In Focus News & Insights

France is the world’s most visited country, with over 89 million tourists pouring in every year to sample the many attractions it has to offer. Its culture is known and revered around the globe: couture fashion houses, the art of the impressionists, winemaking and of course, French cuisine. Paris, the capital city, sees over 17 million visitors yearly, who come to take in the sights of one of the world’s most beautiful cities. But tourism isn’t the only thing that France does well; it also regularly scores highly in global polls for quality of the healthcare system.

Since the global outbreak of COVID in early 2020, people all around the world have experienced financial pressure. To understand how UK, Spain, and Portugal are coping, we’ve taken a closer look at each separate nation and uncovered which cities are most concerned about the monetary implications of the pandemic, as well as those saving more now than ever before.

In popular culture, Spain is synonymous with sunshine, Paella, Flamenco and endless golden beaches.  All of which paint a familiar, and perhaps slightly old-fashioned view, of the fourth biggest member of the E.U.

There’s a lot more to this huge country than the easy stereotypes might suggest. There’s sunshine if you want it, but there’s also snow, desert, dense ancient forests where bears still roam free, and sleepy hill towns that appear not to have changed in a hundred years – nor seem likely to, in a hundred more.

There’s so much to commend it to the traveler, that they can be forgiven for beginning to dream a little, of what it might be like to live there, for real… for good. Let’s take a look at 5 cities in Spain where the prospective expat might think of living la vida local.

Manuela Robinson – Joint Country Manager, was interviewed by the magazine “Revista Pontos de Vista” for their 21st November edition.

Blacktower Financial Management (International) Ltd (BFMI) is made up of experienced consultants who offer an excellent service in wealth management and tax planning. With more than 30 years’ experience in the market and with offices on both sides of the Atlantic, whose differentiating aspects have marked the company's path, making it a leader in the financial sector?

All aspects are summarized in the ability to respond, with pragmatism, rationality and professionalism to the demands of the sector and customers’ expectations. BFMI is a leader in the financial sector due to the whole team being interconnected and ponders on the challenges and risks faced when operating in a complex context, within an international dimension. BFMI services differentiate itself from the others, by striving to guarantee investor confidence and not considering separately the national and international dimension; on the contrary, there are two sides to the same coin in a globalized world – take for instance the effects that the North American elections have on the global markets.

You may have seen emails alerting you to a new fraud specific to the financial services advice industry. We are not aware of any of our clients having been targeted in the way described below, but it is our responsibility at Blacktower to do everything we can to educate our clients about these scams to avoid any harm coming to them.

The fraudsters claim to be from the Financial Conduct Authority or local law enforcement and are targeting clients of investment management firms. They are advising clients that the investment manager, adviser or firm is under investigation. The fraudster specifically asks the client not to speak to their investment manager, adviser or firm, or even close connections, claiming this would be considered tipping off. The client is then advised to encash their portfolio and move the cash to the client's bank account. Once this is done, the fraudster then ‘recommends’ an investment which is actually a scam.

We have all had different experiences in the past years, but 2020 will forever be the year that this generation will never forget.

From the extremely eventful year for stock markets to the US Election, I think it would be helpful to have a look at what happened throughout the year, as we finally turn the page and face 2021 with renewed hope.

January 2021: The Blacktower Financial Management Group of Companies today announces the appointment of Gavin Pluck as a Group Director. The news follows significant expansion to the brand’s global footprint and continued acceleration of its growth strategy, in the face of a challenging year.

Pluck joins Blacktower having resigned from his position as GWM Group Managing Director in February 2020, following the company’s acquisition by SkyBound Capital.