• Are your current investments suitable for your needs?
• Do they expose your capital to an acceptable level of investment risk?
• How does your tax situation affect you?

Whether seeking a secure home for short term deposits, maximum income in retirement or long-term capital growth, you are confronted with an often confusing array of financial products.

The choices available change almost daily as new products are introduced to the market and older ones are updated to keep pace with the changes.

In addition to the product design, you need to be aware of the tax-efficiency of each type of plan. There is little point in exposing your investment to varying degrees of risk and then finding that income or capital gains tax reduces the return to a level which could have been achieved by leaving the money on deposit.

Other factors to take into account when considering what investments are suitable is the level of risk attached, term and charging structure. If the risk being taken is higher than it should be, then the capital could drop in value more than you would be happy with in the event of a stock market fall. If the risk is lower than it should be, then the real return once inflation is taken into account may be disappointing over the medium to long term. Looking into the scale of charges imposed by the plan or fund manager is important too.

As Independent Advisers, our aim is to identify products that are suitable for your current needs and circumstances. We strive to ensure that investments are appropriate for the level of risk that you are prepared to take with your money.

The value of your investment can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount invested.

Levels and bases of and reliefs from taxation are subject to change and their value depends on the individual circumstances of the investor.