Recent research has provided compelling evidence that within each tax year, early ISA (Individual Savings Account) investors significantly outperform those who invest in their ISA later in the tax year.

THE POWER OF DAY ONE INVESTMENTS
New data is clear; early investments in ISAs significantly outperform according to recent research from Hargreaves Lansdown. The research looked at a decade of investing clearly showed, individuals who maximised their ISA allowance on the first day of the tax year every year have seen their investments soar to a superb £360,500.

PROCRASTINATION COSTS RETURNS
In contrast, those who waited to invest until the last day of the tax year, accumulated a lesser £322,500. The substantial difference, highlighting the cost of delay.

TIMING MATTERS
The conclusion from the research was unequivocal: timing matters. By investing early, you’re putting your money to work sooner, capitalising on a full year’s worth of potential growth. As we embark into the new tax year, let’s keep this lesson in mind and wherever possible be the early birds of the ISA world.

HOW HAS THE MARKET BEEN?
With the research in mind, it is also a good time to review what the market did in the 1st Quarter of 2024. Join us for our next free webinar on Wednesday 24th April at 3pm “Q1 REVIEW – WHAT HAPPENED TO AIM?” Click here to register. The webinar is CPD eligible. Submit your questions to [email protected]

THE PROFESSIONAL INVESTOR PODCAST – EPISODE 2
In Episode 2 of The Professional Investor Podcast; Fundamental Asset Management’s Chris Boxall explains how a professional investor constructs an investment portfolio (which could be held in an ISA). Listen to it here or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you don’t miss a future episode.

FIND OUT MORE
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.

With ISA season 2024 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 ACCOUNT DEADLINE FOR FUNDAMENTAL

Existing clients: 5th April.
New clients: 2nd April at the latest (assuming all information needed has been provided).

We spoke about Bed and ISA transfers in a past webinar which 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.

In the fourth of our series – The Fundamentals – about going back to the basics of investing in AIM shares for Inheritance Tax (IHT) planning purposes, we look at: the Fundamental AIM Inheritance Tax ISA Portfolio.

Inheritance Tax planning is not only for those with high net worth. It is a tax which is paid in record numbers (HMRC figures released March 2022) by thousands of people in the UK every year. But it is avoidable with a good Inheritance Tax plan. That is why we would recommend you speak to a financial adviser before making any investment decisions.

The Fundamental AIM Inheritance Tax Portfolio has the objective of obtaining 100% relief from Inheritance Tax, as well as the potential for capital appreciation, by investing into qualifying AIM quoted companies. The Fundamental AIM Inheritance Tax Portfolio is an effective, proven and non-contentious tax planning method which avoids the costs, administration and loss of control associated with forming a trust or gifting.

Growth potential

Holding a Fundamental AIM Inheritance Tax Portfolio means you will benefit from the growth opportunity AIM presents as one of the most successful growth markets in the world.

Inheritance Tax mitigation

A Fundamental AIM Inheritance Tax portfolio achieves 100% mitigation from Inheritance Tax after only two years. Not seven years as is the case through a gifting or trust approach.

Retain access to your assets

Holders of the portfolio retain assets in their own name, which means you will not lose control of your assets and have the freedom to redeem some, or all, of your holdings at any time.

ISA benefits

A Fundamental AIM Inheritance Tax Portfolio can be wrapped in an ISA which means you benefit further from no Income or Capital Gains Tax on growth. An ISA can also be left to a surviving spouse in its entirety tax-free through Additional Permitted Subscription. We explain more about the AIM ISA here.

How do I transfer my existing ISA to Fundamental?

If you are looking to transfer your existing ISA to a Fundamental AIM ISA then all you have to do is complete our application and transfer forms and email them to: [email protected], alternatively please call 01923 713 894 .

Please note, if you withdraw your investments from your ISA instead of transferring them, you will lose your ISA benefits and we will not be able to include them into a new Fundamental AIM ISA if that sum is higher than your current year allowance. Transfers can be made in stock and/or funds (with some exceptions) and cash. To retain previous years ISA allowance, please complete our ISA transfer form. Generally, the ISA transfer process can take anything up to six weeks for transfer proceeds to be received by Fundamental from your previous provider.

Looking for a quote?

Email details to us at [email protected] and we will be happy to pull together a personalised illustration for you.

The Fundamentals Series

• Introducing The Fundamentals series
• The Fundamentals #2: How to use ISAs for Inheritance Tax (IHT) planning?
• The Fundamental #3: The perils of exit fees & support for a client’s estate

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Business Development Manager Jonathan Bramall via email [email protected] or phone 01923 713 894

Our Educational Webinars also provide plenty of further information.

Fundamental Asset Management
www.fundamentalasset.com

In the third of our series – The Fundamentals – about going back to the basics of investing in AIM shares for Inheritance Tax (IHT) planning purposes, we look at: the perils of exit fees & support for a client’s estate.

Perils of exit fees

When someone decides to invest, one of the last things they think about is; ‘what are the exit fees if I need to withdraw my money’?

Unlike some of our peers, we don’t charge exit fees. We want people to be with us for the long-term in order to gain from the potential opportunities of our AIM portfolio service, but if someone needs to take their money, we do not think they should be charged for the “privilege”.

Feeling withdrawn?

You can take your money out of your portfolio whenever you need to by contacting us – this is true for AIM IHT portfolios and AIM IHT ISAs. We run flexible ISAs which means you can disinvest and reinvest funds within the same ISA tax year. Money withdrawn may lose tax benefits and could form part of your taxable estate at death. We do not apply a minimum withdrawal amount.

Costs to clients’ estates

“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes” Benjamin Franklin famously wrote in 1789. Whilst our AIM IHT portfolio service is designed to try to disprove the second part of the saying by saving on the Inheritance Tax a client’s estate must pay; we all know that death will eventually catch us all. When death does come, we support the Executors of the estate. At a difficult time, we provide the information HMRC requires at no additional charge. Again, sadly, not all AIM asset managers provide this support.  For more information about reducing Inheritance Tax by using Business Property Relief click here.

The Fundamentals Series

• Introducing The Fundamentals series
• The Fundamentals #2: How to use ISAs for Inheritance Tax (IHT) planning?

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Business Development Manager Jonathan Bramall via email [email protected] or phone 01923 713 894

Fundamental Asset Management
www.fundamentalasset.com

The ISA deadline for 2021/22 is April 5^th, the tax year end. However, the latest date for receipt of ISA applications is 31^st March. Please contact us if you would like to discuss opening an AIM IHT ISA.

You have until the deadline to invest this year’s £20,000 savings allowance so as to benefit from no tax on dividends, interest and capital gains.

As we wrote about in our back-to-basics series The Fundamentals #2: How to use ISAs for Inheritance Tax planning; ISAs per se are not Inheritance Tax free, but they can become so by using a service such as the Fundamental Asset Management AIM IHT ISA Portfolio Service.

For more information, click here or watch the video below:

ISA DEADLINE & IHT PLANNING REMINDER

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Business Development Manager Jonathan Bramall via email [email protected] or phone 01923 713 894

Fundamental Asset Management
www.fundamentalasset.com

Our last Blog here covered a stock market sell-off and what we are doing. This week we are doing things a bit differently.

Recently, we have received requests to go over some topics from the beginning to assist people who are trying understand what we do at Fundamental Asset Management as well as what AIM is, what opportunities it provides and how it can be used to help reduce Inheritance Tax (IHT).

Over the coming weeks, we will be going back-to-basics focusing on the fundamentals (pun intended!) of the AIM IHT Portfolio Service and indeed Fundamental Asset Management itself. We will be looking at how AIM could provide returns in the medium to long-term that put other investments in the shade as well as how Business Relief can be used for estate planning as well as some frequently asked questions around costs and a number of practical processes.

This week, The Fundamentals brings you a video we have put together; Fundamental Asset Management – An Introduction.

Topics covered include:

• Who Are We?
• What is AIM?
• AIM in 2021.
• AIM for outperformance.
• Business Relief & AIM – How it works.
• AIM IHT Investment Process – Investable Universe.
• AIM Investment Process – Core/ Satellite portfolio approach.
• AIM IHT Investment process – the issues!
• Benefits of a Portfolio – Not a Fund.
• AIM in 2022 – Difficult Start to the year.
• 2022 Opportunities so far.

In this video presentation, Chris Boxall, co-founder of AIM specialist investment manager Fundamental Asset Management, provides an introduction to the Fundamental AIM IHT portfolio service. The presentation covers Fundamental’s investment process and issues to be aware when investing in AIM for Inheritance Tax planning purposes. Chris also offers his thoughts on the outlook for AIM in 2022.

We hope you find it useful. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Business Development Manager Jonathan Bramall via email [email protected] or phone 01923 713 894

Fundamental Asset Management
www.fundamentalasset.com

Many are attracted to invest in AIM for the Inheritance Tax planning attractions yet are fearful of the perceived extra risk of investing in smaller quoted companies and the notion that they will have their money locked up in early stage businesses.

While the vast majority of AIM companies are smaller than their peers on the main market, there are now many large companies on AIM, with nineteen valued at more than £1 billion each at the end of October. AIM’s largest company ASOS, which is valued at more than £4 billion, would gain it entry to the FTSE100 index of the UK’s largest companies.

Our philosophy for investing in AIM for Inheritance Tax planning purposes is to stick to well-established, proven and profitable businesses, many of which are often run by their founders who continue to own significant equity stakes. Our AIM for Inheritance Tax portfolios include several companies that have been controlled by the same founding families for several generations.

In eschewing small, early stage ventures, with unproven business models and negligible revenue, we may miss out on the occasional star performer, however, experience has also shown that we also avoid the numerous failures.

Investing in early stage companies requires a large degree of patience. New concepts and technologies take many years, and often decades, to come to commercial fruition. AIM previously attracted many small early stage business, often in the healthcare sector, some of which have seen great success over the pandemic. Rather than raise new capital via a listing on AIM, early stage companies now have access to start-up capital through venture capital, private equity or crowd funding routes. This means that new arrivals to AIM in recent years have largely been better-established businesses, the majority of which are revenue generating and profitable.

The primary attraction for those investing in AIM for Inheritance Tax planning purposes is often the short 2 year qualifying period for assets to fall outside the estate, following the Business Relief rules. Accordingly, while investing in equities should always be viewed as a long-term exercise (5 year plus), the window of investment opportunity for Inheritance Tax planning is somewhat shorter than would normally be the case.

Our webinar ‘The truth about risk in AIM’, highlights the more pertinent risks associated with investing in AIM for Inheritance Tax planning purposes. You can watch the webinar from the link here.

Chris Boxall

Cofounder & Co-Managing Director

You can find out more about Fundamental Asset Management’s high performing AIM IHT ISA and AIM Inheritance Tax portfolio service, which has been delivering exceptional investment returns for more than 16 years, from the link here.