10 Takeaways from Rishi’s Budget 2021

The most recent government announcement by Chancellor Rishi Sunak has been long-awaited by individuals and businesses alike. We’ve summarised the key points to take away from the 2021 Budget below.   Freezing personal tax thresholds and lowering VAT to 5% for hospitality for 6 months, 12.5% further 6 months and 20% by April 2022. Pensions Lifetime Allowance same, CGT annual … Read More

Is the Market Rout Over?

Old Pool Shark Proverb: ”When the Elephants are dancing, stay off the dance floor…” After a ten-year bull run, I’m sure the selling is over after a few weeks. Jack be nimble, Jack be quick and jump back in on those 30% discounts, right? Trouble is, we never left the bubble because the bubble never cleared. The intervention to prevent … Read More

Is the BBC past its sell by date?

Chief political aide Dominic Cummings and PM Boris Johnson clashed this week over scrapping the obligatory license model for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Johnson believes it needs a “good pruning back” while Cummings is after doing away with it altogether and forcing it to stand on its own under a “subscription model”.  Ex-culture Select Committee chairman Damian Collins believes … Read More

Passives Will Tank the Global Economy

After Blackrock bought Barclays ETF department in the Great Recession a decade ago, they have pushed passive investing to the hilt. Especially to Millennial investors by appealing to be cheap, diversified, steady yielding but most crucially make investing accessible and appealing. What are the dangers? // IMC Mark Cuban says that as long as money flows into passive funds, they … Read More

Why Bitcoin Isn’t a Ponzi Scheme

The price of bitcoin fell by $600 in just 30 minutes to take its value below $10,000. The flash crash resulted in around $10 billion being wiped from the cryptocurrency’s overall value and has called into question recent positive price predictions as BTC USD fell from a Summer high of $14,000 to $7,750 in only 2 months. Bitcoin collapses from 14,000 dollars to 7750 dollars in 2 months, is it a ponzi … Read More

Chinese Stocks Under Threat of U.S. Capital Markets Delisting

Now that the “Chinese stock ban” cat is out the bag, there’s a good chance Trump will follow through on this threat eventually if an acceptable trade deal is not reached. The SEC has failed, alongside the NASDAQ to prevent foreign companies fleecing US investors for 10 years. As the trade war escalates, Chinese firms may lose access to US … Read More

The End to Austerity Takes Shape

  Delivered on a Monday afternoon instead of the traditional Wednesday, between key meetings in the Brexit negotiations and amidst turbulent times in Westminster, you could be forgiven for losing track of the 2018 Budget. Despite the disruption, the Chancellor’s statement brought more focus to the pledged ‘end to austerity’, along with details of an extra £20 billion in funding … Read More

Wading the Market Storm – Sit Tight

The current market sell-off is a cumulation of world events. But this is not necessarily something to be concerned about for the long-term investor because ‘timing’ the market for entry and exit has proven largely futile, short-term blips are largely irrelevant in the grand-scheme of compounded interest and regular injections of capital. A healthily diversified portfolio helps to iron out … Read More

Spending the calm studying the storm

If there is a presiding theme for 2018, and forthcoming changes to the country’s finances, then it is uncertainty. The Brexit negotiations have been taken over by a new minister and we are yet to get any kind of clarity on what a potential deal could look like. Meanwhile, whilst there are positive signs in the economy, in his forthcoming … Read More

Pensions – are you bored already?

What do you think of when you hear the word pensions? Here are some of the responses we often receive: Any of these resonate with you? Do not worry! – You are not alone. Many people will have accumulated more than one pension savings pot from different periods of employment and understanding what you have and how they can best … Read More