Mr and Mrs Mary and Samuel Brent are new clients to your organisation and have requested you to advise them on their financial affairs

Faculty of Business and Law

Assignment Brief Mode C and Q Regulations

Assessment Information

This assignment is an individual assignment.

Introduction

Mr and Mrs Mary and Samuel Brent are new clients to your organisation and have requested you to advise them on their financial affairs and to produce a holistic financial plan. They are mainly interested in the following issues:

1. Personal Risk Management & Insurance,
2. Investments, and
3. Personal Retirement Planning

Mary and Samuel have indicated to you that they would like to see these three areas covered in detail in the report, with appropriate scenario analysis being conducted for each area of concern.

In your initial interview, they have provided you with a great deal of information about their financial circumstances and other aspects of their financial life which have been captured in the meeting notes attached below. Any inconsistencies in the information captured in the meeting notes and that provided by the clients in their detailed questionnaire are deemed to be differences in the interpretation.

Client meeting notes

Mary and Samuel Brent both work in small architect practices.  Samuel has been given the opportunity of becoming a partner of his firm in 3 to 5 years’ time.  

Both are concerned about the impact of them being able to achieve their goals if one or both became too ill to work, as each employer only pays 6 months full pay, then state benefits only in the event of illness, although Samuel does have private medical insurance which covers the whole family.

Samuel bought 50 Facebook shares on 01/03/2017, 2200 Costain shares on 12/05/2015, and 3000 Tesco shares on 01/01/2017.  At the same time Mary bought 5000 Centrica shares.  Mary also invested £15,000 into National Savings Index-Linked certificates on 01/02/06.  Both have ISAs investing in UK equity growth funds, with all income being reinvested, and unit trusts investing in North American funds, again with income reinvested.

Samuel is due to receive £150,000 cash from his recently deceased father’s estate via his will.  Samuel and Mary would like to invest this money to meet their goals for educating for their children and to fund for their own retirement.

They would like to send their children to a private school between the ages of 7 and 15.  They do not intend to fund their university education, as they believe they will have taught their children to be self-sufficient and independent by then. The costs given only relate to tuition fees payable and exclude uniforms or books that may be required. However, they would like to help with raising a 10% deposit for a mortgage for each of their children when they turn 28 (they are working with the current average UK prices for a two bedroomed house). 

The couple would like to retire when Samuel reaches 60.  Obviously, Samuel will have to give up his company car then.  They intend to sell the house and move to a smaller one costing in the region of £230,000 in today’s terms.  The remainder of the money will be used to buy a second home in France.  

Samuel thinks Mary will make a great artist and would like her to see some classic sights to inspire and encourage her painting skills.  They estimate the French home will cost approximately £250,000 in today’s terms.  Samuel would like to set up a small business making greeting cards. This will cost around £65,000 in today’s money to set up.

As a result, the couple have been investing heavily into their pensions.  All the pension policies are invested in ‘balanced’ managed funds and have no early retirement penalties, but are all set up to vest at 65.  The couple currently have a repayment mortgage with 10 years to run, with a level term assurance policy of £150,000 payable on the first death.

Mary’s parents are in good health and aged 62 and 64.  They are still happily living in their own home.

Mr and Mrs Mary and Samuel Brent would like to preserve as much of their estate as possible to pass on to their children upon their deaths, but not until they both have passed away.  With this in mind, they would also like any investments to be as tax efficient as possible, whilst still having enough money to realise their dreams for retirement.

The couple invested £50000 jointly into with profits onshore investment bond in 2007 and intend to encash the bond to buy their French property.  No withdrawals have been taken to date. Mary and Samuel Brent are concerned that this investment may not be sufficient to buy the French property due to a recent fall in bonus rates to 3.75% pa.