Latest news with #EvelynPartners
Zawya
6 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Dollar rides Treasury yields higher as Trump's tariffs begin to bite
SINGAPORE: The U.S. dollar rose alongside Treasury yields on Wednesday, which in turn kept pressure on the yen after the latest U.S. inflation report showed signs that President Donald Trump's tariffs were beginning to feed into prices. Rising prices on goods as varied as coffee, audio equipment and home furnishing pulled the inflation rate higher in June, with substantial increases in prices of the heavily imported items. That pushed the dollar and bond yields higher as investors pared back expectations of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year. The jump in the dollar was most apparent against the yen, as it knocked the Japanese currency to a four-month low of 149.03 overnight. The dollar last traded at 148.90 yen. The euro and sterling similarly languished near three-week lows hit in the previous session, and last bought $1.1608 and $1.3394, respectively. The tick up in U.S. prices of core goods "could be a sign that we're starting to see some inflationary pressure from tariffs creeping in" though it is too soon to tell "definitively", said Nathaniel Casey, investment strategist at Evelyn Partners. "While this inflation report isn't especially alarming, the tick up in core goods, and the continued uncertainty around future tariff rates could still make the Federal Reserve and (Chair Jerome) Powell hesitant to want to cut rates," said Casey. Traders are now pricing in roughly 43 basis points worth of Fed easing by December, down from just above 50 bps at the start of the week. U.S. Treasury yields stayed elevated on Wednesday, with the benchmark 10-year yield scaling a one-month top of 4.4950%. The two-year yield steadied at 3.9503%, having risen about 6 bps in the previous session. That kept the U.S. dollar supported against a basket of currencies, as it hovered near a one-month high at 98.60. Elsewhere, the Australian dollar edged 0.02% higher to $0.6517 after falling 0.45% on Tuesday. The New Zealand dollar rose 0.17% to $0.5955. Also weighing on investors' minds was the prospect that Powell's eventual successor could be someone more inclined to lower interest rates, potentially fuelling price rises. Trump has railed against Powell for months for not easing and repeatedly urged him to resign. On Tuesday, Trump said cost overruns on a $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed's Washington headquarters could amount to a firing offence. "The additional unwanted attention on Powell has given some credence to the notion that we could see his early departure and an early nomination from Trump," said Molly Schwartz, cross-asset macro strategist at Rabobank. In trade, Trump on Tuesday said the U.S. would impose a 19% tariff on goods from Indonesia under an agreement with the Southeast Asian country and that more deals were in the works. He also said letters notifying smaller countries of tariff rates would be sent soon, and that his administration would likely set a tariff of "a little over 10%" for those countries. (Reporting by Rae Wee; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Dollar rides Treasury yields higher as Trump's tariffs begin to bite
By Rae Wee SINGAPORE (Reuters) -The U.S. dollar rose alongside Treasury yields on Wednesday, which in turn kept pressure on the yen after the latest U.S. inflation report showed signs that President Donald Trump's tariffs were beginning to feed into prices. Rising prices on goods as varied as coffee, audio equipment and home furnishing pulled the inflation rate higher in June, with substantial increases in prices of the heavily imported items. That pushed the dollar and bond yields higher as investors pared back expectations of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year. The jump in the dollar was most apparent against the yen, as it knocked the Japanese currency to a four-month low of 149.03 overnight. The dollar last traded at 148.90 yen. The euro and sterling similarly languished near three-week lows hit in the previous session, and last bought $1.1608 and $1.3394, respectively. The tick up in U.S. prices of core goods "could be a sign that we're starting to see some inflationary pressure from tariffs creeping in" though it is too soon to tell "definitively", said Nathaniel Casey, investment strategist at Evelyn Partners. "While this inflation report isn't especially alarming, the tick up in core goods, and the continued uncertainty around future tariff rates could still make the Federal Reserve and (Chair Jerome) Powell hesitant to want to cut rates," said Casey. Traders are now pricing in roughly 43 basis points worth of Fed easing by December, down from just above 50 bps at the start of the week. U.S. Treasury yields stayed elevated on Wednesday, with the benchmark 10-year yield scaling a one-month top of 4.4950%. The two-year yield steadied at 3.9503%, having risen about 6 bps in the previous session. That kept the U.S. dollar supported against a basket of currencies, as it hovered near a one-month high at 98.60. Elsewhere, the Australian dollar edged 0.02% higher to $0.6517 after falling 0.45% on Tuesday. The New Zealand dollar rose 0.17% to $0.5955. Also weighing on investors' minds was the prospect that Powell's eventual successor could be someone more inclined to lower interest rates, potentially fuelling price rises. Trump has railed against Powell for months for not easing and repeatedly urged him to resign. On Tuesday, Trump said cost overruns on a $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed's Washington headquarters could amount to a firing offence. "The additional unwanted attention on Powell has given some credence to the notion that we could see his early departure and an early nomination from Trump," said Molly Schwartz, cross-asset macro strategist at Rabobank. In trade, Trump on Tuesday said the U.S. would impose a 19% tariff on goods from Indonesia under an agreement with the Southeast Asian country and that more deals were in the works. He also said letters notifying smaller countries of tariff rates would be sent soon, and that his administration would likely set a tariff of "a little over 10%" for those countries. Sign in to access your portfolio
Telegraph
13-07-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
‘I'm paying thousands of pounds to protect my children from inheritance tax'
Paul Hiatt is spending hundreds of pounds a year on life insurance to protect his children's inheritance from falling into the clutches of Rachel Reeves. Hiatt first took out a policy eight years ago, but was forced to take another deal out shortly after the October Budget, Labour's first in 14 years. 'Our pensions are now a cash cow for the Chancellor,' he says. He is one of thousands of families across Britain attempting to shield their hard-earned money and mitigate a large inheritance tax bill. Financial advisers say life insurance policies designed to pay off tax bills were traditionally seen as a 'last resort or sticking plaster' due to expensive premiums. However, Labour's premiership has 'triggered a renewed surge in interest', says David Little, of financial planner Evelyn Partners. Some policies are specifically designed to meet death duties that may be due on gifts under the 'seven-year rule' (see more, below), while others simply pay out a cash amount that can be used as the family sees fit. So, should you follow suit and take evasive action now, parting with large sums of cash today to potentially avoid larger sums in the future? How life insurance can reduce your bill From April 2027, private pensions will become part of a person's estate and therefore be liable for inheritance tax. This will add substantially to the amount of inheritance tax HMRC collects. Reeves also targeted family businesses and farmers. Inheritance tax will be charged on 50pc of the value of business or agricultural assets above £1m from April 2026. Hiatt, who lives in rural Warwickshire, spent 46 years working in the water industry as a project manager and retired nearly three years ago. The 67-year-old has one life insurance policy with Scottish Widows, costing £500 a year, and one with Vitality Life, costing £717.24 annually. They are 'term' policies, meaning a lump sum is only paid to his beneficiaries if he dies before his 90th birthday, and each payout is fixed at £50,000. He wants to leave his estate to his two children, who are 24 and 30. If a life insurance policy is written into a trust, it is counted as outside of a person's estate, and the lump sum can then be used to pay an inheritance tax bill. Sometimes this is done automatically, but in other cases, it is up to whoever takes out the policy to make sure it is written into trust. Millions of pounds a year are needlessly handed over to HMRC in extra inheritance tax because this simple decision has not been taken. Premiums vary depending on your age and other factors, such as whether you smoke. As the chances of dying sooner are far greater, policies for over-65s are usually significantly more expensive than for younger customers. The average inheritance tax bill paid by estates has increased from £199,000 to £243,000, according to LifeSearch, a broker. It said a 60-year-old non-smoker can expect to pay £431 a month for whole of life cover of £300,000. For an 80-year-old, this soars to £1,413 a month. On the other end of the scale, a 30-year-old buying a whole life policy would currently pay around £9.39 a month, with a £10,000 payout. If a 30-year-old wants a policy that will pay out £100,000, it will cost £54.20 a month with Legal and General, at today's rates. Sales of whole of life cover, also known as life assurance, have increased more than threefold since last autumn, says insurance broker Justin Harper. Harper, of LifeSearch, says: 'We have seen a noticeable rise in the number of whole of life policies being taken out specifically to address inheritance tax planning, driven by both adviser recommendations and customer-initiated enquiries. A fixed amount of cover or cover that rises with inflation are available, Harper explains. The latter might be chosen as the potential tax liability is likely to increase over time. If you are younger and planning ahead, term insurance can be 'more cost-effective in the short term'. However, Katie Ridland, of wealth manager St James's Place, advises clients to opt for whole of life policies because 'you can't plan the date of your death'. Both policies mean your family does not have to wait for probate, the money is released quickly and allows them to pay inheritance tax without delay. 'The best day to take out life insurance was yesterday,' adds Ridland. 'It's the two inevitable things that people don't want to talk about – death and taxes – but we need to talk about protection from an early age.' After the Budget left him 'gobsmacked', Hiatt also decided to give money away to his children. Unlimited sums of money can be given away without being liable for inheritance tax if they are made out of income, are part of normal expenditure and leave the donor enough money to maintain a normal standard of living (see more on the valuable unlimited gifting rule here). The donor must live for seven years after giving the money to avoid a tax bill if they are leaving behind more than the tax-free allowance. 'I've got a substantial amount in a defined contribution pension pot, and I have also benefited from a final salary benefit scheme as well, so I count myself very lucky,' Hiatt says, 'but the Budget certainly put the cat among the pigeons. I'm really disappointed.' Families can also use an insurance policy to protect these gifts from inheritance tax. A gift inter vivos insurance can be used to shield a loved one from paying the levy on money or assets if you pass away within seven years of gifting. Tony Müdd of St James's Place says this is growing in popularity and is a 'simple and effective solution' to covering unexpected tax liabilities. 'Better ways of saving inheritance tax' However, life insurance policies are 'by no means a silver bullet', Evelyn Partners' Little says. Mike Warburton, The Telegraph's tax expert, warns they are only 'appropriate in the right circumstances'. He adds: 'I am not keen on whole life policies, which are expensive and do not reduce the overall tax burden. In my view, there are better ways of saving inheritance tax.' Savers can put other assets into trusts to protect them from death duties, as well as giving money out of surplus income, as explained above. Warburton says there is a risk that elderly people will enter into a commitment to make regular premiums and 'subsequently run into a problem if they have expensive care needs.' Little says: 'Whole of life insurance plans were seen somewhat as a last resort, or a sticking plaster until financial planning evolved. This was mainly due to the cost of the premiums, which can be very expensive, especially if health concerns are present. 'However, the October Budget introduced pensions into the estate calculation from 2027, triggering a renewed surge in interest from clients in these policies. When written in trust, they can provide a tax-free lump sum for children or other beneficiaries outside of probate, enabling the inheritance tax liability to be cleared, leaving the other assets intact and ready to be inherited. 'That's said, they are by no means a silver bullet. It is important that the expected total premium payable is weighed against the sum assured and life expectancy of the client.'
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rachel Reeves could scrap 'most hated tax' with UK households set to benefit
Rachel Reeves has been urged to scrap the "most hated tax'" on pensions as UK households face a raid. Pension savings are set to become liable for inheritance tax by April 2027 under a Labour Party shake-up. O n the death of the business owner the inheritance tax bill will have to be settled by the pension scheme, not from the overall estate. So the pension scheme will have to find some way to get cash from the assets in the pension. This could force a sale of premises or plants. Gary Smith, financial planning partner at Evelyn Partners, warned: "This could be a serious problem for thousands of small and medium-sized businesses, one that is currently flying under the radar, probably because it's not widely understood." READ MORE: HMRC giving UK households increased tax-free personal allowance of £15,640 READ MORE: State pensioners with more than £35,000 to their name set for bonus from DWP READ MORE Next UK heatwave set to be 'even hotter than expected' and will start within days Owners and directors who don't take advice or make preparations could fall foul of the new IHT charge, with the end result in some cases that their businesses are liquidated and jobs lost," Smith added. He described a retired client who owns commercial property worth £1.2million in their pension, generating £100,000 annual rent from their business tenant. "So what happens then? Will the pension scheme be able to borrow money to pay the tax bill, or will the business have to borrow money to buy the property, at high interest rates, and put cash in the pension scheme instead?" Smith asked. Tom Selby, AJ Bell's director of public policy, urged the Chancellor to reconsider, warning the proposals create "huge complexity" and could discourage pension saving altogether. He said: "'IHT is often described as the most hated tax and this data backs that up. Proposals to subject unused pensions funds to IHT on death are the most widely opposed of all the tax raising measures announced so far. 'It's not hard to see why individuals object to widening out the net of inheritance tax to catch pensions, perhaps resenting that their loved ones may be asked to pay tax twice on inherited pension funds – once through inheritance tax, and again via income tax. 'This potential double whammy of taxation will be seen as unfair by some, and could put off people saving in pensions in the first place or encourage others to run down pension pots, leaving themselves with little to live on in later years."
Times
07-07-2025
- Business
- Times
Inheritance tax on pensions could destroy thousands of family businesses
Thousands of family firms face being wiped out by a little-understood tweak to inheritance tax rules, experts say. The move by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to charge death tax on pensions could force the liquidation of businesses, jeopardising jobs and the broader economy, according to the wealth manager Evelyn Partners. It said that about 15,000 businesses are at risk. From April 2027 unspent pension assets will be subject to inheritance tax and, crucially, pension schemes will have to settle their share of the tax bill within six months of the pension holder's death. This shift, which was revealed in the autumn budget, will hit business owners who have held commercial property — such as company premises, workshops or machinery — within their self-invested personal pensions (Sipps) or small self-administered schemes. What's the problem? Holding company assets within pensions has been widely recommended for years, allowing business owners to draw rental income from their property in retirement. These pension assets can then be left to beneficiaries tax-free, passing on the operational reins of the company to the next generation and ensuring the continuity of the family enterprise. However, this once-sensible succession planning is now poised to become a fiscal nightmare. Gary Smith from Evelyn Partners said: 'It could be a serious problem for thousands of small and medium-sized businesses that are flying under the radar, probably because it's not widely understood. 'Together with the host of tax and cost pressures on entrepreneurs and family businesses at the moment, owners and directors who don't take advice or make preparations could fall foul of the new inheritance tax charge — with the end result in some cases that their businesses are liquidated and jobs lost.' It's about liquidity The most immediate danger that the inheritance tax changes could pose stems from the illiquid nature of commercial property. Selling a building or piece of machinery that is held within a pension could take months or years, unlike cash or shares which can be sold or moved instantly. Under the government's proposals, a pension scheme (not the wider estate where other cash may be available) would have to settle an inheritance tax bill within HM Revenue & Customs' six-month deadline. 'On the death of the business owner, the firm could face the prospect of a disruptive fire sale of their premises to meet a tax bill that could even jeopardise the survival of the firm,' Smith said. • Failure to meet the deadline would trigger interest charges and penalties from HMRC, adding to the the financial strain on grieving families and vulnerable businesses. What are the rules? The inheritance tax rules allow you to pass on £325,000 of your estate inheritance tax-free. You can get an extra £175,000 allowance if your estate is worth less than £2 million and you leave your main home to direct descendants, such as children or grandchildren. This gives you a potential £500,000 tax-free allowance. Anything left to a spouse or civil partner is tax-free and they can also inherit one another's unused allowances, allowing a couple to pass on up to £1 million tax-free. Anything above these thresholds can be subject to 40 per cent tax. Any unused part of a pension, including property, is also exempt from inheritance tax — until April 2027. After that date, companies will face big tax bills and could find their ways to pay limited, given the immovable nature of commercial property. One option would be a fire sale of illiquid assets — potentially taking financial hits because of the need to settle up quickly. Another option would be for the pension holder to build up cash reserves in their fund to mitigate tax bills after their death. This could, however, inflate the value of the pension and, therefore, the potential inheritance tax bill. Double blow Another change is in the pipeline that will also make it harder to pass on a family firm. Business relief tax exemption, which at the moment gives qualifying business interests 100 per cent exemption from inheritance tax, will be cut in April so that only the first £1 million of such assets will get full relief. Any value above that will get 50 per cent relief. A £5 million family business would be fully exempt from inheritance tax under today's rules, but from April, £4 million of that value would get partial relief, leaving £2 million exposed to a 40 per cent tax rate. • Inheritance tax brings in record £8.2 billion for HMRC Smith said: 'The pending inheritance tax on pensions rule change is just one more blow to entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized businesses, coming alongside the new cap on business relief, higher capital gains tax, employer national insurance hikes, a big jump in the minimum wage and the new employee rights legislation. 'It's not just about the impact on business owners' retirement plans but about the threat to jobs and investment and the harm this will cause to entrepreneurship.' 'This will drive a bus through my life's work' One businessman based in the north of England started up a small self-administered pension scheme in 1993. His logistics company was growing, he was looking to buy up nearby land, and his adviser recommended putting it into a pension. 'They said, look, you are a growing business, why don't you set up a pension fund and start making contributions and then you can get to a point where you can buy the land next door in a tax-efficient way,' explained the company boss, 66, who now gets a pension from the scheme. He bought the first property through the fund in 2000, and it expanded to hold five worth a total of about £20 million. They include the main two facilities that his logistics company operates in, which pay rent back to the fund, and three rented by other businesses. • How to give money to your family without sparking a big tax bill Buying property through a pension fund has several tax advantages: no tax is paid on rental income paid to the fund by tenants of the properties it holds and they are also free from capital gains tax if sold. It also meant that the boss's two children, who are trustees and beneficiaries of the fund, could inherit the fund tax-free. But then came the change to inheritance tax rules, which means that if he and his wife die after April 2027, their children would have to find £9 million within six months to settle the tax bill. With most of the fund tied up in property, this could mean the children having to quickly sell the business premises. 'It'll have to be a fire sale, meaning we probably won't get good value on the sale, and selling these facilities will damage the family business, potentially irreparably,' he said. 'Rachel Reeves is driving a bus right through my life's work with these changes.'
