Lump Sum Investments

Firstly, it is important to realise that ‘ISAs’ are only normal invested funds that have a special ‘tax wrapper’. This tax wrapper provides protection from Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on monies invested within ISAs. ISAs cannot reclaim dividend tax that has already been paid to the revenue by the dividend producer (usually a company). Careful selection of funds can do much to mitigate even this very small element of tax.

Investment Funds do not have this tax wrapper, but with a little care CGT tax can be avoided in almost all situations, unless very large capital gains have been made, normally within a short space of time. It is common practice to ‘sweep’ monies from investment funds to the value of annual ISA allowances into a new ISA every year, usually around 6th April.

Having established that ISAs & Investment Funds are usually one & the same, lets’ take a brief look at what makes them up:

Essentially, the assets within these products can be anything from Loans to the Government, to Shares in Oil Exploration, and virtually anything in between. On balance, the more variety a client has in their investments, the more they are ‘spreading’ their risk which is normally a good  discipline. A variety of different assets within ISAs, Investment Funds, or both are known as a PORTFOLIO. It is your adviser’s place to recommend the appropriate products and assets (often in the form of investment funds) to potentially meet your objectives, whilst considering the risks that are acceptable to you. A good adviser will also consider your ‘capacity for loss’ which is equally as important as your views.

Here at Atlantic Coast, our two Investment Advisers use the following basic principles when investing your hard-earned cash:

• Your attitude to investment risk. We always complete a questionnaire with questions, in order to identify what concerns you most & least. Whilst these questions are quite ‘searching’ we feel that they are vital in the process to identify how a client feels about various possible scenarios.
• Capacity for loss. We have a duty to identify what you can afford to lose without adversely effecting your lifestyle and do so by discussing various outcomes.
• Objectives. We examine closely your objectives. Are you looking for Income, Capital Growth, or possibly both? We also consider what level of investment performance you may be looking for, and advise how realistic your objectives are. If we feel that your objectives would require the taking of excessive risks we will tell you what they could be and describe the effect on your circumstances.
• Your tax situation. Different clients have different tax objectives and we look to use the most appropriate tax wrapper for your needs.
• Personal preferences. We have a number of clients that wish to invest in ‘ethical funds’ and we are happy to comply with their wishes. We also have clients that have a desire to invest in certain assets or geographical locations around the world. Again, this is something that we are able to arrange with our knowledge of building international portfolios.
• Portfolio Planning. We do not place an investment in a couple of mixed funds & hope for the best. We plan every portfolio to ensure that it meets with the customers aspirations & concerns. When we construct a portfolio for you, it is important that you are aware of its key features and the methodology used in its construction. We always make our advice easy to understand using lots of real examples to help.

Our two investment advisers are Ian and Maria, If you wish to speak to either of them regarding investing for the future or evaluating your current position please call, email, or click the ‘contact’ button.