The US central bank increased interest rates again in December. While the Bank of England managed just one interest rate rise in 2017, to end the year at 0.5%, its counterpart in the US notched up three increases, finishing at 1.25%-1.50%. The trio of Federal Reserve increases were all well telegraphed, so much so that […]
Index 2017 Change FTSE 100 +7.6% FTSE All-Share +9.0% Dow Jones Industrial +25.1% Standard & Poor’s 500 +19.4% Nikkei 225 + 19.1% Euro Stoxx 50 (€) + 6.5% Shanghai Composite +6.6% MSCI Emerging Markets (£) +22.7% The world’s share markets were a profitable place to be in 2017. 2017 had its fair share of dramas. […]
Being aware of a few key financial facts can help ensure we all make the best use of our money and tax allowances. How much you can save into your ISA The ISA allowance for 2017–18 is £20,000. Don’t pass up this important opportunity to save or invest tax-efficiently. We can help you choose the […]
What it is When you get a cold call from someone pretending to offer you the opportunity to invest in a variety of schemes or products that are either worthless or don’t even exist. It’s also known as share sale fraud, hedge fund fraud, land banking fraud or bond fraud. The majority of investment frauds […]
The Autumn Budget contained more bad news for many buy-to-let investors which went largely unnoticed. April 2018 will see the next step down in mortgage interest relief for investors in buy-to-let (BTL) residential properties. The amount of interest that can be offset against rental income drops from 75% to 50%, with a corresponding increase […]
November marked the first rise in the Bank of England Base Rate in over ten years. At the start of November, the Bank of England raised its base rate for the first time since 5 July 2007. Just over a decade ago, the previous increase was 0.25%, from 5.5% to 5.75%. This time around the […]
