I hope you’ll find this latest issue of our newsletter informative and wide ranging. We have covered subjects as diverse as why UK productivity is a problem, the essential steps for formulating a retirement plan, an update on the Japanese investment story, how the EQ Foundation is trying to reinvigorate the deprived areas of West London and a simple way of keeping informed about your health.

We’ve made a few new hires as our business continues to grow. Mark Howlett comes in as a director. He has decades of experience in wealth management and shares my dedication to put client needs at the forefront of all that we do and constantly strive for excellence. And no less importantly, we have welcomed two more graduates of the Spear programme that helps young people get into employment. This builds on the success we’ve had previously with such recruits just starting out in their careers, and we wholeheartedly recommend this approach to other employers.

Markets have continued to rise in almost a straight line. We all know this cannot continue indefinitely but trying to time the next big setback is fraught with danger. I’m pleased to see that our portfolios have continued to do better than our competitors. This is particularly true of our Positive Impact Portfolios, now celebrating their fifth anniversary. They’ve done good in several ways.

Please let us know if you think we should be doing anything better.

John Spiers
Chief Executive