Festive Greetings

The Management and Staff wish all customers old & new a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

2008 has been one of the most difficult and testing times in recent memory. Whilst time will only tell whether 2009 will be any kinder we are starting to see the first signs of stability returning to the market.

With markets normally six months ahead of the economy whilst it may take some time yet for the economy to recover indications suggest sentiment is swinging towards buying back in while prices are low.

Whatever the future holds we hope everyone has a great time over the festive period.

Fidelity fund guru Anthony Bolton believes the new year will usher in a fresh bull market for investors. Bolton says that although this is the worst financial crisis he has seen in his 30 years in fund management, all the indicators like cheap valuations show that the bottom is there.

He says that a bull market is likely in the first quarter of 2009 followed by a period of consolidation.

Bolton, who ran Fidelity's flagship special situations fund from 1979 to 2007 has also called the bottom of the hugely troubled commercial property market.

He says: "Prime property is yielding 7.5 per cent at a time when there is a shortage of yield elsewhere. There are risks, but long leases protect you in the short term - unless the tenant goes bust. Some will go under but even if you lose 5 or even 10 per cent of your income, that's still 90 per cent that's protected for the next 10 years.

As for next year's rally Bolton tips financial stocks and consumer cyclicals to lead the bounce. He also believes owning a basket of banks is the best option.

"In 28 years I have nearly always been underweight in banks. They are opaque and impossible to analyse so I have generally been against them. However, sentiment has become extreme and governments have strengthened their balance sheets. One or two may have to raise additional capital, but that is why you should own a basket."

Cost to live !

A typical eighteen year old will need just over £1.7m to sustain an average standard of living until death, according to a survey by Axa designed to shock people into saving.

The study also found, a 25 year old will need just over £1.5m in today’s money, a 35 year old, £1.25m, a 45 year old, £0.9m and a 55 year old £0.6m to maintain an average standard of living.
Axa surveyed approximately 2,100 people to calculate the monthly expenditure of everything from accommodation, transport and groceries to pets and holidays.

The average person spends about £240 on groceries, £68 on going out, £24 on hobbies and gives nearly £10 to charity every month. With essential outgoings added, this amounts to an average annual expenditure of approximately£28,455, worryingly higher than the median average annual pay for full time employees, of £24,908.

Axa believes better financial planning could reduce the average total expenditure considerably; calculating people could save as much as £737 by focusing on their money worries, while regular monthly reviews of finances could shave tens and thousands of pounds off lifetime expenditure.

The firm has launched a suite of financial planning tools as part of its My Budget Day campaign. The tools are designed to help people manage their day-to-day finances and to plan for a comfortable retirement and are available from: www.axa.co.uk/mybudgetday