Park Financial Limited

For those days when you're fed up of listening to me (how COULD you?), this fellow is a good alternative.

#investing #stocks #markets #behaviouralfinance | Robin Powell You know the feeling. Markets are down, Iran is all over the news, and you're checking your portfolio even though you know you shouldn't. Your thumb hovers over 'sell'. You don't press it. But you thought about it. Here's the thing: the investors who stay calmest during episodes like this aren't the...

Are we heading for a global war? Donald Trump opponents think he is taking us that way. Others blame Putin. Yet others blame Zelensky (happily, 𝗻𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 is blaming Park Financial).

What IS clear though is that, despite the flurry of ESG funds (and the hype thereto attached) that appeared, war isn't going away anytime soon - and the investment business (ever quick to turn a buck) has not been idle.

In the last couple of years we have seen the launch of a number of funds whose sole aim is to invest in shares of defence companies - figuring, no doubt, that '𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴'.

Are they right? No one can say (isn't that the beauty of investments) - but, if you're interested in that sector, come and talk to us and we can research the available offerings for you.

Look, if we're all going to die in a global conflagration anyway, you might as well be able to afford the finest champagne for the 'end of the world party'.

Were you all excited by last month's budget?
We weren't - it all turned out to be pretty much what we expected.
Sadly, plenty of people acted before Rachel stood up (and even before some of her colleagues had leaked the details) and took irrevocable decisions based on wild speculation.
The old saying 'Act in haste, repent at leisure' comes to mind.
Still, it's Christmas now, so put all that behind you and let's plan what to do in 2026.
Merry Christmas from Park Financial🥂

https://www.pensions-expert.com/defined-contribution/employers-pledge-to-prioritise-value-over-cost-ahead-of-adequacy-review/69541.article

'Value over cost' ? Are these people high? Cost is an intrinsic component of value. What this will translate to is some lousy investment consultancy selling trustees overpriced solutions because 'this is where the real value is' 🥱

And as for the FCA's Value for Money framework making it "easier to compare performance, costs and service", is this the same FCA that (quite rightly) stressed the irrelevance of past performance to future.

Seriously, if your workplace pension is going down this rabbit hole, dump the default fund and go see a financial adviser - someone who will REALLY have your interests at heart.

Employers pledge to ‘prioritise value over cost’ ahead of adequacy review More than 20 major employers have committed to prioritising pension value over cost, in a move designed to improve outcomes for millions of UK workers.

Clients with joint retirement income of £160k pa and now a total income tax bill of £15,080 - less than a 10% rate of tax.
AND over £750k lopped of their children's IHT bill in the process.

The power of a properly structured income plan.

But what did ALL of these disasters have in common?

They were all followed by a recovery.

The worst market crashes since 1929 Monday's stock market collapses in Asia and Europe after China retaliated to steep US tariffs revived memories of similar market turmoil after the Covid pandemic and the last global financial crisis.- 2020: Pandemic - Global stocks crashed in March 2020 after the World Health Organization declared C...

So, here's a whizzy marketing email that plopped into my mailbox this morning

𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.
"𝘉𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 8𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 2021 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 2025, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘡𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯 𝘍𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 114%, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 52% 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦."

Great – but, according to my calender, the end of January 2025 has already passed – so, unless you can accompany your email with a time machine to take me back to February 2021, what possible use was that this email.

People – I said it before and I’ll say it again: Choosing a fund because it performed well over recent years, is little better than saying ‘last week’s winning lottery numbers were 7, 23, 25, 31,33 and 39 – so those are definitely the numbers to choose this week.

Stop looking at the past performance. It's gone.

Worried about Inheritance Tax? Even more worried after April 2027?

One, often forgotten about, break is the 'Regular Gifts out of Income' exemption.

There are a few 'boxes to tick' to make sure it's effective but, that aside, it's simple, it's free (none of those exorbitant 'consultancy fees') and it can take money out of you estate from DAY ONE !!

To all those entities now springing up and offering to buy our 'low value legacy clients', we say this:

We don't have 'low value clients'. We only have clients we like. Clients we care about. They are people and that's how we treat them here. They are not just some entry on a cash ledger.

So, you parasite companies, you are wasting your time. There is nothing here for you.