Tending your portfolio will make it bloom!

All successful gardeners will understand the need to regularly tend their plants, shrubs and lawns in order to ensure a garden can flourish. And, for investors, taking a similar approach with their financial affairs can also bear fruit by ensuring their investment portfolios don’t become neglected and, as a result, underperform. Weeding, sowing…. As with a garden, your investment portfolio
requires regular careful attention in order to ensure it continues to grow. Typical tasks include weeding out any perennially underperforming funds and switching to potentially more profitable ones and, for those with new money to invest, sowing the seeds of your portfolio with carefully selected additional new investments. …pruning and trimming Another important task is pruning. This
will ensure your investment portfolio stays balanced and continues to fully reflect both your current and long-term financial goals as well as any changes in your appetite for risk. It may also require taking profits at certain points in time to ensure you are using any potential tax allowances. However carefully your initial range of investments were selected, your portfolio will also inevitably get out of shape over time. This creates an ongoing need to regularly review the allocation of different asset classes, such as cash, equities, bonds and property. And such a review may result in the trimming back of certain assets in order to restore balance to your portfolio.
Help is at hand. Many people now seek professional help to create and maintain their garden and it’s obviously wise for investors to do the same thing. Indeed, with ongoing political and economic uncertainties causing increased market volatility, there has
arguably never been a more important time to seek professional financial advice. Keep in touch, so that we can help you keep your investment portfolio in full bloom.  For more information continue reading here; SFFS Simply Wealth_Autumn 19

Our monthly economic review is intended to provide background to recent developments in investment markets as well as to give an indication of how some key issues could impact in the future. It is not intended that individual investment decisions should be taken based on this information; we are always ready to discuss your individual requirements. We hope you will find this review to be of interest.

The latest batch of employment data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that the UK labour market remains in robust health, with the total number of people in work rising to another record high.  Statistics from the Labour Force Survey
showed that a net 115,000 jobs were created during the second quarter of 2019, taking the overall level of employment to a new high of 32.81 million. As a result, the employment rate (the proportion of  16–64-year-olds in work) rose to 76.1%, the joint-highest figure since comparable records began in 1971. This increase was largely driven by further growth in the proportion of working women.
The data also revealed another increase in the level of pay, with average weekly earnings excluding bonuses rising by an annual rate of 3.9% across the April to June period, an 11-year high.  When adjusted for inflation, regular pay increased by 1.9% compared to the same
period a year earlier, meaning that real wages are now growing at their fastest rate in nearly four years.
Commenting on the employment figures, ONS Deputy Head of Labour Market Statistics, Matt Hughes said: “Employment continues to increase, with three-quarters of this year’s growth being due to more women working. However, the number of vacancies has been falling for six months, with fewer now than there were this time last year.” While this strong set of employment statistics does therefore confirm that the UK labour market continues to defy any signs of a Brexit-related slowdown, there are concerns that the figures could
prove to be a high-watermark. Demand in the labour market typically lags significantly behind changes in output and economists are still warning that a Brexit effect is likely to become apparent in future sets of employment data.  SFFS Economic Review_Aug 19

Pay growth strongest in a decade •  The latest batch of labour market statistics shows that UK workers’ basic pay is now growing at the fastest rate in nearly 11 years.
According to data from the Labour Force Survey, average weekly earnings, excluding bonuses, rose by an annual rate of 3.6% in the three months to May 2019. This was at the top end of forecasts submitted in a Reuters poll of economists and the largest recorded
increase in pay growth since mid-2008.
The data also showed that wages continue to outstrip inflation. Indeed, in real terms, regular pay increased by 1.7% in the March to May period compared with a year earlier; this represents the highest real rate of growth since autumn 2015.
This recent acceleration in wage growth has largely stemmed from two factors that have impacted the data since April. The first relates to pay rises for some NHS staff which has contributed to an overall increase in public sector pay growth to 3.6%, its highest level since June 2010. In addition, the introduction of the new National Living Wage rate and National Minimum Wage  rates have boosted wages for lower-paid workers in sectors such as wholesaling, retailing, hotels and restaurants.
Commenting on the figures, Matt Hughes, Deputy Head of Labour Market Statistics at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), said: “The labour market continues to be strong. Regular pay is growing at its fastest for nearly 11 years in cash terms and its quickest for over three years after taking account of inflation.”
This latest pick-up in pay growth will undoubtedly have been noted by policymakers. The Bank of England (BoE) has previously said it expects wage  growth to ease back to 3% by the end of this year and these latest figures clearly show wages rising at a rate significantly
above that forecast level.   To continue reading please click this link  SFFS Economic Review_July 19

Bank cuts growth forecast.   The Bank of England (BoE) has reduced its growth forecast for the UK economy amid growing concerns over global trade tensions and fears of a no deal Brexit.   In its latest policy statement, the BoE said it now expects economic growth to
be flat during the second quarter of this year, a downgrade from the 0.2% quarterly growth rate it predicted in May. This reduction partly reflects an anticipated hangover from the rapid level of stockpiling that was witnessed in the run-up to the original Brexit deadline in March.  However, the BoE also noted a darkening outlook for the world economy and suggested that downside risks to
growth have increased. Specifically, an intensification of global trade tensions and growing fears of a no-deal Brexit are major areas of concern. The BoE also highlighted a growing disconnect between the smooth Brexit underpinning its forecast and a potentially much
more chaotic one that markets increasingly appear to be predicting. Meanwhile, the latest economic growth data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that the UK economy shrank by 0.4% in April compared to the previous month. This sharp contraction reflects a dramatic decline in car production due to factory shutdowns that had originally been designed to cope with disruption from a March Brexit, as well as a general easing of stockpiling right across the manufacturing sector.  In the three-month period from February to April, economic growth slowed to 0.3% from the 0.5% growth rate recorded in the first quarter of 2019. This was a sharper deceleration than most economists had been predicting and would appear to suggest that underlying growth is sluggish. This has led some economists to suggest that the UK is likely to experience a relatively subdued growth profile over the rest of this year.  to continue reading click SFFS Economic Review_June 19

New pensioners aren’t splashing the cash………………….When the new pension rules came
into force in April 2015, fears were
expressed that pensioners might
raid their pension pots to go on
a spending spree. The former
Pensions Minister Steve Webb,
famously remarked at the time
that pensioners could choose to
spend their savings on buying
a Lamborghini if they wished.
However, the evidence suggests
that this hasn’t happened.
Whilst the total value of pension
withdrawals made since April 2015 is
over £25bn, the average withdrawal
made between July and September
2018 was £7,597, the lowest
level recorded by HMRC since their
records began2 in Q2 2015.
Volatility playing a part
The lower level of withdrawals could
be a sign that pensioners were
reacting to market volatility and
concerned to preserve their wealth.
Managing withdrawals from pension
funds can be a challenge for those
unfamiliar with the stock market;
that’s why taking advice is so worthwhile.
Ensuring their pension funds
last as long as they do themselves is
a concern often by those approaching
retirement; we can help ensure
retirees make the right choices at
the right time……continue reading SFFS Simply Wealth_Summer 19