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Friday 28 February 2014

Joint exam success for Wealth Management Company

The Exeter office of Brewin Dolphin, one of the UK’s largest independently-owned private client wealth managers, has expanded significantly in the last two years bringing in two new trainee investment managers; Kelly Harkins and James Osborne. Both are looking to develop their careers in Exeter and are keen to boost the development of the Exeter office.

James Osborne and Kelly Harkins with Tim Walker, Head of Office Brewin Dolphin Exeter 

Kelly (24) passed the second of three Masters in Wealth Management papers, Portfolio Construction Theory, while James (25) passed the Private Client Advice paper to move onto the second. Both Kelly and James were awarded a merit, which is a great achievement.

The Masters in Wealth Management is the top qualification offered by the CISI and will lead both Kelly and James to becoming Chartered Wealth Managers in time.

Tim Walker, Head of the Exeter office, said, “I am delighted with both Kelly and James’ success. It is important for the future development of this office that we have young, well qualified staff.  At Brewin Dolphin we have a comprehensive training programme and support all of our staff to attain their full industry qualifications.  We wish Kelly and James all the best for their future exams.”




Thursday 27 February 2014

Support the South West Coastal Path

The South West Coast Path is inviting businesses to partner with the charity during 2014 to deliver some vital path improvements and protect this great tourism asset.

Recent research has showed that during 2012 the Coast Path had 8.6 million users across the South West which have generated around £436m to the area, an increase of almost 15% in the past three years - helping support 9,771 full-time equivalent jobs.



Recognised as one of the UK’s favourite walks with a reputation as being among the greatest long distance hikes in the world.

Sponsorship packages include opportunities to use the brand, benefit from associated news, web and social media communications as well as getting involved in one of the South West’s biggest mass participation events.

The Great South West Walks, taking place from 20th – 28th September 2014, 1,500 people taking part in 100 guided sponsored walks of various lengths, to suit all types of walkers. Many will be themed to include heritage, wildlife and family friendly walks.

The Great South West Walks 2014 aims to secure £250,000; with £125,000 through individual participants’ sponsorship and businesses’ support, alongside £125,000 of matched funding through grant making organisations.

For further information regarding how your business can benefit from supporting the South West Coast Path please email esther@swcp.org.uk or call 07786 330242.

If you would like to find out more about the work of the South West Coast Path Association, or if you are interested in taking part in the Great South West Walks, please visit www.southwestcoastpath.org.uk


For further information about the income the South West Coast Path brings to the South West, please see the 2012 key findings summary created in January 2014 on the South West Coast Path Team’s website.

Wednesday 26 February 2014

Law firms and stormy seas: legal, accountancy and regulatory perspectives – Bristol

Commercial & Chancery PG

Many if not most law firms are faced with a challenging operating environment. Many firms are dealing with these challenges and managing the consequent financial risks effectively. Some are not. This seminar focuses on how law firms can interpret the warning signs in practice and constructively engage with their members, stakeholders and regulator to tackle financial risks.

This one-hour hot topic organised by St John’s Chambers, in association with the Bristol Law Society, is aimed at members/partners, and those with management responsibility in law firms.
We are delighted to have IPA President Charles Turner of FRP Advisory LLP and Mike Haley Director of Supervision at the SRA to contribute to the discussion, along with partnership law specialist Martha Maher of St Johns Chambers. There will be an opportunity at the end for a question and answer session with the speakers, followed by drinks.

Speakers

  • What are the warning signs for law firms?
  • Key financial measures and benchmarking
    Charles Turner, FRP Advisory LLP
  • The SRA’s Financial Stability initiative
    Mike Haley, Director of Supervision, Solicitors Regulation Authority
  • Business structures and exit routes
  • Personal exposure of members/partners and how to mitigate it 
    Martha Maher, Barrister, St John’s Chambers

Details

Cost: £20 + VAT (BLS members) and £25 + VAT (non-members)
Venue: St John’s Chambers, 101 Victoria Street, Bristol BS1 6PU  
Registration: 
5.30pm
Date: 1st May 2014 

Starts: 6.00pm
Finishes: 7.15pm (drinks and canapés to follow)
Accreditation: 1.25 CPD hours
For more information and to register click here

Tuesday 25 February 2014

The Annual Adjudication Law Update – Exeter


Andrew Kearney

Andrew Kearney, member of St Johns Chambers construction and engineering team will be delivering The South West and Wales Adjudication Society’s Annual Adjudication Law Update on Tuesday, 8th April 2014 at Ashfords, Exeter
Stephen Homer of Ashfords will chair this 1-hour seminar, with Andrew bringing delegates up to date with all the latest developments in the law as it relates to Adjudication.
To book your place, contact events@ashfords.co.uk or call 01392 333616 by Friday, 4th April 2014 to reserve a place.

Details

Download programme: The Annual Adjudication Law Update – Devon
Cost: 
This event is free to members and guests
Registration: 5.45pm
Starts: 6.00pm
Finishes: 7.00pm

For more information click here 

www.stjohnschambers.co.uk 


Friday 21 February 2014

How to become an ISA Millionaire



Tim Walker - Head of Brewin Dolphin Exeter 


The traditional routes to becoming a millionaire – marriage, inheritance, the lottery or a genius business idea – might seem a bit fanciful to many of us but, with ISA season upon us, reports suggest that there may be many ISA millionaires in the UK already. In fact several ISA investors at Brewin Dolphin, through judicial investment directly in equities, have amassed ISAs worth over £1 million. Brewin Dolphin has 15 clients with ISAs worth millions each and 40 with ISAs over £750k; though these clients pursued a direct equity strategy and were certainly prepared to take risks. The total value of all Brewin Dolphin ISA portfolios is over £4.7 billion.

Analysts at Brewin Dolphin have calculated that it could take less than 30 years for anyone using their ISA allowance before the end of the tax year and annually thereafter to achieve millionaire status. With conservative assumptions on growth and income (5% combined) and inflation (2.5%), 2042 would see a total fund of £1,030,953 representing a gain of £522,180 on a total investment of £508,773. The total tax saving over this period would be an impressive £292,215 and a £1 million tax free fund for life.

Tim Walker, head of Brewin Dolphin Exeter said, “ISAs and Peps have been such a valuable savings medium over the past 27 years and we advise clients never to miss a chance to use their allowance, either alone or as a tax-free zone within their portfolio. The total investable amount in ISAs and their predecessors PEPs over the last 27 years now stands at £200,560k”.[1]

Tim Walker said, “Saving in a tax efficient wrapper remains one of the most compelling ways of realising your long term financial ambitions. During its life, the WMA Balanced Total Return index has returned compound annual growth of 8.5% - despite the so-called lost decade for equities after 2000.  Even now, with the FTSE paying seven times as much income as bank deposits, we have assumed a more conservative 5% return and still an investor using their full ISA allowance each year could be a millionaire in 27 years with no tax to pay on their gains.  The importance of compounding, and the benefits of tax efficient saving, can deliver life-changing wealth to those who seize the opportunity.”





ISA millionaire chart
Year
Annual Allowance Inflation Adjusted
Assumed Performance Total Return 5%         (growth & income)
Rolling ISA Pot With Long Run Performance Assumption of 5%
CGT Annual Allowance Inflation Adjusted
06/04/2013
£11,520
5.00
£11,520
£10,600
06/04/2014
£11,880
5.00
£23,976
£10,900
06/04/2015
£12,177
5.00
£37,352
£11,000
06/04/2016
£12,481
5.00
£51,701
£11,100
06/04/2017
£12,793
5.00
£67,079
£11,378
06/04/2018
£13,113
5.00
£83,547
£11,662
06/04/2019
£13,441
5.00
£101,165
£11,953
06/04/2020
£13,777
5.00
£120,000
£12,252
06/04/2021
£14,122
5.00
£140,122
£12,559
06/04/2022
£14,475
5.00
£161,603
£12,873
06/04/2023
£14,836
5.00
£184,519
£13,194
06/04/2024
£15,207
5.00
£208,953
£13,524
06/04/2025
£15,588
5.00
£234,988
£13,862
06/04/2026
£15,977
5.00
£262,715
£14,209
06/04/2027
£16,377
5.00
£292,227
£14,564
06/04/2028
£16,786
5.00
£323,625
£14,928
06/04/2029
£17,206
5.00
£357,012
£15,301
06/04/2030
£17,636
5.00
£392,498
£15,684
06/04/2031
£18,077
5.00
£430,200
£16,076
06/04/2032
£18,529
5.00
£470,239
£16,478
06/04/2033
£18,992
5.00
£512,743
£16,890
06/04/2034
£19,467
5.00
£557,846
£17,312
06/04/2035
£19,953
5.00
£605,692
£17,745
06/04/2036
£20,452
5.00
£656,429
£18,189
06/04/2037
£20,964
5.00
£710,214
£18,643
06/04/2038
£21,488
5.00
£767,212
£19,109
06/04/2039
£22,025
5.00
£827,598
£19,587
06/04/2040
£22,575
5.00
£891,553
£20,077
06/04/2041
£23,140
5.00
£959,271
£20,579
06/04/2042
£23,718
5.00
£1,030,953
£21,093
Source: Brewin Dolphin

Actual
Inflation Assumption

2.5%
Total Invested

£508,773
Total Gain


£522,180




Total Capital Gain Assuming 60% of growth is gain
£313,308
Gains Tax Saving over 30 yrs

£292,215


Wednesday 5 February 2014

Wealth Management Company launches New Charity of the Year with a ‘Drop & Shop’ fundraiser

Local Wealth Management Company Brewin Dolphin Exeter launched Children’s Hospice South West (CHSW) as its new charity of the year with the creation of a ‘Pop up Shop’ at their offices on Pynes Hill. Brewin Dolphin organised a ‘Drop & Shop’ to raise funds and awareness for the charity by inviting neighbouring business colleagues to help fundraise.

Rhiannon Bates- Brewin Dolphin Exeter / Naomi Dymond – Corporate Partnerships Fundraiser Children’s Hospice South West / Richard Pike – Head of Charities Brewin Dolphin Exeter 

The Brewin Dolphin team, headed up by Administration Manager Rhiannon Bates, arranged two separate collection days for the donation of unwanted items including clothes, jewellery, toys and home-ware.  The businesses on Pynes Hill rallied behind the cause by bringing in donations and also dropping in at the Brewin offices throughout the two designated shopping days to browse and buy.

Darren Welch / Jason Bleazard / Declan Shanahan – all Natwest

A temporary shop was set up in the company’s conference room and delicious homemade cakes baked by members of Brewin Dolphin staff and tea were on offer, proving very popular with neighbouring business colleagues.  £500 was raised and the unsold items were taken to the two Exeter–based CHSW charity shops located in Sidwell Street and Fore Street to raise further monies.

Helen Curtis / Sally Chapman / Karen Arney – all Brewin Dolphin Exeter

Richard Pike, Brewin Dolphin Head of Charities South and South West says:  “We are looking forward to supporting CHSW as our new Charity of the Year and it has got off to a flying start with the ‘Pop up Shop’ event.  The donation of unwanted items was very generous and the event created a wonderful community spirit with great support from nearby offices on the business park.  There were lots of bargains to be had, and the tea and cakes went down extremely well.  Because of the inclement weather, Rhiannon and other members of staff made further monies by personally delivering a selection of the sumptuous treats to busy office workers whilst they worked at their desks which was warmly welcomed and also a great way to meet the neighbours.”


Naomi Dymond, Corporate Partnerships Fundraiser – CHSW says: “We are extremely excited to have been chosen by the Brewin Dolphin team as their charity for 2014 and the ‘Drop and Shop’ event was a brilliant way to get their fundraising underway.  We want to say a massive thank you to all the Brewin Dolphin team on behalf of all the children and families you help us to support. Every single penny raised will make a huge difference and help us to deliver our promise to make the most of short and precious lives.”





www.chsw.org.uk

To see more photographs of this event visit our Facebook page

Tuesday 4 February 2014

Members of St John’s Chambers ranked in Chambers UK 100 Bar

Three members of St John’s Chambers based in Victoria Street have been publicly recognised in The Chambers UK 100 Bar.  Leslie Blohm QC; Andrew Marsden and Glyn Edwards have been ranked in the ‘Chambers 100 UK Bar’, ranking the top 100 silks and barristers practising at the Bar of England and Wales.  


Andrew Marsden, Leslie Blohm and Glyn Edwards of St Johns Chambers, Bristol



St John’s Chambers, the largest set in the South West with 80 members and seven silks announces that the three members have achieved this public recognition by being ranked in Bands one or two or as ‘Star Individuals’ in their specialist areas of law in The Chambers UK Bar Guide. 

The lists are compiled by Chambers UK directory from its rankings of leading barristers in their specialist areas, and they name the top 200 out of a total of about 12,000 barristers in independent practices. 

The Chambers Guides have been ranking the best law firms and lawyers since 1990, and now cover 185 jurisdictions throughout the world. It ranks both lawyers and law firms based on the research of 150 full-time editors and researchers, many of whom are multi-lingual and all are trained in the techniques of investigative research. Chambers 100 UK Bar is trusted by clients throughout the world when they need to find reliable, capable and appropriate business lawyers.

 Bristol is the only regional centre with both junior barristers and silks making it on to the list; and St Johns with three members has been recognised for the provision of high quality legal advice and representation in both Chancery and Commercial and Personal Injury work.

Richard Stead Head of Chambers says: “We congratulate Leslie, Andrew and Glyn for being publicly recognised in the Top 100 for the UK which is a very high accolade in the legal profession. This clearly indicates that Bristol’s reputation in providing high quality legal advice and expertise has been recognised as a genuine alternative to London.  This also reflects St John’s Chambers as a premier set in the South West, providing a top quality legal service both on a local and national level from our team of over 80 barristers and efficient and friendly clerks.”

Glyn Edwards who lives in Bristol is ranked as a ‘Star Individual’ in his specialist area, Personal Injury.   He consistently rated as a leading junior in Chambers UK and Legal 500 and his workload is primarily serious and catastrophic injury cases. He has a particular expertise in complex employer’s liability cases. He keeps a good balance to his practice and represents both claimants and defendants. Over the 20 years or so he has been in practice he has also dealt with many cases of civil fraud.

Glyn Edwards, Barrister says: “It is an honour to have been included in this list of commendations for the work I have done in building up my practice. It is as much a recognition of the solicitors who have instructed me with good quality work over the years I have been at St John’s and our ability to work well together. I am of course delighted that I and my two colleagues have also been ranked in the Top 100 of the Chambers UK Guide which demonstrates that St John’s is a leading set not only in Bristol but also the West Country region as a whole.”

Chambers 100 UK Bar comments: “Glyn is the premier personal injury barrister on the Western circuit. ‘Dynamic and professional both in negotiation and in court,’ he is ‘a superb advocate, who is as good as any QC and easy to work with.’“