Insurance
Insurance is one of the most useful tools in the armoury of the financial
planner.
It can be used to protect clients against the vicissitudes and uncertainties
of life, as well as the risk of untimely death and its impact on the
financial security of dependents. It can be used to pay succession taxes as
well as to avoid them.
Classic Financial Solutions NV has concluded brokerage arrangements with
a number of major insurance providers specially selected for offering
appropriate characteristics to meet our clients’ needs.
These are varied from time to time as we are constantly on the look out
for new products to meet our clients' needs and will add other companies
from time to time, as well as canceling those that fail to meet our exacting
standards.
For further information and advice on any of these topics
please contact us.
 Lump sum investment
Most collective investment funds can be bought directly or through the
medium of an insurance policy, the value of which mirrors the performance of
the underlying funds. In Belgium these are known as Branch 23 products and
in the UK they are usually called investment bonds.
Investment Bonds usually offer the best route if: -
- you are seeking a guaranteed return over the medium/long term
- if you want access, within one wrapper and at reasonable cost, to a
wide range of fund managers with the ability to switch between them from
time to time
- if you want a regular and predictable income from your investments,
eg in retirement
- if you want tax efficiency in certain countries,
but not all.
Exploiting the differences between life insurance and SICAV's can offer
the investor some interesting legal loopholes for reducing taxes on income
and capital gains and particularly if you are a British citizen planning to
return to the UK within a few years.
Classic helps you make the right selection from
the wide range of investments available.
The investment products offered by Insurance Companies include regular
savings plans as well as lump sum investments.
 Regular Savings Plans
To be effective, regular savings plans should be continued for a
reasonable period of years, to build up capital effectively. They have the
big benefit of averaging out the purchase price of units and making the
timing of purchases almost irrelevant but it is important to remember that
the returns over the early years are likely to seem disappointing because
your investment period is only the average of the total period if you are
saving regularly.
In the international market, as opposed to the Belgian domestic market, we
do not recommend any of the contractual long-term plans currently on the
market because of the severe penalties if the plan is stopped. There are
enough non-contractual plans around that offer a far better deal and greater
flexibility.
Avoid like the plague long-term plans that have Initial or Capital Units,
unless you are absolutely certain that you will be able to continue paying
the premiums for the full term and that they are well within both your
present and future means.
Do not be persuaded by a salesman that you can “stop whenever you like after
a few years”. You can indeed do so, but the units that you have bought in
the earlier years will be those that bear the heaviest charges and any
future growth in value will be insignificant.
For further information and advice on any of these topics
please contact us.
Back to the top
|
