Taking Stock - April 2012

Taking Stock April 2012

A warm Spring greeting to all of you as we welcome in a long-awaited change of season after what seems to have been a drawn-out and dark winter. Spring is one of my favourite times of the year as it marks a sense of change and renewal. Let’s just hope the weather follows suit.

We hope you enjoy this edition of Taking Stock and as always, would welcome any feedback. We’d also like to feature client stories in future editions so if you’ve been involved in anything of interest be it birthdays, wedding anniversaries, fund-raising etc. please let Olivia (Olivia@eqasset.co.uk) know.

Kind regards

Colin Lawson

Managing Partner

Recent Achievements The 1st March was an important diary date for regional law firms as the annual 2012 Manchester Legal Awards was held in the city centre at The Midland Hotel. The awarding body recognises and rewards small, medium and large sized business firms covering a range of individual and team awards. Almost 600 guests attended the gala making it the largest of its events since it first began in 2010.

As a sponsor of the event, Equilibrium was lucky enough to present the Team of the Year – Private Client award won by law firm, Mills & Reeve LLP. The award was based on demonstrating solid team work and first rate service – congratulations again to the winners!

It’s great to see so many members of the EQ team willing to improve their knowledge by continuing to undertake Financial Services examinations.

We’d like to take this moment to congratulate the following staff for accruing over 7 exam passes this past quarter: Rebecca Johnson-Townley, Claire Hayward, Matt Dobson, Eric Parker, Graeme Black, Paul Farrugia and Mark Hird.

Equilibrium Asset Management LLP (a limited liability partnership) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Equilibrium Asset Management is entered on the FSA register under reference 452261. The FSA regulates advice which we provide on investment and insurance business; however it does not regulate advice which we provide purely in respect of taxation matters. Copyright Equilibrium Asset Management LLP. Not to be reproduced without permission

Taking Stock | April 2012

“A hero is a man who does what he can” Romain Rollan We recently teamed up with the Knutsford Guardian to launch the “Knutsford Community Hero 2012” campaign. This required local ‘Knutsfordians’ to nominate those who had benefitted their community by giving their time to help others in making Knutsford a better place for its residents.

After some stiff competition the nominees were whittled down to 6 finalists to compete for the £500 prize in addition to a £500 donation for the recipient’s nominated charity.

Finally a ‘hero’ was chosen with the help of the judges Colin Lawson, Guardian editor Keith Morris and Knutsford Town Mayor Clr Stewart Gardiner. All three judges chose Kane Gunter as the worthy winner for his charity fundraising work and improvement in helping make a positive difference to the lives of others in the community in spite of personal difficulties. Kane has managed to raise an amazing £20,000 over the past 5 years after spending 12 years in the Royal Corps of Signals.

Wedding Bells!

Many congratulations to our Investment Analyst, Graeme Black for getting engaged to his girlfriend of 2 years, Victoria.

Graeme surprised his significant other by proposing on top of the picturesque Stanage Edge Hill in the Peak District.

Despite the fact that there was sunshine when they began their hike, Graeme was forced to battle the wind and rain once they reached the top of the hill and was nearly blown over when he got down on one knee! Much to his delight, Victoria said yes and after trekking back down to safe ground they celebrated their newly announced engagement over some champagne at a restaurant in Hathersage.

The couple are planning a winter wedding to take place on the 16th February 2013 at Haigh’s Hall in Wigan. We wish them both a lifetime of happiness together.

An Easter Eggstravaganza!

In celebration of the Easter period we decided to hold our very own Easter egg hunt. However here at Equilibrium we like to think we do things differently, which is why it was no surprise that even in a straightforward Easter egg hunt there was an unusual twist! The final clue required the four teams to find and purchase the heaviest item possible for a maximum of £2 and return to the office with it in the quickest time. Needless to say we received some rather inventive items; 5kg of potatoes, 4 1.5l bottles of water, bricks and a breeze block for a bargain price of 96p!

Equilibrium Asset Management LLP (a limited liability partnership) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Equilibrium Asset Management is entered on the FSA register under reference 452261. The FSA regulates advice which we provide on investment and insurance business; however it does not regulate advice which we provide purely in respect of taxation matters. Copyright Equilibrium Asset Management LLP. Not to be reproduced without permission

Taking Stock | April 2012

60 seconds with….Lucas Jones!

What are you looking forward to about Equilibrium?

I am looking forward to the challenge of a new role with a new company; engaging with all my new colleagues and working to help our clients meet their goals.

Tell us a bit about your background/how long have you been working in the Financial Services industry?

Having graduated in Law from Manchester Metropolitan University in 1995, I promptly decided that I did not wish to become a lawyer. After a few tentative attempts at finding an alternative career path led nowhere, I eventually found my way into financial services in 2001. During the following 11 years I have held a variety of positions, including pension reviewer and complaints handler and I have just spent the past 4 years as a specialist pensions adviser.

What would you be if you weren’t a Client Manager?

Although an exotic career such as international criminal mastermind appeals, I think a lack of cunning, guile and ruthlessness would hold me back on that score! A much more likely alternative role would be as a teacher, academic or something of that ilk.

The existing EQ team welcomes our newest recruit, Lucas, on board as a Client Manager.

And finally, tell us something we don’t know about you!

After graduating as a Bachelor of Law, I briefly ended up working on the dustbin lorries.

Where in the World is Gareth?

After 11 years at Equilibrium, Gareth felt it was time for a change and decided to leave Equilibrium to pursue his passion for travelling.

His first port of call was Australia to visit family in Sydney, but he is now spending the next few weeks travelling from Cairns down the South East coast, stopping over the Whitsunday Islands, Fraser Island, Brisbane and Byron Bay before jet setting across to Hong Kong. Gareth says he is planning on making the most of the enviable weather by undertaking activities such as white-water rafting, skydiving, snorkelling, sailing and camping - just to name a few!

We’d like to wish him all the best over the next coming months and will keep you posted on his upcoming adventures, travels and voluntary work along the way in the next issue of Taking Stock.

Equilibrium Asset Management LLP (a limited liability partnership) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Equilibrium Asset Management is entered on the FSA register under reference 452261. The FSA regulates advice which we provide on investment and insurance business; however it does not regulate advice which we provide purely in respect of taxation matters. Copyright Equilibrium Asset Management LLP. Not to be reproduced without permission

Taking Stock | April 2012

Equilibrium Foundation Earlier in the year we visited the New Mills & District Volunteer Centre in Derbyshire after being informed that two of our clients regularly volunteered for the centre. The charity first began in 1983 with the idea of visiting those in hospital. Nowadays the charity has over 130 volunteers who help to assist the elderly, disabled, physically or mentally ill, house-bound, isolated, visually or hearing impaired or those with learning difficulties. They provide services such as transport for housebound clients, gardening and DIY, running social and educational groups such as the Stroke Support Group, befriending and a shopping delivery service.

Equilibrium’s very generous £2,000 contribution has allowed us to extend the contract of our business developer who has helped to raise over £11,000 for the charity.”

In addition to the New Mills Volunteer Centre, we’ve so far this year managed to donate £10,000 to two local Cheshire charities – East Cheshire Hospice and Cre8 Youth via our charitable foundation. East Cheshire Hospice provides special care for adults suffering from life-limiting illnesses for which there is no cure and Cre8 works with children, young adults and their families, including those who are at risk or hard to reach.

Centre Manager, Dorothy Scapens says, “Our car scheme is the most popular service that we offer, the idea is for volunteers to run clients to medical appointments and help with day to day errands. Between September – December last year we gained an extra 30 clients just for this scheme. High demand can prove difficult when we rely purely on local funding and donations.

Equilibrium Events 2012 We’re pleased to announce a new topic for our Spring/Summer 2012 seminar events and will be taking bookings as of now. These presentations are informative and educational events which are relevant for existing clients as well as prospective new clients wanting to find out more about our approach. We’ll donate £100 to our Equilibrium Foundation for every guest you bring so please feel free to invite friends or acquaintances if you think they would be interested in learning more about investing, tax planning and, of course, Equilibrium.

22nd May - Successful Lifetime Investing Hunting Lodge 30th May - Successful Lifetime Investing Mere Golf Club 28th June - Successful Lifetime Investing Hunting Lodge 17th July - Successful Lifetime Investing Hunting Lodge Demand is expected to be high so RSVP as soon as possible to avoid disappointment by simply emailing rsvp@eqasset.co.uk or calling Emma on 0161 486 2250 Equilibrium Asset Management LLP Brooke Court Lower Meadow Road Handforth Dean Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 3ND United Kingdom Visit us at www.eqasset.co.uk t : +44 (0)161 486 2250 f : +44 (0)161 488 4598 e : askus@eqasset.co.uk Equilibrium Asset Management LLP (a limited liability partnership) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Equilibrium Asset Management is entered on the FSA register under reference 452261. The FSA regulates advice which we provide on investment and insurance business; however it does not regulate advice which we provide purely in respect of taxation matters. Copyright Equilibrium Asset Management LLP. Not to be reproduced without permission