Security means different things to different people, but it is nearly always the first thing that our clients want to achieve. Knowing that your financial position can support and accommodate your goals and loved ones is a key outcome for any financial plan.
We explore these goals in detail and look at what it takes to deliver the outcome you want. This can mean using appropriate insurance to protect what’s important, or devising an effective investment plan aiming to achieve the key milestones that you identify. The approach has been developed over years, but the plan will be as unique as you are.
Read on to see how we have brought this to life with real clients.
Although the following case studies relate to an actual example where we have helped our clients by providing solutions to their financial problems, the names have been removed and figures changed for confidentiality purposes.
As a long-term client of Meta, this risk tolerant ex-banker held a medium-to-high-risk portfolio. Looking at his financial information before one of our annual reviews we realised that most of his lifestyle goals could be met with little further growth to his investments.
This led us to ask him if the risk he was taking was really necessary. Our challenge was taken seriously, and within days he had taken the decision to significantly de-risk his portfolio.
The way we’d structured the portfolio allowed our client to flip it at no cost and with no tax implications – and within a very short time.
He took our advice in 2007 – meaning his portfolio maintained its strength through the downturns of 2007 and 2008.
Past performance is not indicative of future performance.
Divorce is a difficult time for any person, not least when he or she is trying to find some sort of clarity on what kind of lifestyle they can achieve post-settlement. Our client in this case knew that going back to work was definitely on the cards for her post-divorce – it was just a case of when.
Taking her through the Meta process was for her an important step to understanding just what she could do with her divorce settlement money – and how long she could remain as a full-time mum before needing to go back to work.
Our process helped her realise what she could expect as an income, what property she could buy and importantly how long she could spend with her children. Needless to say, the correct investments and financial planning have helped her maximise her pay out and she can now enjoy more time with her kids before taking up her vocation again.
The value of an investment with St. James’s Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested.
When clients move overseas a major priority is finding someone they can trust to look after their UK holdings while they are abroad. One client of ours was preparing for a stint of at least 10 years in Dubai. Before he left, he sought advice from Meta around building a long-term platform to invest in the UK while he was away.
His problem he said, was not so much needing to know what to invest in, but who to work with as offshore financial advisers can be notoriously untrustworthy, with a high turnover of ‘sales people’ and unknowledgeable temporary staff.
With Meta he knew he would be entering a long-term relationship with a trusted, highly regulated adviser – a partner who would use appropriate communication channels to give him regular updates, with timely review meetings when he was back in the UK. With his UK investments cared for in such a way, he left for Dubai, safe in knowledge the utmost was being done for him back here.
The advice provided to these clients was given after a full evaluation of their specific needs, circumstances and requirements. The solutions provided would not be suitable for most investors and the information provided does not constitute advice.
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