Age. (I'm too old for offshore investments?)
Contact. (How will I get in touch with you?)
Fees. (How often and when do I pay you?)
Fraud. (How am I protected?)
Fund switches. (Why move my money around? Is it for your benefit, or mine?)
Income. (Can I change my withdrawals? Can I take more this year for a holiday?)
Interest. (What happens to the interest on my investments?)
Performance. (How will I know if you're doing a good job?)
Statements. (Who gives me my statements? You, or the company holding my investment?)
Age. (I'm too old for offshore investments?) The average age of our clients is 64, and many are in their 80s. If you wish to spend 100% of your money in the very short term, then these investments are not for you. If, however, you wish to maximise the income from your savings, or to see capital growth, then an element of your savings should be placed within longer term investments - age is an irrelevance.
Contact. (How will I get in touch with you?) Please see our contact page
Fees. (How often and when do I pay you?) In almost all cases, Barbican's clients are not called upon to make direct payments to us. Instead, our clients authorise the financial product provider to pay us on their behalf - and the fees are deducted from their investment portfolios.
Fraud. (How am I protected?) Barbican never handles clients' cash. When a client accepts our advice and proceeds with an investment, the monies are transmitted directly to the financial institution concerned. The client authorises that institution to accept Barbican's instructions to switch monies around within the investment, but any cash withdrawal requires the client's own authorisation.
Fund switches. (Why move my money around? Is it for your benefit, or mine?) Whenever Barbican switches monies around within a portfolio, it is for the benefit of the client alone. As a matter of policy, Barbican does not accept commissions from fund managers - in fact, we strongly disapprove of such payments, which serve only to compromise professional asset allocation procedures.
Income. (Can I change my withdrawals? Can I take more this year for a holiday?) All of the plans currently used by Barbican allow considerable flexibility concerning withdrawals. All permit the payment of regular income, which may be turned on and off as required. Most permit the investor to take one-off withdrawals, which may be instead of, or in addition to, regular income payments.
Interest. (What happens to the interest on my investments?) There is none. Bank and building society deposits pay interest. Other forms of offshore investment do not. In many cases, cash is invested into unitised funds - in which case the value of the units will change according to market conditions. When withdrawals are made, or charges are met, units will be surrendered and converted to cash. Similarly, dividends paid on any shares held within portfolio bonds will be either be reinvested or held as cash within the portfolio.
Performance. (How will I know if you're doing a good job?) A very good question, which we address by quarterly reporting. Although an investor would be pleased to see an increase in portfolio value of, say, 5% over a three month period, it would not look so attractive if he or she learned that the 'market' overall had risen by 15%. Equally, a portfolio value decrease of 3% would be very good if the market overall had fallen by 7% or 8%. Barbican submits a concise quarterly report detailing the performance of the portfolio when measured against a basket of major stock market indices from around the world.
Statements. (Who gives me my statements? You, or the company holding my investment?) Your statement will be issued by the provider of the financial product which you have chosen. Any additional reports will be generated by Barbican.
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