Return on Life (ROL)

We put you, your family, your life at the very centre of everything we do. And it stays that way, year in and year out. Every year. You will have transitions on your journey. Your money and your life are connected and they impact on each other. If something happens in your life it will nearly always impact on your money, and vice versa. We want to explore what those transitions might be and when the might occur. We can then plan for them – ‘Prepare’ is much more effective than a ‘Repair’ when the transition has been sprung on you without preparation.

Follow the link to explore where you and your money are right now (you will need to add your name and email address)

Wealth Management

We are Financial Planners and Wealth Managers with a robust investment process that we’re proud of. We establish your financial resources and objectives then calculate the growth required to meet your objectives. Finally, we test the compatibility of the required investment return against your risk capacity. When these are matched, we invest.

Our most important role in Wealth Management is managing our clients’ behaviour. There is a vast difference between investment returns and investor returns. It is a fact that markets trend up and down, and the biggest ups tend to come immediately after the biggest fall. We stop our clients selling out of the market when it falls, creating a loss. Then we stop then buying back in on a climbing market because an advert or article in the media has caught their eye. This behaviour destroys wealth – in our experience, you simply cannot time the market.

We believe the equity market is efficient in its pricing and any errors are immediately corrected. We diversify your investment by splitting it into different asset classes that have different characteristics and behave differently.

So, we take an evidence-based approach to investment, with the knowledge that markets are efficient in delivering investment returns. We capture these returns at the lowest cost possible. Remember – a penny saved is a penny earned!

Retirement Planning

There are many, many ways to plan for your retirement. Selling the business you’ve built with your bare hands; investing in buy-to-let properties; downsizing your home. We can advise on all areas, but are especially well-qualified to guide you through decisions about your choice of pension product.

Pensions are designed for long-term investment and have attractive benefits for money invested in them. They also have restrictions regarding when and how benefits are taken in retirement. We believe these should be properly explored and fully understood before investing.

Pensions are relevant in business activity as they can be used to purchase commercial property. It may suit your circumstances to use accumulated capital in your pension to purchase the property you trade from, or wish to move in to.

Our founder Michael Raymond holds advanced-level pension qualifications and can manage all your pension investment requirements, such as:

  • Personal pension, SIPP and SSAS options
  • Income drawdown
  • Annuity settlements
  • Investment of pension funds
  • Transfers between pension schemes
  • Pension consolidation and management
  • Specialist pension planning for business owners
  • Ill health pensions
  • Pensions and divorce

We can review all current pension plans you have.  With our knowledge of the complex rules, we can make sense of the details for you and create the best value by ensuring you are making the most of any contractual benefits, not being overcharged or taking any unnecessary risks.

Trust and Estate Planning

Trust and estate planning is a careful process to assess and arrange for proper transfer of your wealth to the people you want at the right time. Everyone’s requirements will be different and at Bright we want to give you complete peace of mind by eliminating any uncertainties both during your lifetime and after you’re gone. For example:

  • Can I afford to make a gift?
  • Should I set up a trust?

There are many elements to estate planning which can seem overwhelming, but the time for planning is now, when you are in control. Trust and estate planning could include structuring your will, assigning guardians to minors, nominating beneficiaries, and the use of trusts to secure and protect assets. The process will be different for everyone but the outcome will be the same – to maximise the value of your estate and reduce taxes and any other expenses.

During a lifetime of accumulating wealth, your requirements may shift and we hold regular reviews with our clients to ensure their estate planning remains up to date.

Long Term Care

We are qualified to advise in this area. We analyse the most efficient and effective method of funding nursing home fees.

Professional Services

We are experienced and adept at liaising with the other professional services in your financial life, to ensure a joined-up approach to your plan for the future.

Protection

“Life assurance, Critical illness and Income Protection are often regarded as financial security for families and businesses alike. Protection provides money (replaced lost income) in the event of a Loved One, Business Partner or Key Employee dying, diagnosed with a critical illness or not being able to work for a long period

Ask yourself: How would we cope financially if one of the disasters happened to you or your Partner. If that disaster would leave you in a desperate position financially, the chances are you will need to review your protection.

Life cover is also used as a tool to protect an estate from Inheritance Tax.

This is an example and not an exhaustive list of the benefits of protection.”