Everything you need to know about the 2023 Autumn Statement
On Wednesday chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivered the Autumn Statement, setting the scene by saying the UK economy had performed better than previously expected, giving them room to cut taxes and raise benefits in search of delivering growth. Ahead of his speech, Hunt faced pressure to reduce the tax burden on…
DB Wood Team
24th November, 2023
Keeping things safe in the digital era
This week’s blog focuses on how we protect our clients against fraud and cyber crime in particular! Our insurance team often quote the statistics that sit behind this increasing problem, and worryingly, 46% of UK businesses have experienced a cyber attack in the last 12 months, a 400% increase in…
DB Wood Team
17th November, 2023
October was a turbulent month for global investments. The three main drivers were a continuation of resilient economic data in the US (for most of the month), the Israel-Hamas conflict (in particular the potential effects on oil prices and therefore inflation implications), and the escalation in wider geopolitical tensions. Lately,…
Alex Chappell
3rd November, 2023
It’s around 12 months since the bond market hit its lows for 2022. Around the time of Liz Truss’s budget, we added significantly to an asset class that had sold off hard and relative to the last two decades, was providing a significant annual income stream. In time, we also…
Ashley Brooks
20th October, 2023
We approached Q3 with optimism. Not because we expected this quarter itself to be stellar, but because valuations on any medium to long term basis are as good as they have been at any time in the last 15 years. That said, markets need confidence, specifically with respect to inflation…
DB Wood Team
5th October, 2023
Do The Right Thing – Our Charities Update
One of the most rewarding aspects of our work is that we are in the business of helping people. We do so by trying to make the financial lives of our clients work as effectively as possible so they can then spend time enjoying the things that are important to…
DB Wood Team
22nd September, 2023
The ‘price’ of something often doesn’t reflect its true ‘value’. We say things like ‘I wouldn’t pay that price’, getting drawn into the numbers and not necessarily what it means to us. The price of something is merely the cost to buy or sell, whether that’s an investment portfolio or…
Ashley Brooks
1st September, 2023
I had a couple of weeks away on vacation recently. It’s a time to reflect and to regain some perspective on life in general, as well as to get some sunshine, which has been in short supply in the UK through July and August. Sometimes when you are further away…
Ashley Brooks
18th August, 2023
Blog, IC Insights, Uncategorised
Someone asked me last week “what’s the most important lesson you’ve learnt across the last 5 years?” Well, that’s tough as a lot has happened, as covered in our recent blog ‘A Unique 5 Year Period draws to an end‘ . To be honest I thought it would be…
Ashley Brooks
4th August, 2023
UK Property Market – Stats that make you think…
Our research team frequently come out with fascinating statistical insights. Before we get into some detail about the current state of play in the UK’s property market, I thought I’d share an amazing stat from Chubb (a high-net-worth insurer) who noted that 50% of their motor thefts (where the vehicle…
Alex Chappell
21st July, 2023
