Roberts Keen Independent Financial Advisers Ltd

📊 Roberts Keen Monday Market Briefing
A new week begins with markets balancing stronger economic data against renewed inflation and geopolitical concerns.
Friday’s US employment report was much stronger than expected. The US economy added 162,000 jobs in August, while unemployment remained at 4.1%. That strength has caused investors to reassess the outlook for US interest rates, with markets now seeing a meaningful possibility that the Federal Reserve could raise, rather than cut, rates at its September meeting.

🛢️ Oil is the other big story this morning.
Brent crude has climbed to around $97 a barrel following a further escalation in tensions between the US and Iran and concerns about shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Higher energy prices matter well beyond the oil market: if sustained, they can feed through into inflation and potentially make life more difficult for central banks considering their next interest-rate moves.

🏢 Three companies in focus

Lululemon Athletica had a difficult Friday. Shares fell around 18% after the company lowered its outlook again. Incoming chief executive Heidi O’Neill now faces the challenge of reversing falling sales and increasing competition in the ath-leisure market.

Nvidia continues to make headlines beyond its core chip business. Last week it agreed to acquire AI developer platform Hugging Face for almost $13 billion, another indication of how aggressively the company is expanding its position across the wider AI ecosystem.

Jaguar Land Rover is also in focus closer to home. The UK Business Secretary is expected to meet its chief executive this week following plans for a voluntary redundancy programme as the manufacturer seeks substantial cost savings amid difficult global trading conditions. Reuters

💡 The Roberts Keen view

There’s a useful investment lesson in this morning’s news.
Good economic news doesn’t always mean good news for markets.
A stronger US jobs market would ordinarily sound positive. But if it means interest rates have to remain higher — or even rise — investors can react very differently.

Add oil prices, geopolitics and rapidly changing expectations around individual companies, and it demonstrates why trying to predict the next market move can be so difficult.

At Roberts Keen IFA, we believe investment portfolios should be built around diversification, appropriate risk and long-term financial objectives, rather than attempting to react to every headline.
Markets will always give investors something to worry about.

A good financial plan is designed with that in mind.
Have a great Monday. 👍

The value of investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.

A little Client thank you….💚 🌎

We’re always incredibly grateful when someone takes the time to send a card, a gift or simply a kind message to say thank you.

Helping people with their mortgages, pensions and financial planning is what we do every day, but knowing that our advice and support has made a real difference to someone makes it all the more worthwhile.

Thank you to everyone who continues to place their trust in us — it really is appreciated.

💷 Pension Friday: Taking tax-free cash doesn’t always mean triggering the MPAA

One pension rule is particularly important if you’re approaching retirement but still working and contributing to a pension.

You may have heard that accessing your pension can reduce the amount you can subsequently contribute — but the way you access it matters.

For the 2026/27 tax year, the standard pension Annual Allowance is £60,000 for most people, although individual circumstances can reduce this. The Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA) is £10,000.

⚠️ But simply taking tax-free cash will not usually trigger the MPAA.

If you take up to 25% as tax-free cash and leave the taxable part invested, the MPAA will generally not be triggered.

However, once you start taking taxable income flexibly from a defined contribution pension, the MPAA can apply — potentially restricting future money-purchase pension contributions to £10,000 a year.

That could be particularly important if:

💼 You’re still employed and receiving employer pension contributions
💷 You’re planning larger pension contributions before retirement
📈 You’re gradually moving from full-time work into retirement

There’s another important difference: unused allowances from previous years cannot be carried forward to increase the £10,000 MPAA.

The key message?

Don’t just decide how much you want to take from your pension.

Think carefully about how you take it, too.

At Roberts Keen IFA, we can help clients plan pension withdrawals alongside ongoing contributions, tax considerations and their wider retirement strategy.

📞 Thinking about accessing your pension while you’re still working? Speak to us before making the withdrawal.

Roberts Keen IFA

Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may be subject to change. Pension and tax rules can change. The value of investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invested.

💷 Wealth Wednesday: Is your ISA allowance quietly going to waste?

The ISA allowance is one of the most useful tools available when building long-term wealth — but unlike some pension allowances, you cannot carry an unused ISA allowance into a future tax year.

For the 2026/27 tax year, the overall ISA allowance remains £20,000. Money held within an ISA can grow free from UK Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax.

But here’s the important bit:

📅 Use it by 5 April 2027 — or that year’s allowance is gone.

That doesn’t necessarily mean investing £20,000 immediately, and an ISA shouldn’t be viewed in isolation.

The right approach depends on your circumstances, including how much accessible cash you need, your objectives, attitude to investment risk and the length of time the money can remain invested.

For longer-term investors, diversification can also be important. The Financial Conduct Authority explains that spreading investments across different companies, asset classes and geographical areas can reduce reliance on any single investment and help smooth returns over time.

💡 And there is a change on the horizon.

From 6 April 2027, the Government plans to introduce a £12,000 annual Cash ISA limit for people under 65, while retaining the £20,000 overall ISA allowance. Those aged 65 and over will retain a £20,000 Cash ISA limit.

At Roberts Keen IFA, we help clients look at ISAs as part of the bigger picture — alongside pensions, cash reserves, tax planning and their longer-term goals.

The question isn’t simply “Have I used my ISA allowance?”

It’s “Am I using the right allowances, in the right way, for what I want my money to achieve?”

Roberts Keen IFA

The value of investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invested. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may be subject to change.

Monday Market Briefing 📊

Markets begin the week with plenty for investors to digest, with geopolitics, bond yields and some major technology earnings likely to set the tone.

🌍 A cautious start in Asia

Asian markets moved lower this morning as investors awaited details of further US sanctions on Iran. Japan’s Nikkei fell around 0.5%, while South Korean shares were down around 2.8%. Oil prices actually eased in early trading, although uncertainty surrounding the Middle East remains a significant influence on markets.

🇪🇺 Europe has proved surprisingly resilient

Despite geopolitical uncertainty, European equities have held up relatively well. The STOXX 600 remains close to record levels, helped by stronger-than-expected company earnings and economic data. European companies are currently expected to report their strongest quarterly earnings growth in nearly four years.

🏢 Three companies we’re watching

Nvidia reports results on Wednesday. Expectations are extremely high, with analysts anticipating quarterly revenues approaching $92bn. That’s a useful reminder that even excellent company results can disappoint markets when expectations are already very high.

Alibaba shares fell around 9.5% in Hong Kong this morning after the company launched a $10.2bn share offering, with investors also considering the scale of its spending on artificial intelligence.

Samsung Electronics fell more than 8% after its record shareholder-return plans failed to meet investors’ expectations — another example of how markets react not simply to whether news is “good”, but to whether it is better or worse than investors had already anticipated.

💡 The Roberts Keen view

Today’s market update highlighted the contrasting mood across global markets, and it’s a good illustration of why we don’t believe successful long-term investing should depend on predicting next week’s headlines.

Different markets, sectors and companies rarely move in the same direction at the same time.

That’s why diversification, an appropriate level of risk and staying focused on your long-term financial plan remain so important — particularly when markets become noisy.

Have a great Monday. 👍

Weekend Financial Thought 🌿

Financial planning isn’t about predicting the future. It’s about being better prepared for it.

Interest rates change. Markets rise and fall. Tax rules evolve. And life rarely follows the exact plan we had in mind.

A good financial plan therefore shouldn’t rely on everything going perfectly.

It should give you enough flexibility to deal with the unexpected, while still keeping sight of the things that matter to you — whether that’s:

🏡 Becoming mortgage-free
💷 Building financial security
🌍 Enjoying retirement
👨‍👩‍👧 Helping your family
🛡️ Protecting the people who depend on you

At Roberts Keen IFA, our role isn’t to tell you exactly what the next 10 or 20 years will look like.

It’s to help make sure your finances are prepared for whatever those years might bring.

A financial plan should change as your life changes.

Have a great Sunday.

Roberts Keen IFA

The value of investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invested. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may be subject to change.