Tel: +34 93 665 8596 |
info@spectrum-ifa.com |
By Jeremy Ferguson
This article is published on: 23rd February 2026
A well-informed opinion can be highly valuable when it comes to personal finances.
A couple of weeks ago I attended the 23rd Spectrum partners’ annual conference. It was great to meet up again with my colleagues and our product providers, all of whom work primarily with expats who have moved to various parts of Europe from the UK, mainly to Spain, France, Italy and Portugal.
We get the chance to catch up with the companies we work closely with, keeping up to date with new products and services and the latest topics in the world of investing. This is extremely valuable, as our highest priority when dealing with clients’ finances when they have retired is doing our best to ensure they make money. Many people approach me when they have arrived in Spain, asking about tax efficiency for their pensions and investments. I am always at pains to say the most important thing is first to make investment gains, without which there is no tax issue to worry about. The most tax efficient investment product is one that makes no money!
With successful investing, the first question to answer is how much risk are you prepared to take to try and make money? I assess risk on a scale of 0 to 7, essentially ranging from cash in the bank, to 100% of your money invested in the stock market. Then there is the timeline – how long can we leave this money alone to give it a chance to increase in value? Once we have considered this, we can then look at various options, with attention also given to cost. The point on cost is of course important, as an expensive product will have a detrimental effect on investment returns. I spend a great deal of time when I first meet people who are about to retire speaking about the importance of taking less risk with our money as we get older. If you have a solution which has low costs, then you can effectively take less risk to achieve the rewards you are looking for.
Listening to the investment managers at the conference, I noticed that they have similar views about what may be around the corner, but with slightly different ways of dealing with this. Some managers try to make money by investing in shares of companies when they think prices are low (an opportunity to buy in at good value), others look to companies they feel have growth potential. My view is perhaps rather cynical, as nobody knows what lies ahead, and share prices can change sometimes for irrational reasons. What I do know though is that if you invest money with a good manager, keep a sharp eye on costs and leave the money there for a good number of years, the likelihood is you will achieve sufficiently healthy returns for you to be happy and for your retirement plans to work out well.
If you would like to talk about what options are available to you as a Spanish resident, whether you have recently arrived, or even if you have been here a long time and would like an impartial review of what you already have, please feel free to get in touch.
