The third quarter of 2016 was not the meltdown it threatened to be after the referendum. The final days of the second quarter of 2016 were dominated by the fall-out from the outcome of the referendum on 23 June. It was, to put it mildly, a volatile time for investment markets. However, for all the…

There has been a difference of opinion on the role of property in retirement planning between the Bank of England’s Chief Economist and a former Deputy Governor. Andy Haldane, Chief Economist at the Bank of England, caused a few raised eyebrows recently when in a Sunday Times interview he suggested that “property is a better…

The previous Chancellor’s plans to launch a Lifetime ISA (LISA) have been given a fresh breath of life. In his final Budget last March, one of the surprises George Osborne produced was the Lifetime ISA, known as the LISA to everyone except HM Treasury. As a reminder, LISA’s main features were to be: •It would…

The next stage of the opening up of the Chinese stock markets has been agreed. Many major companies incorporated in China have dual share classes: A Shares, which is the main share category, are denominated in renminbi, the Chinese currency. They are listed on the Chinese stock exchanges, the major ones being Shanghai and Shenzhen,…

The Bank of England may have finally ended speculation and dropped the interest rate from 0.5% to a new low of 0.25%, but there are plenty of savings accounts already paying less. Last month the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published "sunlight remedy" data, showing the lowest interest rates (as at 1 April 2016) offered by…

The Brexit-induced decline in the value of the pound has brought some good news for investors. "The Brexit vote has completely changed the picture for dividends this year and beyond." So said Capita, one of the UK's main share registrars in its second quarter Dividend Monitor. In the first quarter edition, Capita had forecast a…

July saw several major property funds suspend dealings. One of the unexpected outcomes of the UK's vote to leave the European Union on 23 June has been that at least eight property funds have suspended dealings, meaning that investors cannot cash in their holdings. Some other funds have applied large discounts to prices for those…

The Treasury has issued a consultation paper on changes to the taxation of single premium investment bonds following a long-running tax tribunal case. Single premium investment bonds have long been a popular way of investing for both individuals and trustees. One of their plus points for many investors is that there is generally nothing to…

Recent research shows that UK household savings are forecast to fall to their lowest rate in over 50 years. A report produced by the Centre for Economics and Social Research (CEBR) has forecast that UK household savings will fall to just 3.8% of disposable income this year, its lowest level since 1963. The ratio was…

The 'Panama Papers' have created a media frenzy about offshore investment. Not everything you read was necessarily accurate. Offshore investment made front page headlines last month, with the leak of 11.5 million documents from a law firm in Panama. The fact that there was link to the Prime Minister gave the story legs, but unfortunately…

The Chancellor made a surprise decision to cut capital gains tax (CGT) in his Budget - but not for everyone. Cast your mind back to June 2010, when George Osborne presented his first "Emergency Budget" as Chancellor. One of his tax raising actions was to introduce a two tier system of CGT. Instead of being…

The first quarter of the year is over. For all the excitement over the last three months, from end to end, not much happened. Do you remember back to the first half of February, when markets were full of doom and gloom and the FTSE was threatening to drop below 5,500 and the Dow Jones…

The latest inflation figure has crept up again, but interest rates haven't followed. Between December 2015 and January 2016, overall prices as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) fell by 0.8%. However, prices normally fall between Christmas and the New Year as the sales get under way and the festive travel price hikes are…

This year's venture capital trusts (VCT) offerings are the first under a changed set of investment rules. VCTs offer several attractive tax benefits: •Income tax relief at 30% is available on new share subscriptions for investments up to £200,000 per tax year; •Dividends are free of income tax; and •Any gains are free from capital…

Petrol and diesel fell to under a £1 a litre in January as the supermarkets battled for customers. The drop was due to the precipitous decline in the price of oil, which started in mid-2014, when oil was over $100 a barrel, and took another step down in late 2015, to $30 territory. It might…

The first Thursday in November - coincidentally Guy Fawkes' Day - was a "Super Thursday" for the Bank of England. These now occur once every three months and see an avalanche of information emerging from the Bank. The Monetary Policy Committee's decision on interest rates is accompanied by both the meetings' minutes and the Bank's…