Personal Financial Services - Tailored to meet your needs

Inheritance Tax Planning

Inheritance Tax no longer affects only the wealthy. It will undoubtedly come as a shock to many to discover that a large proportion of their wealth - either in the form of the family home, investments or even old family heirlooms - might actually have to be sold in order to meet the tax bill on death. Conversely, it will probably come as no surprise at all to learn that the Inland Revenue is always first in line and unless a specific provision has been made, it is not usually possible to sell assets until probate has been granted.

While most people are aware of the existence of Inheritance Tax Planning, it is a subject that few people greet with enthusiasm and many, not surprisingly, would rather delay consideration of the matter. In fact, so few people do anything about their potential Inheritance Tax liability that the Inland Revenue anticipate collecting in excess of £2.5 billion in 2004 / 2005 alone.

Investment

The performance of your investments will make a critical difference to your financial wellbeing in the future, as well as how much you will have to pass on to your family.

The solution is to find superior financial advice, investment products and fund managers to handle your money.

One of the advantages of investing with St. James's Place is the fact that we offer you a carefully selected range of investment managers to manage your funds. No one company has a monopoly of investment management expertise - different investment sectors require different skills. Talented investment managers often prefer to be part of a fully-fledged investment management group, rather than work as an employee of a life assurance company.

By selecting a number of leading fund managers with their own distinctive investment styles we are able to offer our clients the opportunity of aiming to obtain consistent, superior investment performance over the long term.

You have a wide choice of top quality funds and fund managers available to you and you can either commit your investment to managers with particularly appropriate investment objectives, or spread your money across a number of them to reduce risk. In the longer term, you can switch between funds and fund managers, so that your money is always invested in a way which is appropriate for your financial goals.

The investment managers manage funds across our Unit Trust, ISA, Investment Bond, Pension, and Offshore ranges. Depending on your particular situation, your member of the St. James's Place Partnership will recommend the relevant investment vehicle.

In addition, your St. James's Place Partner is able to introduce you to our Portfolio Management Service, and can arrange for your portfolio of stocks and shares to be managed by one of the Portfolio Management companies chosen by St. James's Place.

Retirement Planning and Pensions

Unless you make a significant commitment to invest for your retirement, you are unlikely to have an adequate income when you retire. We believe that expert and professional advice which focuses on your requirements is of paramount importance. To help you plan your retirement we can advise you on the following:

• Retirement planning for the self-employed
• Retirement planning for employees, including those whose pension benefits are restricted by the earnings cap
• Calculation of the maximum contribution to pension arrangements
• Transfers from occupational pension schemes
• Retirement planning for company directors and professionals
• Remuneration strategy for company directors
• Exit planning for company directors
• Investments for existing pension schemes
• Inheritance Tax planning through pension schemes

We offer the following products:

• Personal pensions
• Stakeholder Pensions
• SIPPS (Self-Invested Personal Pension Schemes)
• Income drawdown
• FSAVCs (Free-Standing Additional Voluntary Contribution schemes)
• Executive pensions
• SSAS (Small Self Administered Schemes)
• FURBS (Funded Unapproved Retirement Benefits Schemes)
• Trustee investment schemes