As a part of the promotion of ‘The Dream Retirement’, Charlie appeared on BBC Radio Solent, where he helped several listeners with their retirement problems. Listen to the full radio show here.

Charlie’s book, ‘The Dream Retirement’, has also been featured in the Huffington Post by the ‘Green Goddess’ herself, Diana Moran. Read it here.

Life Mag,11th September 2015

Rutland Times, 12th September 2015
Newcastle Journal- 3rd October 2015- click the link below to download your own copy.

Newcastle Journal

Part 2

At the time of writing this article, the UK feels like it’s hanging by a rather precarious thread. We are experiencing extreme uncertainty over our economy, our laws and our futures. Will we leave the EU with no deal? Will we reach a mutually beneficial agreement? Or will we actually end up staying and trying to surreptitiously sweep the whole sorry mess under the rug?

At the time of reading, you may be able to answer these questions for me, but I’m confident that the feeling of unease will still have us in its grip. And nothing quite sparks so many feelings of discontent than when your money, ergo your future security, might be at risk.

Whenever something like Brexit happens, there is always a significant risk to your investments. Any political shifts, disruptions, or sometimes even simple changes, have historically sent shockwaves through the financial markets, leading to volatility, unrest and, in some extreme cases, crashes. This impact is compounded if your investment portfolio has not been appropriately balanced to ride out the storm.

If you currently use a professional to manage your portfolio, I would hope that they are continually checking and adapting what you have in place, to ensure your money is performing as well as it can and making sure that you are not taking too much risk.

But what if this isn’t the case: what if you manage your money yourself, or if your current adviser is not providing you with what you need? If this is the case, you could end up taking far too much risk with your wealth, and your investments could be impacted so dramatically that your money could fall to a destructive level, all because of events like Brexit.

So, what should you be doing? We believe that the best way to protect yourself from political and economic turbulence, is to have a diversified portfolio. In the words of Nobel Prize winner Harry Markowitz, diversification is the only free lunch! And not just that: a diversified portfolio that is managed at a level of risk that you are comfortable with. Ultimately, just like the tides of the sea, markets will rise, and they will fall, but a diversified strategy can help you to shield yourself from the crashing waves.

The weather also hasn’t evaded turbulence of late, so a topical analogy for you: if you were to invest into an ice-cream company and an umbrella manufacturer, it’s likely you’ll make money in any British summer! None of us can see into the future and accurately predict what will happen with our investments (or even, possibly Brexit) but that doesn’t mean that you can’t put some measures in place to try to minimise any losses and reduce the amount of risk you take.

If you would like to discuss how you could optimise the diversification in your investments, want a second opinion on what you already have, or want to get your money working harder, so that it isn’t eroded by inflation, we would be delighted to introduce you to an expert. Our expert team have over four decades worth of experience with investments and have helped many clients through times like ‘The Credit Crunch’ and ‘The Technology Bubble’.

This follows the news that an open letter, signed by charities such as Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, the RSPB and the Quakers, has asked for specific guidance on whether they should invest in companies that contribute to dangerous climate change.

Last year, the National Trust was criticised for investing in a fund with holdings in fossil fuel companies, while the Church of England was shown to have ploughed funds into Wonga, despite having publicly criticised the payday lender.

Founder of Efficient Portfolio, Charlie Reading said: “For many, there is a fine line between personal-gain and contributing to the world around us. We all have our own needs, wants and hopes, and it’s often not viable to sacrifice our own wellbeing to help others, despite an urge to do so.

“This call from many charities brings up the issue of investments that align with your own values. We argue that this applies not only to big business and the charitable sector but the individual too.

“The question that needs to be asked is, should you invest in something that doesn’t align to ethics you agree with, even if it stands to make you significant amounts of return?”

Charlie suggests that although we are starting to pay heed to the warnings over global warming and are now fervently fighting to save our planet;being ‘green’ and socially responsible is becoming more than a fad: it’s becoming a way of life that is crucial to the future of our planet. This, he says, means that individuals’ financial planning is now starting to reflect this more and more.

He continued: “Most importantly, people are genuinely passionate about it. It’s not that we’ve suddenly learned compassion, it’s that we now have more opportunities to play an individual role in the battle to save our surroundings.

“Over the last few years, ethical investing, or ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance), has provided many with an opportunity to grow their own personal wealth whilst sustainably investing and acting with social responsibility. Ethical Investment incorporates environmental and social factors when selecting funds, but also aims to provide a competitive financial return.

“Whilst it would not be prudent to try and compare the returns from the ‘old stock’, such as tobacco, alcohol and arms, with the new ‘green kids on the block’, many experts are suggesting that Ethical Investing is on the brink of something big.

“It is important, however, to note that ethical investing can increase your investment risk, and can potentially reduce the investment returns. Why is that? Because by limiting your investments to only ethically focused companies, you limit the pool of investments that can be selected from.

“This is why we are calling for more awareness of ethical investments in general, the more individuals and businesses large or small are aware, the better the decisions when it comes to investments made will be made.”