Download or view our Free Smart Money Magazine - July 2010 here.

In spite of the political rhetoric from the opposition, the consuensus of UK economists believes that the budget was tough but fair, addressing the issues at hand whilst ensuring that those on lower incomes are somewhat protected from the tax increases.

Osbourne stated that 77% of the money to repay the spiralling national borrowing would come from public sector spending cuts and the other 23% from tax increases.  Only time will tell whether or not public sector workers will ‘toe Osborne’s line’ with pay freezes imminent, hundreds of thousands of job losses on the horizon and possible pension cuts.  We have already witnessed riots on the streets of Athens due to the Greek austerity measures; could we see the same outcome here?…… Let’s hope not.

Download or view our Free Emergency Budget Guide 2010 here

Robin Griffths is a well respected investment strategist with Cazenove Capital and he is predicting a sizeable ‘double dip’ in the stock market.  Listen to his views:

The problem is that for every view we hear that takes the Robin Griffiths stance, we hear another analyst or economist stating the opposite!

So how do you position your investments to protect against a possible double dip in the stock market whilst giving potential to participate in the market if it does continue to the upward side?

The answer is to ensure that your money is diversified between numerous, non-correlated asset classes and to be certain that any retained equity exposure is in the right sectors, right type of company and right geographical area.

At watermark, we are experts in managing client money through our ‘Discretionary Managed Portfolio Service’ (DMPS) and the real mark of how well your investment adviser performs, is not how much you make when markets are all rising (that is the easy bit), but when we face uncertain and challenging markets.

Having the discretionary investment authority to make and execute decisions on our clients’ investments and pension funds means that we can swiftly adjust our client portfolios when economic or market conditions change, which can sometimes happen over night.

The value of investments is not guaranteed and can go down as well as up.  Past performance is not an indication of future performance.

The system provides clients with detailed policy lists, investment & pensions valuations and details of other assets owned….. all in one place.

Managing Director, Mark Woods stated ‘When our clients log into the extranet and click on their portfolio the system activates live valuation requests from all investment/pensions providers.  The system receives the responses back at different rates and our clients literally see the up to date valuations gradually appear next to each investment or pension plan.  The technology is mind blowing!’

‘We believe that in this era of advanced information and technology, clients require fast access to current and accurate information and that is exactly what our ‘Inspired’ extranet gives them’.

‘Watermark Financial Solutions has a very forward thinking team that is dedicated to providing the best possible service to clients.  This latest advancement enhances what we have to offer clients and gives them that ‘added value’ that is so important these days’.

For an appointment, call Watermark Financial Solutions in Burnham-on-Sea: 01278 794499 or e-mail enquiries@watermarkfs.co.uk

Second home owners will need to file applications by 31 July if they are to qualify for the relief, which allows owners to offset losses they make on running costs against their other income, and defer paying capital gains tax (CGT) charges.

The changes bring rules for home owners with properties in the European Economic Area (EEA) in line with those for those with properties in the UK.

But the tax reliefs for properties in both the UK and the EEA will be abolished in April next year, under the plans outlined in the Budget.

The EEA rule change however, applies retrospectively, covering the 2006/7 and 2007/8 tax years, although home owners looking to claim for 2006/7 will need to meet the 31 June deadline.

The current rules allow holiday home owners who rent out their properties to delay paying CGT on the sale of other assets until they sell the property.

With unemployment rising and expected to reach 3 million by the end of the year, Government borrowing aimed at stemming the job cuts and stimulating growth expected to surpass any levels set in history and stock markets, property markets, corporate bonds and commodities all trading at very distressed levels, what does the future hold.

Well, no-one can say with any certainty what will happen, but it is realistic to believe that when the effect of Government spending, low interest rates and economic stimulus does begin to take effect, assets that are trading at very distressed levels may rally strongly.

When this may be is the million dollar question, but with money on cash deposits attracting little or no interest, these other assets are looking very attractive with much higher yields than cash and with the potential for capital growth over the medium to long term.

Savers should take independent financial advice and re-assess their investment options.  The point is that at present, investors are being well paid in, terms of yield, to take risk.

Download our free brochure Coping with the Credit Crunch and feel free to contact us if you require any help or advice.

The scheme covers up to:

£48,000 per investment such as Unit Trusts, Open Ended Investment Companies (OEIC’s) and investment based ISA’s.

100% of the first £2,000 plus 90% of the balance on all pensions and life assurance contracts including investment bonds.

For further information on the FSCS click on the following link to the relevant page of their website: http://www.fscs.org......he_scheme/compensation_limits/

Many financial institutions have already folded with thousands losing their jobs and livelihoods, but how safe is your money?

The Governement has recently announced that it is extending the guarantee on money held on deposit with UK regulated financial institutions from £35,000 to £50,000.  For a couple holding a joint account, the protection is £100,000.

Although this will protect many people, it will not cover everyone.  The important thing to do is to spread your risk between a number of financial institutions so that the guarantee scheme applies across each company giving you multiple guarantees i.e. if you had 10 joint accounts across 10 separate financial institutions, you would be protected up to £1million.

However, don’t get caught out by depositing money with two seemingly different companies that are actually a part of the same parent company and licenced in the UK under that parent because you will only receive one guarantee!

For more information on which companies are part of the same parent check out the This is Money website by clicking this link http://www.thisismon.....le_id=440726&in_page_id=7

This has been a goal of the company for some considerable time and it is our understanding that we are the first independently owned firm of retail based Independent Financial Advisers in our region that has this authority.

This means that we are now authorised to make investment decisions and action them immediately without first seeking permission from our clients, which will enable us to act quickly and to take advantage of short term market conditions.

As an advisory only firm, which most IFA’s are, we had to obtain consent from clients to switch their money around.  This has long represented a major issue for us because by the time clients respond it can be too late and the opportunity has gone.

There is still some way to go before we can move our clients across to our ‘Discretionary’ service, but we are planning to launch the first phase by the end of July 2008.

Boiler rooms are where slick telesales people make their calls from in an attempt to sell shares in non existent companies, effectively taking money from unsuspecting individuals and providing a share certificate that is absolutely worthless.

The BBC state:

‘Boiler rooms are staffed by teams of salesmen who cold call unsuspecting investors to offload worthless investments. They use a mixture of telephone bullying and sophisticated sales tactics gleaned from legitimate business.

Working Lunch viewers Ken and Barbara Fudge from Dorset are among the thousands who have already been targeted this year. They paid £40,000 to a share salesman who phoned out of the blue from Luxembourg.’

Our advice is to never buy shares over the telephone! 

Read the full article by following this link:

http://news.bbc.co.u.....mmes/working_lunch/7375384.stm