Case Studies

All case stories are fictional and for illustrative purposes only.

Investment Case study:

Circumstances:

•  A Client was referred to us who had a large portfolio which was being managed by a well-known discretionary investment manager.  The client provided me with a summary of existing assets and a recent portfolio valuation and we established the client had a cautious attitude to investment risk and wanted a higher yield than was currently being achieved as income was of high importance.
• The existing portfolio was not income orientated enough with a yield of less than 3% per annum, and it had more than 85% invested in UK equities, which therefore meant it was far too risky for the client’s appetite for loss and attitude to investment risk.
• The existing costs of the portfolio were in excess of 2.5% per annum.

Solutions:

• We reduced the investment risks of the portfolio by undertaking a wider range of well-diversified assets
• We made use of our modern investment techniques to provide sustainability of income to increase the overall yield to more than 5.5% per annum
• We made use of both passive and active investment approaches to maintain potential growth whilst keeping portfolio costs to a minimum
• We improved the tax-efficiency of the portfolio by making better use of tax allowances and untaxed assets.
• We arranged for a service agreement to be set up with the client to ensure there was regular communication and an approach to management of their     assets that they    were comfortable with.

Financial Restructuring and Corporate Advice Case Study:

Circumstances

• Directors of a small business with an existing debt facility held with a bank asked us to provide they and their business with a financial review.  The company had existing assets on deposit which were encumbered by a first charge by the bank providing the debt facility.  The company also owned property which the bank held a first charge against to cover the same debt facility.  The debt was being repaid at a high rate and the bank was not offering the company any alternatives.
• The two directors had large pensions with more than 20 years until the intention to commence withdrawal of benefits.
• They asked us to provide potential solutions in order for their business to be less encumbered with debt and for the first charges to potentially be release.

Solutions

• We provided the directors with planning ideas involving their pensions purchasing the commercial property in order to release funds to pay off some or all of the debt facility.
• This solution enabled capital to be released from their pensions to pay off a portion of their debt.
• This subsequently enabled the bank to release their first charge over the company’s deposit assets, which enabled the company to make better use of those assets to benefit the company and to provide potentially higher gains on residual deposits by making use of capital guaranteed investments available in the open market.
• In addition, rent payable to the directors’ pensions by the tenant company was a corporate expense which in turn reduced the company’s corporation tax liability.

Retirement & Investment Case study:

Circumstances:

• A client approaching retirement held both defined contribution and defined benefit pensions and he wanted to be able to extract benefits in the most flexible manner possible, with as high an income as possible.
• His wife held no existing private pension provision
• The couple had sizeable assets invested in ISAs, and were medium-high risk investors.
• The defined benefit pension offered a high income, which would increase each year, and which would not involve any investment exposure.
• The existing several defined contribution pensions offered limited flexibility and benefits for his wife which were limited and not cost-effective

Solutions:

• We recommended the client undertake the defined benefit pension income from the existing source to maintain a high, inflationary-proofed income, without any investment risks.
• The tax-free cash withdrawn was reinvested to provide income in a tax-efficient manner
• The defined contribution pensions were transferred into a capped phased income drawdown plan to allow his spouse to retain access to 100% of the benefits on his death, without additional cost.
• The phased drawdown plan enabled him to extract a higher level of income than that available from his existing arrangements, and in a manner appropriate to his need for income, in keeping with his personal circumstances and tax situation.
• The ISA portfolio was invested into products appropriate to the couple’s risk and requirement to protect the capital, which helped to supplement their overall retirement income