Independent Investment and Pensions business, Save & Invest, has led the successful execution of a £260m buy in annuity policy for the Trustees of a defined benefits pension scheme of a major international financial services business.
Despite more than six months of Covid 19 restrictions, as the volatility in markets reduced, Save & Invest has been able to reorientate portfolios to be relevant to a changed world.
We are all aware of how much Covid 19 has changed our own world and few people believe the world will continue exactly as before when we fully emerge from lock down.
Here are three signals that we see as pointing to the direction of that change.
Stock markets, society and economies have been rocked by the Covid crisis, so it is interesting to examine what has been resilient is these near science fiction times.
It is now 2 months since the coronavirus caused panic throughout investment markets sending stocks tumbling by as much as 35% across the world.
The NHS and the Government are coming under increasing pressure, but markets are beginning to imagine a world post the virus. The slowing infection rate in France and Italy and the rapid stimulus by the world's policy and lawmakers has created some optimism and delivered a bounce in global equities and corporate bonds.
Following the statements tonight from the Prime Minister and First Minister, none of our offices will be staffed, with immediate effect.
Since the UK budget earlier in March the pace of change has been incredibly fast, not just the frightening spread of the pandemic, with governments and central banks implementing massive fiscal and monetary measures to boost future economic conditions. This help is designed to ensure the negative impact on economic conditions of the pandemic over the next few months can be recovered as business and their workers are able to speedily return to economic activity.
It has been a tumultuous few weeks as global markets have reacted to the spread of the corona virus.
The UK has now had Brexit for virtually 4 years, and, 3 and a half years after the Referendum it is still not clear what our relationship with Europe will be or when businesses will know how to adapt to a new environment. However, it appears that whatever the outcome of the election on 12 December, Brexit is likely to continue as one of the major talking points in the UK for years to come.
As we have said in previous commentaries, the period of strongly rising assets, powered by Central Bank Quantitative Easing, has generally passed but it appears the change to more normal conditions will be much more gradual than anticipated a few months ago, reducing the concerns in the gilt and bond markets and supporting economic growth in most leading economies.
Jeffrey Deans says that although its unique back-office reporting system is central to the service it provides, Save & Invest is still a face-to-face business at its core.
Any client of Save & Invest Financial Planning would rightly expect the firm to know a thing or two about managing their money. After all, the clue is in the name.
We are pleased to report our client dashboard is now fully functional once again.
Thank you for your patience while we suffered technical issues that were outwith our control.