NEST - 8% minimum target (3% employer + 5% employee)

There has been further announcements and coverage of the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST)following the Government review of the scheme. Perhaps the most important point to mention is that this has been given the green light and will mean that from 2017 pretty much everyone will need to be contributing 5% or more of salary towards a pension.

NEST will be phased in (as previously suggested). The largest empployers (those with 120,000+ employees will have to start their NEST from October 2012. Companies with staff of 500-120,000 the roll out date is somewhat later - 1 January 2014 and for everyone else (those with less than 50 employees) the earliest start date is 1 August 2014.

The NEST website states that the Regulator will write to all employers around 12 months before their staging date so that they know when to automatically enrol their eligible jobholders. Three months before the employer's staging date the Regulator will write again to remind them of the new duties and the need to register.

Employees eligible for automatic enrolment will be:

1. Those who aren't already active members of a qualifying scheme
2. Aged between 22 years and the State Pension age
3. Earn over £7,475 gross a year.

The qualifying scheme may be the existing employer pension scheme if it meets certain conditions, or if an employer does not have a qualifying scheme they will have to set one up or use a NEST pension scheme.

Employees will be able to opt out of the scheme if they so wish. However for those employees within the scheme it is expected that the employer will have to contribute at least 3% of their 'qualifying' earnings. These earnings are their basic salary plus commissions, bonuses and overtime between £7,475 and £33,540 a year (2006/07 terms).

Contribution levels will be phased in over a period of time

Before October 2016
Employer 1%
Employee 1%

October 2016 - October 2017
Employer 3%
Employee 3%

From October 2017
Employer 3%
Employee 5%


So there you have it - for more information visit the NEST website or get in touch.

Students may not leave the NEST

As we all know, students are having to fork out more for their University education, which in practice means that most of those affected by the cnagnes will probably begin repaying their loans from 2014 at the earliest.

A double whammy looks like coming their way as the Government has decided to continue with the previous Government's pension reform NEST. Whilst there is an "easing in" period most people will have to begin paying into a pension from 1st August 2014 at 1% of income, but rising to 5% from October 2017.

I will blog a little more on NEST in due course, but if you have student aged children the key dates are now agreed as are the contribution levels.

Tis the season...

I'm a little envious of the following that Lady Gaga gets via social networking, Twitter - she set a Facebook record of having over 10million fans and also a Twitter record of over 5.7million followers. So I have a long way to catch up!

Anyway, turning this following to something useful - she and several other celebrities have decided to cease social networking until $1million has been received in donations to the "Keep A Child Alive" charity - which is headed by Alicia Keys. Given the following it would only take a few hours before the celebrities are back online - if followers gave $1 each. The idea is that a number of celebrities need bringing back to life - and you pay/donate to bring them back, which taps into the theme of saving lives.

Quite a novel idea, but one has to say that probably $1million isn't really a "stretching" target given the exposure, wealth and sheer momentum behind the characters involved. Unless of course this is per celebrity, I guess it might be a little embarassing if one or two didn't make the target - but hats off to their taking part!

Online Magazine Now Available

Our regular magazine is now ready for downloading or viewing. Clients will receive the hard copy in the near future.

Generosity of Canadian Lottery Winners

A couple recently won $11.2m (about £7m) on the Canadian lottery and gave away 98% of it because it was a "big headache". Mr & Mrs Large, both in their seventies gave away the money to friends, family and charities pocketing a mere £140,000 for themselves.

Whilst many may be amazed by such an act, those that win millions via lottery winnings have a poor track record when it comes to handling significant wealth, creating all sorts of problems and exaggerating those that they already had.

Here's the story.

The Economist Intelligence Unit Research

I was one of a few advisers that recently took part in a survey sponsored by Goldman Sachs for the EIU. The survey was only from a small sample of advisers (289) as well as private investors, but never-the-less makes some interesting reading (well for me it does). I wonder if you would agree with the findings? perhaps you would let me know?


1. Only a minority of investors think the recent financial crisis was as bad as it can get: Despite the wild swings in financial markets at the peak of the crisis, just 14% of respondents said the volatility was ‘beyond anything I could have imagined’ while 28% said it was ‘within expected volatility’. Nearly half of the respondents (41%) believe that market volatility was merely ‘unusual’ compared with their ‘worst-case scenario’ expectations.

2. Investors now realise there is no such thing as a ‘safe haven’: Perceived risk in all asset classes has gone up and the `safe haven' status of asset classes such as cash and fixed income has been challenged. Over half of respondents say they view investing in stocks, bonds, property, private equity and hedge funds as slightly or much riskier than before, with commodities being the slight exception: just 35% of respondents believe investing in commodities is riskier than it used to be.

3. British private investors are more open to taking risk to achieve their investment goals than mainland European investors: Over a quarter (27%) of investors in the UK describe themselves as adventurous or somewhat adventurous, compared to just 9% of continental investors. Also, 64% of British investors agree or strongly agree that they are willing to choose high-risk investments in order to achieve high returns, compared to just 32% of European investors. Financial advisers concur that Europeans have become more risk adverse due to the crisis, with 88% of continental advisers agreeing or strongly agreeing, compared to 61% of British advisers.

This may also affect views on the world economy, with 61% of UK respondents expecting a mix of strong growth in emerging markets and low growth in developed markets, compared to just 37% of mainland Europeans. Almost half (46%) of Europeans expect low growth overall.

4. British private investors believe they were less affected by the crisis than their continental counterparts: Less than a quarter of private investors in the UK (23%) say their investments suffered more or significantly more than expected during the financial crisis, compared to 43% of mainland European investors. No investors in the UK and just 5% in continental Europe say that all personal goals have been put at risk and 18% and 14% respectively say that some will not be achievable, but 46% of UK investors say the crisis had very little or no impact on their goals, compared to 36% of continental Europeans.

Monica Woodley, Senior Editor within the Business Research division of the EIU, said: “We were surprised by how many investors said that the volatility of the financial crisis was merely ‘unusual’, rather than ‘once in a lifetime’ or ‘beyond anything I could imagine’, which is certainly how investors described it while in the throes of the crisis. However the fact that they now feel individual asset classes are riskier shows that the crisis has had a long-term impact on perceptions. This may be a sign that investors now realise there are no ‘safe’ investments and avoiding certain asset classes does not avoid risk. Risk cannot be avoided but it can be managed, for example through diversification, and it can be better understood."

Tax Advantages

I've had a really beneficial day in London. This will result in new options for our clients and possibly significant reductions in their taxes. In addition, I have new investment options which are worth considering for those 50% (and above) taxpayers. New ideas for the self-employed with incomes over £150,000 and also Company Directors that have an old Employee Benefit Trust (EBT) that is likely to be reviewed by HMRC. Get in touch if you would like to know more.

Investment Must Connect

I have been fortunate enough to attend quite a few "gigs" this year, but the last two seemed to be almost directly opposite of one another. I have a broad musical taste - which isn't to everyones liking (which in the last month has included Gorillaz and Don Giovani).

Anyway, I was in Brighton for the Gorillaz do - which was their last UK show before a continental tour. I have been a Blur fan for longer than I care to remember and you may know that Damon Albarn is the front man for Gorillaz and Blur. He a good musician and fairly experimental (even wrote Monkey the Opera). His outlook is fairly informed by eastern culture and a general disenchantment with western culture (or so it would appear). Whilst his music is very popular and catchy, most of the imagery and lyrics from Gorillaz is fairly bleak and lacking in hope. A great gig with fantastic lighting, effects and visuals.

The band of the year (surely) Mumford & Sons - who I saw a couple of times this year seem to be almost the opposite. A rock/folk or folk/rock band that keep it simple - stage lighting at its most basic (that's not a criticism). They have had a hugely successful first album (Sign No More)and their lyrics display both vulnerability and a sense of hope. There's a great line in the track "Awake My Soul"...

"In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die. Where you invest your love, you invest your life".

Having been to numerous investment seminars this year and general industry updates/training events I am constantly struck by the general lack of any appreciation of the connection between investing and life. In my experience, clients do not invest for the sake of making more money, they invest because they want to achieve certain things and have a certain lifestyle. A good financial planner will provide a good road map to the achievement of financial goals, but a better one will help you to think through how what you really want is connected with your personal values. Such a discussion requires time and reflection, something that few advisers really afford clients. I believe that this is where we differ.

The Price of Vulnerability

I was forwarded the video below by a friend which "happened to" resonate having spent the week reflecting upon my eldest daughters 18th birthday and the landmark that it sets in the ground for my family. So much of the time we (and I include myself) chase the next thing, the next stage, the next step along the path and can forget to observe where we are, where we have come from and what has been achieved.

This is a 15 minute footage of a talk by Dr Brene Brown. I wonder what you think of it...email me your thoughts.

If you have read any of my blogs, you will realise that I'm not someone that puts financial planning in a box. I believe that how we handle money is deeply integrated with our personal value system and belief system. At least, relevant financial planning - rather than just crunching the numbers.

Real Stories - Monday morning good news investing

OK, so National Ethical Investment Week may have concluded a couple of weeks ago, but I thought that you might like to know a little about some of the "reasons why" some shares are held within an ethical portfolio.

Take Ecclesiastical, they hold Vodaphone, which to most of us may not seem like much of big deal - but the stock fits on ethical grounds because of the work that Vodaphone is doing in countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Afghanistan, Fiji and South Africa with their M-PESA scheme.

The initial concept of M-PESA was to create a service which allowed microfinance borrowers to conveniently receive and repay loans using the network of Safaricom airtime resellers. This would enable microfinance institutions (MFIs) to offer more competitive loan rates to their users, as there is a reduced cost of dealing in cash. The users of the service would gain through being able to track their finances more easily. But when the service was trialled, customers adopted the service for a variety of alternative uses; complications arose with Faulu, the partnering microfinance institution (MFI). M-PESA was re-focused and launched with a different value proposition: sending remittances home across the country and making payments.

Vodaphone effectively make it very easy for payments to be transferred between people in nations where banks are few and far between. For example, in Tanzania only around 10% of people have a bank account, but over 50% have a mobile phone. In many senses, this leaves the UK and many other developped nations way behind in terms of mobile banking.

Already in Kenya the amount of money transferred between mobile phones is equivalent to 11% of their GDP with mobile phone ownership at 42.1% of the 38.6m population (end 2008).

The scheme has attracted the attention of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation who have provided assistance to improve take up in Tanzania.

Developments that Vodaphone have been involved with "M-Health" (a UN initiative) which includes the transfer of medical information, dispensing medication and mapping of disease outbreaks.

By way of another example - fishermen in Kerala use their mobiles to call ahead to find out which marketplace is offering the best prices. As a result of this advantage their profits have increased by 8% but consumer prices fell by 4% due to less wastage. So everyone wins.

The Vodaphone shares are held because they offer significant potential reward for investors as these initiatives and others like them are developped - whilst also meeting many of the requirements for ethical or socially responsible investment.

Let me know if you would like more stories like this.

Ageing Population

Perhaps it is the fact that my eldest daughhter turns 18 this week (enough to make me feel considerably middle-aged!) but there are some fairly alarming reports doing the rounds about how badly people are planning for their retirement.

Sun Life Financial of Canada conducted a recent survey amongst people aged 60 and regarded as affluent. Only 26% of them felt that they had planned for their retirement in detail. 76% agreed that retirement planning has become more complex even within their own lifestime, with 84% agreeing the issues are more complex than when their parent's generations retired.

The survey revealed that also half, 48% had little idea about the size of the pension pot that they would need. So in an attempt to provide a "rule of thumb" try this approach.

Take the income you want (before tax) and divide this by 4.5%. This will provide the approximate value of the pension fund you will need IN TODAYS MONEY. Importantly good planning will allow for inflation.

Here's a worked example. Suppose you are 45 years old and require an income of £60,000 for your retirement before tax. The fund value needs to be £1.3m in todays money. If you plan to retire at 60 then there are 15 years left. If you estimate the rate of inflation to be 3% a year then that's 15 years of inflation at 3.0% a year.

So the income of £60,000 has become £93,478 and the fund value £2,077,288. The numbers are pretty shocking aren't they! That's the power of inflation.... which is something that we all know, but tend to forget...remember that house you bought, the loaf of bread or the last time you bought pretty much anything a reasonable time ago..

We can help work out what you need and how to best get there, using the most suitable solutions given your requirements and attitude towards risk. Give me a call.

Offshore Tax - loopholes closing

Positive news for the Government - reclaimed tax from overseas tax evasion was expected to raise £1bn for the Treasury, but following negotiations between the Government and other national Governments this looks likely to significantly increase.

Mr Osbourne is now expecting an extra £2bn from secret offshore accounts just from Liechtenstein. Its is possible that a further £3bn may be payable from Swiss accounts as well. Some estimates are in the region of £10bn from such tax evading accounts which estimate that there is £125bn stashed away in Swiss accounts by UK citizens.

All of this is helping to reduce the deficit and I imagine that it will be a more prominent part of the Government's strategy as a political move to reduce the negative criticism that has resulted from the largely middle-class tax penalties to date.

Remembrance Sunday

As we draw to a close on National Ethical Investment Week, it seems fitting that Sunday 14th November will be Sunday Remembrance Day - in as much that war is very costly and should be avoided if at all possible.

As for the financial costs of Defence spending, my latest (and newest) Economist World Figures for 2011 (based at end 2008) reveal that the UK was 23rd in world rankings for Armed forces with 175,000 regulars and 199,000 reserves. Our Armed forces are numerically smaller than (in numerical order)...

China, USA, India, North Korea, Russia, South Korea, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, France, Brazil, Syria, Indonesia, Italy, Taiwan, Colombia, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Israel and then UK!

In terms of Defence spending as a percentage of GDP, the UK (and China) weren't in the top 27 (27th South Korea at 2.6%)... the largest? Jordan at 10.6% - however turning the numbers into defence spending the UK was third ($60.8bn) ahead of China's $60.2bn and surpassed by France $67.2bn and the USA at an enormous $696.3bn.

When these numbers are converted into an equivalent spend per head of the population the UK was 11th at $998 per head. Leading the spend per head was the United Arab Emirates at $2,972 , Kuwait $2,623, USA $2,290, Qatar $2,129, Israel $2,077, Oman $1,410, Saudia Arabia $1,357, Norway $1,264, Australia $1,056, France $1,049 the the UK at $998.

Draw your own conclusions.

As we remember those that fought for our nation so that we might enjoy significant freedoms, you may be interested in an excellent play "Birdsong" directed by Trevor Nunn and written by Sebastian Faulks. Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian/Dorian Gray) is excellent as the leading character Stephen Wraysford and supported by a great ensemble including Nicholas Farrell (Chariots of Fire). Its a fabulous production and very moving, though the end of Act 2 may have you glued to your seat.

Ethical Investing: Myth 4

Myth 4: It's all or nothing.

Fact: Many modern green and ethical investors choose to"dip a toe in the water" by mixing some green and ethical options with their other investments.

From my perspective, frankly for most investors it simply is not possible to achieve a diversified portfolio (spreading risk) across different asset classes (types of investment) and global markets. In practice the bulk of retail ethical funds are within the UK Equity and Global Specialist sectors. As a result these is not really a "single solution" for a proper portfolio so some compromise ought to be made. Many experts argue that asset allocation adds far more to a portfolio than the selection of the funds - so it does seem somewhat naive to be an "all or nothing" investor when it comes to selecting ethical funds. In the same way that purely selecting UK equities (representing only about 10% of global markets) would seem irrational too.

National Ethical Investment Week

Last night I was at the House of Commons for a parliamentary reception to mark NEIW 2010. UKSIF, the sustainable investment and finance association called upon the Government to introduce a Green ISA allowance at the next Budget in March 2011. New research from YouGov for NEIW reveals that over 12 million British adults (about 27%) would be likely to invest in a Green ISA during the next 12 months. The research also revealed that over half would consider investing in renewable energy to help the sector receive greater funding. This money would help to meet the urgent demand for investment in the green energy and environmental sector.

Government adviser Lord Wei outlined the challenge facing the ethical/green market within financial services and combined this with the challenge of "Big Society". He was impressive and it was a good opportunity for me to meet some of those involved within the movement to promote better business who have some fantastic ideas about how we can all profit from investment into innovative markets.

I also spent time with Penny Shepherd MBE and UKSIF CEO who has been spearheading the drive to make NEIW into the investment world equivalent of "Fair Trade fortnight" and who spoke on Radio 5 earlier in the day (21 minutes into Wake Up To Money).

Monthly Market Report

This is now available via the website in the news section. Clicke here to view the market statistics

Ethical Investing: Myth 3

Myth 3: Green and ethical investors are mainly teachers and social workers.

Fact: Financial advisers report a wide range of "non-traditional" clients interested in green and ethical investment today, including young entrepreneurs and those inheriting wealth.

I have to admit I'm not entirely comfortable with wording of the UKSIF myth 3 statement. For starters it seems to imply a slight dig at teachers and social workers which is far too generalist to be accurate. In essence the sentiment is that ethical investment is for everyone, not just those that spend time protesting in boats or climbing onto oil rigs etc.

Funds: Gartmore

Roger Guy the former Fund Manager of the Gartmore European Selected Opportuities Fund has announced that he will retire from Fund Management. The fund is currently managed by John Bennett and remains a AA rated fund.

Fund Fact Sheet here

Unstoppable... check, check and check again

I occassionally get invited along to previews of films and last night saw "Unstoppable". Its an "inspired by real events" story about a train that becomes out of control, picking up speed and loaded with toxic cargo. Insert Denzel Washington and Chris Pine (Captain Kirk from the new Star Trek film) with direction by Tony Scott (who seems to have thing for trains) and a dose of railroad bravado and you have a classic format tense action disaster drama. I enjoyed the film but couldn't help feeling that the in fact this train was very stoppable, had those in charge applied as much effort to thought as their efforts to braking.

The story begins with a catalogue of errors that are so obvious, that an audience is left in no doubt that this will come back to haunt. This is partly about not having a series of checklists, not taking short-cuts and thinking more about the stock price than people. We all make mistakes, and the worst are those that get repeated. So it is vital that we have processes in place that significantly reduce the possibility of error.

This is something that will of course ring true within financial services - how do the brakes get applied? when is your portfolio headed for disaster and how will you know when you are far too close to possible wipe out? This is something that we help clients with - flagging problems, maintaining controls and providing realistic benchmarks. Don't let your financial mistakes be the most obvious ones.

Ethical Investing: Myth 2

Myth 2: Financial performance is sacrificed

Fact: 90% of wealth managers responding to a summer 2009 survey said that their gree and ethical investing portfolios had performed the same as or better than their other portfolios.

(source UKSIF).

My own view - performance might be worse or better than the market, frankly it will depend on the market cycle. Generally speaking ethically screened funds holder "smaller companies" within their fund, these tend to do well in rising markets and poorly when markets are falling. In philosophical terms - one would assume that companies that provide a way for us all to save costs and energy are likely to prosper.

Keeping up with the Joneses

I saw "The Joneses" over the weekend. Its a film that attempts to explore the notion of ... you guessed it keeping up witht the Joneses. It has some amusing observations and centres upon a fake family (of salespeople) moving to an area near you to influence the way you buy. My own view is that the idea is not developped thoroughly and scarcely embarks upon why we fall for the enticements of the "good life" and very little is done to unpack exactly what the "good life" is. The main message seems to be - don't spend money you don't have, but ideas about what delivers lasting happiness are largely ignored. It is possible to be incredibly wealthy and be very happy - its also possible to be poor and happy. The question about why we often forget this is largely consigned to the irrelevant and replaced with our new HD (hardly different?) TV.

Its an amusing film, but offers little bite.

Ethical Investing Myth 1

Myth 1: Green and ethical investing means a specific set of products, particularly those with negative screening.

Fact: Green and ethical investing is an investment philosophy that combines environmental and social criteria with conventional investment criteria to meeting both a client's financial objectives and any social or environmental objectives that they may have. It is defined by use of this philosophy not by any one technique.

Many modern green and ethical investments aim to help investors to make money and make a difference in society at the same time. For example, they may use thematic investing, selecting companies offering profitable solutions to particualr social or environmental problems. Negatively screened ethical funds can be selected for those that do want to avoid profiting from certain activities but this is not the only aspect of green and ethical investing.

National Ethical Investment Week

Today is the first day of the third "National Ethical Investment Week". Many of our clients want a bit of ethical investment within their portfolio. According to a study by Eurosif around 11% of a portfolio for High Net Worth individuals consists of some form of ethical investment holding by the end of December 2009. This was an increase of 35% over two years previously. At the same point (December 2009) there was roughly £9.5bn invested through UK ethical investment funds. I will outline 4 common myths about ethical investing this week

Bonkers Bankers?

RBS posted concerning financial figures today, recording a Q3 loss of £132million. I wonder what the overdraft charge on that is? In general things at RBS seem to be improving with operating profits improved to £726million and core banking profits increasing by 10%.

Income has reduced to the Banks Core banking for the 9 month period to 30 Spetember from £24,706million in 2009 to £22,508million in 2010. So core income is down. The good news is that the size of the losses has reduced from a loss of £4,879million for the period in 2009 to a profit over the same period in 2010 of £1,450million. This is a considerable improvement.

Obviously there are still problems and reducing revenue is rarely a good thing. Shares are currently trading about 6% less than the price the Government paid for them, so don't expect the largely (84%) nationalised bank to revert to the private sector any time soon.

Friends & Money

Last night I saw the film "The Social Network" which I greatly enjoyed. For those that don't know, this is a film about the story of Facebook - the world's leading online networking site. The film charts the rise of Facebook from its contraversial launch at Harvard University in 2004. Its a fascinating tale of how an idea became reality and now has over 500million active users, with most people checking their Facebook account on a daily basis.

This success has made the founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg a billionnaire. The film charts the ironic tension and breakdown of the relationships between good friends as they build the social network. This resulted in legal actions between the parties concerned that resulted in significant sums of money exchanging hands. No one is depsicted as blameless within the film and frankly all posed some pretty good arguments for their case. I'm not sure where truth and story part company, or indeed if they do - but from my perspective, the main observation is the leathal impact of a combination of pride and money on a relationship.

I thoroughly enjoyed the film and as you may know, am a regular user of Facebook. Zuckerberg is frankly a post-modern genius.

New Magazine

I came across a new magazine called "The Market" and am impressed with the content that I have read so far. An easy read with a good layout and some really excellent content and tips. Samples many aspects of stuff that I find of help/interest without getting too heavy like the specialist magazines.

Do have a look at a copy for yourself - here's their website.

University Fees - Young Ones Once

Lunchtime news is that the Coalition Government has altered the way that Universities will charge students for their course. The proposals (yet to be approved by the House of Commons) make way for Universities to charge up to £9,000 a year for a course, although more typically this is expected to be around £6,000.

The current tuition fee is set at a flat rate of £3,290 for all courses and all Universities. This is typically paid for by applying for the Tuition Fee Loan. The obvious point to make is that loans in the future will be much larger (at least double). As a result students and their parents will be keen to ensure that the selected course is good value for money. The consequence of which is that Universities will certainly have to be price aware and clearly increase their marketing profile.

Another consequence is that some, perhaps many of the smaller courses will simply close due to a lack of interest from students. In addition, one suspects that the number of students living at home will also increase.

The Tuition loan itself will now be linked to an agreed rate of interest as well as inflation, which appears to be offered at inflation+3%. The concession from the Government is that the loan will now not need to be repaid until the student is employed and earning £21,000 as opposed to £15,000 at present. The loan is repaid gradually directly from a payslip each month.

This is of course a hugely political issue. Setting aside any personal view for the moment, the increase in fee suggests that courses have been heavily subsidised by Governments and that the current view is that this is not fair on the taxpayer.

Of course the "value" of education is brought into the spot light once again - are we better off having a society of well-educated citizens to Degree level and certainly this is a personal question that the student must ask of themselves before embarking on a course. I am not one of those that believes our youth are less intelligent than predecessors and knowing the workloads of my daughters and other young people I find this particularly irksome. If students are not prepared, that has more to do with a national curriculum that attempts to standardise learning and only proffer students likely to do well up for examination. We all know that an enthusiastic and inspriational teacher is worth his/her weight in gold, we also know that many find their way into teaching for lack of a better idea - as in all walks of life.

Certainly we must engage with the price of education, but the potential cost of a poorly educated society, struggling to keep pace with a global workforce is certainly a "concern" after all these are the very people that will make policy in our dotage.

As a quick guide, I estimate that with the new £6,000 Tution fee, the annual cost of University is likely to be in the region of £12,500 per student once allowing for housing and living costs... perhaps we will see a return to old-style student digs.

Click here for the BBC news report.

Skandia - Valuations

Clients should shortly recieve valuations for the half-year to 5th October 2010 directly from Skandia over the remainder of the week. Please remember that this is a valuation at 5th October, now nearly a month ago.

Dates for your Diary?

The Wine Show is being held ta Olympia 12-14 November. Ticket prices are from £20.50 and include entry to the MasterChef live, running concurrently. Lots of wine experts on hand for advice about buying and investing in wine.

This is followed by the Winter Fine Art and Antiques Fair running at Olympia from 15-21 November. There should be over 140 dealers exhibiting and is for investors and collectors alike.

The Spirit of Chirstmas

Yes, the countdown has begun, we have now booked our office Christmas party and thinking about cards and the shopping that all of us face over the next 7 weeks or so. If you are seeking a little inspiration how about the Spirit of Christmas Fair held at Olympia this week, conveniently starting at the same time as the tube strike. This is a high-end fair with some great exhibitors. Tickets are only available on the door at £18 each. Don't bother trying to phone the ticket booking line.

Funds: Aegon Ethical Equity Monthly Update

Hear the news about one of the funds currently held within our ethically screend portfolios. Elaine Morgan is currently running the fund whilst Audrey Ryan is on maternity leave.

Click here for a 3 minute verbal update.

National Ethical Investment Week

This morning I was at the build up to the third National Ethical Investment Week, (NEIW) hosted at Henderson's offices in Bishopsgate. It was good to hear about the work that Fund Manager Tim Dieppe has been doing on the Henderson's Industries of the Future fund together with Ecclesiastical's various ethical funds. The public awareness campaign starts next week. It was good to see that the emphasis is shifting from "black and white" to a more engaged "what can we do?" approach.

Last year research was undertaken during NEIW09 which revealed that 49% of people with savings and investments would like to make money and make a difference.