Savings & Investments
Your savings and investments should work as hard as you do, but without the right strategy, you could be missing out on growth and paying more tax than necessary.
Whether you’re building wealth, protecting it, or generating an income, our independent advisers will help you choose the right mix of assets for your goals and risk profile. From ISAs and investment bonds to portfolio management and smart cash strategies, we’ll ensure your money is working efficiently – balancing growth, security, and flexibility so you can plan confidently for the future
Want help to make the most of your money with smart savings and investments? Speak to our team
Our Savings & Investment Services
Planning ahead is the key to ensuring financial security for you and your family. The earlier you decide to save, the better chance you have of achieving your financial goals.
Our team at Macalvins Wealth are highly skilled in providing expert advice on all forms of savings and investment products. We will identify the best type of savings and investment vehicles for you and your family. For more information and tailored advice on our range of saving and investment services, call Macalvins Wealth today on 020 8371 3113 or email advice@macalvinswealth.com
Investment Bonds
An investment bond is a collective investment within which the funds of individual investors are pooled together. This enables relatively small investors to benefit from the economies of scale made available to institutional fund managers.
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There are many different options available and elements to consider when choosing a bond. Our investments specialists at Vintage Wealth Management will help you to understand the benefits of each option and identify the most valuable one for you based on factors including:
Fund Performance
Unit Linked Bonds
Enhanced Allocation Rates
Charges
Administration Levels
Number of Funds Available
Financial Strength of the Provider
Flexibility of the Contract.
Investment bonds are also a useful tax planning tool and may provide a regular tax-deferred income, whereby investors may take up to 5% of the capital as income each year - for up to 20 years - without any immediate tax liability.
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Investment Bonds allow you to invest in either an insurance company with profits fund or the units of an underlying equity fund.
With Profits Bonds
When it comes to With Profits Bonds, growth is not directly related to the investment (which is made in a mix of shares, property, fixed interest and cash). Instead, bonuses are regularly declared with the potential for a termination bonus on encashment of the bond.Investors enjoy smooth returns over the years as bonds are made on a relatively conservative basis so that funds can be held in reserve when stock market growth is unfavourable.
Unit Linked Bonds
With unit linked bonds, investments are made directly into asset classes. Bond growth is linked to the unit prices of the assets held with assets valued on a daily basis.
Offshore Bonds
Offshore bonds are generally issued by subsidiaries of well-known UK life assurance companies in locations such as the Channel Islands, where the bond is subject to little or no tax on the income or gains received in the underlying fund. If you are a higher rate taxpayer, this may prove particularly attractive.As offshore centres are generally not covered by UK regulations, we recommend speaking to the Vintage Wealth Management specialists to ensure that you are fully compliant with all supervision and compensation schemes in the country of origin before investing in a bond.
Offshore Bond Related Options
We can also advise on other offshore bond-related options, including:
Investments in other denominated currencies;
Opportunities for those who work or move abroad and wish to protect their income and gain overseas assets from UK tax;
UK expats intending to return only on retirement who wish to keep investments offshore;
Options for those married to a non-domicile in the UK who may be able to gain tax advantages by placing assets in the name of their spouse.
Unit Trusts, Investment Trusts & OEICs
Unit Trusts, Investment Trusts and Open-Ended Investment Companies (OEICs) are the three main types of collective investment available on the UK market.When you choose one of these collective investments, your money is pooled with the funds of many other individual investors and actively managed by professional fund managers.The investment managers choose from a broad spread of assets, depending on the investment remit of the fund and the level of investment risk applicable to that fund.The main asset classes available to invest in are company shares, bonds, gilts, property and specialist areas such as hedge funds or 'guaranteed funds'.
Unit Trusts
Investors 'buy' a number of units, the price of which is dependent on the value of the underlying assets.Can invest for either income or growth in
Various geographical locations.
Units can be sold back to the fund managers by the investor.
New units can be issued as demand requires.
The trustees compute the value of the trust every single day, dividing it by the number of units in issue to produce a bid and offer (buying and selling) price based on that calculation.
Open-Ended Investment Companies
OEICs are similar to unit trusts, but they have no bid/offer spread. This means that buyers and sellers get the same single price for their shares, while flexibility allows easy switching between different investment funds.
Investment Trusts
With investment trusts, investors buy actual shares in a company and not units. These are structured as companies so their shares are traded in the same way as traditional limited company shares. Our advisors at Macalvins Wealth will take you through each of these investment options and the range of products in the marketplace to ascertain the best choices for you. We use our expertise and years of experience to create the most suitable investment route for your circumstances with regular reviews for ongoing success.
ISAs
You’ve probably already heard of Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) as they are one of the most popular types of savings plans in the UK today. As a simple, flexible and tax-efficient savings option, investors can save a significant amount of money into ISAs – up to £20,000 per year tax-free. The Stocks and Shares component of an ISA can be invested into OEICs, investment trusts or directly into equities, gilts or corporate bonds.
The New ISA
Changes implemented in July 2014 witnessed the creation of the New ISA (NISA), allowing investors to save even more into this tax-efficient growth option which is subject to neither income nor capital gains tax on encashment.If you have available cash in a bank or building society account, it may well be advantageous to place some of this money into an ISA, as deposit accounts are normally taxed at the highest rate you pay.For each tax year, there's a limit to the amount you can deposit into your ISA. Your annual allowance can be invested in a cash ISA, an investment ISA, an innovative finance ISA, or a combination of the three.Our specialists will advise you on how best to invest and save your funds. We will create strategies to position your investments for maximum growth and make recommendations for how best to distribute your funds using ISAs, or other savings vehicles.
Cash Management
Smart cash management is essential for those of us with large cash deposits. It makes the most of your excess cash by enhancing interest income and minimising risk through diversification. We offer our clients a state of the art, online cash management solution with access to up to 30 banks and hundreds of instant access, term and notice deposit rates.You can manage your account selection using the in-built financial strength analysis of every bank to make informed choices without the need for additional paperwork or admin. By managing your cash using this solution, you can:
Spread funds across several providers to minimise risk
Access all funds through a single portal with no need to stay on top of multiple accounts
Send cash directly to bank accounts without the need for any additional account opening processes.
This is a revolutionary type of cash management and a simple, streamlined platform that allows you to control exactly how you want your cash deposited to achieve both short- and long-term financial goals.If you are sitting on cash balances and earning poor returns, this service could work well to improve your financial planning outcomes. For more information on this user-friendly cash management solution, contact our team today.
DISCLAIMER Past performance should not be seen as an indication of future investment performance, the value of investments can fall as well as rise. Funds that invest in property may be less liquid and produce more volatile performance than an investment in broader investment sectors. Stocks and shares should be seen as a medium to long term investment, for a period of at least 5 years. The value of investments and income from them can fall as well as rise and as a result of market and currency movements and you may not get back the amount originally invested. Higher yielding bonds have an increased risk (compared to Government or Investment grade bonds) of capital erosion and fluctuating value due to changing interest rates and the potential for defaults.
