First introduced in 1999, ISAs (Individual Savings Account) are a popular and tax-efficient way to invest for the future and add to personal investment portfolios. ISAs have become increasingly popular since the 2014 Budget when ISA regulations were changed to offer greater flexibility and bigger tax breaks.
So whilst ISAs can shelter savings and investments from tax, it is important to boost these savings through selecting the right account to minimise charges and commissions whilst ensuring the highest quality service.
With the dealing commission ranging from £5 to £20 per trade, there is plenty of room to save between different brokers. Priced at £20 per trade, Brewin Dolphin is one of the more expensive brokers, also charging 1.25% for the first £15,000 invested. Brewin Dolphin however does make all investment decisions on the clients’ behalf and offers regular valuation reports and an end of year tax schedule.
With a website less easy to navigate, The Share Centre might have a fairly inexpensive dealing commission at £7.50 for frequent traders, but the website spreads out additional charges making it difficult to total the annual charge at £128 plus VAT.
With similar dealing commissions, HSBC (£12.50 per trade) and TD Direct Invest (£12.95 per trade) offer very different annual charges, with HSBC charging 1.25%, with other expenses totalling approximately 0.8% and TD Direct Invest charging annual charges of 0.30% for funds up to £250,000 whilst also not charging to close accounts or transfer out investments.
For those who already larger portfolios, it might be more sensible to invest with Fidelity. Fidelity charges £9 per trade and a 0.35% but offers extra savings for those with larger portfolios.
Comparing several of the major brokers and offers regarding ISAs, Hargreaves Lansdown offers not only cheaper dealing admissions at £5.95 for frequent traders but has no dealing charges when buying and selling funds, no upfront charges and offer free share tips to clients.
With regulations around ISAs changing, they are proving to be more popular following the Chancellor’s announcement that after changes put into place in June 2014 now allowing savers to invest up to £15,000, over six million savers would benefit.
Foreign exchange company Eris FX have just won a landmark ASA ruling, banning the use of misleading and inaccurate currency converters on foreign exchange websites.
The converters are widely used by specialist currency providers on websites to overseas property buyers. They appear to show how much a potential cutover would be charged for the foreign currency, but in reality they only return the ‘interbank’ or market exchange rate; which is not an achievable rate for consumers.
In February Eris FX wrote to the FCA and then to the Advertising Standards Authority, who investigated one converter on World First Ltd’s website. They found that it contravened the CAP code on advertising on four counts, and the ruling will now be used as a precedent for the whole sector.
Ex-city trader and founder of Eris FX, Helen Scott, says:
“We are trying to operate an ethical and responsible currency exchange and payments business against a backdrop of industry-wide breaches of regulations and misleading advertising practices that the regulators are turning a blind eye to.
“This will end a misleading practice that has potentially cost British consumers millions of pounds over recent years because they don’t understand the difference between a customer rate which includes the brokers fee, and the market rate which doesn’t. On a substantial trade this difference could be thousands of pounds.”
Founder and MD of Eris FX, Helen Scott
Eris FX are a Yorkshire-based currency exchange company who use their own custom-made software to run a fair and ethical foreign exchange website. They are currently the first and only currency specialist to show live customer rates, updated every second, which include their fees.
Eris FX are currently seeking a round of investment on crowdfunding platform Seedrs. The company are looking for £750,000, in return for 10.35 percent equity. When asked why Eris FX chose crowdfunding, rather than more traditional methods of financing, Scott said:
“We believe it is a quicker route than VC funding, which can often take many months. We also fall between the cracks in the amount we are looking to raise – most fintech VC’s are looking to invest several million pounds but we are looking for less than that.
“Having said that, the crowdfunding experience is not proving an easy one – we think that the investors there are probably more geared towards understanding product offerings, rather than fintech services.”
Eris FX are another example of British start-up companies leading the way in the fintech sector, and choosing crowdfunding to do so. For more information on how to invest in Eris FX, visit their campaign page on Seedrs.
We offer our clients the opportunity to invest directly into a managed Forestry investment located in the UK or Ireland. Forestry pays an annual income through the Government grant scheme and regular selective thinnings.
The returns achieved range from 8.5% per year up to 18.5% depending on site and location. Under current tax legislation, all income from Forestry is tax free. There is no capital gains tax on the growth in the value of the timber and there is No Inheritance Tax, once the property is held for more than 2 years.
Investment Summary
Returns average 8.5% over the previous 21 years
Regular payment through government grant scheme
Capital growth through natural tree growth of 11% per year
Tax-free returns
Minimum entry level €14,000
Full land ownership during investment period
5,10 & 15 year terms available
Returns are paid annually as follows:
⇒Government Grant Scheme – €320 per acre
⇒Selective Thinnings – €780 per acre
All returns from Forestry in the UK and Ireland are currently TAX-FREE under current legislation
Annual Payments
Payments are made each year on the anniversary of the investment. Investors can choose their returns either by cheque or wire transfer.
We offer individual the opportunity to invest in a privately managed mature forestry investment.
Investment Dynamics
Demand for timber continues to grow due to improving economic conditions in Europe and further development of Biomass as a commercial energy supply. When you consider this fact along with recent EU legislation in 2013, requiring all companies in Europe who purchase timber to ensure that it comes from a sustainable source has meant that supply has been reduced by up to 20% annually, this will continue to drive timber prices higher, and ensure significant profits for timber growers in Europe.
Learn about Forestry Investments Now
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The FTSE 100 is up 0.83 percent in early trading this morning, continuing on from a rise in both Asian and US shares.
Oil and miners are leading the surge, with BP up 2.2 percent and and Shell (LON:RDSA) up 2.25 percent. Glencore (LON:GLEN) shares are also continuing their upward spiral, trading up 3.61 percent. Oil shares are probably being helped by higher oil prices, with North Sea Brent crude up 1% higher this morning at $50.22 per barrel.
Data from Wall Street last week showed encouraging unemployment figures, with new employment benefit applications dropping to a 42 year low, alleviating fears of a slowdown in the US economy. Asian shares followed the US up on Friday, with the European markets now continuing that trend.
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Asian shares closed on a two month high on Friday, making the most of the calm before key economic data is released next week.
Japan’s Nikkei index closed up 1.08 percent, with a weaker yen against the dollar helping to fuel the markets.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 0.5% higher in afternoon trade, and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.9% to 3,366.56.
However, several sets of economic data is due to be released next week, including Japanese exports which are expected to rise only modestly for September.
Japan’s economy has been increasingly hit by the situation in China, and analysts are awaiting data to see whether the country will avoid being dragged into recession. A Reuters poll expects imports to fall 11.7 percent in September, down for the ninth month in a row.
Economic growth data for China is also being released on Monday, and is expecting to show that growth in the world’s second-largest economy has fallen to 6.5 percent in the third quarter, falling below 7 percent for the first time since the global financial crisis.
Long-time stock market darlings, UK Banks were ravaged by the financial crisis leaving them very different institutions to those of ten years ago.
Having overcome punitive regulations and a number of scandals, the next five years could be significantly more encouraging than the last five for FTSE 100 banks.
This report covers essential topics for those invested or considering investing in the UK banking sector including;
⇒The most undervalued UK bank
⇒The banks with the most favourable dividend policies
⇒How the government is now supporting the sector
⇒The financial strength of the UK’s largest institutions
Download ‘The Case For Buying UK Listed Banks’ for free now.
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Starting from today, electric cars made by Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in the US will be able to steer and park themselves according to Chief Exective Officer Elon Musk.
The new ‘self-driving’ system is designed for cars made after September 2014, and is available in the US from today and will launch in Europe and Asia next week.
However, the company has cautioned that drivers will have to continue to hold the wheel, at least for the foreseeable future.
Musk said in a statement to reporters:
“We’re being especially cautious at this stage so we’re advising drivers to keep their hands on the wheel just in case.
“The whole Tesla fleet acts like a network. When one car learns something they all learn it. As more people enable autopilot, the information about how to drive is uploaded to the network. Each driver is effectively an expert trainer in how the autopilot should work.”
Musk also commented that, although self-driving technology will mean that cars will have the capacity to drive themselves within the next three years, regulatory approval could take far longer.
Shares in luxury fashion brand Burberry (LON:BRBY) dropped sharply this morning, after disappointing results fell short of expectations.
The company lost more than tenth of its stock value, with nearly £700 million wiped from its market capitalisation.
Retail sales grew 2 percent to £774 million in the six months to September, but suffered in the UK as luxury customers from Asia took their custom to Europe instead.
Chief executive officer Christopher Bailey said in a statement:
“The external environment became more challenging during the half, affecting luxury consumer demand in some of our key markets.
“While mindful of this external volatility, our plans for the festive season position us well to return to a more positive sales trend in the all-important second half.”
Burberry are currently trading down 12.54 percent at 1241 pence per share. (1021GMT)
TV streaming company Netflix announced its results yesterday, gaining another 3.62m subscribers between July and September and bringing its revenue up to $1.74 billion.
However, shares fell in after hours trading as the company saw fewer new subscribers in the US than expected, attributing this to the “ongoing transition to chip-based credit and debit cards”. It had predicted an extra 1.15m subscribers in the third quarter, but they in face totalled 880,000.
The company have plans to expand internationally, launching in Spain, Italy and Portugal next week and pushing into South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore in early 2016. They expect to be breaking even for 2016 whilst money is poured into promotion in those countries, and begin making a profit again shortly after.
In a statement, the company praised their ‘originals’ strategy, attributing it to the rise in subscriptions and preferring that to be their focus rather than bidding for existing series such as Top Gear:
“Just three years into our originals strategy, we have come a long way and our content is increasingly recognized for its quality and breadth. This year, we garnered a Netflix-record 34 Emmy nominations, across 11 of our original series and documentaries and won four.”
Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) share price dropped in after hours trading yesterday but has since risen, trading up 0.46 percent at 110.23 pence per share.
The fundraising campaign for a ‘laser razor’ has been ditched from Kickstarter, after it was found that the product had no working model and technically did not exist.
The product was billed as an environmentally-friendly, irritation free razor and has raised nearly $4 million on Kickstarter since the campaign began. Whilst the team behind the ‘Skarp’ razor insist the product will be ready as early as March 2016, Kickstarter have sent an email to backers explaining that “it is in violation of our rule requiring working prototypes of physical products that are offered as rewards”.
The campaign was one of the most successful in the crowdfunding site’s history, far surpassing its $160,000 target, but has now been suspended by Kickstarter. However, it has since moved it’s page to rival site IndieGogo. Skarp’s CIO Oliver Pearce-Owen said of the move:
“We have taken our prototype as far as we can before mass production and that is why we are on Indiegogo.
“They have been incredibly helpful – it’s clear they are interested in bringing exciting, cutting edge campaigns to their platform.”
This situation defines many of the reasons why critics are hesitant about the rewards-based online crowdfunding model. Unlike debt and equity crowdfunding sites, which although not risk-free do vet their projects extensively, it is all too easy for a company to put a page up on sites such as IndieGoGo and Kickstarter and encourage the public to part with their money with no real evidence of a business model or definitive plan for the funds.
Whilst it is true that sites such as these are ideal for new businesses needing financial backing in order to even develop their project, backers invest on the company’s word alone and there are no repercussions or chance to get money back on a rewards-based site. Parting with significant amounts of money on sites like these remains a risky business.
