06 Dec 24 Sam Shaw
Many of us get stuck in our ways. The ways we think about our lives, the future, our wellbeing and life goals. Do we all share the same ambitions or are things more nuanced?
This week we caught up with one of Morningstar’s senior behavioural insights researchers, hearing how we might set, redefine and review our financial goals and how they overlap with the way we might invest.
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29 Nov 24 Sam Shaw
Last month, the financial regulator shone its spotlight on illegal ‘finfluencers’ – financial influencers touting financial services products illegally on social media.
We’ve been talking about the rise of finfluencers a lot at Willis Owen HQ and thought it was worth a quick note on who these people are, why some might be doing more harm than good and share a few things to bear in mind.
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21 Nov 24 Sam Shaw
It’s that time of year again, where our TV ad breaks, inboxes and high streets are full of promotional messages, inviting us to save while spending, in turn supporting the UK retail sector.
Yes, this time next week it’s ‘Black Friday’.
Some of you will have your lists ready to hit the sales, perhaps getting your festive shopping nailed down and saving in the process. Some of you will certainly want to shut your eyes (and wallets!) and ignore all the consumerist attention this annual event highlights.
Maybe the hype has you thinking about ‘retail’ in a different way, inspiring you to revisit some investment opportunities from all that consumer activity?
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15 Nov 24 Sam Shaw
In recent months we’ve witnessed political history being made.
Rachel Reeves’ Budget speech last month opened by shining a light on the fact she was the UK’s very first female Chancellor of the Exchequer.
If US vice president Kamala Harris had won the race to the Oval Office, she would have become America’s first woman president. It was not to be this time, but maybe one day…
So, we thought it was timely to write about women in leadership across business, politics and finance.
Despite an industry-wide focus on pushing diversity and inclusion higher up the agenda, fewer than 10% of fund managers today are women.
In this article we hear from and about some of the women smashing through that proverbial glass ceiling, as many of us sit wondering why it’s even still there.
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08 Nov 24 Sam Shaw
Following a dramatic election campaign, Republican nominee Donald Trump has reclaimed the White House in an historic second non-consecutive term – the first person to do so since 1897.
We’ve gathered some views on what we might expect, market reaction and expectations, while sharing a few reminders to not let politics sway your long-term investment decisions.
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31 Oct 24 Sam Shaw
On Wednesday we shared some of the top headlines from the bumper Budget. Today we dive into some more of the detail, with what it could mean for you.
There are bound to be winners and losers, as with any fiscal statement, and some of the tipped measures may never see the light of day. But Labour was voted in with the task of effecting change, and, as the Government has reiterated: “Change must be felt”.
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30 Oct 24 Sam Shaw
Today, Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her first Budget. In what was the first since Labour returned to Government, measures included raising tax by £40bn in an effort to rebalance the books. /p>
Here we’ve summarised the key announcements from his statement, we hope you’ll read with interest.
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25 Oct 24 Sam Shaw
You’d have to have been living under a rock the past couple of months to have escaped the leaks and warning shots about the “painful” Budget that will be unveiled next Wednesday (30th October).
As with previous editions featuring ‘the big red book’ – be they Autumn or Spring-timed fiscal statements – our team at Willis Owen will be delivering the headlines on the day, and undoubtedly with a follow-up piece or two, should they feel warranted.
For now, we wanted to share a top-line sweep of the main areas to look out for, that may relate to your saving and investment accounts, held with Willis Owen or elsewhere.
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14 Oct 24 Sam Shaw
It’s that time again. Yet we’re taking a bit of a shorter whistlestop tour than usual as we look at this past quarter of market performance.
As elections and Budget-related activity are driving much of the news agenda across major markets, we’ll keep things fairly brief.
We hope you find the review of the past three months interesting, and it helps make sense of some of the performance you may have witnessed in your own investments.
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11 Oct 24 Sam Shaw
You’ll see that we’ve mentioned various investment styles in our Insights articles and investment guides over the years.
One style that comes up from time to time is that of contrarian investing.
Here we explain what it means and how some of your chosen investments might feature this particular style of going against the herd.
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04 Oct 24 Sam Shaw
A few weeks ago, we shared an article that looked at a style of investing known as ‘top-down’. This is where the macroeconomic picture provides the starting point for a professional investor’s decisions, determining how they manage their portfolios.
This week, we look at its counterpart, referred to as ‘bottom-up’ investing.
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27 Sep 24 Sam Shaw
Recent months have seen pensions fall into many a planned reform by the Labour government, pushing them rapidly onto our collective radar.
In September, pensions have been front and centre for many across our industry – and perhaps for many of you.
The pensions industry and governing bodies have rolled out several campaigns. Even the occasional celebrity has got involved (we’re looking at YOU, Gemma Collins!). These different factions have joined forces to remind us all of the importance of pensions: starting one; increasing your contributions; finding old ones to bring together; or just checking in to make sure yours is doing what it set out to do.
We’ve pulled together some interesting stats, facts and reminders that may prove useful for you – wherever you’re at in preparing for your retirement.
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20 Sep 24 Sam Shaw
Fund managers typically adopt different styles of investing that play to their particular strengths or areas of interest.
Over the coming weeks, we’re sharing a brief overview of some popular investment styles and how they might play out in some of the funds you hold. This week – top-down investing.
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13 Sep 24 Sam Shaw
While investing in the world’s second-largest economy can offer interesting investment opportunities reaching far beyond those presented by developed markets, it can also bring a different set of risks.
In this week’s article, we’ve laid out the arguments for and against investing in the region and what investors might expect as we look to the end of the year.
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06 Sep 24 Sam Shaw
India is one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world and has been enjoying its longest-ever stock market rally this year.
In this week’s article, we’ll look at what’s been driving some of that performance, some reasons whether or not this positive run may continue and some key considerations when investing in the vast region.
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30 Aug 24 Sam Shaw
Let’s be honest, weather-wise it’s not felt too much like summer has hit much of the country. But some of you may be squeezing out these last vestiges of the season before the days start to draw in by keeping your mind turned to holidays.
Was this last Bank Holiday of the year a final weekender before the kids go back to school? Are you making the most of a staycation local to where you live? Maybe you’re starting to think about your next break in the hope for some winter sun.
This week’s article looks at a few fun facts, tips and ideas for holiday budgeting, hopefully helping you stretch your money a little further.
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23 Aug 24 Sam Shaw
Whether you are invested directly in an actively managed US-focused fund or your exposure comes via a global tracker, you’ll undoubtedly touch North American investments to some degree at some point during your investing lifespan.
So, with the Democratic National Convention taking place this week, we took the prompt to take a look at the investment prospects for the US.
An election won’t necessarily influence what happens with investment markets but they do present themes that land on our radar as a result.
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12 Aug 24 Sam Shaw
We’ve talked about pensions reform before and various announcements since the Starmers took residence at 10 Downing Street suggest the pace of said reform will be fast and carefully considered, rather than furious.
From the King’s Speech announcing a surprise pensions bill to Chancellor Rachel Reeves being inspired by Canada’s model for scheme consolidation, there’s a lot pension savers can look forward to – if they manage to pull it off.
We’ll likely hear more specific plans in the Autumn Budget, but for now, we’ve detailed the major headlines and how the pensions-related services we offer alongside those announcements might help.
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07 Aug 24 Sam Shaw
We’ve written before about the wide ‘gap’ many Britons face between the levels of pension savings and the amounts needed when they eventually reach retirement.
Hopefully, your pension savings plans are firmly on track but if you’re wondering whether you’re putting enough away, or unsure what your financial need may look like into retirement, the following article will likely be of interest.
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02 Aug 24 Sam Shaw
Many of our customers are investing to generate additional income – either to boost their living expenditures or to reinvest, bolstering their investment growth prospects through the power of compounding.
In either case, we expect you may find an overview of the state of the UK dividend market useful from time to time.
We therefore hope you read this week’s piece with interest, whatever your current investment objectives.
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26 Jul 24 Sam Shaw
Many of us have become increasingly cost-conscious in recent years.
Shaving off a few pence and pounds here and there can make a big difference to your overall financial picture. And the same applies to your investments.
While most of our customers favour traditional funds, more retail money – that is invested by individual people for their personal gains rather than institutional money – that invested on behalf of governments and the corporate world, is flowing into ETFs.
In this article we explore some key features of these cost-effective investment funds and point you to other helpful resources.
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19 Jul 24 Amar Patel
This look back at Q2 is a chance for our investment analysts to demonstrate their expertise; sharing insights and opinions honed through the course of their research and engagement with the broader fund management sector.
Whether new intel or familiar ground, we aim to make your investing life easier by bringing everything together in one place.
These market review pieces cover the major markets, leading asset classes and some highlights over individual share performance, where they are listed in the UK.
You can use this commentary to help inform the decisions you make around your own investments – whether ISA, GIA or SIPP accounts, as a mere sense-check or perhaps inform some fresh ideas for your portfolio. When doing so please remember that the value of investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invested.
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12 Jul 24 Sam Shaw
As promised, we’ve dedicated a few weeks’ worth of blog content to taking things back to basics – in particular the types of investment vehicles we offer on Willis Owen’s platform.
We recognise that most of our customers head straight for open-ended funds when they invest. But is that because you aren’t clear on the features of the other options?
Have you considered investment trusts? Read on for a run-through of how these alternatives to mainstream funds work and where they might make useful additions to your overall investment mix.
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05 Jul 24 Sam Shaw
How do you like to access the stock market? Are you an individual stock picker or do you leave it to the experts and buy funds?
Maybe you like to do a bit of both. Whichever your approach, we’ve got you covered.
Here we take things back to basics with a few reminders of things investors in shares ought to understand.
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28 Jun 24 Sam Shaw
Who are you planning to vote for next Thursday?
As the major parties have been pounding the pavements on their campaign trails the past few weeks, have they caught your attention? Still undecided or are you an unwavering party loyalist?
We’re not political commentators, clearly but we thought it would be worth a quick round-up of the main contenders and what investors might expect regarding their financial affairs, depending on the outcome.
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21 Jun 24 Sam Shaw
There are some basic ‘rules of thumb’ worth following for most mainstream investors – don’t keep all your eggs in one basket, take a medium-to-long term view, make sure you’re not taking on more risk than you are comfortable with (or can afford to lose if the worst happens) and so on.
Yet when you get past the basic principles, investing can be quite a personal experience. From the reasons why people start investing in the first place, to the factors influencing their choices, everyone will have a slightly different story to tell.
Here we run through another perspective that relates to taking different approaches – this week looking at the various vehicles available on our platform.
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14 Jun 24 Sam Shaw
We’ve been writing in recent weeks about the benefits of diversification and not keeping all your eggs in one basket.
This spreading of risk can be achieved in various ways, and one of those comes down to asset allocation. All this means is blending multiple asset classes – shares, bonds, cash, etc – to work together so that your overall investment ‘portfolio’ is more well-balanced.
In theory, this should protect your money from wild upward or downward swings in either direction at any one time.
Whether this is something you’re already doing and you’d welcome a sense-check or perhaps you’d appreciate seeing the benefits of a wider asset choice, we hope this article is of interest.
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07 Jun 24 Sam Shaw
It’s easy to keep fishing in the same waters, isn’t it? You usually know what to expect.
We understand there is a strong case for investing in the UK currently. Our government keeps telling us about the growth opportunity; the markets tell us there are great companies to be found at discounted prices; and you – our customers – certainly seem to believe so, if your hefty allocations towards UK companies are anything to go by.
But what about the alternatives? Consider the impact – positive or negative – on your investments by introducing more exposure to different regions.
We’re not making any such recommendation, but just here to remind you there’s a bigger pond out there in which to fish – if it suits your circumstances to do so.
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30 May 24 Sam Shaw
We appreciate that everyone invests for different purposes, using various approaches and types of investments to achieve their objectives.
At Willis Owen, we’re all about choice.
So if you’re someone who needs a little more support, likes to receive ideas from time to time, or prefer to go it alone, we’ve got a route for all preferences.
Perhaps you’ve been investing for a while or maybe you’re just getting started – but whether this is new information or a welcome refresher, we hope you find something of interest.
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24 May 24 Sam Shaw
Whenever there are economic meetings hitting the headlines, it prompts us to look at the effect on different aspects of our investment portfolios.
Levels of economic and geopolitical uncertainty are twin forces making the current environment particularly challenging for fixed income (bond) investing, because making predictions is so hard.
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17 May 24 Sam Shaw
As we’ve mentioned before, as our preferred research partner, we often look towards Morningstar’s vast expertise to help us delve into the detail around certain prominent investment themes.
This week, we caught up with Lindsey Stewart, director of investment stewardship research at the research and ratings provider, to chat through some of the themes that came up during his regulatory panel discussion at the group’s annual conference a couple of weeks ago.
The regulator’s new sustainability disclosure requirements (SDR) and labelling regime for products boasting claims around sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG) credibility was a key area of focus.
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10 May 24 Edward Johnson
On Thursday (9 th May) the Bank of England held its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, setting out its latest views on where the economy is heading and how it plans to tackle inflation, given the many headwinds currently being faced.
While we never suggest anyone make changes to their long-term investments based solely on short-term announcements, economic news items are important variables that may affect aspects of your own financial situation, so it’s good to be informed.
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03 May 24 Sam Shaw
What’s your view of the proposed British ISA? Is it an appealing idea or are you satisfied with the range of ISAs already available?
Here we run through some of the pros, cons and considerations of the government’s latest ISA innovation.
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24 Apr 24 Sam Shaw
We understand the temptation to ease any financial burden today by borrowing from your future self. But it’s also important to know the repercussions of doing so.
This week’s article looks at some of the questions to ask yourself if you’re thinking about dipping into savings designed for the longer term.
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17 Apr 24 Sam Shaw
We talk about investment objectives a lot in this line of work. Personal goals and financial objectives, yes, but also the more specific ways in which people invest at a certain time in their life.
Everyone’s goals are different but from a technical standpoint, investing in general falls into two broad strategies. One is about growing and the other about enabling withdrawals, and you can think about these two approaches in different ways.
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11 Apr 24 Amar Patel
Welcome to the first instalment of our quarterly market review for 2024; the chance for our expert investment research analysts to showcase the intel, insights and opinions they build throughout the year.
Some of this may be new news, some of it will have been well covered. By bringing everything together in one place, we hope will make your life easier. We’ve looked at the major markets, leading asset classes and – in the case of the UK – offer some highlights over individual share performance.
Our aim is that you can use this commentary to help inform the decisions you make around your own investments (whether ISA, GIA or SIPP accounts), as a sense-check or to shape some ideas from a new perspective.
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05 Apr 24 Sam Shaw
Several aspects of personal finance typically come into focus as we move from one tax year into the next. Are you on top of all your tax breaks or have you left things to the last minute (again)?
We’ve offered a few suggestions that tend to rear their heads at this time of year, which we hope you’ll find useful – today or over the coming 12 months.
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26 Mar 24 Amar Patel
Artificial Intelligence (AI) was the story of 2023 in equity markets as several companies linked to AI saw huge increases in their share price. Experts believe that AI could be a significant paradigm shift, which some say could have the same impact on the global economy as when electricity was first invented. AI means different things to different people and in this article, we will explain what AI is and the investment opportunities there are in this global megatrend.
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21 Mar 24 Amar Patel
Over the past few years, we have seen the world become more fragmented as geopolitical risks have increased. This has caused higher levels of global uncertainty as well as rising volatility in financial markets.
The trend looks set to continue in 2024, especially given it’s a ‘bumper’ year of political elections. However, when one door closes another one tends to open and despite uncertainty in some areas of the market, we see potential opportunities in others.
In this article, we are going to look at the geopolitical risks the world faces in 2024 as well as the opportunities that could arise for your investments.
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14 Mar 24 Sam Shaw
Unlike beating rugs and jet-washing patios, which lend themselves more to slightly brighter weather, spring cleaning our finances can be done any time of year. So perhaps it’s more about sentiment than practicality.
If you’re all over such tasks, we’ll leave you to it. If you don’t think you can be bothered, or aren’t sure where to start, we’ve got a few handy pointers for you.
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06 Mar 24 Ian Taunt
Today, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivered his second Spring Budget. In what is widely expected to be the last fiscal event before a general election, the measures announced included further tax cuts and measures intended to boost investment in the UK.
Here we’ve summarised the key announcements from his statement, we hope you’ll read with interest.
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28 Feb 24 Sam Shaw
When it comes to financial affairs, many of us think about our pension contributions, insure our property and try our best to form a regular savings habit. But when it comes to getting to grips with events after we die, we tend to overlook things – often until it’s too late.
A report out last year found that more than four in 10 people had not had a single conversation with their loved ones about what was to happen on their passing.
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23 Feb 24 Sam Shaw
We’re always keen to remind our readers that the joy (and occasional pain) of investing comes with lows as well as highs. Companies and sectors fall only to rise again.
This week we remember the landmark case of Royal Bank of Scotland’s government bailout and how far the banking sector has come since.
For closer insight, we’ve turned to two managers at the helm of one of our Focus Funds – the list hand-picked by our research team of preferred funds from all corners of the market.
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14 Feb 24 Sam Shaw
Are you someone who celebrates Valentine’s Day or do you leave it to all those hopeless romantics?
Whether you’re sitting in wedded (or cohabiting) bliss, still searching for ‘the one’ or happily single, your relationship status seemingly has quite the bearing on your finances.
Perhaps unfairly, perhaps logically, the world often appears predisposed to favouring those who come as a pair – certainly when it comes to spending. Things are rarely costed as simply as ‘two equals twice the cost of one’.
This week we delve into some of the quirks and questions that often get asked (and hopefully answered) about money, love and relationships.
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09 Feb 24 Sam Shaw
Welcome to the 25 th edition of our annual ISA guide.
We like to think we’ve learnt a thing or two in that time so we hope you’ll find something of relevance, whether you’re a seasoned Willis Owen ISA customer, trying us out for the first time or haven’t quite made up your mind just yet.
Whatever you’re after, we’re here to help and this year’s ISA guide should help you get on a front foot.
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02 Feb 24 Sam Shaw
A month under our belts and 2024, while still showing clouds of uncertainty, is hinting at more reasons for optimism than we saw during much of 2023 – but timing will be everything.
Between inflation surprises, monetary policy debate and industry forecasts, at Willis Owen we’re all over the macroeconomic landscape.
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26 Jan 24 Sam Shaw
There’s plenty of evidence that being more in control of your finances has a positive contribution to someone’s mental health and overall sense of wellbeing.
Financial wellbeing is where a person is financially secure and satisfied with their current financial situation. Unfortunately in the UK, many households find themselves grappling with financial stress. Over 40% of UK adults have experienced financial worries and nearly a quarter of them said those worries had a significant impact on their mental health.
From rising living costs to economic uncertainty, the root cause of people’s financial anxiety will vary. Financial education, confidence and, in turn, resilience – whatever those look like to you – are things we can all strive to improve.
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19 Jan 24 Sam Shaw
Be it on gifts, party food, stocking up the drinks cabinet for any impromptu social gatherings or refreshing your winter wardrobes, it’s fair to say that a lot of us spend more than usual over the holidays.
So as we’re now firmly entrenched in January, we thought it would be worth a look at how our favoured retail names fared in their latest trading updates, which included the festive season.
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12 Jan 24 Amar Patel
Three months soon passes, doesn’t it?
Welcome to the next instalment of our quarterly market review; the chance for our expert investment research analysts to showcase the intel, insights and opinions they build throughout the year.
Some of this may be new news, some of it will have been well covered. By bringing everything together in one place, we hope will make your life easier. We’ve looked at the major markets, leading asset classes and – in the case of the UK – offer some highlights over individual share performance.
Our aim is that you can use this commentary to hep inform the decisions you make around your own investments (whether ISA, GIA or SIPP accounts), as a sense-check or to shape some ideas from a new perspective.
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05 Jan 24 Sam Shaw
Happy new year to you – we hope you had a nice festive break, avoided any December illness bugs doing the rounds and are looking forward to what 2024 may bring.
It would feel remiss of us to kick off January without some suggestions for getting your finances in check, so read on for a few ideas.
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15 Dec 23 Sam Shaw
Nearing the end of the year and heading into the festive season always shines a light on our spending. Do you tend to go overboard buying presents? How successful are you at sticking to budgets? Are you likely to start the new year with a debt hangover?
We’re still in a phase of relatively high inflation which, though expected to rise at a progressively slower pace, looks like it’s sticking around for some time yet. This means a lot of people are still feeling the pinch on their day-to-day outgoings.
Earlier this month, the banking and finance sector’s trade body, UK Finance, published its review of household finances for the third quarter of 2023. A look at some of its key findings will give us a sense of how we’re all getting on with our money and where some of the pinch-points lie.
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08 Dec 23 Sam Shaw
We’ve got an early holiday gift for you.
Many of us are keeping a keen eye on budgets right now, with everything costing us more than it did a year or two ago. If you’re looking to reduce charges in some of your investments, you may want to consider exchange-traded funds (ETFs) – a low-cost way of accessing whole areas of the market through a single security.
With that in mind, we’ve just launched Willis Owen’s Guide to ETFs. Packed with information, from back-to-basics explainers to details around how, when and which ETFs to use, pros and cons and deconstructing some key terms.
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