EQi

Thousands of teenagers found themselves cash rich when the first Child Trust Funds (CTF) matured in September.

Despite the last two months or so being one of the most tumultuous in history for the stock markets, EQi investors are actually feeling fairly confident.

To help those whose finances have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis, the government have temporarily reduced the Lifetime ISA withdrawal penalty charge to 20%, between 6 March 2020 and 5 April 2021.

The Bank of England announced an unexpected interest rate cut of 50 basis points down to 0.25 per cent, driven by the effects of the coronavirus epidemic.

Most of us will be aware that first-time buyers are getting older, with the average now 34-years-old, compared to just 26-years in 1997. As well as whopping deposits to save for, the under 40s also need to put money aside for retirement, which means that there is a financial mountain to climb.

What does LISA stand for? The Lifetime ISA – it’s new. What’s the big appeal? The government will add a 25% bonus to what you invest, up to £1,000 a year on your maximum £4,000 investable allowance until you are 50. Can anyone open a LISA? No, you must be aged 18–39.

The MiFID II regulation has a strong focus on consumer protection and ensuring that customers are sold the right products for their needs. This means that any organisation that helps to facilitate your investments has to ensure that they are MiFID II compliant.

The MiFID II regulation has a strong focus on consumer protection and ensuring that customers are sold the right products for their needs. This means that before enabling you to buy an investment, MiFID II requires the distributer to undertake actions regarding identifying a target market for the investment.

Investors can get caught on the hoof when a company decides to slash its dividends but the signs are often there for months before the cut is made. It is why research matters as disruption to a company’s business or industry will also signal that its share price as well as its dividend will fall, which can be a double blow.

Look at any graph tracking stock market growth over the last 150 years and it’s clear that market turbulence is the norm. Whilst patience is key to investing, if the outlook does seem volatile there are still steps you can take to protect your portfolio.

Over the past week increased turbulence on global stock markets has led many market commentators to ruminate on the possibility that the decade plus long bull run will soon come to an end.

2019 has been difficult for those who invest for income, with much publicised dividend cuts at Vodafone and Royal Mail. Now Centrica has followed suit, slashing its dividend from 3.6p in 2018 to 1.5p this year.

The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) II came into effect on 3 January 2018 and delivered some significant changes to investing regulations in the UK.