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HMRC today announced another record Inheritance Tax haul

HMRC today announced Inheritance Tax (IHT) receipts are £300 million higher than the same period a year earlier, totaling £3.2 billion.

With the government freezing IHT thresholds until at least April 2028, this trend looks set to continue.

Commenting on the HMRC figures, Fundamental Asset Management’s Chris Boxall said: “HMRC has once again announced a record increase in Inheritance Tax receipts. With few other solutions available, investing in Business Relief qualifying companies remains popular with advisers and investors to mitigate future Inheritance Tax. If shares in these companies are held for two years, and still held upon death, no Inheritance Tax is paid on the investment.

Many AIM companies meet the Inheritance Tax qualifying criteria and with the AIM market down substantially over the past 2 years and the valuations of many good quality AIM companies looking extremely attractive, it could be great time to invest and save future Inheritance Tax.”

Why does Private Equity love AIM?
The AIM market has had a challenging time over the last 2 years. However, while many investors have been steering clear of AIM, Private Equity has been taking advantage of the growing number of bargains, with yet another offer this week for an AIM company. On Tuesday 3rd October at 3pm, the founders of Fundamental Asset Management will be exploring the topic “What does Private Equity see in AIM?”. Your seat can be reserved by clicking here. This will also allow you to watch the webinar on demand after the event.

The webinar is CPD eligible.

You can find out more about AIM ISAs here: ‘AIM ISA Explained’.

FURTHER INFORMATION
If you or your clients would like to speak to one of our portfolio managers, please contact Business Development Manager, Jonathan Bramall at [email protected] or on 01923 713 894


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The Fundamental Asset Podcast – Episode 4

In this fourth episode of The Fundamental Asset Podcast, Chris Boxall, co-founder of Fundamental Asset Management, covers wider investing concerns around UK PLC. He also considers what could be done to help the UK become more attractive for individual investors and more attractive for companies to list.

Other key topics discussed:

– Are UK shares cheap right now or is the UK one of the worst places to invest?
– What can investors and the UK government do to improve conditions?
– The changing nature of AIM over the last 10 years
– How to become a better analyst
– Solutions to encourage more companies to list.

You can listen to the podcast from the link here (Note: this links you to the Fund Your Retirement site)

Fundamental’s AIM IHT ISA and General portfolio is a discretionary investment management service where clients can obtain 100% mitigation from Inheritance Tax, benefit from the capital growth and income afforded by the AIM market and retain control of their assets.

Fundamental now offers its standard AIM IHT Growth Portfolio, as well as its new AIM IHT Income Portfolio service.

Webinar: What does Private Equity see in AIM?

Join Fundamental Asset Management Co-Founders Chris Boxall & Stephen Drabwell on Tuesday 3rd October at 3pm as they look at “What does Private Equity see in AIM?”. The webinar is CPD eligible.

Your seat can be reserved for “What does Private Equity see in AIM’ by going to the quick registration page here. This will also allow you to watch the webinar on demand after the event.

You can find out more about Fundamental Asset Management’s AIM portfolio service from the link here or by contacting [email protected] or calling 01923 713894



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The Fundamental Asset Podcast – Episode 3

In this third episode of The Fundamental Asset Podcast, Chris Boxall, co-founder of Fundamental Asset Management, covers three UK small cap stocks which have recently issued positive updates.

Castings (CGS), with squeaky clean reporting and a nice dividend, Kooth’s (KOO) big contract win in the United States and Kitwave’s (KITW) consistent delivery, in more ways than one! In a difficult market for small caps these are some shining lights.

In contrast at the other end of the scale, Chris discusses Marlowe (MRL) and Gooch & Housego (GHH) and their acquisition strategies. The Fundamental team has been doing some deep research into Marlowe (MRL) and Chris shares some of those insights in this conversation.

You can listen to the podcast from the link here (Note: this links you to the Fund Your Retirement site)

 

Fundamental’s AIM IHT ISA and General portfolio is a discretionary investment management service where clients can obtain 100% mitigation from Inheritance Tax, benefit from the capital growth and income afforded by the AIM market and retain control of their assets.

Fundamental now offers its standard AIM IHT Growth Portfolio, as well as its new AIM IHT Income Portfolio service.

Webinar: AIM a Half Year Update

Join Fundamental Asset Management Co-Founders Chris Boxall & Stephen Drabwell on Tuesday 18th July at 3pm as they look at “AIM a Half Year Update”. The webinar is CPD eligible.

Your seat can be reserved for “AIM a Half Year Update” by going to the quick registration page here. This will also allow you to watch the webinar on demand after the event.

You can find out more about Fundamental Asset Management’s AIM portfolio service from the link here or by contacting [email protected] or calling 01923 713894



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How to keep Jeremy Hunt’s hands off your family’s money

With today’s HMRC announcement that Inheritance Tax (IHT) Receipts are up £1billion to £7.1bn, Fundamental Asset Management give some tips for keeping the money you want to leave your family out of the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s hands. Fundamental’s portfolio manager, Chris Boxall explained:

“Using AIM for IHT is the easy, non-contentious way of getting IHT relief on investments on behalf of your estate when you pass away; keeping Jeremy Hunt’s hands (or whoever is the Chancellor at the time) off your money.”

Fundamental Asset Management’s Top Tips:

1)

    Do you have old ISAs that are going to form part of your estate upon death? You might wish to transfer these into an AIM IHT Portfolio to save up to 40% of their value through IHT relief. Fundamental Asset Management accept transfers-in of old ISAs.

2)

    Consider if “only” using this year’s ISA allowance is going to reduce your IHT liability as much as you want in the long run. You may also want to invest in a non-ISA AIM IHT portfolio to allow your family the opportunity to potentially inherit more of your money when the time comes.

3)

    View the investment to be over at least a 5-year period. If you cannot afford to be without this money, it may be that this investment is not right at this time. It also potentially enables you to better see the investment opportunities AIM can deliver.

Remember, for your estate to not pay Inheritance Tax on the investment – a saving of 40% – your investment needs to be in certain AIM shares that qualify for Business Relief. The shares need to:

Be held for 2 years or more and still held at death; and
Be held in a company that still qualifies for Business Relief at the time of the investor’s death.

Fundamental Asset Management’s AIM Inheritance Tax portfolio service can help you leave more of your money to your family instead of HMRC. To find out more about the benefits of AIM, please speak to our Business Development Manager, Jonathan Bramall, via email [email protected] or phone 01923 713 894.


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Fundamental Asset Management’s Chris Boxall interviewed by Fund Your Retirement

For their latest podcast, the investment research and online financial media publisher Fund Your Retirement have interviewed Chris Boxall, co-founder and portfolio manager at Fundamental Asset Management.

In a broad ranging interview, linked below; Chris gives his view on the AIM market, singles out two companies he views as having high growth prospects and looks at how the AIM market has evolved over the last 20+ years.

HOW TO LISTEN TO THE EPISODE
Podcast episode on YouTube
On the Fund Your Retirement website
Spotify
Apple

Fund Your Retirement is an investment research and online financial media publisher. Their goal is to make finance more accessible to everyone by featuring top experts in the finance industry and sharing their knowledge on wealth-building strategies.

To find out more about the benefits of AIM, please speak to our Business Development Manager, Jonathan Bramall, via email [email protected] or phone 01923 713 894.


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HMRC Inheritance Tax receipts up again

Inheritance Tax (IHT) receipts were up again April 2022 to February 2023. Compared to the same period in the previous year, there was an increase of £0.9bn with a total of £6.4bn being received. This serves as a timely reminder of the ISA Deadline for clients who wish to deposit new or additional funds with Fundamental Asset Management’s AIM IHT portfolio service.

ISA DEADLINE DATES

Existing clients: 5th April.
New clients: 3rd April at the latest (assuming all information needed has been provided).

With HMRC IHT receipts up again, don’t miss out on this year’s ISA allowance. Whole or part of existing ISAs can be transferred (subject to the existing ISA manager) to potentially reduce IHT further.

Our last webinar AIM ISAs here.

To find out more about the benefits of AIM, please speak to our Business Development Manager, Jonathan Bramall, via email [email protected] or phone 01923 713 894.


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Why a Bed and ISA transfer to Fundamental could be just the ticket

With ISA season 2023 upon us and people looking to do more with their money; a “Bed and ISA” could be just the ticket. We look at what it is and how it can help with Inheritance Tax (IHT) Planning.

A Bed and ISA transfer is a process in which a client moves their non-ISA investments into an ISA. The term “Bed” refers to the process of selling the investments and then using the proceeds from the sale to purchase equivalent investments within the ISA. This transfer enables clients to take advantage of the tax benefits provided by an ISA, such as tax-free income and capital gains. On top of this; when using a service such as Fundamental Asset Management’s AIM IHT portfolio service, the ISA can also be used to reduce IHT.

Fundamental Asset Management’s AIM IHT portfolio service is designed to deliver 100% IHT relief on the investment by purchasing Business Relief qualifying AIM shares on behalf of a client. For the client’s investment to qualify, the following is necessary:

1) qualifying shares must be held for at least two years and still be held on death;
and
2) the company must still qualify for Business Relief at the time of the investor’s death

Another advantage of a Bed and ISA transfer is that it can help investors simplify their investment portfolio. By consolidating their investments within an ISA, investors can reduce the number of accounts they need to manage and keep track of. This can save time and effort and make it easier to monitor the performance of their investments.

Overall, a Bed and ISA can be a useful tool for clients who want to take advantage of the tax benefits offered by an ISA while combining this with investing through an AIM IHT portfolio service, has additional IHT planning benefits.

ISA DEADLINE

Existing clients: 5th April.
New clients: 3rd April at the latest (assuming all information needed has been provided).

Our last webinar spoke about Bed and ISA transfers and can be watched here.

To find out more about the benefits of AIM, please speak to our Business Development Manager, Jonathan Bramall, via email [email protected] or phone 01923 713 894.


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AIM for Growth or Income: can you have both?

When investing in smaller quoted companies and particularly those on AIM, the predominant investor focus is of capital growth, as opposed to dividend income. Indeed, the London Stock Exchange’s description of AIM as being a “Market for small and medium size growth companies” highlights the junior market’s primary purpose.

While our firm would never advocate investing in AIM quoted companies for reliable dividend income, the fall in the share prices of many cash generative AIM companies over the course of 2022, many of which have a long track record of dividend payments, has served to highlight the income potential from AIM, not to mention the modest valuations of many companies previously considered for their growth appeal.

AIM quoted Wynnstay Group, a supplier of agricultural products and services to the UK’s arable and livestock farmers, recently reported fabulous full year results with earnings up 86% and a near 10% increase in its dividend, making it 19 consecutive years of dividend increases since Wynnstay joined AIM in 2004.

Link Group’s AIM Dividend Monitor from September 2022 suggested that the total dividend payout from AIM companies would reach £1.22bn in 2022, which will be close to the record payout of £1.29 billion in 2019. Our assessment suggests that dividend payments in 2022 may actually exceed this level.

The strong rebound in dividend payments and steep decline in share prices in 2022 means that the dividend yields of well-established AIM companies have risen substantially, to levels not seen in the 19 years my firm has been managing AIM portfolios.

Returning to the earlier point of AIM being primarily a market for growth companies, it’s worth emphasising that many of these current AIM high-yielders also have considerable growth attractions.

The founder management of one fast-growing and cash generative AIM company, with an attractive dividend yield, has clearly had enough of AIM’s ‘mispricing’ of their shares, engineering a deal to take the company private, with the help of an enthusiastic private equity backer. They were probably getting fed-up of being considered for their income, rather than growth attractions! Other cash generative AIM companies, may follow suit if their share prices continue to languish.

It’s noticeable that many mature AIM companies with surplus cash have also initiated share buy backs and special dividend payments.

Footwear retailer Shoezone announced an additional special dividend at the time of its full year results, which reported 55% growth in earnings per share. It is also committed to a significant share buyback programme.

The high dividend yields of many AIM companies bely their considerable long-term growth attractions.

Another attraction for many private investors when investing in AIM quoted companies is the potential to save future Inheritance Tax (‘IHT’) – shares of ‘Business Relief qualifying’ AIM companies fall outside the holder’s estate for IHT purposes if held for 2 years or more.

Those investing in AIM for IHT planning purposes for the first time may often be transferring out of income generating funds and equities. The idea of regular dividend income from a portfolio of AIM shares may therefore be appealing.

A word of caution

It is evident that most AIM companies generating strong cash and attractive returns on capital should prioritise re-investment in their business to help drive growth, over and above paying out large dividends to shareholders.

Some AIM companies might not be re-investing enough in their operations, with a risk that trading will ultimately suffer. Worse, having previously paid out large cash dividends, companies are subsequently forced to raise further equity from shareholders in support of acquisitions, at considerable expense and dilution to existing shareholders. In this case, it would surely have been better for the company to have held back its previous generous dividend payments.

There are many aspects to consider when assessing the income appeal of AIM companies, however, just because the dividend yield is high doesn’t mean the company no longer has capital growth attractions as well – it’s possible to find both from AIM’s many excellent companies.

Our recent WEBINAR: What does 2023 have in store for AIM? also covered the income attractions of AIM. You can watch the webinar from the link here.

 

To find out more about the Income benefits of AIM, please speak to our Business Development Manager, Jonathan Bramall, via email [email protected]  or phone 01923 713 894.