It has been another terrible week for the markets, with very few of our funds showing any gains at all. However this weeks Fund of the Week is the Investec Global Bond from Reeves Independent’s Government Bond Portfolio, which incredibly had a weekly return of 1.13%!

Investment objectives

The Fund aims to achieve long term total return primarily through investment around the globe in highly rated corporate bonds, government and sovereign bonds and public bonds (such as bonds issued by local state and municipal authorities) which are listed or traded on Recognised Exchanges and in derivatives the underlying assets of which are highly rated corporate bonds, government and sovereign bonds and public bonds (such as bonds issued by local state and municipal authorities).

For more information on this Fund click on the following link http://www.trustnet.com/Factsheets/Factsheet.aspx?fundCode=GGF01&univ=U

If you would like to speak to someone about the Reeves Independent Portfolio Management Service please contact us NOW for a FREE initial chat on 0191 281 9862 or e-mail your enquiry to info@reevesifa.com

Mr X was a healthy 47 year old with no previous medical problems who believed he had a mild chest infection. However sadly it was much worse and he was diagnosed with a very serious illness, which has meant he has to have both his heart & lungs replaced. This is a very extreme case in terms of the severity of the illness, but not an uncommon consequence as many people are not able to work due to ill health.

There are a huge variety of protection policies available, which can be tailored to individuals circumstances. For example someone who is married with 2 kids & a mortgage will require a different plan to someone single with no mortgage. In the above case there were no dependents, but this is obviously a huge factor when choosing your plan.

Here at Reeves Independent we would gather a full fact find to fully understand your whole situation and research appropriately from this. This would then enable us to present to you the best options in respect to protecting the wellbeing of you & your family in the unfortunate event of ill health or even death.

For a FREE no obligation chat about your requirements then call 0191 281 9862 or e-mail info@reevesifa.com NOW!

Investment objectives

The fund aims to maximise total return through investment in a diversified portfolio of fixed interest and other debt securities.

For more information on this Fund click on the following link http://www.trustnet.com/Factsheets/Factsheet.aspx?fundCode=A3FD1&univ=U

If you would like to speak to someone about the Reeves Independent Portfolio Management Service please contact us NOW for a FREE initial chat on 0191 281 9862 or e-mail your enquiry to info@reevesifa.com

Many of these clients often have multiple pensions & have pots of at least £100k.

One client recently asked some questions which others may feel are of interest, hence why we have written this Blog

Currently by having a variety of (pension) accounts we are spreading our risk – what is the risk of putting all the money into one account & are we protected if the provider has problems in future?

Answer: There are a number of ways to protect your pension funds against different risks. If the pension provider (Aegon in this case) had its own problems that would affect the security of the total pension fund then there is a fund that provides protection of 90% of the fund value without any limits.

A number of our clients use Transact (WRAP provider) to hold their pension funds. Within these funds it is common to hold several investments & each one will have its own protection of 90%. This may also apply to other pensions & it depends upon the way investments are held. It is worth mentioning that as far as we know this has not been tested by law.

In your summary sheets you have identified Protected Rights Values – what are these and are they significant?

Answer: Protected rights pensions are funds that have been built up as a result of contracting out of (what was known) as SERPS. It was not always the case, but these funds now have the same benefits & are treated the same as personal pensions. Many pension providers allocate different policy numbers & may have different charging structures for protected rights funds. Other than being a different policy it is now not a significant factor.

Are there any tax issues in relation to moving the ISA‘s?

Answer: Providing ISA’s (Stocks & shares or Cash) are switched or transferred to new providers there is not any implication for capital gains or income tax. If an ISA was sold & then reinvested then that investment would be treated as a new investment. Hence it is ok to switch from one ISA to another without affecting the tax status.

What are the risk issues in moving the ISA‘s & also putting them all into one fund?

Answer: ISA’s can be switched for a number of reasons. One reason may be to reduce charges by investing in a tracker fund or funds for example. Another reason may be to use an account such as Transact which provides multiple investment opportunities. Any other risks are covered within our due diligence work before making any recommendations to switch.

Would I continue to pay the same monthly amount into the new Aegon scheme as I am doing currently?

Answer: The amount that you pay into a pension is dependant upon your needs and what you want to invest in pensions. Reeves Independent conduct detailed retirement plans for our clients. One consideration within this is what amounts that you should be investing and whether it should be in a pension fund or not. Whilst pensions offer valuable tax relief on the contributions and other tax benefits it is not always the best thing to do.

Further Reading:

http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/security-of-pensions/financial-services-compensation-scheme

https://www.transact-online.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Transact_Terms_and_Conditions1.pdf

If you would like to speak to someone about the Reeves Independent Portfolio Management Service or you would like any questions answering please contact us NOW for FREE initial chat on 0191 281 9862 or e-mail your enquiry to info@reevesifa.com

Just recently we had a referral come our way, someone who over the years had built up 5 different pension pots and was now considering amalgamating them.  A friend of his advised that he should have a chat with us to review the situation.  We met with this client for a free financial review and investigated his five different pension funds with view to putting some or all into one pot.  We reviewed all the options and opportunities for this client and the solution was to keep everything as it was.  For this individual customer we advised that by maintaining his investments separately he would achieve a greater retirement income and benefits without taking greater investment risks.

We always look at the full picture in the interest of each individual client – one size does not fit all at Reeves Independent!

If you would like to speak to someone about the Reeves Independent Portfolio Management Service please contact us NOW for FREE initial chat on 0191 281 9862 or e-mail your enquiry to info@reevesifa.com

This weeks Fund of the Week is the Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) Property Trust from Reeves Independent’s US Property Portfolio, which had a weekly return of 0.87%!

Investment objectives

The Trust aims to provide investors with a total return consistent with a balanced commercial property portfolio.

For more information on this Fund click on the following link http://www.trustnet.com/Factsheets/Factsheet.aspx?fundCode=YWF63&univ=U

If you would like to speak to someone about the Reeves Independent Portfolio Management Service please contact us NOW for a FREE initial chat on 0191 281 9862 or e-mail your enquiry to info@reevesifa.com

• What is your attitude to risk?
• How much risk are you prepared to take?
• What are you trying to achieve with your investments?
• Can you afford to lose capital value (the original amount you invested) if the investment does not perform well?

Here at Reeves Independent we will help & guide you through the answers to these questions with our thorough Risk Assessment Process (We Blogged about this back in February http://www.reevesifa.com/blog/?m=20120312)

If you would like to speak to someone about the Reeves Independent Portfolio Management Service please contact us NOW for FREE initial chat on 0191 281 9862 or e-mail your enquiry to info@reevesifa.com

Investment objectives

The fund aims to provide long-term capital growth by investing in Hong Kong and Chinese company shares. The fund may invest indirectly in Hong Kong and Chinese company shares by buying securities such as American depositary receipts (ADRs).

For more information on this Fund click on the following link http://www.trustnet.com/Factsheets/Factsheet.aspx?fundCode=NWF92&univ=U

If you would like to speak to someone about the Reeves Independent Portfolio Management Service please contact us NOW for a FREE initial chat on 0191 281 9862 or e-mail your enquiry to info@reevesifa.com

Investment objective

ETFS Physical Gold (PHAU) are designed to offer investors a simple, cost-efficient and secure way to access the precious metals market. PHAU is intended to provide investors with a return equivalent to movements in the gold spot price less fees.

For more information on this Fund click on the following link http://www.etfsecurities.com/msl/etfs_physical_gold.asp

If you would like to speak to someone about the Reeves Independent Portfolio Management Service please contact us NOW for  FREE initial chat  on 0191 281 9862 or e-mail your enquiry to info@reevesifa.com

Last month we Blogged about a number of funds that are held within our Add Ons Portfolio in areas such as Forestry & Timber, Latin America & Infrastructure. Today we are going to Blog about another area in which our clients can invest in & one that has been getting a lot of positive coverage - India!

At present clients have the option to invest in the First State Indian Subcontinent Fund. This fund primarily invests in the healthcare (26%), basic materials (18%) & technology (15%) industries.

In terms of performance it has had a negative return in the last month of 0.02%, however year to date it is up 14.13%. A longer term analysis shows it did actually lose 6.07% in the last year, but over a 3 year period it has returned a positive 83.43%.

So why are the experts saying invest in India?

• India’s economic growth is expected to remain robust in 2012 and 2013, according to the United Nations’ annual economic report, ‘World Economic Situation and Prospects 2012′
• While presenting the Union Budget for 2012-13, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, Union Finance Minister, has announced that the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is estimated to grow by 6.9 per cent in 2011-12. Further, India’s GDP growth in 2012-13 is expected to be 7.6 per cent +/- 0.25 per cent
• A number of industries are due to grow significantly, particularly the healthcare, aerospace, defence & automotive industries. For example it is expected that by 2020, the vehicle production in the country would treble from the levels in 2009, with the auto component sector likely to reach US$ 110 billion from US$ 30 billion during the period.
• Furthermore India attracts huge Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflows. On March 23, 2012, India’s foreign exchange reserves totalled US$ 295.2 billion, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s Weekly Statistical Supplement. 
• India’s biggest asset is its young population. Around a quarter of the world’s under-25s live there and as more young people move to the cities, and their aspirations grow, lifestyles are changing.
• There is a large & growing middle class of several hundred million citizens with rising income. More people are using credit cards, buying mobile phones, eating out and spending on healthcare, travel and luxuries. Furthermore, many people in the rural areas of India are purchasing mobile telephones & other household goods and appliances for the first time.
• Undoubtedly India’s infrastructure needs upgrading and expanding. However, the government has started tackling this, earmarking $1.7 trillion for infrastructure development over the next ten years.

As you can see there are a many positives for investing in India, however it must be stressed there are also threats. There are a number Internal and external security threats to India, poor infrastructure (as mentioned above) &  further to this corruption scandals have led to political instability.

Therefore to reinforce what we have said in previous Blogs, this is only really an investment for clients who are prepared to take a more speculative approach & are prepared to accept volatility to get potentially higher returns. We would not expect clients to put huge lumps of investments primarily in this area.

Additionally at present the First State Indian Subcontinent Fund has gone in to what is know as soft-closure, which means it increases the charges to invest, hence making it an more unattractive investment. Therefore Reeves Independent are currently researching different ways to invest in this sector!

Further details about how to invest in India & the Reeves Independent Wealth management service are available by calling 0191 281 9862 or e-mail info@reevesifa.com NOW for a FREE initial chat!