In the News

Majority of fund managers positive for the year ahead

A US survey1 has revealed that almost three quarters (74.5%) of fund managers are expecting economic improvements this year. Of these, just under half (46.5%) expect it to be ‘slightly better,’ while 28% expect it to be ‘much better.’ Just 15.5% expected performance to be worse, with the remainder predicting the economy would perform about the same.

Responsible funds – increasingly popular with investors

By the end of Q3 2020, a record quarterly total of over £7bn had been invested into responsible investment funds, compared with the £1.9bn invested in the same period a year earlier. Funds under management reached £40bn at the end of September, 3% of total funds under management2.

50 years on – decimalisation

On 15 February 1971, shillings and pence were replaced with ‘new pence’, in what proved to be a complex process. Fifty years ago on ‘D-Day’, businesses had to switch their pricing and accounting to decimal, banks had to adapt their part-manual, part-computerised systems and everyone had to learn the new structure, including school children. Even though it meant saying goodbye to old friends including florins and half crowns, decimalisation made life much simpler.

CGT review on the cards

The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has published its first of two reform reports on Capital Gains Tax (CGT), which calls for the tax to be set at the same rates as Income Tax, potentially raising a significant amount of tax for the Exchequer. Also amongst the recommendations is a lowering of the annual exemption. The OTS estimate the number of CGT taxpayers could double if the allowance reduced to £5,000.

1BDO, 2020

2Investment Association, 2020

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