The Financial Conduct Authority has announced a temporary ban on the promotion of most ‘mini-bonds’. Have you ever been tempted by those advertisements offering 8%+ yields on property-backed bonds? If you have, then you’ve probably been looking at a promotion for ‘mini-bonds’. These investments are not always what they seem and have already resulted in losses for investors, notably in the case of the failure of London Capital Finance (LCF) at the start of 2019. There is no le

The deferral of the Autumn Budget, originally due on 6 November 2019, created several problems. It meant that the political parties went into the election with just a government sanctioned economic forecast produced back in March, alongside Mr Hammond’s Spring Statement. Plenty had changed in the intervening eight months. At the time of writing, the next scheduled date for the Budget was unknown, although it is highly unlikely to happen before 2020. That means its arrival wil

Since December 2010, instead of sending our clients traditional Christmas cards, Bluecoat Wealth Management has sent electronic greetings cards and added the money saved to our Kiva account. I first heard about Kiva, at a philanthropy talk given by the Charities Aid Foundation who described Kiva as a new kind of Charitable Giving* or a new way for Philanthropists to use their money. Kiva enables individuals and companies to lend to people and small businesses in the Third Wor