Client:               Miss C
Advice areas:   Mortgage, Savings and Investment

Miss C was a computer operations manager, and she became a friend and Client in 1979 when she was 26 years of age.

We advised her on some initial savings arrangements, and in 1981 she was able to put a deposit upon a flat (apartment) of her own. We assisted by arranging the mortgage for her and guiding her through the purchase procedure.

She also asked us to advise her father on his redundancy, and her mother on retirement.

We continued to advise her on her savings, and by 1984 she had accumulated some £12,000 surplus to current requirements. This was the foundation of her investment portfolio and was augmented by another £2,000 in 1986, giving her initial investments of £14,000.

During the intervening period, we had maintained a watching and advisory brief, recommending investment switches when appropriate. We had leveraged part of her Portfolio by the use of  back-to-back capital conversion arrangements which matured in 1994.
The portfolio proceeds, which were totally tax free, were paid into her bank account. 

Naturally we were very pleased to receive a letter from her in which, amongst other things, she kindly  said:

"To say that I am pleasantly  surprised that my £14,000 had risen to £46,000 plus, in ten years, would be a major understatement !"

We re-invested Miss C's portfolio and it continued to attain outstanding growth for her.

Clients:              Mr. & Mrs. S
Advice areas:    Retirement Planning, Pensions, and Investments

Clients:             Mr. & Mrs. G
Advice areas:  Family Protection

Clients:            Mr. & Mrs. W. 
Advice areas:  Retirement Planning, Pensions and Investment

Mr. and Mrs. W had run a small but successful business as graphic designers to the advertising industry. 
The lease to their offices was due to expire in about 18 months time, and they had decided that this would be a suitable time for them to retire.

They had acquired a small but varied collection of  pension, investment and other financial products over the years, and their Accountant suggested that they should consult us for their investment and retirement planning.

It is usually the case that, no matter whether employed or self-employed, the majority of pension benefits have traditionally been built up in the husband's name.  This often means that whilst both spouses are living or if the wife dies, the income of the household is relatively unaffected.  However, if the husband dies, the pension income either stops or reduces drastically, leaving the widow to struggle often in virtual penury.  This can happen to ostensibly affluent families.  So it would have proved in this case.

We conducted a full Retirement and Financial Planning exercise for Mr. & Mrs. W.  

In the light of our findings, amongst other things, we structured the small investment portfolio and (when it came to retirement) we selected the retirement benefit options to optimise the protection and provision for each of  the Joint situation, the Widower's situation, and the Widow's situations.

They retired in the June, some eighteen months after we had first met, and being highly delighted with the arrangements we had made for them, asked if we would also advise their daughter and her family.

The following February we received a telephone call from  Mr. I. their son-in-law (by now a Client) who told us that K (Mr. W) was in hospital dying of cancer. 

As a matter of urgency we immediately reviewed our Clients' affairs and advised them of some final Recommendations for their solicitor (lawyer) to action.

When we visited K in hospital, he unburdened his worries to us. They were nearly all financial. 
We were able to remind and reassure him that in our Planning, all these possibilities had been anticipated and were covered.  We also told him the truth that, no matter his resources, no man had done more to protect and care for his family.

K , always a warm and kindly man, said "What have I done to deserve friends like you ?" 
The answer is obvious in his case, "as you give, so shall you receive".
That was the last time we saw K, but we subsequently kept in touch with D (Mrs. W). 

Our Financial Planning worked well.  Mrs. W was now able to take two holidays a year with friends and family, continue to buy good quality presents for her children and grandchildren, and managed well on her monthly income.
 
She said one thing that we can't forget:

"I will always miss K, but, thanks to you, he still sends me Love Letters every month".

(The "Love Letters" of course are the monthly payments into her bank account from the insurances, pensions and investments we set up for her as part of their Financial Planning.)

Client:               Mrs. J.
Advice areas:   Retirement Planning, Pensions and Investment

Mrs. J was a widow who had been referred to us by her accountant at the end of 1991 for investment advice. 

In reviewing her financial affairs we noted that, amongst other matters to be addressed, she had a unit-linked pension fund.

This is at a time when the economy is in recession, interest rates were high but falling and the stock markets not performing very well.

Mrs. J was planning to retire in three years time when, in the economic cycle, interest rates would be much lower.

As a result of our market intelligence we knew of the only two pension companies which had a special product. 

This product would allow us to take Mrs. J's pension fund and lock it into the then currently high annuity rates for future delivery when annuity rates would be otherwise be low.
 
She would also receive a guaranteed rate of interest on the pension fund for the period until she took her pension benefits.

We selected the best of the two companies (the one we didn't select is subsequently taken over by another insurance company, so we avoided that complication for our Client). 

Mrs. J. took our advice and the pension fund was duly transferred into the new scheme.

In September 1994 Mrs. J reached her 60th birthday and applied for her retirement benefits. 

When she received her benefit statement, and knowing that she would need advice investing her tax-free lump sum, she contacted us. 

We asked for the figures which the pension company had offered her, and we were far from happy with the figures which she told us over the telephone.  The Insurance Company was effectively offering her pension benefits as if the guaranteed annuity rates had not been effected.

The Company's actuary initially argued that the figures offered to our Client were correct. 
We refused to accept that and told him in no uncertain terms that he was wrong.

Then he 'phoned back to apologise for the error. They sent a new benefits statement.
We were still not satisfied. 

Finally on the third try we obtained the figures we were looking for.

We had obtained for our Client an increase of £3,700 in her tax free lump sum and an additional £2,200 a year for life over the original offers. 

The original offer represented what she might have received if we had not effected the original transfer of her pension funds for her.

This illustrates the importance and value of a long term relationship with an Independent Financial Adviser to obtain significant benefits which could not have been achieved via any other form of financial services provider or intermediary.

Clients:          Mr. & Mrs. S.
Advice area:  Mortgages

Mrs. S.  was employed by FIMBRA (then the UK Financial Services Regulator).
She and her husband had originally come to us to assist in arranging a mortgage to purchase their modern council house. They had expressed their wish for an endowment mortgage. 

Consequently, we had selected the best, low cost endowment investment in the market place at that time, and had arranged for the purchase funds to be provided by "A B/Soc." a well known high street building society, which also had the best deal at the time for this specialised mortgage product.

Some five years later, Mrs. S contacted us again.  They wanted to arrange a second mortgage to pay for improvements to the property. 

We discussed the various types of mortgage available then for the further advance, repayment, PEP, endowment etc., They were satisfied with their endowment arrangements and wished the further advance also to be an endowment mortgage.

For the additional endowment, we surveyed the market, and again came up with the best possible cost effective product for them.

For the funds, in view of the fact that Mr. S. had recently become self-employed, we decided to approach the original lender for a further advance, as they should be more sympathetic to an existing customer with a good payment record.

Accordingly, we telephoned  A. B/Soc.  and asked for an Application Form for a Further Advance to be sent to us. 
The mortgage manager refused, insisting that they had to see the Client. 

We explained that we were the Clients' Independent Financial Advisers (IFA's) and had arranged the mortgage with them in the first place, and that it is normal procedure for a lender just to send us the appropriate form. 
The mortgage manager still insisted that they had to see the Clients.

We smelled a rat, but after checking with our Clients we made an appointment for all of us to go to a meeting at A B/Soc.

When we arrived at the offices of  A B/Soc. for our Appointment, naturally, as good IFA's, we had the best endowment deal on the market for our Clients in our briefcase.

When we told the Receptionist that we had arrived for the scheduled appointment, the person we were supposed to see is not there. Shortly after, we were shown into an office by another young man.

We explained to him that all that was required is an Application form for a further mortgage advance, and that as far as the endowment is concerned we had already selected the best product for our Clients.

After listening to us the young man explained that he had to observe certain procedures, after which he switched on his computer and proceeded to ignore us, speaking directly to our Clients.

He started to ask our Clients questions which were totally irrelevant to their Application for a further mortgage advance. We interrupted  and objected to many of his questions but he continued regardless.

It became totally obvious to us that he was going through a series of prepared sales presentations for the insurance products of their own tied agency.

Application forms were passed to our Clients for endowments, pensions (which they didn't want), redundancy protection (useless to a self employed man), building and contents insurance (which they already had), etc.,

When at last the young man had come to the end of his presentation, we asked him to provide us with a quotation for the cost of the further advance and his endowment. (Our Clients of course knew the figures which we had in the briefcase.)

Nevertheless they were absolutely staggered when he quoted a cost for the endowment of £100 per month more than the quotation which we had in the briefcase.

After complaining in the strongest possible terms to having had three working people' time wasted just so that A B/Soc. could do sales presentations which were mostly irrelevant, we left.

Outside, Mrs. S  turned to us, and asked to see our figures again.

"I know I am employed by FIMBRA, but if I hadn't been there, I would never have believed the way this so-called respectable High Street Building Society has just tried to rip us off !!"

Clients:            Mr. & Mrs. McL
Advice areas:  Retirement Planning, Investment and Protection

Mr. McL was a computer operator who was retiring from his employment with a well known Investment Bankers in the City of London.  Just before retirement, he realised that he needed some Independent Financial Advice, and was referred to us.

After reviewing Mr. & Mrs. McL's financial affairs, and taking into account their own wishes for their retirement, it became obvious that under the normal structure of his Employer's pension scheme, the pension to him would be just about adequate, but on his death the widows pension would be totally inadequate.

They needed the bulk of such small savings as they had to be flexibly invested with ready access.

From our Financial Planning we knew the level of income that the family needed, and clearly, on the death of her husband, the widow's income would be far too low meaning - she would be effectively destititute - unless we did something about it now.

It was clear that a Capital Sum of sufficient size to provide a widow's pension was not available from current resources.

We used Actuarial and Broking expertise to determine the necessary size of such a Capital Sum.
We then structured their investment portfolio to provide sufficient top up income not only to meet the family's comfort requirements but also to fund the minimum required premiums on a 'whole of life insurance policy' written in trust.

On Mr. McL's death this policy  would provide a sufficient Capital Sum to purchase the additional pension income that Mrs. McL would require to support a decent life-style.

As Mrs. McL gets older she will be able to secure better annuity rates resulting in a higher pension for her, thus compensating for any increase in the cost of living between now and then.

Of course, if Mrs. McL should die first, Mr. McL would have a range of options available including cashing in the policy and enjoying the proceeds, or passing the proceeds as a legacy to his children.

It is not always possible to do everything you would like to for a family, but Independent professional expertise can often help Clients to use leverage or gearing or otherwise to optimise their resources to achieve comfort and security that they would otherwise lose.

ADDENDUM

A couple of years after the financial planning solutions had been put in place, John was making a social call on Mr and Mrs McL at the same time as their adult son was visiting.

Suddenly the son started arguing that his parents should stop paying the insurance premiums for the policy to secure his mothers future security. The reason he gave was so that his Dad could use the money for his 'beer, fags and betting' after all, 'he should enjoy the money while he was still here'.

In fact, both the husband and the son started arguing in the same way. Mrs. McL sat meekly by while her future was being decided.

John was totally appalled and disgusted that he was the only one standing up for the rights and future of Mrs. McL. Her husband and son should have been doing that. Instead they were arguing to 'spend the money now' and leave the 'old woman' in penury in later life.

Normally polite and courteous, this time, in no uncertain terms, John clarified the situation to both Mr. McL and their son. They sat there shamefaced under the barrage. Then they both apologised to Mrs. McL.

As she walked John to the door when he was leaving, Mrs. McL said a heartfelt 'thank you' to John. She understood just how in jeapardy her future had been.

The insurances stayed in place, and Mrs. McL's future remained secure.

Client:             Mr. D.
Advice areas: Pension Transfers

Mr. D.  was a Management Consultant.  He was referred to us by his employer for inclusion in their Group Pension Scheme which we administered.

Mr. D  had previously been employed by a Local Authority and had a two frozen pension funds which he was keen to transfer, one was a final salary scheme and the other an additional voluntary contribution (AVC) scheme.

There were two principal topics for consideration:

• whether it was in the Client's best interests to Transfer or not, and
• the timing of any such Transfer if it was to be made.

The first consideration required an Actuarial evaluation, and the second consideration required an Economic evaluation.

In view of our judgement of the economy from our economic forecasting, we Recommended that we postpone consideration of the Pension Transfer.

Mr. D was impatient to effect the Transfer and took our advice very reluctantly.

During the next two years, while the economic outlook improved for his pension transfer, he contacted us regularly so see if we were yet ready to effect it.

Finally, although in our view it is not the optimum time, Mr. D felt he had waited long enough and insisted that we go ahead and effect the Transfer.

We obtained new settlement figures, and  produced an Actuarial Report which evaluated  whether any Transfer should be made at all. 

The Conclusion of that Report is that a Transfer would be generally advantageous to him. We then effected the Transfers.

Although, in our view we could have obtained better by waiting another six months, the result of our strategy was that by monitoring the economy and waiting two years we had obtained for our Client:
- an increase in the Transfer value of his Final Salary Scheme of 45 per cent
- an increase in the Transfer value of his A.V.C. Scheme of 27 per cent
- giving an overall  increase in the Total Transfer Values of 39 per cent

There really is rather more to the subject of  Pension Transfers than most financial journalists or insurance company direct salesmen would have you believe.

Clients:          Mr. & Mrs. C.
Advice area:  Pre-Retirement, Investment and Estate Planning

Mr. C and Mrs. C were referred to us by their Accountant when Mr. C retired from his position as Catering Manager of a highly prestigious establishment.

Whilst our initial consultations were concerned with Pre-Retirement Planning and some Investment Planning, they fore-warned us that receipts of further sums of money may be anticipated in the future due to inheritances.  

Apparently, Mr. C's ancestors had been the founders of one of our major National Companies, and a considerable amount of wealth was distributed amongst the family.

Whilst we were finalising our Planning, the deaths occurred of three close members of Mr. C's family. Mr. & Mrs. C were the principal beneficiaries.

Our exercise was now extended to cover Estate Planning for Mr. & Mrs. C and their adult children.

Our Retirement Planning exercise involved consideration and preparation (where appropriate) of  a variety of Income and Expenditure Budgets, Capital Budgets, Contingency and Current Reserve Budgets etc.

The Objective was to ensure that we covered all eventualities, to put "Safety Nets" and Reserves into place to secure, as far as possible, the lifetime requirements of both Mr. and Mrs. C.

This involved a combination of  Actuarial, Broking, Investment, Taxation, Forecasting and Strategic Planning skills.

Having determined what financial resources were needed to be maintained for the lifetime needs of Mr. & Mrs. C., we knew what surplus was available to be passed to their Children.

In accordance with our Clients' wishes, a series of  Trusts in combination with Estate Planning products were set up to remove the surplus funds from Mr. & Mrs. C's Estates, yet allow them flexibility of  control and access in case this should be needed in the future.

It was also important to address the amount of funds we had reserved for Mr. & Mrs. C's lifetime needs.  A proportion of this would not be required immediately and therefore also had to be Inheritance Tax sheltered in case of  the early death of either Client.

After we had completed our Planning, and prior to our execution of the Plan,  Mr. & Mrs. C called a Family Meeting at which they asked us to explain our Recommendations to the family.  This we were pleased to do, as it is always far better to ensure that all questions are satisfactorily answered before the event, than have mis-understandings later.

Later the following day, an emotional Mr. & Mrs. C. telephoned us. They had been delighted with their children's reaction to our proposals. 

The first reaction after we had left the Meeting, was that whilst their adult children appreciated what our Clients were proposing, they would be just as happy if Mum and Dad spent the surplus money on themselves.

When Mr. & Mrs. C. explained that they had already adequately provided for themselves, and that the proposals we had made fully complied with their wishes, the children thanked them and left.

However, having slept on it, the following morning each of the children had telephoned Mr. & Mrs. C. to tell them how much the Plan meant to them personally.

They were particularly moved by their mature but unmarried daughter who opened her heart to them and told them that at last, thanks to them, she felt that she had some security in her life.

Of our Retirement Planning system, Mr. C. generously wrote,

"...the whole concept is quite brilliant and should be recommended to anyone contemplating retirement".

Client:            Mr. E. FCA., MBE.,
Advice area:  Executive Pension Plan - Guaranteed Annuity Benefits

Client:            Mr. I
Advice area: Selecting a Personal Pension Plan

We received a telephone call from Mr. J, an eminent Chartered Accountant. 
His Client, Mr. I. wanted to invest £31,000 as a single premium into a Personal Pension Plan. 

Mr. J. had suggested Equity Life Ltd., a non-commission paying Pension Company, but as he was not a specialist in this field, he asked us for a second opinion.

With the information Mr. J. provided, we were able to provide an extensive report for him and his Client which offered several choices of Personal Pension Plan for their consideration.

Our Report showed consideration of such factors as Product Selection, Investment Performance, Costs, Corporate Asset Strength, Annual Operating Performance, Relative Product Performance, Quality of Policy Administration, amongst others.

One of the interesting facts in our Report was disclosed by the table of "Reduction in Yields".
This showed the effect of charges (costs) on investment performance.

The Reduction in Yield factors for the products of the so-called "non-commission" Pensions Company  proved to be the same as those of Abbey Life, Barclays Life, General Portfolio and other direct selling and commission paying Pensions offices.

It was therefor no cheaper to deal with the non-commission paying office.

The reason for this is an open secret in the Life Assurance Industry.  The element of cost that is commission, although not paid to brokers, IFA's and Accountants,  was actually paid as bonuses to E Ltd's own sales people and sales managers to whom each policy, or case, was allocated.

So if an Accountant or broker places a Client with a non-commission office such as E Ltd., and charges a fee for the time involved, fund selection etc., the Client is actually paying the acquisition costs twice.  A fact that we find distasteful.

Having considered and digested our Report, apparently Mr. J (FCA) and Mr. I. agreed with us.

A short time later, Mr. I. asked us to place his Pension investment with one of the Pension Companies that we had Recommended in our Report. 

Client:               Mr. B.
Advice areas:  Retirement Planning, Pensions and Investment

MR. B  was a retired shopfitter and Company Director. His premature retirement was the result of his Company being taken over. 

As he was some years away from his normal retirement age he had not planned his retirement and needed advice regarding investments, and also how best to take his pension benefits.

He had already responded to a large number of newspaper and television advertisements from supposedly specialist Annuity and Pension advisers, when a friend, who happened to also be one of our Clients, suggested that he speak to us.

As a result of our knowledge of the market, we were able to produce a pension offer of some £3,000 per annum better than the best quotation he had obtained by himself.

However, as annuity rates at the time were very low, we Recommended that instead of spending his whole pension fund then, which would result in a relatively low retirement income for the rest of his life, he should transfer his pension fund into a Phased Retirement Plan.

This would enable him to benefit from:

• enjoyment of the precise retirement income that he needed each month (determined by our Financial Planning)
• flexibility to take advantage of  better annuity rates as they become available.  

(It is not generally known that a 5 per cent increase in interest rates (as applied to annuities) could result in a compensating decrease of  25 per cent in the pension fund needed to provide the same pension).

• the further advantage that, if he should die, the unexpended balance of the pension fund would be payable to his estate and would go to his loved ones rather than be lost to the pension company.

As interest rates rose after Mr. B decided to invest in a Phased Retirement Plan, he has acknowledged this strategy alone had effectively made him much wealthier and his retirement much more comfortable and enjoyable than it otherwise would have been.

Clients:            Mr. & Mrs. B
Advice areas: Investment and Estate Planning

Mr. B. was a retired antique dealer.  He was referred to us by one of his good friends, another antique dealer who was also one of our Clients.

As Mr. B. was in his mid 70's and his wife in her 90's they felt that it was time they took Independent Professional advice with regard to their savings, investments and Estate Planning.

After a thorough review of their affairs, to ensure there were sufficient resources to meet their lifetime needs, we recommended a strategy of a combination of leveraged investments in trusts, which would provide progressive inheritance tax sheltering.

The investment products we used were of a non-contentious nature as far as the Inland Revenue are concerned, and we had satisfied ourselves on this point by obtaining copies of Tax Counsel's Opinion and correspondence with the Capital Taxes Office.

As requested, we apportioned the arrangements equally between Mr. B and Mrs. B.  This amounted to an initial investment of £65,500 each.

Some thirty-three months later, Mr. B died from prostate cancer. 

By this time we had turned his £65,500 initial investment  into £68,500 outside his Estate plus £44,000 left within his Estate, for Inheritance Tax purposes.

Mrs. B was moved into a Nursing home.  The investments we made for her continued to meet her personal requirements and the Nursing home costs.

In the mean time, the £65,500 which she gave us to invest was also progressively sheltered from Inheritance Tax.

Apart from our grief at losing a good friend, our main regret was that neither Mr. B. nor his solicitor took our advice with regard to the drafting of his Will.

One more simple clause in his Will could have saved Inheritance Tax of £60,000.
This would have been of more benefit to his children than lining the pockets of the Inland Revenue.

Clients:              Dr. & Mrs. J
Advice areas:   Retirement Planning, Investment and Estate Planning

a) You Can't Always Trust Your Employers

Dr. & Mrs. J. were referred to us by their Accountant, an elderly man sometimes referred to as the "local area tax guru" by other local accountants.

Dr. J. a warm and friendly man, in addition to his private surgery, was employed as a Senior Medical Consultant to one of our major insurance companies.

He had continued working until he was 70, although he had been claiming his pension benefits from various pension schemes over the preceding five years. 

He had his final pension plan to claim his benefits from, and his Accountant had advised him to seek our advice on, amongst other things,  obtaining the best pension for him using Open Market Option.

When we conducted our detained examination of  Dr. & Mrs. J's financial affairs, we were surprised to find that, although the retirement income was quite substantial, all the pension benefits had been accepted by Dr. J. in his name only, with no widow's pension payable on his death.

All the pension plans had been taken out with the Life Office of which he is Senior Medical Consultant.

It appeared that, in common with the procedures of most Life Offices, this Life Office had offered him a very restricted choice of pension benefits, of which "single life level pension" gave the highest figure, and so was accepted by him.

Although he was one of their own valued and trusted employees,  the Insurance Company could not be bothered to ensure that he was properly advised. 

Nothing could be done about it. When he died, those pensions ceased, and not a penny more would be paid to his widow.

Fortunately, we ascertained that there were other adequate resources to provide for his widow if necessary.

b) "You've Made Me A Rich Woman!" - The Profit In Following Up Clues

In going through Dr. & Mrs. J's various documentation, we had come across an obscure reference on a scrap of paper which we could not tie up with any of the known policies or investments.
We discussed it with our Clients, but it meant nothing to them. We discussed it with the Accountant, and initially it meant nothing to him either. 
A couple of days later, the Accountant telephoned us and said that although he had nothing on file and he wasn't really sure, our conversation had reminded him that many many years ago he thought that premiums might have been paid to a pension policy for Mrs. J.
We discussed this new information with our Clients but it still didn't ring any bells, however, it was a loose end, so we put this outstanding query in writing together with others recommendations and observations for our Clients' consideration.
A week or so later, we called at their home to return documents and property title deeds which we had borrowed for our Financial Review. 
Mrs. J was absolutely delighted to see us. She said:

  "What's this my husband tells me? You've made me a rich woman!" 

It transpired that Dr. J, irritated by the outstanding query, had turned out all his papers in his study and in the attic, and had finally found what the obscure reference referred to.

It was indeed a pension policy for the benefit of Mrs. J, which she had taken out many many  years before. 
It had matured some ten years before, on her 60th birthday, and no further premiums had been paid since then, although the pension fund had continued its tax-free growth.

In claiming her benefits, Mrs. J was entitled to nearly 30 per cent of the pension fund as a tax free lump sum, and, being ten years older was able to obtain a much better annuity rate.

As a result she received a higher monthly pension payment in her own name which remained totally unaffected on the death of Dr. J.

Although it is really Dr. J who did the work in digging up the policy documents, Mrs. J. very kindly attributed the credit to our alertness in spotting and raising the query, and our tenacity in following it through.

c) Don't Trust Big Companies

The Estate Planning exercise for Dr. & Mrs. J may also be of interest. 
It was our policy to treat each new Client's requirements as unique and to conduct our research tailored to their requirements.

Dr. & Mrs. J's distribution of assets certainly had some unique features which would require a combination of techniques to resolve from an Estate Planning standpoint.

Consequently, we conducted a fresh review of the latest techniques and financial (estate) planning products. 
In our meetings with each of the product providers, we required copies of their Tax Counsel's Opinion and copies of any correspondence with the Capital Taxes Office regarding their product(s).

A number of the product providers didn't know what we were talking about.

One said that they didn't have them because they had copied their product from another (named) insurance company.

One household name insurance company's legal department sent a memo to their local office saying that, as they felt that their product took advantage of a loophole in the tax laws, they did not wish to bring it to the Inland Revenue's attention.

When we spoke to the various Companies' head office support and technical departments, most of them did not understand what we were talking about, and showed little knowledge of their own company's products.
We rejected all of these companies and their products.

When we were investing large sums of money for our Clients in such areas as Estate Planning, it was our policy to ascertain, as far as possible, what the Inland Revenue's opinions were of the techniques we are considering using. 

We prefered techniques which work and which the Inland Revenue do not find objectionable or contentious. 

Also, we only used a company's Estate Planning products which were appropriate for the particular Clients' circumstances and which were supported by appropriate in-house technical expertise.

Having reviewed the market place we finally found a suitable product provided by a Company with the required technical support.

We then discussed the product with other technical specialists in Tax and Estate Planning.

During our discussions, we found that two independent Estate Planning specialists had each received a letter from the Capital Taxes Office.

These letters gave totally opposite  opinions as to an important aspect of the tax treatment of this particular product.
We put the Company and the two specialist in touch with each other.

As a result, nearly two years later, the original product had been modified to become a new product which should now met our Client's requirements.

It may be easy for Banks, Building Societies and Insurance Companies to sell products with appropriate sounding names, but sometimes it takes a little longer and requires a little more expertise to do the job properly.