DIY Investor Magazine
|
June 2017
38
There were some lovely people that came to present to
us including a man called Toby Vincent a former Army
officer who is now an incredible novelist and I’d point
you to his first and second novels - Driven and Crash;
another digression but if you want some fast and steamy
reading then read on.
Anyway, I sacked Nicola Horlick and in the 1990’s
looked to an incredibly future thinking strategy. I set up
a life style pensions investment system based on age
that embraced active fund management for earlier years
then tapering off with index funds, gilts and cash which
was revolutionary at the time.
Active fund management had to go out to tender of
course including to MAM but in the end we picked
Fidelity because they presented the most convincing
case with a crocodile (i.e. upper and lower jaws)
approach to analysis of THEIR performance.
So there you have it; active management (with higher
costs) and passive (with lower costs) can co-exist as I
demonstrated in the 1990’s – each having a role to play
at specific points on an individual’s financial journey. In
previous businesses I wanted to make much more of
Vanguard we were unable to cope with pooled accounts
– there is a huge ‘what if’ for me here.
I mentioned at the start of the article about the so called
‘Dementia Tax’; I am so glad that Merryn Somerset
Webb of the FT and Editor of Money Week came out
against criticism of the initiative which in reality was the
first cogent attempt to find a balance between state
support and individual/ family support.
Firstly less than 1 in 6 will suffer from dementia - sad
though that figure is, and extremely distressing for
families affected - and secondly, the minimum retention
of assets will increase to £100,000 which is about four
times the current level of wealth saving.
So, people with large property assets - for which they
have done very little to increase in value other than by
post code lottery - will lose out, but that is not a tax.
There is £5.5 trillion of value in properties; even a
hardened Conservative like me sees this as progressive
and a real start to trying to tackle the social care issue -
well done Theresa May.
I regret the U Turn but I guess in electoral terms it had
to be done because of the shameful approach of the
Labour Party and Liberal Democrats, who should have
welcomed the initiative for what is was.
So my friends, this is enough for now but I hope plenty
to think about; when the election is done and dusted we
can see who the Prime Minister appoints and go from
there
