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Client case study - attended an employer seminar at retirement

Client profile

Mr A was Plant Manager with Alcan Aluminium in the North West and had 32 years service with them. Mrs A was a housewife. They have 3 sons and in 1993, when we first met Mr and Mrs A, 2 of them were married and independent and the third was at university. In 1993, Mr A was on a salary of £40,000 pa and was approaching retirement. His pension was £20,000 pa and he was not eligible for State Pension until 1997. In 1993, Mr B attended a retirement course provided by us and arranged by his employer.

After the course Mr A requested a meeting with one of our Advisers at his home. Our Adviser went through a full analysis of Mr and Mrs A's current financial position including their tax status, their attitude to risk and their objectives. After receiving a Personal Investment Report containing details of the Adviser's recommendations, Mr and Mrs A became clients.

Investment objective

At the first meeting, Mr and Mrs A's principle concern was the loss of income. However, our first report stressed the need for a balance between interest paying investments and longer-term capital growth.

Investment

Mr and Mrs A initially invested £70,000 in series of deposits over 1-5 years and £45,000 in Box 3 - Balanced Equities. The taxable investments were placed in Mrs A's name in order to reduce higher rate tax liability as Mr A was a higher rate taxpayer and engaging in consultancy work at that time.

Further capital was introduced in 1997 following an inheritance - this was invested in a mixture of index linked certificates and equities. As bonds matured the capital was rolled into tax-free areas such as ISA in order to maximise tax allowances.

Mr and Mrs A now have in the region of £240,000 invested with Close Wealth Management. This is spread across the whole range of investments and includes Treasury, retail bonds and Bond ISA/PEP in Box 2 and TISA/ PEP/ISA and taxable in Box 3.

Following an article about our Tax Service in one of our client newsletters, Mr and Mrs A signed up to the tax service and are pleased that we are always looking to minimise tax liability and the fact that their affairs with HMRC are fully managed and up-to-date.

Client's experience

Prior to investing with us, Mr and Mrs A sought advice from their Bank and another IFA. They appreciated the fact that we recommended that they should seek advice from more than one source.

When they joined us they were attracted to the idea of paying a fee to obtain long-term independent advice. They have now been clients for almost 15 years and they have told us that they value the following aspects of our service:

• A professional and personal service from everyone they have dealt with at Close and in particular their personal Adviser.
• Independent advice that is personal to them recognising their particular circumstances and which identifies their changing needs over time.
• Regular one-to-one meetings with their Adviser and access to our Client Service Team to resolve their queries
• Our communications
• The fact that we actively manage their tax affairs in line with managing their investments
• Close Wealth have never been pushy with any service or recommendations

Mr and Mrs A have approximately £50,000 outside our services in Cash ISAs and Building Society/ Internet deposits although they very much regard Close Wealth as their primary source of management and advice.