In Focus News & Insights

Given all the talk and acceptance of QROPS transfers, expats in France could be forgiven for forgetting that there was ever a time when they were short of options. But it’s worth remembering that before QROPS transfers became available, expats in France and elsewhere in Europe had very few choices available to them when it […]

There are so many options when it comes to expat regular savings, but sometimes, according to a new piece of research, the best thing to do may also be the most straightforward.

The report, which was carried out by Paul Lewis (respected journalist and presenter of Money Box, Radio 4’s flagship financial affairs programme), found that over a 21-year period, regular savings actually produced better returns than shares from a FTSE 100 tracker fund.

The research has raised some eyebrows in the financial advice and wealth management industries, where it has long been the accepted position that investing in shares produces better outcomes than simply adding to expat regular savings.

As a holistic provider of wealth management services in the Grand Cayman and other strategic locations across the world, Blacktower is committed to ongoing innovation in order to continually consolidate and better the level of service it provides its clients.

As such, it comes as little surprise to us that a recent piece of research by ComPeer suggests that wealth managers should digitise their operations and embrace fintech if they are to continue to attract clients.

It is truly an exciting time to be involved in wealth management. As one of the UK’s longest standing wealth management companies Blacktower has all the requisite experience of both serving clients and dealing with regulators; we believe that coupling this strong foundation with a commitment to technological modernisation puts us at the forefront of wealth management in Grand Cayman as well as the other locations from which we operate.

Education and school fees planning is a major concern for any person looking to provide the best opportunities in life for their children or grandchildren. It’s a serious enough burden whoever and wherever you are in the world, but if you are one of the several million British expats living abroad, the issue can seem particularly daunting.

Especial empathy should be reserved for those families who have chosen, whether it is for work, lifestyle, health or other concerns, to move abroad and to send their children to private boarding schools back in the UK.

For parents in this position just a small change in their financial circumstances can occasionally place their children’s private education at risk. Fees can be onerous and effective wealth management planning can mean the difference between comfortably affording them or finding the bill a distinct headache.

Official figures have revealed that pension funds have plummeted a further £25 million into the red. The fall in bond yields – on which pension funds rely – has increased the pressure on the pots available to support final salary scheme pay-outs. At the end of May, the pension backstop PPF (Pension Protection Fund) revealed that the roughly five and a half thousand pension schemes it monitors have a combined deficit of nearly £295 billion. This is almost £25.5 billion worse than a month earlier.

Fears for the robustness of pension pots have been highlighted by the widely reported BHS deficit.  They come as a separate study reveals some of Britain’s biggest companies are paying shareholders a dividend bonanza despite huge deficits of their own. The Pensions Regulator have issued a similar warning in the past, saying: ‘It is important that employers treat their pension scheme fairly. We expect trustees to question employers’ dividend policies where debt recovery contributions are constrained.’ 

Is it time the 21 million people with over £60 billion saved should cash in their Premium Bonds? Of course, you could just win millions! Premium Bonds are a savings product where the interest is based on a monthly prize draw and the annual prize rate is dropping from 1.35pc to 1.25pc. This is the average return, indicating that for every £100 paid in to bonds, on average £1.25 a year is be paid out.

In practice, that’s impossible. The smallest prize is £25; so if 20 people each had £100 in, for one to win £25-plus, the remaining 19 win nothing.

They seduce with tax-free returns, but if you live in Spain that is not and has never been the case and now, in the UK, that’s no longer special with the new rule meaning all savings interest is automatically paid tax-free.