Read our selected case studies to discover how Pilling & Co may be able to help you.
IFA vs Pilling & Co
Claire held two investment portfolio accounts, one with us and one through her financial advisor. For many years, we studiously and meticulously managed her investments to meet her investment outcomes, principally to pay her a quarterly income to help fund her expenditure. In a recent meeting we discussed the possibility of moving her other account to Pilling as she was dissatisfied with the service she was receiving from her financial advisor. She set us a test to compare costs, expecting our bespoke portfolio management service to be more expensive than a generic model portfolio operated on a platform used by her financial advisor. Claire was delighted to find out that in fact, our service costs were lower than her financial planner. This was because Pilling has a capped low-cost administrative charge. Therefore, any additional funds would not lead to further administrative costs.
The platform the financial planner operated charged an admin fee based on an uncapped percentage of portfolio value. In addition, our ongoing discretionary service operated a lower management fee when taken into account her new investments, relative to the financial advisor who charged a management fee yet only rebalanced the portfolio once a year. In conclusion, Claire was delighted, not only would she be able to move her account to Pilling where she appreciated our higher service levels, but that the exercise would lead to lower ongoing costs.
Helping a client with a deceased estate
When Mrs L’s husband died, she found herself having to administer his estate and take charge of her own investments for the first time. Whilst Mr L had left good records and files this nevertheless was a “mountain for her to climb”, as she put it. With them both being Pilling clients, we were on hand to assist her solicitor with investment aspects of the work to gain Probate, make a direct payment to HMRC for Inheritance Tax and arrange a transfer of Mr L’s ISA to his widow, making the process considerably less daunting for her. She also engaged us as discretionary managers of her portfolio which meant that the day-to-day running of her investments was taken care of. The help Pilling were able to give contrasted with frustrations and stress caused by other investment houses and banks whose impersonal handling of matters caused Mrs L to remark, “You would think no-one had ever died before!”
Managing accounts for a vulnerable client
A long-standing client of the firm, Mr R had a large part of his portfolio managed by us under a bespoke discretionary management mandate. He also had a portfolio of investments that he liked to look after himself. Sadly, Mr R began to experience a severe deterioration in his health and his ability to look after his own investments. Working in partnership with his friend Mr M, who held Power of Attorney over Mr R’s financial affairs, we were able to assist him in bringing those investments under our management and ensuring that they were properly monitored and managed. This ensured that those investments were not neglected, and to provide peace of mind to both Mr R and Mr M. Assisting Mr M has also helped to put his mind at rest as the POA that the day-to-day management and decision-making is being taken care of.
Portfolio of Buy to lets vs Pilling & Co Investment Management
Mrs H was a client of Pilling and Co, investing into the model portfolios. In addition to the portfolio, Mrs H also owned a small number of buy-to-let properties which she successfully managed herself. When Mrs H retired, we had the usual meeting to discuss how her investments may differ going forward, as there may be more emphasis on income to supplement her pension, however we also discussed the buy-to-let properties pros and cons versus investing in the market after comments were made about the rental income received after all costs. Even with the large rental increases, the gross yield was 3.5%, however the net yield ‘in a good year’ was considerably less at 1.7%, and that was because of additional costs such as service charge, ground rent, marginal rate income tax, and of course maintenance costs which had in fact been lower this year than previous ones. By comparison, we were able to demonstrate a higher level of income, both gross and net, especially when one takes into consideration the income tax allowances on dividends and interest. In addition, over the years, the proceeds from the rental properties would be moved inside an ISA wrapper making it even more tax efficient. In the end, on a balanced return mandate, and a risk profile of 20% low risk (mostly government and corporate bonds), 80% medium risk (develop market equities) I was able to model a considerably higher total return over the next ten years. In addition to the return, Mrs H preferred to invest in the knowledge that her investments were much more liquid, which in turn meant if any unexpected bills came up where additional capital was required or indeed any gifts from her estate were to be made, it would be done with relative ease.