorandum of Wishes. If you haven’t yet prepared these get in touch, this is something that you must not put off. Funeral Expenses and your funeral wishes should also in place. We recommend that all clients have a funeral expenses plan in place with an independent funeral director and that your funeral wishes are stored with your funeral plan so that it is accessible at the time of need. For many of you this document is not the easiest thing to draw up and I am always glad to help. Sharm el Sheikh was wonderful and the Egyptian people were so wonderfully friendly and helpful that I feel upset that they appear to have had their living snatched from them because of a few criminal fanatics. I hope that it won’t be too long before it will be safe to go again.

October 2015 – More things than money

One of my clients said to me a few days ago “sometimes there are more things than money” and I was inspired by how she was spending her time helping those less fortunate than her. Another client was telling me how she was helping in her local foodbank and how she was helping terminally ill people – her stories were moving. A dear client died last week. Norman was a spritely 88 year old and he was helping in his community right up to the end. One morning he didn’t get up. I shall miss his good humour. From my experience in helping clients over the last 25 years no one ever says I should have spent more time in work or made more money. It’s the difference that we make and the friends that we touch that matters. Dreda was definitely right, there are more things than money. So how does that fit in with being a financial adviser? I think that if I can use my knowledge and skill with money so that my clients can spend more time where it matters that is my contribution, it is where I make a difference. Moving on to another client conversation I was asked what I did with my time and it is quite understandable that many do not appreciate how much time it takes to operate in the most regulated business in the world. Two days last month were taken up with our annual inspection and while we passed with flying colours, preparation and follow up took 5 days. Our half yearly report for the FCA (the RMAR) was completed on 1st October which took another full day. Another day was spent in London with Dimensional keeping up to date with my investment knowledge and another day working with a group of advisers from Nucleus keeping up with best practice. A typical month sees 50% of my time taken up with business requirements. I love being with my clients and ideally I would love to spend more of my time with them: With my additional support staff and use of technology to improve business efficiency I am aiming to increase my client time to 60% or more during 2016. Our telephone reception service has been changed to ‘All Day PA’ and I hope that you will see an enhanced service as they bed in. They literally are ‘all day’ and you can speak to a live person into the evening or even at 3 a.m. in the morning! Why not go to our website click on ‘Client View’ on the home page and send us your feedback to let us know how they are doing. We have found that over 50 clients are using our Text to Email service where they send text messages and we receive them as emails (and we send emails and they receive them as texts). The ‘TxtUs’ number has been changed to 0780 000 6208. If you haven’t used the service yet why not send us a text and see how it works? By the way don’t try to phone the number because it’s for texts only.

August 2015 – A new way to communicate securely

A new way to communicate securely and access your portfolio with Personal Finance Portal from Interface Financial Planning Limited. Providing my clients with first class service and market leading technology which puts them in control. Please register now to: 1. Communicate securely – for you to send and receive messages and documents 2. To access your short, medium and long-term finances online with PFP Personal Finance Portal (PFP) is our revolutionary new app that gives you access to view all your finances in one place 24/7 – anywhere, on any mobile or web device. PFP enables you to view your fund information and financial portfolio at the click of a button. So whether you’re looking for an up-to-date valuation of your portfolio, want to assess how you’re progressing against your goals or simply wish to get in touch, PFP has it covered. There’s even dedicated mobile phone apps for iPhone and Android devices coming soon. Secure messaging between us and you Because email and post are increasingly open to being intercepted and we treat the security of the data you share with us with the utmost importance we have decided to use PFP as our preferred method for communicating with you. PFP provides you with a secure messaging service, so that you can quickly get in touch with us and have the peace of mind of knowing that any information you share is encrypted and completely private. A secure document vault PFP provides you with a secure document vault, so you can house all your financial documents online where they are secure and fully backed up – much safer and more convenient than the bottom of the filing cabinet. Please register now Register for PFP Now – simply click here: https://interface.mypfp.co.uk and enter your email address or click the link from the Client Log in page on our web site: http://www.interfacefinancialplanning.co.uk. You will receive an email which will ask you some security questions and this will allow you to create a password and log in. When you have logged in please upgrade to PFP Premium PFP Premium is an additional service that enables you to collate information on your short-term finances like bank account(s), credit cards, loans and mortgages, together with your advised products, giving you powerful insight into your total net worth. Plus, you’ll also be able to receive alerts and insights into spending and saving habits so you can keep track on how you’re progressing against the goals you’ve set. This is the way of the future and I want you to be part of it. I can sincerely recommend the Premier Service because I have been testing it with my family and we all love it. I know that it will help put you in control of your finances and it will help you so much that I have decided to pay the monthly cost of the premium service for all clients and I will cover the cost indefinitely. When you register for the Premium service you will be asked for your payment details to cover the cost of £1.20 a month but do not be concerned because I guarantee that Interface will pick up the tab and there will be nothing for you to pay. I have asked Intelliflo to remove the request for payment details for all of my clients. By the way I am already running the App on my iPhone and iPad, it looks great and it will be available within a few weeks. Want to know more? Read about our highest level of security at http://interface.mypfp.co.uk/Misc/Security or contact me for further assistance.

July 2015 – What are your values?

What are your values? If anyone was to ask you, could you clearly state what your top ten values are? (And just as importantly what they are not!) Your core values are the underlying principles by which you live your life. When you live according to your core values you find that life is easy, you’re happier, less stressed because you are focusing on the values that are important to you. My top ten values start with: ‘Integrity, Compassion, Respect, and Contribution’. I recommend that you log on to ‘Life Goals’ at www.interfaceifa.co.uk and pick out your top ten and see if they are compatible with mine. When you log on you will also see the other six of my top ten. The Life Goals log on is my own creation and when you log in you will find that there are three other exercises in addition to Values. They are designed to be fun and to stimulate serious thought about who you are and what you want. At Interface I have spent 25 years helping my clients sort out their finances but what has been shown time and again is that it is just as important for clients to understand themselves as it is to understand their money. Hopefully the four exercise will help you to clarify and give you some direction and I hope that you will find them fun at the same time. Last month I was in news again – published for the third time this year. Nucleus wanted an expert opinion on how to run a client centred business and their interview appeared in an article on ‘Illuminate’. You may like to read it at the following link: Six thoughts on back office systems. Later this month I am being interviewed and filmed by Intelliflo so there may be another link to look at next month.

June 2015 – Life goal exercise

I hope that by the time you read this the weather will be warming up and you are starting to enjoy summer, it seems to be a long time in coming this year. In my May newsletter I explained why Interface had made a slow start to the year though I am pleased that we are now steaming full ahead – I hope that the summer weather will do likewise. Last month I talked about my poor experience with Xplan and this was taken up by Money Marketing in an article on 14th May. Since it was printed my phone hasn’t stopped ringing with sympathy from other advisers throughout the UK. If you would like to read the article in full you can click on the following link at: “Iress Xplan system failures”. You will know that we provide you with the best investment portfolios in the UK and that all of our portfolios are doing what they should. It’s a good satisfying feeling and a lot of work goes on in the background that you may or may not be aware of; perhaps I’ll pick this up in a later newsletter. However you will also know that getting the ‘money’ sorted is only part because ‘marrying your meaning with your money’ is just as, if not more, important. To this end I have developed a series of exercises on my website which I think you will find very stimulating and interesting and hopefully have a bit of fun too. Simply go to my website and click on Life Goals on the Client Log in page, enter your email address and create a password and have some fun. This is unique to me and I have personally developed it with the help of Software developers, JFD Consultants. It starts off with a Life Balance Wheel to see if your life is in balance – will your wheel roll or will you have a bumpy ride? Then you are asked to identify your values – mine are listed so see if they are compatible with yours. The Bucket list and Life Planning questions are so very important and you deserve to give yourself some time in these areas. When you have done all four exercises keep coming back – log in again in 3, 6, & 12 months and see how much progress you have made.