His earnings are not high but he wants to put in a large contribution from his savings. He was told by his accountant that he could roll forward. I spent a bit of time explaining to him that you can carry forward the allowance but you cannot carry forward unused earnings from previous years (I wonder if his accountant is still thinking about the old carry-back rules?).
Tuesday: I finalised client A’s application and got him to go to the bank to make last-minute lump-sum pension contribution. I exchanged emails with a potential client I am meeting tomorrow, client B. His company is just setting up an office in London. The parent company is based in New York and is recruiting at the moment. Unfortunately it does not yet have enough people to set up death in service and income protection schemes so we discussed the possibility of having individual policies paid by the company. As it is possible a scheme will be arranged in the near future, we discuss that the best option for these employees, who will at the moment pay tax on the premium, is probably to have reviewable/low start premiums rather than guaranteed.
Wednesday: I had a meeting with client B. We discussed protection for the employees and also their pensions. We discussed the new remuneration options after the retail distribution review. His initial thoughts, and this is just my opinion, were why pay initial and ongoing fees? I can do it myself for my employees. I explained to him the work involved in setting up a pension, including the provider selection process, paperwork and, most difficult of all, dealing with the questions of the employees. I explained that by paying a relatively small fee I would organise all the paperwork and also give his employees investment advice based on their retirement objectives and risk attitudes. If he were to do it himself, he would probably get quite a few questions from his employees that he would not be authorised to answer. A couple of the employees have pensions already. As they are employees of an investment analyst firm he was asking whether they needed a financial adviser. I explained what I can do for them but I agreed that maybe some of them did not need ongoing advice. He asked: “How many funds are there anyway? 60?” “Over 1000,” I told him. I think the director realised the amount of work involved and he was probably better off having someone doing it for him. I think he also realised his employees would benefit from having someone helping them select an investment strategy and the best funds.
Thursday: I currently combine working as an adviser with looking after my one-year-old boy but today my husband took the kids to see his parents so I was on my own on Thursday and Friday. At last, some uninterrupted time to do my compliance and read the press and some neglected publications. I am seeing my client A on Friday and I have a last look at my recommendation letter which I will give to him and go through it tomorrow. I phoned another client to make last-minute Isa contributions. We went through my recommendations a few months back but she has been very busy and did not get around contacting me to put the money in.
Friday: I have a good meeting with client A. He is happy with my recommendations and understands what we are trying to achieve. I realise I almost forgot to contribute to my own Isa and that of my husband. I have decided to take a little more risk than I normally do. I have decided to go for a short selection of funds that invest in smaller companies. I feel they could provide some good returns in the next five years. We will see what happens. Finally I finish the week preparing my company website for the new tax year. I go through the new tax year allowances and contribution limits and also review if there is anything that needs changing. I am travelling to Northampton tomorrow to meet my husband and the kids. I cannot wait.
Ana de la Quintana is a pensions actuary and IFA for London-based Bright Investments Pensions & Savings
