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Castle Court Consulting
3 Park Court Mews
Park Place
Cardiff
CF10 3DQ
Email: info@castlecourt.biz
Tel: 029 2034 8630
Fax: 029 2034 5276
News and Views
Martyn Williams - New Years Honours
Many congratualtions to Martyn on being awarded an MBE for his services to Rugby Union in the 2012 New Years Honours list.
Life Cover and Supermarkets
Buying life cover is not, to be honest, likely to be high on anyone's weekly supermarket shopping list. Yet despite this a significant number of high street supermarkets are offering a variety of financial products including life cover and the question which has to be asked is should this be welcomed by consumers or is it merely a ploy to extract further funds out of a customer base.
Obviously the supermarkets wouldn't be offeringthis product if it wasn't profitable for them but does this make it a good purchase for a consumer?
The argument that life cover is simple, straightforward and easily explained in a leaflet may lead you to ask 'how complicated can it be?'
Having some life cover is almost always better than not having any at all and so any activity which increases the number of people having life cover is to be welcomed, but this does not mean that buying via a supermarket leaflet is a good financial planning strategy.
Life cover needs to be held in trust. Not holding it in trust should be a clear and well understood exception rather than the rule. Should the cover be level or decreasing? Should it be joint life, life of another or single life? Is the level of cover actually the amount required or, as is usually the case, too little?
The planning side of setting up a life cover policy is not something you can get from a promotional leaflet. In fact you will find that only the most basic single life level cover policy is available and that the provider will prevent holding it in trust (as this does not fit with their administration system requirements) which can mean delay in getting the funds paid out as well as, in the worst cases, being liable to inheritance tax at 40%.
So whilst any move which encourages individuals to consider and review their life cover requirements purchasing such a policy is not really as simple as they would have you believe.
At Castle Court Consulting we establish what level of cover is needed and why; who should be the policy owner and who the life assured; we arrange the trust deed as well (or explain clearly why a trust is not needed).
We all happily insure our house and our car yet can be somewhat ambivalent when it comes to ensuring our most important asset - ourselves!
If you are unsure if the life cover you have is sufficient for your needs and correctly structured please drop me an email or call the office for a chat to discuss it.
Time invested in your personal financial planning is never time wasted.
Richard Gough
December 2011
Gavin Murphy, CFP - Certified Financial Planner
We are delighted to announce that Gavin has successfully attained the Institute of Financial Planning's Certified Financial Planning qualification.
The CFP is the only internationally recognised financial planning qualification and involves the production of a detailed financial plan based on a complex client scenario which is then subject to rigorous assessment by the IFP. A task not to be undertaken lightly Gavin has worked hard to achieve this outstanding achievement.
Latest Exam Successes
Both Kasia Strzalka and Sian Anthony have passed a further part of the Chartered Insurance Institute's Certificate in Financial Planning. This means that they are just one paper away from completing this qualification which is currently the standard required for all financial advisers in the UK. Our congratulations to both of them.
Castle Court Consulting support Testimonial Year for Martyn Williams
2010 has been designated a Testimonial Year for Cardiff Blues, Wales and British Lion, Martyn Williams. Both Jack Price and Richard Gough are members of the Testimonial Organising Committee and Castle Court looks forward to supporting the Testimonial year in any way it can.
Full details of Martyn’s Testimonial can be found at www.m7w.co.uk
Richard Gough attains two more Money Management Financial Planner of the Year awards
Each year Money Management runs the Financial Planner of the Year awards. Once dubbed the "Oscars" of financial planning by the BBC's Panorama winning an award involves a complex written case study and gruelling interview.
This year Richard added to his previous successes by being Runner Up in both the Cautious Investor and Wealth Management categories.
Richard has now achieved 6 awards in this competition in the past 4 years.
Gavin Murphy, our Financial Services Manager, has attained his Diploma in Financial Planning.
This is the newly announced higher standard which will be required for all financial advisers from 2012. Gavin has worked hard to achieve this valuable qualification from the Chartered Insurance Institute - congratulations!
Richard Gough attains Fellowship of Institute of Financial Planning - January 2009
Richard was awarded this prestigious qualification after passing a gruelling and testing series of examinations run by the Institute of Financial Planning. The exams cover both personal and business financial planning and are of the highest standard of any financial services exams reflected in the fact that there are only 75 holders of this qualification in the UK.
Abraham's Point
Castle Court Consulting helped raise finance for the latest film starring Mackenzie Crook (The Office, Pirates of the Caribbean), and also featuring Stuart Cable's new band. Through the use of special tax structures investors were able to claim an income tax deduction on their investment as well as participate in the film. A trailer is now available to view on You Tube.
Examination Success - July 2008
Martyn Williams has embarked on the road to becoming a fully authorised financial adviser and has passed the first of 5 compulsory exams - our congratulations to him. Martyn can be contacted on 029 2034 8630 or e mail martyn@castlecourt.biz