Viewing posts categorised under: Investments
Why robots will never replace Investment Advice
By Chris Burke
This article is published on: 7th June 2017
07.06.17
Particularly when markets are/have done well like recently, Stock picking (A situation in which an analyst or investor uses a systematic form of analysis to conclude that a particular stock will make a good investment and, therefore, should be added to his or her portfolio) is somewhat discredited these days, because low-cost passive fund managers argue that their tracker model delivers better value to savers by betting on an index, not individual companies.
And there is good argument to back it up
An article in The Wall Street Journal shows that between 1926 and 2015, just 30 different shares accounted for a remarkable one-third of the cumulative wealth generated by the whole market — from a total of 25,782 companies listed during that period. These statistics demonstrate that “superstocks” are what produce the true profits in the long run.
The research also calls into question the cult of equity, which has been followed by professional investors for more than 50 years. The experts argue that shares decisively outperform bonds and cash over time. But Bessembinder’s research shows that the returns from 96% of American shares would have been matched by fixed-interest instruments, which generally offer more security and liquidity, and suffer from lower volatility than stocks.
Spotting a business that can grow 10 or 20-fold over a period of years is a rare art
Of course, getting stock selection right is very difficult indeed when such a tiny proportion of shares contribute so much to total performance. It requires investors who are truly patient and at times extremely brave.
Amazon is one of the heavy hitters that delivered a quarter of all wealth creation in the stock market during the 90 years to 2015. Yet between 1999 and 2001, the online retailer’s shares fell by 95%. Many investors probably gave up then, and having been burnt once, shunned its 650-fold appreciation over the past 16 years.
While empirically that may appear to be correct, intuitively it feels questionable
Economies grow thanks to new technologies and entrepreneurs, who run a fairly small number of outstanding companies funded through private capital. Half the top 20 wealth creators referred to above are in sectors such as pharmaceuticals and computers. Identifying those sorts of promising industries is not too hard. But I do not believe there is a computer program — or robotic system — that can pinpoint the great achievers of the next 10 or 20 years.
Choosing the special businesses and executives that will create enormous value, and probably large numbers of jobs, is as much a creative undertaking as a scientific one.
Rigorous analysis must include a host of variables that artificial intelligence would struggle to understand — adaptability, trust, motivation, ruthlessness and so forth. I suspect all the best investors emphasise the importance of judging management when backing companies; I am not confident that computers can do that better than humans. In mature economies such as the UK, such sustained compound growth happens all too rarely.
To achieve it, a business should enjoy high returns on capital, strong cash generation, plentiful long-term expansion opportunities and a powerful franchise. And you need to buy the company at a sensible valuation. In a world awash with cash, such attractive businesses command very high prices. But if you believe the model can endure, they might be worth it.
Article written by Luke Johnson, who is chairman of Risk Capital Partners and the Institute of Cancer Research.
Sources: Bessembinder’s research and The Wall Street Journal
To read the article in full, click here:
Why a robot will never pick the superstocks of the tomorrow
Compound interest – The Eighth Wonder of the World
By Spectrum IFA
This article is published on: 2nd May 2017
02.05.17
Albert Einstein reportedly said it. “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it. He who doesn’t, pays it.”
Regardless of whether Einstein uttered these exact words, the essence of his statement is still immensely powerful and cannot be disputed. For anyone who wants to build lasting wealth, understanding and harnessing the power of compound interest is essential. So, what is compound interest? Well, it is the exponential increase in the value of an investment. Or, more simply put, it is the interest that you earn on your interest.
For the more visual of you, imagine, if you will, building the bottom part of a snowman. It starts with a snowball (or initial investment). You roll it around in the snow and it slowly gets bigger (interest on the investment). A slow and monotonous process until something wonderful becomes apparent – the snowball not only gets bigger and bigger, but at a faster and faster rate (interest on the interest).
Put another way, let’s say that you invest €100,000 at (just to keep the maths simple) 10% interest per year. After the first year, you would have earned €10,000 of interest, with your total investment now worth €110,000. After the second year, your 10% annual return would have earned you another €11,000, giving you a total of €121,000. Year three would see your investment rise to €133,100. Over time this growth accelerates, meaning that you would double your initial investment in approximately seven years, simply by harnessing the power of compound interest. Sounds pretty easy, yes? So, why don’t more people do it? Well, for two main reasons, in my experience:
The key requirement for generating compound interest is time – the longer you leave your money to grow, the more pronounced and positive the outcome. Modern times have encouraged us to expect immediate rewards. For many, being told that it will take a good few years to see significant returns on their investments can be demotivating.
Another common reason is “it’s a bad time right now.” In the 1970s we experienced record breaking levels of inflation, in the 1980s Black Monday brought the biggest stock market crash since the 1920s. The 1990s saw a period of sustained recession. Currently, there are many economies around the world that are still recovering from the financial crisis of 2008, almost ten years on. Yet the stock market performs over time and continues to do so. The timing of an investment is far less important than the time that is allowed for it to deliver.
Essentially, having a long term investment strategy – allowing growth to be achieved over time – provides the best possible opportunity to achieve financial security for you and your loved ones in later years. With compound interest, the old Chinese proverb holds true. “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is now.”
Reasons to Wrap
By Sue Regan
This article is published on: 3rd March 2017
03.03.17
It’s no secret that the Assurance Vie (AV) is by far and away the most popular investment vehicle in France……….and for good reason! Most of you will already be familiar with these investments, or at the very least, have heard of them, but it doesn’t harm to be reminded now and again as to why they are so popular.
What are they? – An AV is simply a life assurance wrapper that holds financial assets, often with a wide choice of investments, and there is no limit on the amount that can be invested.
What’s so good about them?…..quite simply, their huge tax advantages, such as:
- Tax-free growth – funds remaining within an AV grow free of French Income and Capital Gains tax
- Simplified tax return reporting – considerable savings in terms of time and tax adviser fees
- Favourable tax treatment on withdrawals – only the gain element of any amount that you withdraw is liable to tax. There is an additional benefit after eight years in the form of an annual Income tax allowance of €4,600 for an individual and €9,200 for a married couple
- Succession tax benefits – AV policies fall outside of your estate for Succession tax and the proceeds can be left directly to any number of beneficiaries of your choice (not just the ones Napoleon thought you should leave them to!). There are very generous allowances available to beneficiaries of contracts taken out before the age of 70.
Why invest in an International Assurance Vie?
There are a number of insurance companies that have designed French compliant international AV products, aimed specifically at the expatriate market in France. These companies are typically situated in highly regulated financial centres, such as Dublin and Luxembourg. Some of the advantages of the international AV contracts are:
- The possibility to invest in multiple currencies, including Sterling and Euros.
- A large range of investment possibilities available.
- The majority of international AV policies are portable, which means that should you return to the UK, it will not be necessary to surrender the bond.
- The documentation for international bonds is available in English.
At Spectrum, we only recommend products of financially strong institutions and domiciled in highly regulated jurisdictions. If you would like to know more about these extremely tax efficient investments, or would like to have a confidential review of your financial situation, please feel free to contact me.
The Spectrum IFA Group advisers do not charge any fees directly to clients for their time or for advice given, as can be seen from our Client Charter at spectrum-ifa.com/spectrum-ifa-client-charter
President Trump “The brand and businessman”
By David Hattersley
This article is published on: 15th November 2016
15.11.16
Firstly excuse the pun, but if one considers Donald Trump as a “brand” then he did one great job in getting elected as President of the USA. Somehow he sensed that the electorate had grown tired of the political elite and that the establishment needed to be changed and shaken up. That is common knowledge, after all Farage did it based on the cigarettes and beer outside a pub. The same applies to Margaret Thatcher.
Putting it into perspective though, others have gone on to challenge the established order in their respective business fields that then became global household names. The likes of Branson, Doug & Mary Perkins (Specsavers) , Michael O’Leary (Ryan Air) and James Dyson all challenged the status quo and vested elitist interests at the time, much to their dismay and their eventual demise. All the former have gone on to be recognized as global brands that have led a revolution in their fields in their own lifetimes.
In this respect President Trump has, forgive the pun, “out trumped” the recognized establishment in recognizing a true niche market that would follow him. He marketed a particular brand, appealing to a certain audience that felt that it had been left behind in the event of globalization and other ills.One now has to consider the impact on the rest of the world and its impact on investment. In his early days as President elect, he has already shown signs of an element of pragmatism, like a businessman would do towards the need to understand and temper the advertising campaign – for example, recognising what is good in Obamacare and what needs to be modified fiscally to make it a success.
It also depends on who he appoints as his “Board of Directors”, to help him carry through the reforms that are needed for his “New Company” will succeed. No doubt and hopefully, the same will apply to business in general, the need to negotiate where need be, to gain better terms, but at the same time realize the greater picture. He is after all now the CEO of the USA, and that needs to be understood first and foremost.The old order is being replaced, old perceptions will no longer be relevant, and that too can have an impact. As much as Thatcher-ism and Reaganomics changed the world, the Brexit and President Trump’s election will change it too. One has to follow that the old order has been overturned and that whilst the new company has just started, it too needs to act like a company, a far cry from the current political elite. It is almost that a revolution is taking place.
In relation to investments, this means change, but change brings opportunities. Realising this takes skill, and the selection of funds and managers that recognise that change, rather than following old ideas that are now outdated, need to be considered. At the moment though, one cannot take knee jerk reaction as the inauguration does not take place until January 2017, so investors need to keep an eye on the near future, whilst considering other investments that are unlikely to be affected by the above changes.
Fonds en euros in assurances vie policies.
By Graham Keysell
This article is published on: 6th October 2016
06.10.16
There has been concern for some time, about how plummeting bond yields may affect the extremely popular ‘fonds en euros’ (by far the most popular choice for French investors in assurances vie policies). The question is how life insurers are going to be able to continue paying an acceptable annual return to their policyholders, while sovereign bonds offer increasingly low (or even negative) returns?
To explain, these ‘fonds en euros’ have to guarantee capital whilst paying a bonus every year. The only way that a fund manager can be sure of meeting this obligation is to put the vast majority of investors’ money into French government bonds. By doing so, they fund government debt to the tune of trillions of euros.
As recently as 2007, they were paying an attractive 5% per annum net. This has now fallen to about 2.5% and are set to fall further, almost certainly to under 2% for 2016. With bond rates at historically low levels, they should now only be paying about 1%, but companies have been dipping into their reserves as they fear that such a low rate would lead to a mass exodus from these policies. This has inevitably caused concerns about the financial stability of the insurance companies.
There have been several recent developments:
1) The state has imposed new reporting requirements on life insurers from 1 January 2016 under which they are obliged to provide details of policies with a value of more than €7,500. This is to assist the fight against money laundering but it could also be used to test the solvency of insurance companies.
2) For the past few years, the French Ministry of Finance and the Governor of the Bank of France have been consistently urging life insurers to lower returns on their ‘fonds en euros’. This has not been sufficiently acted upon and the government has now passed an amendment to Article 21a of the law “Sapin 2”.
Voted in secret on June 23 (with the French population concentrating on their imminent summer holidays and the euphoria of the European Cup!), the new legislation passed virtually unnoticed by the mainstream media.
There were very few immediate reactions, even though some members of parliament were taken aback by this amendment when it was presented to them to vote on by the MP proposing the bill.
The government, as has often happened in the past, conveniently happened to be going on their own summer holiday immediately afterwards. This avoided their having to answer any awkward questions, had this matter happened to come to the attention of the media!
Whether this legislation ever needs to be acted upon depends on government bond and bank interest rates. However, the future certainly looks bleak for investors in ‘fonds en euros’ (probably 90% of all French assurance vie policyholders).
What does this new law actually say and how will it affect you?
It gives the ‘Financial Stability Board’ (‘HCSF’) the power to ‘suspend, delay or limit temporarily, for all or part of the portfolio, withdrawals or the option to switch funds’.
The implications of this are clear: overnight, at the request of Governor of the Bank of France, the HCSF may prohibit you carrying out all normal policy operations, including withdrawals and fund ‘switches’.
In short, some or all of your assets could be frozen for “a period of 6 months, renewable” (i.e. for whatever time is required for the crisis threatening an insurance company to pass). It is not inconceivable that your investment could be reduced in value in order to avoid an insurance company becoming insolvent. Article L.612-33 of the Monetary and Financial Code provides the means for this reduction to be imposed. It is not known how this would affect the official guarantee of €70,000 for every assurance vie policy.
People are becoming increasingly disturbed, and rightly so, that this draconian law will now allow the authorities, in total disregard of contract law, to deprive you of access to your money!
However, on closer inspection, the powers given by this new legislation were already granted to the ACPR (Prudential Control Authority and Resolution) by Article L. 612-33 of the Monetary and Financial Code, as follows:
“If the solvency or liquidity of a person or institution subject to supervision by the Authority or when the interests of its customers, policyholders, members or beneficiaries, are compromised, the Prudential Control Authority shall take the necessary precautionary measures […] it can, as such: […] 7. instruct a person or institution […] to suspend or limit payment of cash values, the option of switching investments, or the granting of policy loans.”
One should remember that similar provisions exist in the banking sector. The directive on the recovery and resolution of banking crises (BRRD) authorizes freezing of clients’ assets and potential loss of money in bank accounts, in case of any difficulty that might lead to insolvability..
The new version of the text is intended to prevent and reverse the effects of a contagion that could affect assurance vie investors in the event of a severe financial crisis, It is designed “to preserve the stability of the financial system or prevent risks seriously threatening insurance companies or a significant number of them.”
Clearly, these measures are intended to protect insurers, especially if investor panic sets in and there were mass surrenders of assurance vie contracts, an event which insurers would be hard pressed to cope with. They are holding bonds with maturity dates of ten or even thirty years from now. To try and offload trillions of euros of bonds would just not be possible.
How to react?
One suspects that this situation is worrying insurers because they are struggling to meet the expectations of their investors. This is eating into their reserves and, regardless of the prospect of an eventual increase in bond yields, some of them could find themselves in a precarious situation in the months and years to come.
The threat is therefore not just a short term one.
Of course, it would be reassuring to think that worried investors would not panic and withdraw their money from these policies, knowing that this would only exacerbate the situation.
Policyholders are all too well aware that if they rush en masse to cash in their contracts, they could actually cause the assets in these policies to be frozen. But is that going to stop them trying to be ‘first in the queue’ and avoid the suspension of withdrawals?
The ideal scenario would be for investors to stay calm and avoid possible future difficulties by gradually switching out of ‘fonds en euros’ to other assets (unit linked multi-asset funds, property funds, etc). We will see if this is what happens!!!
In spite of all this, assurance vie remains an attractive investment, especially in view of its advantageous tax benefits. Investors therefore have to weigh up the advantages compared to what is obviously an increased element of risk.
Fortunately, there are companies who offer alternative funds to ‘fonds en euros’. There are also policies domiciled outside of France (in Dublin, for example) who should be completely immune to this French legislation.
Coveting the shiny stuff – Gold
By Gareth Horsfall
This article is published on: 7th September 2016
07.09.16
Dear Readers, please forgive me for I have sinned. It has been quite some time since my last post and during this time I confess I have been having impure thoughts.
I have been dreaming that the UK did not vote to leave Europe. I have been dreaming that Sterling had not fallen 12% against the Euro since June 23rd and that pasta was not now 10% more expensive in the UK, I have been having impure thoughts about low(ish) inflation in the UK and not rampant price increases after BREXIT. Lastly, I have been dreaming that interest rates would rise and not fall further into negative territory, basically charging customers to hold money with them.
Forgive me for my sins and lead me not into new temptation…………GOLD
There is a lot of talk going around at the moment about gold being the best investment to hold and certainly since BREXIT it has proven its case. However, gold has some signifcant shortcomings alongside other forms of investment. Essentially, it is of pretty much no use and it does not produce any yield. True gold has some decorative and industrial uses but demand is limited and doesn’t really use up all of the production. If you hold a kilo of gold today it will still be a kilo of gold at the end of eternity (taking into account any chance events which may affect the gravitational effects on earth).
THE INVESTMENT CHOICE DILEMMA
PILE A
Today the worlds total gold stores are approximately 170,000 tons. If all this gold was melded together it would form a cube of about 21 metres per side. Thats about as long as a blue whale. At $1750 per ounce, it is worth about $9.6 TRILLION.
PILE B
Warren Buffet, who is not a fan of gold as an investment, is famously quoted as saying that with the same amount of money you could buy ALL US cropland (which produces about $200 billion annually), plus 16 Exxon Mobils (which earns $40 billion annually). After these purchases you would still have $1 trillion left over. (You wouldn’t want to feel strapped for cash after such a big spending spree, so best to leave some spare cash lying around)
So the Investment choice dilemma is who, given the choice, would choose PILE A over PILE B?
In 100 years from now the 400 million acres of farmland would have produced an immense amount of corn, wheat, cotton, and other crops and should continue to do so. Exxon Mobil will probably have delivered back to shareholders, in the form of dividends, trillions of dollars and will hold assets worth a lot more. The 170,000 tons of gold will still be the same and still incapable of producing anything. You can cuddle and hug the cube, and I am sure it would look very nice but I don’t think you will get much response.
So, taking all this into consideration, you would be forgiven for thinking that gold really doesn’t have a place in anyone’s portfolio. I think you would be wrong.
Gold may not produce any yield, but with people in Asia, especially China and India, gold is very popular. In addition, it is also proving very popular for nearly ALL central banks around the world. Are all they all going mad, or do they have specific reasons for holding gold?
Well, despite Warren Buffets’ musings above, gold has to be seen in todays world as another form of money as central governments continue to print more traditional money, uncontrollably, and the paper currencies that we use in everday life become more and more worthless.
We must remember that the history of gold is that it rose, on its own, as a tradeable form of money in the world. No one has been forced into using gold as a form of money, whereas paper money is controlled by the state and has never been adopted voluntarily, at any time.
So this is where Waren Buffets argument falls down, because actual money in itself has exactly the same characteristics as gold. Its value! (Gold has some minor commercial uses, but its true value is in its store of value). Therefore, it should not be considered an investment, but actually another form of money/currency. In its basic form it is a form of barter and exchange.
Unlike paper money which can just be created without limit and at next to no cost, gold is both scarce and expensive to mine. It takes 38 man hours to produce one ounce, about 1400 gallons of water, enough electricity to run a large house for 10 days, upto 565 cubic feet of air under pressure and lots of toxic chemicals, cyanide, acids, lead, borax, and lime. (Just writing this makes me feel sick about the environmental impact of mining gold).
So, in summary the problem with the PILE A and Pile B scenario is that it assumes that gold is a form of investment, whereas in reality it should be considered another form of money.
For 6000 years gold has been an effective store of value.
The correct comparison that should be made is gold versus cash. Imagine a gigantic pile of cash. This pile of cash would be as equally inert and equally unproductive as gold, in itself.
The only way you could earn anything from gold or cash, in this case, is by depositing it with a bank and earning interest, at which point you relinquish your ownership (it becomes the property of the bank) and you then become an unsecured creditor to the bank itself, i.e if the bank fails it has the legal right to take all your gold and cash. Sound familiar? It might be better to hold true gold in a safe at home!
The question is whether you invest directly in gold or the gold mining companies themselves?
Parkinson’s Law
By Victoria Lewis
This article is published on: 24th August 2016
24.08.16
Are you familiar with Parkinson’s Law? Originally it stated that “work expands to fill the time available for its completion.”
Parkinson’s Law is the title of the book written by Englishman Cyril Northcote Parkinson in 1958 and today, the more recent understanding of the law is a reference to the self-satisfying uncontrolled growth of the bureaucratic apparatus in an organization.
The Law is also applied to money and wealth accumulation: expenses always rise to match income. Parkinson’s Law can explain why many people retire poor and why some people succeed, whilst others fail.
The law says that, no matter how much money people earn, they tend to spend the entire amount and a little bit more. Their expenses increase in line with their earnings. Many people earn today several times more than they were earning at their first jobs. But somehow, they seem to need every single penny to maintain their current lifestyles. No matter how much they make, it is never enough.
The key to financial success – break the (Parkinson’s) law
Parkinson’s Law explains the trap that most people fall into. This is the reason for debt, money worries and financial frustration. It is only when you have sufficient willpower to resist the urge to spend everything you make that you begin to accumulate money – the perfect environment to help you achieve financial independence.
Reduce your outgoings
If you ensure your expenses increase at a slower rate than your earnings, and you save or invest the difference, you will become financially independent in your working lifetime (and retirement).
Measure the difference between your earnings and the costs of your lifestyle, and then save and invest the difference. You can continue to improve your lifestyle as you make more money.
Take action
Here are two things you can do to apply this law immediately:
- Imagine that your financial life is like a failing company that you have taken over. Stop all non-essential expenses. Draw up a budget of your fixed, unavoidable costs per month and resolve to limit your expenditures to these amounts. The aim is to make sure that your ‘company is making a profit’.
Carefully examine every expense. Question it as though you were analysing someone else’s expenses and look for ways to economise. Aim for a minimum of say, 10% reduction in your living costs.
- Resolve to save and invest 50% of any increase you receive in your earnings from any source. Learn to live on the rest. This still leaves you the other 50 percent to do with as you desire!
Known Unknowns
By Derek Winsland
This article is published on: 16th June 2016
16.06.16
Individual investors may face many “known unknowns”—that is to say, things that they know they don’t know. The UK’s referendum on EU membership is one of them, confronting people with a large degree of uncertainty. But as we’re witnessing, it’s not just the investor that’s afflicted by this Known Unknown condition – the markets are really uncomfortable as evidenced by the fall in the value of the pound.
We have though been here before; perhaps not having to make decisions that could affect our financial stability for years to come, but as the chart below shows, major global events that have impacted on our lives to a greater or lesser effect. Through all of them, the markets have shown a remarkable resilience over the longer term and that is one of the most important lessons the individual investor can learn.
You see, it’s not necessary to “make the right call” on the referendum or its consequences to be a successful investor. Our approach is to trust the market to price securities fairly; to take account of broad expectations of future returns.
In arguing for the status quo, the “remain” campaign is able to point out familiar characteristics of membership.
The “out” campaign, however, is based on intangibles that can only be resolved after the result of the referendum is known. It is impossible for any individual to predict the implications of these unknowns with certainty.
But this is no cause for concern. While the referendum is imminent and its implications are potentially vast and unpredictable, it is not necessary for individual investors to make any judgement calls on the outcome. We have faced many uncertainties in the past—general elections, market crises, recessions, wars—and throughout all of them, the market has done its job of aggregating participants’ views about expected returns and priced assets accordingly.
And while these events have caused uncertainty, volatility and short-term losses and gains, none of them has altered the expectation that stocks provide a good long-term return in real terms.
We have a global view of investing, and we know that the market is very good at processing information that is relevant to future returns. Because of this view, we don’t attempt to second-guess the market. We manage well-diversified portfolios that do not rely on the outcome of individual events or decisions to target the expected long-term return.
These events are not offered to explain market returns. Instead, they serve as a reminder that investors should view daily events from a long-term perspective and avoid making investment decisions based solely on the news. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. MSCI data © MSCI 2016, all rights reserved.
Research has demonstrated time and again that the best returns are achieved through ‘Time in the Market’ and not by trying to ‘Time the Market’; in other words, stay invested rather than guess the best time to invest and disinvest.
If you would like more information on our investment philosophy, please ring for an appointment or take advantage of our Friday Morning Drop-in Clinic here at our office in Limoux. And don’t forget, there is no charge for these meetings.
Tax-Efficient Savings & Investments in France
By Spectrum IFA
This article is published on: 24th May 2016
Some of you reading this article have just completed your first French income tax return. Well done if you achieved this without difficulty – ce n’est pas facile!
Whether you are new to France or not, the annual tax return is an opportunity to take stock of your financial situation. In particular, if you had to declare interest from bank deposits (including ISAs), dividends from shares (even if these were reinvested), and perhaps also gains from financial assets, then your tax and social charges bill will be higher than necessary. No-one likes paying taxes and so now is a good time to consider alternative tax-efficient savings and investments, if you want to avoid reduce your future tax bills.
For short-term savings, France has a range of tax-free accounts. The Livret A for deposits up to €22,950 and the Livret Développment Durable (LDD) for deposits up to €12,000, both paying interest of 0.75% per annum. For households with taxable income below certain limits, there is also the Livret d’Épargne Populaire (LEP) for deposits up to €7,700, which pays 1.25% per annum. You have full access to your capital in these accounts at any time.
The interest rates for the tax-free accounts are set by the French government, taking into account average short-term interest rates and inflation – both of which are very low at present. Realistically, the current tax-free interest rates could be lower, however, even the French say that it would be political suicide for the government to reduce these rates now! Whatever the tax-free rates are, however, these are better than comparable standard deposit rates for other accounts with instant access. Hence, the tax-free accounts are very useful for depositing cash that you need for an emergency fund, or to meet other short-term capital needs. The accounts do not create any tax issues and earning some interest is better than none at all.
For medium to long-term savings, the most popular type of investment in France is the Assurance Vie (AV). This type of investment is very tax-efficient as there is no income tax or capital gains tax on any income or growth, whilst the monies remain within the AV. Annual deduction of social charges is also avoided, except when investing in fonds en euros, which are offered by French banks and insurance companies.
When you do take a withdrawal from the investment, part of this is considered to be a withdrawal of capital and this part is therefore free from any tax. For the taxable element, you can opt for a fixed withholding tax rate, in which case the insurance company will take care of the necessary deduction, declaration and payment of the tax and social charges. Alternatively, you can opt to declare the gain through your annual income tax return, in which case the company will not make any tax or social charges deductions and will provide you with notification of the amount that you need to declare. The taxable gain will then be added to your other sources of taxable income and taxed at marginal rates.
Over time, AVs become even more tax-efficient and after eight years, the gain in amounts withdrawn can be offset against an annual tax-free allowance of €9,200 for a couple who are subject to joint taxation, or for ‘one-person households’, the allowance is €4,600.
Millions of French people use AV as their standard form of savings and investment and many billions of Euros are invested in this way via French banks and insurance companies, which offer their own branded product. In addition, there is a much smaller group of companies that are not French, but have designed French compliant AV products, aimed specifically at the expatriate market in France. These companies are typically situated in highly regulated financial centres, such as Dublin and Luxembourg. However, before choosing such a company, it is important to establish that the company has complied with all the formal French tax registration procedures, so as to ensure that you will receive the same tax and inheritance advantages as the equivalent French product.
Some of the advantages of the international product, compared to the French product, are:
- It is possible to invest in currencies other than Euro, including Sterling and USD.
- There is a larger range of investment possibilities available, providing both access to leading investment managers, as well as capital guaranteed products and funds.
- Documentation is in English, thus helping you better understand the terms and conditions of the policy.
- The AV policy is usually portable, which is particular benefit if moving around the EU, since in many cases, the policy can be endorsed for tax-efficiency in other EU countries.
AV is also highly beneficial for inheritance planning, both as concerns freedom to leave your financial assets to whoever you wish, as well as providing valuable additional inheritance allowances for your beneficiaries and I will cover this in a later article.
Everyone’s situation is different and any decision to invest in assurance vie should only be considered as part of a wider review of your overall financial situation, as well as your plans and objectives for the future. Hence, if you would like to have a confidential discussion with one of our financial advisers, you can contact us by e-mail at limoux@spectrum-ifa.com or by telephone on 04 68 31 14 10. Alternatively, drop-by to our Friday morning clinic at our office at 2 Place du Général Leclerc, 11300 Limoux, for an initial discussion.
The above outline is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute advice or a recommendation from The Spectrum IFA Group to take any particular action on the subject of the investment of financial assets or on the mitigation of taxes.
The Spectrum IFA Group advisers do not charge any fees directly to clients for their time or for advice given, as can be seen from our Client Charter.
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Overseas rental property – have you thought about this………?
By Gareth Horsfall
This article is published on: 13th May 2016
Financial markets are very quiet at the moment. From my view point the financial world appears to be almost at stand still.
The world appears to be awaiting the UK vote on whether to leave Europe or not!
In the meantime, life goes on and whilst the UK celebrates the Leicester City win of the Premier League with a Roman manager, I continue to get contacted by various people asking my opinion on how they should manage their finances as residents and non residents in Italy. The majority of those people also have rental property in their home country as part of their overall financial arrangements.
A review of taxation on overseas rental property for Italian residents
The most common question I am asked is how income from property held overseas is taxed in Italy. Is it exempt from Italian tax because tax has been paid on it overseas first and is it subject to the same taxes as Italian domestic rental income?
I would like to dispel any myths and confirm that, as a resident in Italy, you do have to pay Italian tax on the profit from any rental income on properties held overseas.
The law for Italian tax residents clearly states that the net profit (after allowable expenses in the country in which the property is located) must be declared in the Italian end of year tax return. The net profit is then assessed as income by adding it to the rest of your income for the year and then tax paid at your highest rate of income tax in Italy (that could be as high as 43% depending on your cumulative income for the year).
Let’s not forget the IVIE tax as well which is 0.76% of the property council/cadastrale/rateable value (or whatever you choose to call it) of the property.
If tax has been applied in the country of origin, this can be reclaimed through your tax return. You are protected through a double taxation treaty as long as your country of origin has signed one with Italy.
To clarify, any rental income from properties held overseas must be declared in Italy. This is the NET income (after allowable expenses) and this net figure is added to your other income to determine at which rate of income tax it is assessed in Italy.
But wait a minute. Have you thought about this?
Now, this is all well and good but as most landlords of properties overseas discover, if they are relying on the income from the property to live on then any income benefit can quickly be diminished by additional tax to be paid in Italy.
Do you have useful relatives?
Do you have trustworthy relatives/family members in the country where the property is located? If so, then you might think about gifting the property to them (effectively signing it over to them) and getting them to send the rental income to you as a gift.
The recipient of a gift is not taxable in Italy and therefore you could have a non taxable income stream
However, before you start looking to sign your properties over to family members you need to think of a number of tax consequences of doing this. Mainly the inheritance tax obligations that it imposes on your estate, any tax considerations and administrative burdens it now places on the holder of the property (they would have to be the sole recipient of the money and the sole named owner of the property). That person would have to receive the money in their accounts and submit their tax returns accordingly. They would have to send the money to you under a word of mouth agreement and you would have to trust the other party implicitly, not to mention a number of other tax questions it may pose.
However, assuming those problems could be overcome you might find that you could have the rental income from your overseas property paid to you in Italy, without detraction of Italian tax but through a gift arrangement.
Cross border financial planning at work!
