Select Investors

Last week, a few of us from the Select team had the honour of participating and volunteering at the St. James’s Place Charity Golf Day, and what an incredible experience it was! Thanks to the generosity and commitment of everyone involved, over $50,000 was raised (after matching) for the St. James’s Place Charitable Foundation. These funds will directly benefit organisations supporting children and young people facing special needs, illness, disabilities, and other life challenges. A big thank you to St. James's Place – Asia & Middle East for organising such a meaningful event in support of this incredible cause. We’re also truly grateful to all our clients, sponsors, and volunteers who came together to make a real difference in the lives of young people.

We were delighted to host a packed boardroom at our Investment Insights Lunch today, where we explored Emerging Market Opportunities. A huge thank you to our guest speaker, Ganesh Ramachandran, CFA from Lazard Asset Management, for sharing his expertise, and to Karun Uppal and Jamie Burgmann for facilitating such an engaging session. It’s clear that the future of emerging markets holds exciting potential, and we’re grateful to have had the chance to dive deep into these opportunities with our valued clients.    We hope our guests found the session valuable and walked away with new insights. #EmergingMarkets #InvestmentInsights #Lazard #SelectInvestors

🌍 Investment Insights Lunch | Exploring Emerging Market Opportunities Emerging markets are often overlooked in today’s investment landscape, but recent trends—including shifts in global geopolitics, the changing role of the United States in equity markets, and questions about China’s recovery—make them an area worth revisiting. On 12 November 2024, we are hosting an exclusive lunch to dive deep into the exciting opportunities emerging markets have to offer. This event will be an excellent chance to explore why this often misunderstood asset class is becoming increasingly attractive for global investors. The discussion will be facilitated by Batya Shulman and Jamie Burgmann, Partners at Select Investors, Senior Partner Practice of St. James's Place. Jamie will be interviewing Ganesh Ramachandran, Managing Director, Portfolio Manager/Analyst at Lazard Asset Management. 📅 Date: 12 November 2024, Tuesday ⏰ Time: 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM 📍 Venue: St. James’s Place Office 1 Raffles Place, 15-61 One Raffles Place Tower 2 Singapore 048616 Register here: https://lnkd.in/g56uJpnt

Budget Countdown, Episode 10 – Those of a nervous disposition should look away now… When I was growing up I used to play monopoly with my older brother. If it looked like I might win (Park Lane and Mayfair with hotels on) he would simply change the rules in the middle of the game – I never beat my brother at monopoly. Rachel Reeves has done the same with the economy; changing the rules in the middle of the game so she can win. Labour have said that debt must be falling as a percentage of GDP by the fifth year of the forecast. But when Labour saw the state of government finances she realised this would take big tax rises and huge cuts to public services to achieve. Labour have been preparing us for a budget statement that, in their words, will be ‘painful’ and have warned us taxes will have to increase. However, Labour have now announced that they will change the definition of debt to make it easier for them to keep to their self imposed fiscal rules. This will take a lot of pressure of the Chancellor and I suspect some of the significant tax increases we have been trailing over the past few weeks will now be softened and the budget will not be the scary Halloween Horror Show we have all been expecting. But the government still has a huge debt pile; just because you call it something else doesn’t mean that debt has gone away. Will her failure to tackle government debt head on now come back to haunt Rachel Reeves later?

Budget Countdown, Episode 8 - Bad news happens to good taxes Labour announced that VAT would be charged on school fees from 1 January 2025. Recently The Treasury refused to confirm the plan to impose VAT on school fees on 1 January 2025 will go ahead. It is simply too difficult. This will happen but perhaps not as quickly as Rachel Reeves would like. Generally businesses must register for VAT when their turnover exceeds £90,000 in any 12-month period. Businesses often turn down work when income gets precariously near the threshold to ensure they remain competitive with their non-VAT registered competitors.  Halving the threshold to £45,000 would bring around 500,000 businesses into VAT and raise about £1bn in tax. Labour committed to cap Corporation Tax (CT) at the current level of 25 percent for the course of the next Parliament and indicated the rate might reduce to keep the UK competitive. However, businesses with smaller profits generally pay CT at 19% or a rate between 19% and 25%. Labour have not committed to retaining the 19% CT rate and it would be no surprise to see this scrapped. Join us for our workshop on 5th November to discuss the budget announcements and please do contact me with your questions You have a meagre £500 tax free dividend allowance (which has slowly been reduced from its 2016/17 level of £5,000). It is an allowance in its death throes and Labour may well put it out of its misery and abolish it. In addition the lower rates of tax charged on dividend income could well be increased to match income tax rates. Join us for our workshop on 5th November to discuss the budget announcements and please do contact me with your questions

Budget Countdown, Episode 7 – The ISA on the cake…   Tight word limit, lots to squeeze in, let’s go! We start with ISA’s. On the campaign trail Labour were clear they had no plans to drop the Tory “British ISA” idea with an increased investment limit. We understand that plans for a British ISA have been axed. About 12.5mn of us shelter more than £70bn of our savings from tax each year by using ISA’s. It has come to light that, back in 2016, Rachel Reeves was making the case for a lifetime cap on ISA savings. It would be no surprise to see a lifetime ISA cap announced and/or a reduction in the annual ISA limit as tax raising measures. The Labour Party dismissed scrapping the 25% discount for single occupiers. Currently, Council Tax is based on property values from 1991; over 30 years ago. A leaked recording from March revealed chief secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, saying he was frustrated by the "out of date" council tax system and hinted those with homes worth over £1mn may have to pay more. Significant changes to Council tax are expected. Fuel duty was last raised in January 2011 and was cut by five pence in 2022. The five pence cut is set to be reversed in March 2025 and, going forwards, to rise in line with inflation. Fuel duty is a big revenue raiser and further increases would be no surprise. Join us for our workshop on 5th November to discuss the budget announcements and please do contact me with your questions

Budget Countdown, Episode 6 – Pensions   There has been a lot of speculation that Labour are ready to announce significant changes to pension rules. Given the parlous state of government finances any announcements are likely to be bad news. However, speaking to the Daily Express in April Sir Keir Starmer committed to keeping the triple lock on state pensions for another five years. Your state pension will continue to increase by the highest measure of inflation, wage growth and 2.5%. At the moment, when you start taking money from your pension, you are usually allowed to take 25% of the fund without paying any tax. For most of us there is a limit of £268,275 on that initial tax free amount. There are rumours that Rachel Reeves will lower that limit to £100,000 or even abolish the ability to take a tax free lump sum from your pension altogether. Labour are also rumoured to be considering reducing tax relief on pension contributions for 40% and 45% tax payers by restricting that tax relief to a maximum of 20% or 30%. This would be a move that would not impact those on the lowest wages but is likely to disincentivise high earners from making pension savings, In addition, Labour could introduce an employer’s national insurance contribution charge on pension contributions. Finally, Labour could remove or restrict the ability to pass on pension funds free of Inheritance Tax when you pass away. These moves would be a seismic shift in the pension landscape.

Join us for an exclusive roundtable lunch, Investing in UK Property, designed for those looking to navigate the complexities of investing in the UK market from abroad. Hosted by Select Investors in collaboration with API Global and Capricorn Financial Consultancy, this session will provide valuable insights on key topics, including: - Tax Implications - Financing Options - Incorporation Strategies 📅 Date: 6 November 2024, Wednesday 🕛 Time: 12:00 - 2:00 PM 📍 Venue: St. James’s Place Office 1 Raffles Place, 15-61 One Raffles Place Tower 2, Singapore 048616 Registration: https://lnkd.in/g3ihRVpt We look forward to seeing you there! #UKProperty #InvestmentInsights

Episode Four, Budget Countdown: Capital Gains Tax Labour promised not to raise taxes for working people. However, they have not ruled out increasing the rates of Capital Gains tax (CGT) or Inheritance Tax (IHT) – IHT is for a later post. Currently CGT rates are 10% to 28%. Will they be raised to income tax rates; 20% to 45%? But would that collect any more tax? In 2022/23 about 350,000 people paid CGT of around £13.6bn. But of those 350,000 just 2% were responsible for paying 57% of that CGT. So will that tiny number who pay the vast majority of CGT simply change their behaviour to avoid paying CGT if the rates are raised? We are hearing that Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) could be restricted or scrapped. BADR reduces the capital gains tax rate to 10% on the first £1mn of qualifying gains on the disposal of businesses and business assets you make in your lifetime. It is a complex relief and has been described as “not fit for purpose”. Finally, there have been plenty of suggestions that Labour will abolish the capital gains tax uplift to market value at the death on the assets you leave when you pass away. If the rumours are right and Labour do abolish the uplift to market value on the date of death you are likely to be paying a lot more capital gains tax on inherited assets. This is a double whammy if CGT rates are increased to Income Tax rates. 

Rachel Reeves will deliver Labour's Budget statement on 30 October following their election win. Learn how the changes announced in the Autumn Budget could impact you. Our Technical Consultant, Peter Webb, will reveal: - Key details of the announced changes - Who will be most affected - Will you be a winner or loser under the new tax rules? - Strategies to shield yourself from rising taxes Event Details: 🗓️ Date: Tuesday, 5 November 2024 🕕 Time: 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM 📍 Venue: St. James’s Place Office 1 Raffles Place, 15-61 One Raffles Place Tower 2, Singapore 048616 Registration: https://lnkd.in/gpviVq6H #UKAutumnBudget