The FTSE 100 has undergone its latest quarterly review. FTSE Russell, the providers of the FTSE 100 and related UK indices, has announced the results of its quarterly review. This was based on market values on 28th November and will take effect from Monday 18th December. As far as the FTSE 100 is concerned, there are three […]

Quarterly Market Review: Q3 2017
A report on Q3, which features world capital market performance and a timeline of events for the past few months. Compare small cap vs large cap, and emerging vs developed markets at a glance.

Why small really is beautiful when it comes to investing
Years of academic research has shown that small cap investment can pack a big punch – with risk mitigated by substantial diversification.

How will rising interest rates affect you?
Interest rates are going up for the first time in a decade – find out what that means for you.

Ups, downs and riding the waves in between
From record highs to the anniversary of a historical slump, the stock market has been much in the news lately. Get the insight that goes beyond the headlines for your personal finances and investments.

National Savings & Investments closes the Children’s Bond
When National Savings & Investments (NS&I) announced the launch of their new Junior ISA, they said that the Children’s Bond would be closed to new sales from September 2017, this is disapointiung, but with the JISA and the abilty to fund Pensions for children I can only asusme the demand was not there. NS&I have now […]

Buy and Hold
What’s better for retirement: property or pensions? That’s the ‘killer question’. The vast majority are wrong. Over the last 30 years house prices have risen 434% (i.e. more than quadrupled). But the stockmarket has done far better. Assuming dividends are reinvested, the FTSE 100 has turned £10,000 in 1986 into £126,870 now. And if you […]

Back to School Funding – grandparents get top marks
Grandparents can make a real difference to their grandchildrens’ futures by helping with the costs of education. With the cost of a 3 year university course topping £50k*, grandchildren could otherwise be faced with a sizeable debt on leaving university, or worse, could be put off going altogether. The right combination of trust and investment […]

LISA savers face losing their £1,000 bonus
The Lifetime ISA (LISA) which launched in April 2017 enables savers to subscribe up to £4,000 a year and receive a government bonus of 25% on the money. The LISA allows individuals to save for retirement or to buy their first home. For the first year only the government bonus will be paid annually (i.e. at the […]

Caped Crusader
Many analysts believe shares in developed markets such as the UK are currently expensive. But according to Robert Shiller, the economist famous for developing the Cape ratio – cyclically adjusted price to earnings – for valuing stocks, the UK Market remains ‘a great investment’. The Cape ratio takes the current price of a stock and […]