Friday 15th
A trip to the gym first thing makes it three times in one week – first time for a while, so start the day and end the week feeling good about that.
A round of client telephone calls this morning. The first is to obtain further details from a client who had provided basic info but not really enough for me to do my job. I do understand that for a client one of the hardest parts (and possibly boring parts) of financial planning is providing all the data.
However it is imperative that I do have everything to hand so that I can provide the best possible advice. The devil is in the detail as is often said. I am also fond of saying ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ and this is very true in financial planning. It is easy for the law of unintended consequences to come into play with an element not thought important to a client ending up having, say, tax implications on other planning carried out.
Have an interesting conversation regarding premium bonds. I used to be a giant fan of premium bonds but nowadays the overall returns are down , the odds are of winning a prize are lower, the odds of winning a big prize are lower, as always the value purchased doesn’t keep pace with inflation… There are so many reasons NOT to have premium bonds these days but there is also something to be said for the thrill of receiving a winning cheque, even if only £50! And of course someone somewhere is winning a million. But unfortunately, fun aside, I don’t recommend premium bonds for pure financial reasons these days. It is a shame that National Savings have pulled so many of their products. In just a few short years since the banks needed propping up and savers needed to be given guarantees in once private institutions (a la Northern Rock) National Savings has gone from a wonderful institution to a shadow of its former offering.
Round off the morning with a rare (for me) business lunch with a client who works in a private members club. The food, as ever, is exquisite. I opt for the fish, aiming to be healthy but must admit to pangs of envy as my companion’s chunky chips are delivered to the table!
From here to the school run and straight off to watch my son play 5-a-side.
I hope you have enjoyed this week’s diary with a little insight as to what I do, who I do it with and where I do it.
As can be read over the last 5 blog posts, the life of an IFA (or me, at any rate) will not be making it into the pages of ‘Hello’ magazine anytime soon but I also hope you have read that I practise what I preach in that it is not all work, work, work and that a balance is needed. Being a financial planner is all very well and I love the financial, tax, insurance and investment work I do – when I am at work I work hard - but I also encourage clients to spend it where necessary, to enjoy life, to take time with their family and have their money work for them sometimes rather than always working for the money.
Friday, 22 October 2010
Thursday, 21 October 2010
Dear Diary, Thursday
I was so busy last week I didn’t have time to blog.
So this week I thought I’d write up a diary of last week to give a little insight as to what I get up to, where I do it and who I do it with!
Thursday 14th
An exception to the norm today as I join the throng of commuters heading into central London. I truly could not be happier at having relocated my work base out of the City of London. The sheer additional quality of life, not to mention the time gained, by NOT commuting each day is fabulous. However, today, my Oyster card will be pushed to the limit!
From Putney to Waterloo on 'the big train' as my son used to call it and then underground. My destination is The Institute of Directors on Pall Mall to meet with a software supplier. I am currently updating my CRM system having used ACT for many years but wishing now to migrate to a ‘cloud’ based solution. This will give greater security and flexibility.
Onto the tube and from The West End straight back to SW London and a meeting in Wimbledon. The client was recommended to me by their accountant. Over the years the client has built up a number of investments, in a number of places, with a number of providers. Some have been good, some not so good and some not very good at all. Having thoroughly reviewed the portfolio (at no cost to the client – this is so they can experience my work for what it is and to see if I really ‘do what I say I will do’ – this is a courtesy I extend to all introduction from accountants or solicitors) I make my recommendations. A short big red bus bus ride shared with some college students (and without wishing to sound TOO Victor Meldrew I am sure I didn't make this much noise or mess or swear quite so much was I was a lad...) takes me to their home.
At the first meeting the client expressed concerns over the investments in that they didn’t know what they had, where it was, how much it was costing or how it was doing. They also expressed a desire to ‘simplify’ the whole situation, their desire these days (in retirement) to have a less hands-on approach with a preference for being told what was happening in a clear, jargoin free manner .
I was delighted to be able to provide that service and now the administrative task begins of consolidating the investments to bring lower cost, simplified administration and regular monitoring and management.
Jumping back onto public transport I zoom all the way across London from West to East, taking in the main line rail, the tube, and the new overhead network, to a meeting at a corporate client in Shoreditch. Today I am wearing full smart business attire which looked fantastic at my retired client’s home but looks hugely out of place in the trendy hotspot of East London (Not only does my suit mark me out as an outsider but also the use of the words here, ‘trendy’ and ‘hotspot’!)
Transport for London (TfL) seems to be conspiring against me and I have to be there by 4pm so I run the mile or so from the station to their office, in formal shoes, suit & tie and with case. Only to find their lift out of order and I need to walk up the 8 flights of stairs.
I arrive on time, just, and more than puffing lightly!
A very enjoyable meeting with the MD, helping to tidy a few pensions collected over previous employments and then a short while with a new key employee, enrolling him into the pension scheme and assisting with a few elements of generic financial advice in other areas whilst there.
Many employers engage me to perform this role, reasoning that if their key employees have access to a trustworthy, dependable, independent adviser to assist with financial matters it is a valued employer provided benefit and saves the employee having to DIY their finances in their own time (or even sometimes in worktime!)
Reversing my travel I head back East into town I have the carriage to myself for a while until we pass through the middle and continue out to the West and I am joined by the commuters heading home. Squeeze off at Putney and then walk the brief journey home grateful I won’t have to spend as much time on trains tomorrow as I have today.
So this week I thought I’d write up a diary of last week to give a little insight as to what I get up to, where I do it and who I do it with!
Thursday 14thAn exception to the norm today as I join the throng of commuters heading into central London. I truly could not be happier at having relocated my work base out of the City of London. The sheer additional quality of life, not to mention the time gained, by NOT commuting each day is fabulous. However, today, my Oyster card will be pushed to the limit!
From Putney to Waterloo on 'the big train' as my son used to call it and then underground. My destination is The Institute of Directors on Pall Mall to meet with a software supplier. I am currently updating my CRM system having used ACT for many years but wishing now to migrate to a ‘cloud’ based solution. This will give greater security and flexibility.
Onto the tube and from The West End straight back to SW London and a meeting in Wimbledon. The client was recommended to me by their accountant. Over the years the client has built up a number of investments, in a number of places, with a number of providers. Some have been good, some not so good and some not very good at all. Having thoroughly reviewed the portfolio (at no cost to the client – this is so they can experience my work for what it is and to see if I really ‘do what I say I will do’ – this is a courtesy I extend to all introduction from accountants or solicitors) I make my recommendations. A short big red bus bus ride shared with some college students (and without wishing to sound TOO Victor Meldrew I am sure I didn't make this much noise or mess or swear quite so much was I was a lad...) takes me to their home.
At the first meeting the client expressed concerns over the investments in that they didn’t know what they had, where it was, how much it was costing or how it was doing. They also expressed a desire to ‘simplify’ the whole situation, their desire these days (in retirement) to have a less hands-on approach with a preference for being told what was happening in a clear, jargoin free manner .
I was delighted to be able to provide that service and now the administrative task begins of consolidating the investments to bring lower cost, simplified administration and regular monitoring and management.
Jumping back onto public transport I zoom all the way across London from West to East, taking in the main line rail, the tube, and the new overhead network, to a meeting at a corporate client in Shoreditch. Today I am wearing full smart business attire which looked fantastic at my retired client’s home but looks hugely out of place in the trendy hotspot of East London (Not only does my suit mark me out as an outsider but also the use of the words here, ‘trendy’ and ‘hotspot’!)
Transport for London (TfL) seems to be conspiring against me and I have to be there by 4pm so I run the mile or so from the station to their office, in formal shoes, suit & tie and with case. Only to find their lift out of order and I need to walk up the 8 flights of stairs.
I arrive on time, just, and more than puffing lightly!
A very enjoyable meeting with the MD, helping to tidy a few pensions collected over previous employments and then a short while with a new key employee, enrolling him into the pension scheme and assisting with a few elements of generic financial advice in other areas whilst there.
Many employers engage me to perform this role, reasoning that if their key employees have access to a trustworthy, dependable, independent adviser to assist with financial matters it is a valued employer provided benefit and saves the employee having to DIY their finances in their own time (or even sometimes in worktime!)
Reversing my travel I head back East into town I have the carriage to myself for a while until we pass through the middle and continue out to the West and I am joined by the commuters heading home. Squeeze off at Putney and then walk the brief journey home grateful I won’t have to spend as much time on trains tomorrow as I have today.
Wednesday, 20 October 2010
Dear Diary, Wednesday
I was so busy last week I didn’t have time to blog.
So this week I thought I’d write up a diary of last week to give a little insight as to what I get up to, where I do it and who I do it with!
Wednesday 13th
A brisk bicycle ride in the darkness takes me to the gym for a personal training session before work. What might seem like a complete luxury is now something I can’t recommend enough for anyone wanting to get or keep fit or lose a little weight. I plodded along at the gym (or across fields, along roads etc) for many an hour on my own in an attempt to shape up but can honestly say the results from working out with a personal trainer once or twice a week far outstrip the cost. I packed in my central London gym membership and spend the same money on personal training locally. And the results speak for themselves (I’m told - judge for yourself with the before & after shots here!). Many clients have commented on the all new trim Ian. If you are in Wandsworth or nearby do try out www.fredfitnesswithstyle.co.uk
Once back in the office I prepared for the day’s meetings.
First up, with the founder of the firm that will be answering the phones whilst my wife is on maternity leave from Green Financial.
They have fulfilled this role before on an occasional basis but from next week until the new year will be full time.
All goes well and I look forward to Pauline and Deborah picking up the calls and passing on the messages from next week.
Then a brand new client meeting with a couple that need the basics looking after so that they can concentrate on their lives rather than using their spare time to manage their finances. This is a very normal situation for me. Much of my work is with clients who could quite easily do much of what I do for them but choose to pay a professional to do it thus leaving their own time for themselves. As I so often find myself saying it is a question of capacity, not capability.
Life insurance is a priority (to replace policies lost when leaving employment), then a tidy of investments, along with a pension review possibly with a consolidation exercise if appropriate. All topped off with a plan for going forwards.
Leave work at half past two to collect my son from school. I find a further four of his school mates in tow and we all head off to the local sports ground to play football. Collecting time arrives at 5pm and slowly passes into the past as the other dads join in for a ‘dads v lads’ game. It fizzles out as the drizzle starts to rain about an hour later with the sounds of ten year old boys demanding to stay and the ring of mobile phones with mums demanding to know why dads and lads aren’t home yet and the threats of dogs being fed the dinner. It is hard to determine if the only other sound that can be heard is the creaking of the five-a-side court door shuttingor the creaking of my knees complaining about 3 hours of football just two days after the hour on the squash court. This never used to happen when I was 19…
So this week I thought I’d write up a diary of last week to give a little insight as to what I get up to, where I do it and who I do it with!
Wednesday 13th
A brisk bicycle ride in the darkness takes me to the gym for a personal training session before work. What might seem like a complete luxury is now something I can’t recommend enough for anyone wanting to get or keep fit or lose a little weight. I plodded along at the gym (or across fields, along roads etc) for many an hour on my own in an attempt to shape up but can honestly say the results from working out with a personal trainer once or twice a week far outstrip the cost. I packed in my central London gym membership and spend the same money on personal training locally. And the results speak for themselves (I’m told - judge for yourself with the before & after shots here!). Many clients have commented on the all new trim Ian. If you are in Wandsworth or nearby do try out www.fredfitnesswithstyle.co.uk
Once back in the office I prepared for the day’s meetings.
First up, with the founder of the firm that will be answering the phones whilst my wife is on maternity leave from Green Financial.
They have fulfilled this role before on an occasional basis but from next week until the new year will be full time.
All goes well and I look forward to Pauline and Deborah picking up the calls and passing on the messages from next week.
Then a brand new client meeting with a couple that need the basics looking after so that they can concentrate on their lives rather than using their spare time to manage their finances. This is a very normal situation for me. Much of my work is with clients who could quite easily do much of what I do for them but choose to pay a professional to do it thus leaving their own time for themselves. As I so often find myself saying it is a question of capacity, not capability.
Life insurance is a priority (to replace policies lost when leaving employment), then a tidy of investments, along with a pension review possibly with a consolidation exercise if appropriate. All topped off with a plan for going forwards.
Leave work at half past two to collect my son from school. I find a further four of his school mates in tow and we all head off to the local sports ground to play football. Collecting time arrives at 5pm and slowly passes into the past as the other dads join in for a ‘dads v lads’ game. It fizzles out as the drizzle starts to rain about an hour later with the sounds of ten year old boys demanding to stay and the ring of mobile phones with mums demanding to know why dads and lads aren’t home yet and the threats of dogs being fed the dinner. It is hard to determine if the only other sound that can be heard is the creaking of the five-a-side court door shuttingor the creaking of my knees complaining about 3 hours of football just two days after the hour on the squash court. This never used to happen when I was 19…
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
Dear Diary, Tuesday
I was so busy last week I didn’t have time to blog.
So this week I thought I’d write up a diary of last week to give a little insight as to what I get up to, where I do it and who I do it with!
Tuesday 12th October
An early start as I head into The City for a breakfast meeting with one of our key business/technology supplier/partners – Standard Life.
Green Financial use the Standard Life Wrap as a core part of our wealth management proposition for clients so keeping up to date with changes and improvements – and ironing out the occasional problem – is a key strategic job for me.
The time passes pleasantly and quickly eased by a delicious coffee from a small, niche, establishment you may not have heard of. If you ever notice a shop called tucked away on a street near you, do give it a go. I think 'Starbucks' might catch on…
Straight off then to the Hoxton Hotel. The location of recent client visits mean I get a hatrick of mentions on Twitter from the Hoxton Hoxbot!
Today though is an all day training course on a piece of software I use for client lifetime cashflow forecasting.
I learned a number of new things, brushed up on a few elements I was rusty on but as always, despite the course and trainer being of the highest quality I would argue I learned as much from my fellow delegates as the material itself.
Perhaps the biggest eye opener for me in using this software in recent times, given where we are as a nation economically, and why my clients consult with me on their financial planning, is the use of annuities in lifetime cashflow creation. Annuity has almost become a dirty word in some quarters but there is no doubt that for the right person, at the right time, an annuity can be key to a lifetime of income – or to put it another way, a great way of ensuring that bills can be paid for life without worrying about running out of money. But as with all similar things, they are not right for all folks at all times.
More information on how I use this software with clients is on my website at http://www.iangreen.com/timeline.php
As I cram onto the tube in rush hour to return home I consider myself thankful that I don’t have to do this everyday now that Green financial is located ten minutes from my house in Putney and make a mental note to sign up to the Boris Bike scheme to avoid the crush in future.
So this week I thought I’d write up a diary of last week to give a little insight as to what I get up to, where I do it and who I do it with!
Tuesday 12th October
An early start as I head into The City for a breakfast meeting with one of our key business/technology supplier/partners – Standard Life.
Green Financial use the Standard Life Wrap as a core part of our wealth management proposition for clients so keeping up to date with changes and improvements – and ironing out the occasional problem – is a key strategic job for me.
The time passes pleasantly and quickly eased by a delicious coffee from a small, niche, establishment you may not have heard of. If you ever notice a shop called tucked away on a street near you, do give it a go. I think 'Starbucks' might catch on…
Straight off then to the Hoxton Hotel. The location of recent client visits mean I get a hatrick of mentions on Twitter from the Hoxton Hoxbot!
Today though is an all day training course on a piece of software I use for client lifetime cashflow forecasting.
I learned a number of new things, brushed up on a few elements I was rusty on but as always, despite the course and trainer being of the highest quality I would argue I learned as much from my fellow delegates as the material itself.
Perhaps the biggest eye opener for me in using this software in recent times, given where we are as a nation economically, and why my clients consult with me on their financial planning, is the use of annuities in lifetime cashflow creation. Annuity has almost become a dirty word in some quarters but there is no doubt that for the right person, at the right time, an annuity can be key to a lifetime of income – or to put it another way, a great way of ensuring that bills can be paid for life without worrying about running out of money. But as with all similar things, they are not right for all folks at all times.
More information on how I use this software with clients is on my website at http://www.iangreen.com/timeline.php
As I cram onto the tube in rush hour to return home I consider myself thankful that I don’t have to do this everyday now that Green financial is located ten minutes from my house in Putney and make a mental note to sign up to the Boris Bike scheme to avoid the crush in future.
Monday, 18 October 2010
Dear Diary, Monday
I was so busy last week I didn’t have time to blog.
So this week I thought I’d write up a diary of last week to give a little insight as to what I get up to, where I do it and who I do it with!
Monday 11th October
Having made my son what I thought was a breakfast fit for a hard day at school, a delicious bowl of porridge with chopped bananas, I was greeted with the response that ‘he’d rather have coco pops’. Now I know how Jamie Oliver feels!
A busy retirement
The working week then began with a meeting in the Putney office with a client who recently retired from a career in banking. As with many retired clients he seems to be busier now than when he was working!
The meeting was around the ongoing management of an investment portfolio and the portfolio construction for the pension retirement income. As is usual in situations such as this we also strayed into estate planning matters. I now have a number of questions to answer and finer details to clarify before we proceed further.
Family Matters
Then a dash out of the office to the train station (anyone who is also on www.foursquare.com could track me at this point!) and to ‘Sunny Brighton’.
The pleasure of meeting a prospective new client was tinged with sadness at the circumstances. Too often tragedy strikes when we least expect it and this gentleman was dealing with a recent bereavement of a too young wife and mother to a too young family.
Despite the circumstances the time together was positive and I feel well able to help (in purely financial matters only) the family move on from what has happened and position themselves for their future.
Life is a jigsaw
Then straight back to Putney for a meeting in the office with a client that I have only fairly recently started working with. It has taken the best part of six months to unravel their previous financial position thanks to the existing providers giving almost no information on small matters like performance or costs! We have started to work out a plan to determine if they have enough money to last a lifetime. A huge part of my work is helping people to discover “How much is enough?”. With this client the pieces of the jigsaw are almost all in place but to continue the analogy there seems to be a corner piece missing. I have left them with a few questions and if the answers are positive then we’ll complete the jigsaw and admire the view – but if the answers are not as hoped we may well be scrabbling around on the floor or simply hoping to find the missing piece down the back of the sofa…
Injury Time
Monday finishes with a particularly pleasing event for me. My first game of squash for over six months, thanks to a knee injury in the spring and then tearing an ankle ligament in the summer after falling – and in case you wonder the fall was non-sports related - and also non alcohol related before you ask!
To hammer home the time that had passed my regular squash partner had no idea I had set up Green Financial as a stand alone entity and last time we played my wife and I had just had the 12 week scan for the new baby, now due any week!
The score on the night: Well, that’s not important. It’s the taking part that counts…
So this week I thought I’d write up a diary of last week to give a little insight as to what I get up to, where I do it and who I do it with!
Monday 11th October
Having made my son what I thought was a breakfast fit for a hard day at school, a delicious bowl of porridge with chopped bananas, I was greeted with the response that ‘he’d rather have coco pops’. Now I know how Jamie Oliver feels!
A busy retirement
The working week then began with a meeting in the Putney office with a client who recently retired from a career in banking. As with many retired clients he seems to be busier now than when he was working!
The meeting was around the ongoing management of an investment portfolio and the portfolio construction for the pension retirement income. As is usual in situations such as this we also strayed into estate planning matters. I now have a number of questions to answer and finer details to clarify before we proceed further.
Family Matters
Then a dash out of the office to the train station (anyone who is also on www.foursquare.com could track me at this point!) and to ‘Sunny Brighton’.
The pleasure of meeting a prospective new client was tinged with sadness at the circumstances. Too often tragedy strikes when we least expect it and this gentleman was dealing with a recent bereavement of a too young wife and mother to a too young family.
Despite the circumstances the time together was positive and I feel well able to help (in purely financial matters only) the family move on from what has happened and position themselves for their future.
Life is a jigsaw
Then straight back to Putney for a meeting in the office with a client that I have only fairly recently started working with. It has taken the best part of six months to unravel their previous financial position thanks to the existing providers giving almost no information on small matters like performance or costs! We have started to work out a plan to determine if they have enough money to last a lifetime. A huge part of my work is helping people to discover “How much is enough?”. With this client the pieces of the jigsaw are almost all in place but to continue the analogy there seems to be a corner piece missing. I have left them with a few questions and if the answers are positive then we’ll complete the jigsaw and admire the view – but if the answers are not as hoped we may well be scrabbling around on the floor or simply hoping to find the missing piece down the back of the sofa…
Injury Time
Monday finishes with a particularly pleasing event for me. My first game of squash for over six months, thanks to a knee injury in the spring and then tearing an ankle ligament in the summer after falling – and in case you wonder the fall was non-sports related - and also non alcohol related before you ask!
To hammer home the time that had passed my regular squash partner had no idea I had set up Green Financial as a stand alone entity and last time we played my wife and I had just had the 12 week scan for the new baby, now due any week!
The score on the night: Well, that’s not important. It’s the taking part that counts…
Friday, 8 October 2010
Planes, (Indian) Trains and Automobiles
Planes, (Indian) Trains and Automobiles
Whilst visiting Mumbai last week I took the time to look at advertising in general and financial services in particular to compare what I saw with what we are told of the ‘Indian investment story’ in the UK press.
Around Mumbai there were many street adverts for ‘luxury’ items such as perfume, chocolate, smart (if not designer) clothes and savings plans.
There were also the global city standards, such as McDonalds and there was a massive amount of mobile phone advertising. On individual poster sites and billboards as could be expected but also crammed onto every spare inch of bus stop, lampost and street vendor stalls the latest handsets and tariffs competed for attention and sales.
The financial services adverts mostly fell into one of three basics.
The first was a version of what we call unit trusts or OEICS and the Americans call mutual funds. Often referred to in India as unit plans these were focused on inward investment or infrastructure. Many funds shouted about their capacity to reinvigorate and/or build trains, bridges, roads and cities.
There is an advert above showing the T.I.G.E.R. fund from Blackrock (a familiar UK fund house, currently famed for a gold related fund). In the UK in the late 90s TIGER in investment terms was the Asian Tiger economies. In India 2010 it is The Infrastructure, Growth and Economic Reform fund. Described as “An open ended diversified equity Scheme, seeking to generate capital appreciation, from a portfolio that is substantially constituted of equity securities and equity related securities of corporates, which could benefit from structural changes brought about by continuing liberalization in economic policies by the Government and/or from continuing investments in infrastructure, both by the public and private sector.” It is typical of this type of available investment opportunity and often the wording in the advertising was in terms of ‘building YOUR India’.
On that note, the second type of financial services advert was for shares. Remember the ‘demutualisation’ and ‘privatisation’ frenzy of the 80s in the UK when building societies and insurance companies (Halifax, Norwich Union etc) became PLCs and national industry (British Airways, British Gas) became privatised? “If you see Sid, tell him”
It was similar to this with shares in companies that will build infrastructure being offered. There were also a number of sites with ‘Thank You’ adverts, congratulating the Indian Public for buying up all available stock in a certain company that would now build a bridge or dam.
Private equity ownership, either directly or through funds is definitely an aspirational ideal and with returns at a decent level as the economy grows (unlike the recent UK recessionary numbers we are seeing related to interest rates and equities)
The third and final main type of financial advert was educational and promoted saving, either through unit plans (see above), an ‘all in one plan’ the UK saver would recognise as an endowment. There were also pensions for old age. Even allowing for translation UK readers may well be charmed by the following given our more cynical minds with regard to financial services products and advertising:
For Savings: “…special plans are not plans but opportunities that knock on your door once in a lifetime. These plans are a perfect blend of insurance, investment and a lifetime of happiness”
Given the discredited nature of endowments in the UK I wonder what the FSA (Financial Services Authority) would make of a UK insurer advertising an endowment in that fashion here!
For a Pension: “Pension Plans are individual plans that gaze into your future and forsee financial stability during your old age. These policies are most suited for senior citizens and those planning a secure future so that you never give up on the best things in life.”
Again, interesting to note the focus on the individual taking their own responsibility as compared to a cultural feel in the UK of a traditional entitlement or right to state benefits. It was also fascinating to see that marketing executives in India are no more creative than their UK & US counterparts in that nearly all pension adverts show an unnaturally young looking senior couple laughing and pointing into the distance :-)
More seriously and pleasingly there were a number of adverts extolling the benefit and value in saving regularly and starting early. It seems this financial wisdom is truly global and timeless. This was super to see as one of the reasons I was invited to India and one of the subjects we discussed at the ‘best practices’ meeting I attended was how MDRT could promote the idea of its members extolling the virtues of ‘financial literacy’ in their own communities.
So I enjoyed my overview of a small slice of Indian Financial Services Advertising and it was a pleasure to see areas such as Life Insurance, which is often neglected here being promoted and purchased en mass (and remember as a nation the UK is generally woefully underinsured, a fact which I sadly see all too often when advising families that have lost a loved one).
But it will be interesting to see what happens in the future. Another of the reasons I was invited was because the UK has endured massive amounts of regulation in financial planning. Much of it needed, some of it overbearing. Developing (in the financial services sense of the word) nations want to learn from our mistakes and successes and MDRT and its global network of members wish to help.
And what about when things don’t work out like the adverts?
So far the Indian Financial Services story has been one of success, with the economy growing, more and more people saving and becoming wealthier and markets rising. I hope the Indian Financial Services profession will deal just as well with the falls in markets, the consolidation of companies and the introduction of regulation when it all surely comes as it has with the current growth and expansion.
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Green Penguins?
A Green Penguin?...
One of the problems I face with being 'Green' is that sometimes I am required to undertake more travel than may be strictly necessary. So one of the measures I implement is to plant a tree to carbon offset air travel.
One of the problems I face with being 'Green' is that sometimes I am required to undertake more travel than may be strictly necessary. So one of the measures I implement is to plant a tree to carbon offset air travel.As you can see above, Green Financial paid for a tree to be planted in the charmingly named Penguin Wood in Botany Bay, in South Derbyshire. I chose this strangely titled place as when I was in India, I visited the Hanging Gardens which overlook Mumbai and was surprised to find a litter bin in the shape of a Penguin!
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
Panorama, Pensions and my Pension Performance Review Service
Are you worried about the Panorama Pension news last night?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11452857
My clients are not.
For anyone who attended my Pension Review Seminars in 2009 the news that the Co-op have one of the most expensive plans is not news – I used data from the Financial Services Authority website to demonstrate that over 18 months ago.
Have I ever advised a client to have a Co-Op Individual Personal Pension, an HSBC World Selections Personal Pension or Legal and General's Co-funds Portfolio Pension ? – No.
Are charges one of the ways in which pensions can be worth less than you thought? Yes!
Is this the only factor? – No! Of course not, but it is one of three main factors. And over-charging on old style pensions is a problem.
It is just one of three, along with poor performance and lack of monitoring and management in line with your personal attitude to risk and volatility that contribute to under performing pensions.
Click here to read about my Pension Performance Review Service.
http://www.iangreen.com/pensionperformance.php
You’ll discover the three main factors that contribute to ‘The Under Performing Pension Trap’
You’ll also discover how I can help if you are worried this affects your pension.
I am offering a free Pension Performance Review* (usual fee £470+VAT) for any UK based pension worth over £60,000 if you mention ‘Panorama’ – just email iangreen@iangreen.com to discuss your situation with no obligation.
* Offer ends 12 noon 31 October 2010
Monday, 4 October 2010
A (short) Passage to India
Last week I visited Mumbai in India to participate in an International Practice Management Committee.
It was a brief trip – I arrived Tuesday morning and left Wednesday evening so I only had a short time to visit Mumbai and do any sightseeing. There are a few pictures above showing the city skyline, the Gateway to India and the Taj Hotel.
The whole of Wednesday was spent in the meeting, discussing global best practices for Financial Planners and Insurance Agents. The meeting was arranged by the organisation MDRT – The Premier Association of Financial Professionals.
The main focus of the work was how best MDRT can assist its members in communicating the great work they do.
My hosts were wonderful. They are shown above in the first picture (L-R) Ramanathapura S. Ramanuja, Sunil Sohoni, - along with fellow committee members Helen Jenkins and Jayne White, MDRT staff Pam Brown and the committee chairperson Radhakrishna K Shetty. Then me, Ian Green
So sadly, too short a time in a wonderful city, but happily a great meeting with lovely people.
More blog posts to follow on elements of the trip including more about MDRT and how/why I am involved (and the benefits to my clients), The ‘Green’ Aspects of Business Travel and Investing in India.
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