23 July 2025 The introduction of IHT on pension death benefits from April 2027 has moved a step closer with the publication of draft legislation. There were widespread concerns that the original proposals were complex and would ultimately result in delays in winding-up estates. To address this HMRC have shifted the burden of reporting and paying the IHT on pension death benefits from the scheme administrators to the personal representatives.

Staying calm in turbulent markets - Periods of volatile markets can feel unsettling, especially when the news headlines are shouting loud.

Happy New Year! This note provides a look back at 2024 - a year where markets have been particularly kind - and looks ahead to 2025 and beyond, including some important reminders for investors.

In this short note, we cover this simple, but important, concept and illustrate how the Rule of 72 can be used to help consider the impacts of compounding (we rely on such simply rules of thumb because compounding is something we are not, as human beings, wired to process easily!).

Another four years have flown by, and at the time of writing, here we are again, on the morning of the 60th U.S. presidential election. As the results unfold, media coverage will undoubtedly intensify, but the message to the long term investor will stay the same: presidents may come and go, yet markets endure. We hope you find this note useful to remind you to stay focused on the long term.

With around 50% of the global population living in countries with elections this year, the market has a lot of noise and expectation to price in over 2024 and beyond. Ultimately, whether it is the conservatives or labour that are at the wheel (which has been the case for the last century or so), capital markets persist and have delivered fantastic long-term value to investors. Correctly guessing the outcome of an election is only the starting point, knowing how the market will interpret that is guesswork. The most important thing we can all do is vote!