Negative Interest Rates – The Unintended Consequences:

PROFESSIONAL’S VIEW – MAY 2016

The whole idea of negative interest rates, as introduced by the Bank of Japan recently and mooted (if not actually quite reached) by the ECB, is one that our clients are struggling to understand. With many of us having lived through eras of double-digit mortgage rates it is a concept that belonged strictly in La-La Land. Indeed, even such influential figures as Mark Carney and Janet Yellen (Bank of England and Federal Reserve respectively) seem to have difficulty in comprehending that the world changed so dramatically after the Financial Crisis of 2008 by their repeated use of the word “normalisation” when referring to the interest rate environment. Eight years on from the Crisis and they’re still expecting their normal to return. It won’t – or at least not for a very long time.

From what we’ve recently witnessed though, negative rates will not become the new normal either. Bear in mind that negative rates are supposed to indicate that there is no limit to which Central Bankers will not go to in the event of necessity. Negative rates are supposed to oil the economy. After all, surely the cost of borrowing can’t get any lower than minus?

In reality, negative rates had the opposite effect as banks had to pass their margins on to someone, and that someone was borrowers. So negative rates had the effect of making borrowing more expensive, not less. And the unintended consequence on the back of all of this? The fact that the Bank of Japan was trying to signal that there wasn’t any limit to how low rates could be cut, when in fact – by actually turning negative and finding that this was not going to work – they have signalled that rates are exactly at their limits and can not go any lower, indicating that there is no ammunition left to fire.

This has been our biggest fear this year. In January we said that this year may be the year that the world found out that the Central Banks had nothing left. The recent rally in equities has left our fear looking like an unfounded one, but then we have not really had a crisis this year to deal with.

Sell In May?:

That favourite old strap line gets trotted out every year around, er, May, so it’s as good a time as any to consider its relevance this time around. As we say, we have not really had a crisis yet, so what could possibly upset the carte du pommes this Summer? Brexit, of course, is one thing. We have stated previously that we expect it to be a closer vote on the day than the bookies are currently pricing in, and recent polls suggest as much. Our stance is still to expect Sterling to weaken as we approach June 23rd, even if an outright Out vote would ultimately be a surprise.

What others have failed to spot on the horizon is a repayment of €4.3 billion by Greece on July 20th. Now, it’s pure guesswork on our part, but we would have a stab at saying that the full amount won’t be there on that date. Angela Merkel, however, promised her voters in 2010 that every single Euro that was lent to Greece would be repaid. The IMF would like her to be lenient, but a stand-off and an all familiar bout of doubt could well ensue. The markets are unlikely to see a resumption of the Greek situation within Europe as a good thing, but what if this situation arises less than a month after the UK has voted to leave the EU? Speculation, indeed, but as investors we have to try to foresee problems ahead. Consequently, we will not be chasing the rally that has occurred since February 11th and will wait patiently for a more attractive point in which to join any upward market momentum.

Invest in Lippy:

One of the strangest theories that we have seen recently was put forward by BCA Research whereby they introduced us to a little known phenomena called “the lipstick effect”.

We mentioned last month that only a relatively small percentage of the population is actually benefiting to any great extent from the apparently healthy economic figures that are being bandied about. Since 2008, according to official figures, real GDP per head

in both the US and the UK is up around 10%, but if we look at the median income – what the “average” person is experiencing – we see that these are down some 10% in the same period. The average person believes more in what they themselves are experiencing in reality rather than figures that are fed to them by some central body. As we said before, this is one of the reasons that the electorate has continued to surprise and confound those who are not so connected to “real” life.

Strangely, periods of stagnant or falling standards of living are historically accompanied by a booming demand for beauty products. Between the 1930 and 1933 Great Depression in Germany, Beiersdorf the cosmetics manufacturer did not have to lay off a single worker. The same was true in the US, in Japan throughout the past 25 years and most recently in Europe where the Continent’s largest cosmetics company, L’Oreal, has seen a dramatic rise in sales and profits.

The lipstick effect appears to be alive and thriving on both sides of the Atlantic. Since 2008, GDP in the UK is up some 10%, yet sales of beauty products are up almost 50%. In the US, total payroll employment is up 10%, but employment in the beauty and cosmetics sector is up 50%. It is difficult as an investor to get pure exposure to the cosmetics sector, but if this phenomenon continues, as we would expect it to in these times of uncertainty, it may be worthwhile exploring just that little bit harder to see if you can tap in somehow. If you can find a lippy manufacturer that suits you, it may make for an attractive opportunity.

Sources-BCA Research-April 2016

The value of investments can fall as well as rise and past performance is not a guide to the future. The information contained within this document is for guidance only and is not a recommendation of any investment or a financial promotion

Brexit – It’s Not Whether We’re In Or Out That Will Cause Uncertainty:

PROFESSIONAL’S VIEW – MARCH 2016

We’d love a Pound (or a Euro for that matter) every time we heard or read the word “Brexit” in the next four months. Its’ coverage will be wider than Demis Roussos’s kaftan in the run- up to June 23rd and we don’t doubt that most people will be growing mighty weary of the in-out debate well before then. But we can’t ignore the impact that it may have on the equity, bond and currency markets connected to the UK as we move through Spring to Summer.

Probably the biggest cause of uncertainty will not be whether we stay in or leave, but rather the changing perception of the outcome as the date draws nearer. We’ve already had a clue as to what will happen to Sterling, as it fell sharply upon the announcement by Boris Johnson that he was joining the “out” camp. Of more interest to us however is the discrepancy that exists at the moment between what the polls say will be the outcome and what the bookies say.

Most people think that the bookies always get it right. That wasn’t necessarily the case in our General Election of last year as a Tory majority could be backed at 7-1 even on the day. Today, bookmakers have it as a near certainty that the UK will remain in the EU after June 23rd but if you look at the polls you see a much closer vote occurring. The polls didn’t cover themselves in glory leading up to the General Election, it’s fair to say, but over Brexit they are suggesting close to a 50/50 chance of coming out, which is a massive discrepancy. It doesn’t really matter at this stage who is right. It does matter from a short term investment perspective though that one of them is clearly wrong. Deciding which one will have a fundamental effect on UK portfolios as, if the bookies are right, the drop in Sterling is almost certainly overdone and certain stocks and sectors will benefit once the result comes through. If the polls are right though, this means that expectations of leaving will increase as polling day approaches, probably leading to further downward pressure on the Pound and seeing share prices in the companies and sectors that will be major beneficiaries of staying in, fall.

Either way, June 24th will bring clarity and we suspect that markets may respond positively whichever way the UK votes as most of the price volatility will have happened prior to the date itself. We may, of course, be wrong, but we’ll not be increasing our UK exposure in the run up to the referendum. We will however be ready to act quite quickly after the vote, whichever way it goes.

Pass The Petrol:

Our comment last month that the last time the world was shaping up as it is today was “just before World War 2, and before that just before World War 1” was greeted with some scepticism. Since then, China has unveiled some missiles on an island in the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan and Donald Trump has taken a huge step towards making it a straight fight for the White House with Hilary Clinton. Just saying….

Unforeseen Consequences of Negative Interest Rates:

With the Bank of Japan crossing into negative interest rate territory and speculation mounting that the ECB and other Central Banks may follow suit in the event of a worsening global economy, we have read something that we found interesting regarding possible outcomes from a move that we, and nearly everyone else, will be facing for the first time. We will continue to make our point that we are in, or entering, a deflationary era that is unfamiliar to policymakers, politicians, bankers and fund managers alike and as such there will be numerous errors made in expectations and assumptions as old models are found to be wanting in the new environment. Negative interest rates may be one such area.

Intuitively, negative interest rates suggest cheaper borrowing and a positive stimulus to the economy. This may not be the case. Strangely, negative interest rates could actually lead to the cost of borrowing increasing. How? Well, according to BCA Research, a bank has to respond to a negative interest rate policy in one of three ways.

One of these is to increase their margins by raising the cost to borrowers. This, then, would have the effect of tightening credit when the intention from the central bank was exactly the opposite.

If the negative rate was to be passed on to depositors, this would encourage capital flight and thus put the bank’s solvency in jeopardy. If it took the hit on both lending and saving rates this would again adversely affect its own profitability and, ultimately, solvency. We saw in February a sell off in bank stocks as this state of affairs raised its head for the first time.

It is pretty clear that any one of these three outcomes is negative for the wider economy and adds fuel to our argument that this time around, if there is a crisis, the Central Banks’ armoury is empty.

A Quite Brilliant Analogy:

Linked to the idea that we are in a different era today in which yesterday’s rules don’t work, we tip our hat to Dhaval Joshi (Managing Editor at BCA Research) for this superb analogy as to why it is a mistake for policymakers such as our own Bank of England to put a numerical target on the inflation rate that they are trying to hit. Their stated inflation target is 2%. Unsurprisingly, they are way off hitting it on a constant basis. Why? Well, according to Joshi, it’s akin to trying to arrive at Heathrow Airport at precisely 8 a.m. in a weekday from North London.

Leave home at any time up to 7 a.m. and the journey to the airport is a smooth, constant forty minutes. Leave after 7 a.m. and the journey time doubles, due to bus lanes coming into force and the general rush hour surge. “This non-linearity creates a perverse effect. It is mathematically impossible to arrive at Heathrow at precisely 8 a.m.”

If you leave before 7 a.m. you will arrive early. If you leave after 7 a.m. you will be late. There is no time that you can leave so as to arrive bang on 8 a.m. But this doesn’t stop people trying with the resulting increase in dangerous driving, rising stress levels and increased physical risk.

So it is with a 2% inflation target in a deflationary world. Central Banks are pursuing an unobtainable quest and, as we see through the introduction of negative interest rates, the unintended consequences of their linear approach could turn out to be quite damaging. Better that they target a range, if they need to target at all.

As we’ve seen in countless situations since the Financial Crisis though, if we are waiting for policymakers to act in anticipation of an event then we may have to wait a long time. Their normal course of action is to wait for a crisis, and then respond. We’re not sure exactly what the next crisis will be, but a next crisis will surely happen as the world crawls out of the mess that it got itself in nearly a decade ago.

If It looks Like A Bear, Sounds Like A Bear, and Feels Like a Bear…:

PROFESSIONAL’S VIEW – FEBRUARY 2016

Last month we wrote the following: “In our opinion, a market correction is a near certainty in 2016. It’s just a question of when, and by how much. And will a correction turn into a full blown bear market? We’re certainly due one.”

Silly us. The graph below clearly shows that we’re already in one.

For some reason others are in denial, clutching on to various definitions of a bear market that insist upon the 20% fall in a market occurring within a two month period, and so on. To us that’s a bit like looking up as a half-ton bag of sand is about to land on you and discussing whether it’s come from Travis Perkins or Jewson. Best take evasive action first – detail can be analysed later. If the highs are consistently higher, and the lows are consistently lower, there’s only one direction that is dominant and you’re not going to be very thankful if you are invested in a FTSE tracker. Yes, it will be cheap, but it will just be a cheap way of losing money, until the bear turns of course. The crucial question, therefore, is when will this be?

This is where the hindsight fund would come in useful as we could be invested in it with 100% of our assets. Sadly, it doesn’t exist. We will only know that a bear has turned into a bull after approximately the same length of time as it has taken for the graph above to identify the current bear. In other words, the highs will need to get higher and the lows will need to get higher too. It feels a bit of a way off just yet. Let’s look at some of the obstacles in the road ahead.

It is worth stressing here that one sees obstacles in the way by looking forward and not by being fixated by data that is backward looking – Janet Yellen take note. We said at the time that we considered the interest rate rise in the US last December to be a mistake as leading indicators were pointing to a slowdown approaching. It hasn’t taken long for this to be becoming clear.

China, Deflation, Global Slowdown, Geopolitics, Cyber Crime etc etc:

That’s quite an impressive line-up of potential headwinds. It’s not all bad though. On a positive note, the evenings are getting lighter.

We can see from the graph that there are regular rallies in which opportunities exist to make some money, but sentiment is a powerful adversary. Of the two problems listed above, deflation and geopolitics would be the most significant as a longer term threat. China, the global slowdown and cybercrime could, to varying degrees, be seen as more temporary and controllable risks. Having said this, each is inter-related to the other to some extent.

“The Last Time It Was Like This? Just Before WW2. And Before That? Just Before WW1”:

This cheery observation was made by BCA’s Geopolitical Editor, Marko Papic and refers to the state of multipolarity that exists in the world at the moment. For better or worse, the USA has been the global hegemon (leading influence) in the last thirty or forty years, but now that Russia has rediscovered its nationalism and China has quickly emerged as the 2nd biggest economy in the world and the dominant hegemon in Asia, which has coincided with the US withdrawing from the Middle East, a power battle is developing which does not bode well for the stability of markets.

A currency war is virtually upon us already, with the Yuan, Yen, Dollar, Euro and Sterling all playing musical chairs and trying not to be the strongest when the music stops. At times of crisis, the Yen and Dollar are traditionally the currencies under which to shelter, but a strong currency in each case causes domestic problems that respective governments are desperate to avoid.

A strong Dollar usually goes hand in hand with weaker commodity prices and expensive debt repayments for the emerging markets, so these are two areas we continue to avoid. The fact that the Bank of Japan have just announced negative interest rates shows just how important a weak Yen is to their plans.

Junkie Markets

Last month we predicted that this year would be characterised by markets waking up to the fact that central banks were out of ammunition. True enough, markets responded in junkie fashion when the Bank of Japan gave them a short term hit of lower rates, but their rush is likely to be short lived. What happens when they want more next time and it’s not there? Cold turkey is an unpleasant medicine, apparently.

Hands Up If You’ve Lived In A Deflationary Era:

We didn’t expect to see any raised. China’s biggest export at the moment is deflation and the global economy doesn’t quite know how to handle it. More importantly, the world’s policymakers don’t really know what to do. We see this as probably the biggest threat in the coming months, as people can argue all they like about whether we’re headed for recession or not, or point to improving order books, but if those orders are being delivered at a reduced price because deflation determines that you can’t put your prices up, then your profits go down.

And if your profits go down, your share price goes down. And if too many share prices go down that makes a market and a slowing economy. And if your economy is slowing and your central bank can’t help you, a correction in prices and projections takes place. And that’s where we think we’re headed.

It’s not all doom and gloom as rallies can last for three to six months, allowing plenty of time to reposition and make some profits, but for now we’re going to play it safe and treat any rally with suspicion, preferring to play safe and let others play the “buying opportunity” game in the short term.

Sources: BCA Research – January 2015

Bring The Washing In Or Get The Sandbags Out?:

PROFESSIONAL’S VIEW – NOVEMBER 2015

There is an air of pessimism around at the moment which is proving hard to shift. It mostly centres around the mind-numbingly repetitive question of when the Fed (the US version of the Bank of England) is going to raise interest rates. A bit like the worst version of Bridezilla, if we keep on and on talking about it, when it actually happens it is likely to be a massive anti- climax the day after the event. What next? It will start all over again when the next time beckons for a serial divorcee Bridezilla. In our case, we know a rate rise is coming, but what will the effects be?

Or do we know a rate rise is coming at all? Janet Yellen (the Fed Chair) may yet be left at the altar for a number of reasons. And, like an ill-suited couple, should the rate rise occur when the economy is wrongly positioned, the combination won’t last long before a split inevitably happens. We all know the rain is coming, but do we just need to take the washing in or lay out the sandbags in defence of something more meaningful?

Why Would You Raise Rates?:

So what are the reasons for raising rates? There are no obvious ones. If the only reason is so that there is something to cut if you need to, then we should probably be worried about the state of the global economy. If it is perceived that things are due to get worse, so much worse that an interest rate cut is the only solution, then we think it’s the sandbags that need readying.

It may be a fit of pique that the markets appear to be in control rather than the central bank policymakers. If this is the case, we should be prepared for the markets to be demanding new central bank policymakers before too long.

It certainly cannot be to slow an overheating economy. Every forward indicator is flashing amber at least, that the economy is doing a damned good job at slowing itself down, thank you very much. How many companies are shouting about taking on large numbers of new staff? None that we can think of.

Another key reason for raising rates is to keep a lid on inflation. We’re living in inflationary times. You’re kidding, right? After seven years of constant and extraordinary monetary easing pretty well across the globe, there has been absolutely no effect on inflationary expectations. In fact, it is quite the opposite. When QE first began there was many an economic sage who predicted that printing money was going to lead us all into a re-run of life under the Weimar Republic or Mugabe’s Mozambique. To be fair, that was what the rule books told us would happen. We forget that most economists, and the theories that they espouse, exist to justify what has happened rather than to predict with any pinpoint accuracy what will happen. When events fail to pan out as expected, a fair bit of head scratching ensues.

“People React To What They See, Not To What They Are Told”:

Ben Bernanke said this at the BCA Conference in New York in September, and it is very true. So we can be told as many times as we like that central banks can control inflation, but in reality the evidence is completely the contrary. Why else would Japan still be striving for a 2% inflation target after years of pouring trillions of Yen into the system, and why did the Governor of the Bank Of England spend more time writing to the Chancellor about why he’d missed the inflation target than my late Dad spent writing to Points of View? The oil price and wages are the main determinants of inflation – this is clear to see – and we expect the former to remain low and possibly go lower while we can’t see the latter putting upward pressure on the rate of inflation any time soon, especially against the backdrop of a slowing economy.

o any rate rise that does occur will, in our opinion, become viewed fairly quickly as a policy error, and so we hope that it does not happen. Added to this the almost inevitable effect of a consequential stronger Dollar (particularly if, as expected, the ECB and Bank of Japan – and probably the Bank of China too – trigger a further bout of QE themselves), which “will shave 45-90 basis points from annualised growth over the next two years” [BCA Research] and it is difficult to see any advantage to be gained by tightening. Remember, too, that a stronger Dollar will almost certainly mean more pain for the Emerging Markets, so we are avoiding any temptation to chase or anticipate a sustainable bounce in these, for the foreseeable future.

Markets Want To Believe In Central Banks:

In the absence of anything else, it is fair to say that markets (and individuals) want to believe that the central banks have some control over proceedings. It’s a bit like as a child, you wanted your parents to know everything and protect you from the Bogeyman. There is a profound disappointment if it comes to light that this is not so. As with treating kids, rare and meaningful rewards are received with more enthusiasm and are a better behavioural tool than constant provision of nice things that turns your wide-eyed and wondrous offspring into a spoiled brat. So it is with QE. After the first few times the excitement starts to wane and the question of what else can you give us gets harder to answer. This is where we seem to be approaching now.

The short term hit has worn off. In Daniel Kahnemann’s book Thinking, Fast and Slow he identifies that the human brain has developed two separate and independent decision-making faculties: a fast, rapid-response, associative way of thinking and a slow, measured, analytical way of thinking. Markets have been displaying these tendencies which go some way to explaining the similarity in movement over the Summers of 2014 and 2015. The short term response to QE, or the excitement of seeing rates kept on hold after it was expected that they would rise was followed by a more studious analysis that identified that the only reason QE was launched or rated could not rise was because the economy was, in fact, in a worse place than was originally thought. Having then taken a few months of steady realignment back to virtually the level that markets had risen from initially, the policymakers see cause to give us all a fillip in the form of further easing or lack of rate movement. This can only be repeated so many times before the markets become wary, distrustful and plain bored. The next fix is demanded. The trouble is, at the moment, no obvious fix exists.

But are things that bad? Not really. We’ve been in worse places and economies have been in worse shape. It seems to us that we will continue to drift….if markets go up, they become too expensive for what they reflect, but having fallen because they’re too expensive they then reach a level, particularly against the backdrop of sustainably low interest rates for cash, whereby they offer good value to investors and thus rise once more – until they get too expensive.

The main problem with this is that it cannot last for ever. At some point, markets will break out. We don’t know at this stage whether they will break out on the upside (let’s hope) or on the downside (let’s hope not). When they break out will depend upon a catalyst occurring, either negative or positive. At this moment it’s not clear what is the more likely. As a glass half full type, let’s have faith in our central bankers to do the right thing for all of us. So, please don’t raise rates, Ms Yellen.

Sources: BCA Research –October 2015

The importance of fact finding in financial planning

A fact-finding interview allows a dedicated financial planner to provide the best service possible to their clients.

Working together, fact-finding can provide an abundance of useful information which will identify key elements of a client’s life that can structure their future and help us to recognise how they can fulfil their life’s goals and ambitions.

One way that a financial planner will begin a fact-finding exercise is by sending the client a checklist to complete, ahead of a start-up discovery meeting. This will comprise of basic questions including questions about you, your family, your health, your plans for the future, along with details about any dependants you may have.

Always make sure to keep your options open as your financial planner will help you to prioritise your life according to your aspirations. So, if you have dreams that you think are unaffordable or unattainable, don’t rule them out as this is what your financial planner is there for… to help you achieve.

Here are some of the most important factors that your financial planner will need to know about you:

Health & lifestyle

Retirement is a key age to focus on your health. Inform your financial planner of your current health status, along with any previous issues and procedures you may have had.

This is extremely important as a previous diagnosis, may lead to a significant improvement in your pension income.

Assets

A customer must provide as much information as possible about their existing and previous assets, this includes; bank accounts, savings, shares, property and ISA’s. If you are unable to provide this yourself, or don’t know how to go about it, with your permission, your planner can contact the providers and seek that information themselves, in order to advise you appropriately.

Dependants

There has been a significant increase in the amount of people who reach retirement and then dedicate their time to looking after both elderly and younger relatives. If this relates to you then you must let your financial planner know, also informing them if you would like plans to be made to secure your relatives’ financial future, as well as your own.

Your financial planner will then make changes according to your requests; this could be things such as saving to pay for a younger relative’s wedding or an older relative’s care costs.

Liabilities

If you are going into retirement with outstanding debts, credit card bills and interests on loans which must be paid then it’s important to inform your financial planner, as they are able to help you with debt repayment strategies.

Pensions

When meeting with your financial planner, provide as much information as possible about your current employer schemes and any preserved benefits. Bring as much evidence as possible about your current expenditure such as annual statements.

Your state pension, along with any existing pension schemes you may have are an important part of your retirement income, so always remember to inform your financial planner of these, no matter how small you think the income will be… you may be surprised.

Income and expenditure

Your spending habits will most likely change during retirement. Rather than your income being used on commuting and work clothes, it’s more likely to be used on club memberships or holiday funds. You may wish to receive different incomes over different periods of your retirement. For example, you may want to work part-time and have your pension income just to top it up, until a more substantial employer pension scheme then comes into payment.

Overall your financial planner must have a solid understanding of how much ‘essential income’ you need as a minimum per month, along with how much ‘lifestyle income’ you would like. You must always make sure your lifestyle income reflects the life you want to lead.

Investing For Tomorrow host HRLFC networking lunch with rugby legend

We’ve teamed up with The Halifax Rugby League Football Club to sponsor their ‘Doing the Business’ Networking Club on 22nd June 2017.

Held at the Shay Stadium, the event will welcome former New Zealand rugby player, Robbie Hunter-Paul who also captained Bradford Bulls in 1996 and became the fourth player ever to achieve what was a Challenge Cup final record of three tries.

As the main sponsors of the event, we’re inviting fellow Calderdale businesses to enjoy an afternoon of networking and refreshments, in the company of one of the greatest Rugby League players in history. Robbie Hunter Paul, who is now the managing director at TXM Sports and an ambassador for Bedzrus Ltd, will be giving a presentation about his career at the event.

Demand for places is expected to be high, as guests are invited to experience first-hand the benefits associated with becoming a business supporter of Halifax Rugby League Football Club.

Commenting on the event, managing partner and founder of Investing For Tomorrow, Laurence Turner said:

“It is an absolute honour to support Halifax Rugby League, the club is a bedrock of the local community and Investing For Tomorrow is determined to be a positive local contributor wherever we can. Our whole ethos is to release people’s potential to make the most of life and Robbie and all those who make the club thrive are great examples of people who take life by the scruff of the neck.”

CEO at Halifax Rugby League Football Club, Mark Moore said:

“We’re incredibly pleased to have Investing For Tomorrow as the main sponsor to our second Business Networking Event. This provides Halifax Rugby Club and Investing For Tomorrow with the opportunity to reach out to local businesses, forming relationships in order to mutually help expand our working opportunities. Investing For Tomorrow has been a key sponsor this season which the club are very grateful for.”

Attendance on the day is free, but by invitation only. To receive an invitation send an email to markmoore@halifaxrlfc.co.uk asap.

Investing For Tomorrow celebrates HRLFC’s 1987 winning ‘band of renegades’

On 1st July we will welcome the town’s 1987 champion rugby league team to The Shay stadium, 30 years after their victory at the Challenge Cup final at Wembley.

A weekend of celebrations for the Halifax Rugby League team will kick-off with a reunion dinner where fans and former players will be able to remember the triumphant side and their achievements from 1984 to 1988. Attendees at the event will enjoy a three-course dinner and entertainment with MC and comedian Lea Roberts, interviews with the squad and a raffle.

As the main sponsors of the event, we’re offering fans the opportunity to win two VIP tickets to the dinner, which will include a champagne reception and the opportunity to take photos with the Challenge Cup trophy and the reunited team.

The winners will also be invited to the HRLFC game against Bradford Bulls on 2nd July, including a full hospitality package, before and after the game.

In the space of five years, Halifax climbed out of the Second Division, won the First Division championship, reached a Premiership final and won the Challenge Cup final. The unexpected success of the club and their lively spirit, lead to the team being dubbed a winning ‘band of renegades’.

Commenting on the reunion weekend, our managing partner of Investing For Tomorrow, Laurence Turner said:

“It is an absolute honour to be able to support the Halifax Rugby League team, both past and future players. The reunion weekend will allow fans to remember all that has been accomplished by the club over the years and will also be a great opportunity for us to look forward to the future. As a local business, we’re passionate about being at the centre of the community and determined to be a positive local contributor wherever we can.”

Marketing manager at Halifax Rugby League Football Club, Rick Farrell said:

“We’re incredibly pleased to have Investing For Tomorrow as the main sponsor to our reunion weekend. This provides Halifax Rugby Club and Investing For Tomorrow with the opportunity to work together to put on a fantastic weekend for HRLFC’s fans. The club is incredibly important to the local community and I think it’s therefore imperative that we recognise the club’s 30-year anniversary. Investing For Tomorrow has been a key sponsor this season, which the club are very grateful for.”

For a chance to win the two VIP tickets, fans can send their memories of the day Halifax lifted their fifth Challenge Cup trophy, including 200 words and images to info@iftwm.com, using the subject line ’87 Memories’ by 26th June 2017. The winner will be announced shortly afterwards.

Halifax RLFC Reunion Dinner contest winner announced!

We were the proud sponsors of Halifax Rugby League Football Club’s 1987’s team Reunion Dinner, which took place at the Shay Stadium on Saturday 1st July.

We held a competition in partnership with Halifax RLFC, giving away two VIP tickets to two lucky fans. We’d like to say congratulations to Sharon Oliver who won the VIP Gold Seats, for the sold out 87 Reunion Dinner plus a VIP dining package for the Bradford Bulls match the following day. Sharon and her partner were given the opportunity to join the former players at an evening event which included a three-course meal and a meet and greet afterwards.

VIP ticket holder and contest winner Sharon Oliver commented:

‘I’m incredibly pleased to have been given this amazing opportunity. My husband has been a fan of Halifax RLFC since he was 10 years old; he went to all the games with his father. It was a struggle to be able to listen to the challenge cup final all those years ago, being in America, so I feel like this is a chance to relive the excitement from 1987! I was nervous but very excited to meet all the players!”

As the competition sponsor, Investing For Tomorrow selected the lucky winner; have a read of Sharon’s inspiring entry:

“Imagine a time before the Internet, Whatsapp, Twitter or Facebook. There were almost no Personal computers, no IPads, mobile phones were the size of bricks and email was for the few in the know. Imagine being a lifelong Fax Fan and working in North Carolina USA (Brit newspapers taking a week to arrive) and what happens?

“Your team makes it to the Challenge Cup Final for the first time in living memory. You can’t afford to fly back to London, what on earth are you going to do?

“That’s exactly what happened to my husband – then a twenty-something fan of 15+ years and marooned for two years thousands of miles away in the land of gridiron.

“By chance, I was in the dentist who happened to be British and was telling her this story and amazingly she said she had a long range radio we could borrow. So that’s how we listened to the match (no TV), in our condo with a very crackly signal. It was so exciting and I was so glad we’d managed to experience it albeit all those miles away. The next year we were back in the UK, excitedly followed the ’88 Fax to Wembley and … lost, gutted!”

We are recruiting for a paraplanner

Investing For Tomorrow is a growing practice, extraordinarily engaged in the Halifax and Huddersfield community serving a very wide range of clients. The practice thrives on living its brand, ensuring clients make the most of their assets to enjoy today, and prepare for their future.

The practice is growing and therefore we need to grow the team, the next addition is an experienced para planner who wants to be in at the early stages of something great. Rewards will be good and will grow as the practice does.

Right now the practice is after experience before qualification, help will be very forthcoming for those who want to reach their potential in terms of qualified status, someone who has ‘been there and done it’ will be a best fit for this vacancy.

Attitude needed:

Committed

Hard working

Detail obsessed and determined to be excellent

Experience needed:

A wide range of financial systems including;

O&M Profiler, Selectapension, Adviser Asset, FE Analytics and the Synaptic Research tool.

Overall:

Put simply the successful candidate will need to write exceptionally competent reports analysing the finances of our clients and making the best recommendations to our advisor team.

Apply to: Investing for Tomorrow recruitment@iftwm.com

We’ve teamed up with See It Now Sports to deliver an exciting event for business professionals this autumn.

Our VIP Race Day will take place at the home of the Grand National, Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool on Saturday 11th November 2017.

We’re inviting fellow professionals and business owners to enjoy a day of national hunt racing action with a three-course buffet lunch, executive travel, waitress service, a racecard, private tables and informal networking.

The Investing For Tomorrow team will be in attendance on the day and look forward to welcoming some friendly and new faces to a fun-filled day of horse racing action.

Demand for places is expected to be high and guests are invited to book tickets for the exciting event on the See It Now Sports website. Tickets are just £99 per person plus VAT.

call: 01422 349 131

email: info@iftwm.com

Author: master-admin