DLS Capital Management Feb 2017

FEBRUARY

2017

PROTECTING YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY

All About Insurance

Sarah Keane

MARKET OUTLOOK - JANUARY 2017 Graham O’Neill

10 WAYS TO START SAVING IN 2017 10 REASONS WHY YOUR WEBSITE COULD BE LOSING YOU BUSINESS 5 APPS TO BOOST PRODUCTIVITY MEET THE TEAM

TABLE OF CONTENTS Protecting Yourself And Your Family All About Insurance - Sarah Keane 10 Ways To Start Saving in 2017 Market Outlook - January 2017 Business Briefs 10 Reasons Why Your Website Could Be Losing You Business 5 Apps To Boost Productivity 3 Tips For Online Networking Success 5 Fitness Apps To Keep Your New Years Resolutions in Check How To Set SMART Work Goals Meet The Team Range of Services

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WELCOME

to the first edition of our bi-monthly newsletter for 2017.

We hope this year will be a successful one for you.

In this edition Graham O’Neill gives an overview of the Markets and Sarah Keane outlines what protection options are available to you in the event of illness or death.

We hope you find the articles in this newsletter of interest to you and your business.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any queries you may have.

Dervilla and Sarah.

PROTECTING YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY – ALL ABOUT INSURANCE Sarah Keane BAAF, FCA, CTA, QFA - DIRECTOR - DLS CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

Individual protection needs vary from person to person. Personal circumstances will determine an individual’s need for a type of insurance and the level of cover they require.

In the current market place, there are many difference types of insurance policies with many people asking themselves which cover will I need if I get sick or which cover will I need for my family if I die? The main focus of this article is to provide a breakdown of the main types of protection policies to assist clients in deciding which cover may be suitable for them.

What happens if I get sick?

The level of cover a person can take out is limited as follows:

•

There are two main types of insurance policies that individuals may take out in the event that they may become ill. The first is Income Protection Insurance and the second is Serious Illness Insurance.

The maximum benefit payable is now €250,000, previously this was €150,000. Benefits paid are less any State benefits.

•

The maximum benefits payable is 75% of total yearly earnings, less any State benefits

Income protection Insurance pays out a regular cash payment that replaces part of your lost income if you can’t work due to a medium to long-term illness or disability. It can also be called Permanent Health Insurance (PHI) - but is not the same thing as Private Health Insurance. Serious Illness Insurance pays you a tax-free lump sum if you are diagnosed with one of the specific illnesses or disabilities that your policy covers. It is also sometimes called Critical Illness Cover.

INCOME PROTECTION INSURANCE Income protection Insurance provides you with a replacement taxable income if you cannot work as a result of an illness or injury after a certain period of time. You can only take out income protection if you are in full-time employment or are self-employed and earning an income. It is important to point out that this cover protects you only in these circumstances – it will not be paid if you become unemployed. The policy pays you a regular monthly income, replacing some of your earned income and the cover continues until age 60/65 or until you return to work.

Contributions paid by an individual to an approved Income Protection Policy are deductible against their income tax liability at their marginal rate of tax (i.e. up to 40%). However, they do not qualify for PRSI or USC relief and the income tax relief is limited to the extent that the premiums do not exceed 10% of your total income in the relevant year.

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SERIOUS ILLNESS INSURANCE Serious Illness Cover is similar to Income Protection Insurance but the benefits operate in a different manner. Serious Illness cover provides a lump sum payment on the diagnosis of an illness specified under the policy. There is no tax relief on Serious Illness premiums but the lump sum payment is tax free. It is very important when making a claim under a Serious Illness policy that the illness has been diagnosed and supported by an appropriate report from an approved medical practitioner. Some of the illnesses that one might expect to see covered are heart attack, cancer and stroke.

Given that a vast number of serious illness sufferers may actually die from their disease, most policies stipulate that an individual must survive for 14 days after diagnosis of the illness for it to be considered a valid claim.

One of the most common ways to take out serious illness cover is to include it as an extra benefit on a life insurance policy or a mortgage protection policy. Taking out serious illness cover as an add-on will increase the cost of a life insurance or mortgage protection policy considerably, up to four times the cost in some cases.

The extra cost will depend on whether the cover is:

• •

accelerated additional (separate) cover

Accelerated means that the policy will pay out if you are diagnosed with one of the listed serious illnesses or if you die within the term of the policy. It would not pay out twice unless you only receive part of the benefit if you are diagnosed with one of the serious illnesses listed on your policy. Some accelerated serious illness policies let you choose a lower level of cover for the serious illness part of the policy than for the life insurance part.

What happens if I die?

There are many different types of insurance policies that an individual can take out to insure their lives in order to provide for their dependants in the event of their death. These policies differ in relation to the term of the policies, the level of cover insured, the payment of the premium and the payment of the lump sum.

The main types of life insurance policies are Mortgage Protection Insurance, Term Life Assurance, Whole of Life Cover and Death in Service.

MORTGAGE PROTECTION INSURANCE Mortgage Protection Insurance, sometimes referred to as Mortgage Life Insurance is the most common form of life insurance.

It ensures that your mortgage will be paid off in the event of your death during the term of your policy. In most cases an individual is legally required to take out a mortgage protection policy prior to a financial institution granting them a mortgage on a principal private residence. Some exceptions to the legal requirement are individuals who are over 50, individuals who cannot get insured for medical reasons or those who have other sufficient life cover in place to cover the amount of the mortgage. While recommended, it is also not a legal requirement for individuals with mortgages relating to investment properties.

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Mortgage protection is payable on a joint life, first death basis.

This means that the mortgage is repaid on the death of the first borrower if a couple have taken out a mortgage together. The term on the mortgage protection policy is typically the same term as an individual’s mortgage. The level of cover on the policy decreases over the term of the policy in line with the level of an individual’s mortgage and the premium remains the same over the term of the policy.

TERM ASSURANCE This type of Insurance policy is taken out for an agreed fixed term, e.g. twenty years. It will pay an individual a fixed lump sum in the event of their death during the term of the policy, or on the first death on a joint policy. Typically, individuals with families will hold this form of cover until retirement age. This type of insurance is often held in addition to mortgage protection insurance. While the lump sum received under the mortgage protection policy is specifically used to repay the outstanding mortgage, the lump sum paid on a term assurance policy is paid directly to the insured’s family for their own use.

Term Assurance can be taken out on a level term basis which means the premium and the level of cover insured remains the same for the period of the policy. Individuals also have the option to take out increasing term assurance which means that both the premium and the level of cover increase annually over the term of the policy. The rate at which the premium and the level of cover increases varies among Insurance Providers.

WHOLE OF LIFE COVER The main difference between Term Assurance and Whole of Life Cover is Whole of Life cover does not have an end date on the policy.. This policy is designed to insure an individual for their whole life, thus guaranteeing a lump sum payment from the policy eventually. There are two main types of whole of life cover; reviewable and guaranteed whole of life cover.

Reviewable Whole of Life Cover This level of cover is reviewed every 10 years until an individual is 60 years old, then it is reviewed annually. It is important to note that the insurance provider may increase the premium at each reviewable date if they feel it is necessary.

Guaranteed Whole of Life Cover Guaranteed whole of life cover ensures that there is no end date to your policy. In contrast to reviewable whole of life, this level of cover does not require any reviews and has a fixed premium from the beginning of your policy.

Unsurprisingly, given the scope of its cover, whole-of-life insurance tends to be very expensive. A 30-year-old could pay six times more for guaranteed whole-of-life cover (€61 per month) than they would for mortgage protection (€10 per month).

DEATH IN SERVICE Death in Service is a benefit provided for employees by their employer. It is an insurance policy taken out by the employer which pays out a lump sum on the death of an employee while they are still working. The benefit is set up as a group life insurance policy and the employer chooses the amount of cover at the outset and pays the appropriate premium. Under Revenue rules the maximum lump sum that can be paid out on death is four times salary. Death in Service benefit is not treated as a benefitin-kind for Income Tax purposes.

The above details are to give you an overview of the different types of insurance policies which may apply to you. The level of cover an individual may require depends on their personal circumstances. One of the services we provide is a “survivor needs analysis” which reviews a client’s outstanding liabilities together with their current income and expenditure to see how much cover they would need to ensure their family are financially secure in the untimely event of their death.

For further information please contact:

DLS CAPITAL MANAGEMENT on 01

6619084 or info@dlscm.ie

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Ways Start Saving in

2017

How did 2016 treat you? For most, it was a roller-coaster ride. It’s as though the world as a whole heaved a collective sigh of relief when New Year’s rolled around...

Still, a lot of insecurity prevails politically and economically. We can’t control how everything will turn out, but we do have control over how we plan our finances.

Use these ten tips to plan for 2017.

1. BUDGET

4. CAR INSURANCE

A budget is the number one key to financial security. Use your bank statement to estimate your direct debits, transport, groceries and weekly expenses. When you know what’s due, it is easier to control your spending. In addition to your weekly expenses, plan for less frequent expenses, such as birthdays, Christmas, property tax and back-to-school by adding up the costs and dividing it by 12.

Perhaps this will be the year that insurance premiums finally stabilise after years of under-charging. Keep your premiums down by claiming discounts for factors such as owning a garage, low mileage, cross-insuring with your partner and small engine size.

Transfer your household fund that pays for the above bills into an online savings account on pay-day.

5. HEALTH INSURANCE

2. HOUSE INSURANCE It’s important to switch every year in order to avoid overpaying on this wildly expensive, yet necessary budget item. Many plans are identical, and unsuspecting people lose out by opting for plans that simply roll over.

Many families overpay on house insurance because they use the value of their homes as the sum insured, which is typically higher than the rebuild cost. Unfortunately, in a claim, you will only receive the rebuild cost. Use the Chartered Surveyors calculator on www.scsi.ie to calculate the rebuild cost of your home.

Speak to a specialist broker to find the best plan in 2017.

6. MOBILE PHONE

Cost your household contents properly, rather than using a percentage of the house insurance. Calculate how much it will cost to replace your clothing, furniture and other household goods, and ask your insurer to reduce the house insurance figure.

3. LIFE INSURANCE

Bill pay customers have benefited from significant drops in mobile phone costs. However, since you typically have to sign a two-year contract, it’s vital to do your homework.

Be sure that you know exactly what you will get for your money, and consider switching to a different provider. You will get to keep your number.

Life insurance rates have dropped, which means that if you have had your mortgage for longer than eight years, chances are that you’re overpaying on your mortgage protection. Ask your broker to give you a new quote, but don’t cancel the existing cover until you have a new policy in place.

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Carphone Warehouse is a great help in choosing the right deal on a mobile phone. Compare offers based on what you need most - online access, calls, or texts. Tesco Mobile currently offers a €30-a-month plan with a free iPhone 5S.

7. HOLIDAYS

It’s always nice to get away for a while, and early in the year there are always lovely early-bird bargains, including discount airfare and free stays for kids. Prices increase later in the year, so visit your local travel agent. Remember, bonded agents offer a guarantee in the event that something goes wrong.

8. GROCERIES

Grocery shopping is a significant part of every household budget, yet people waste a lot of food. Shop around for deals on groceries, and try out no-name brands - they may pleasantly surprise you!

Planning your weekly menu in advance, and only buy the perishables you will definitely consume before they expire.

Learning to use your freezer more effectively will also go a long way to ensuring your food stays fresher for longer.

9. POCKET MONEY

Some parents see pocket money for the kids as an additional expense, but it is actually a good investment in their future. Pocket money teaches kids to manage a budget from an early age.

Pay them €1 per year of their age, and specify how they should use the money. Help them to set goals, and put their money into a simple account or piggy bank.

If they spend it all, don’t top them up!

10. TAX CREDITS

Claiming tax credit is not too complex, and it’s money that is due to you. Home Carer’s credit, for example is worth €1,000 a year, yet 65% of people don’t bother to claim it because they assume it is only for families who care for a sick or disabled person, which is not the case.

You can claim Home Carer’s credit if you are a stay-at-home spouse earning less than €7,200 a year.

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WORLD ECONOMIC & MARKET OUTLOOK JANUARY 2017 Graham O’Neill - DIRECTOR AT INDEPENDENT RESEARCH CONSULTANCY LIMITED At present, it is hard to formulate views with complete clarity as there are so many moving parts to the story. In this environment, it might be best to look at what will be the key big picture elements for 2017 that an investor needs to take into account rather than guess what Trump might or might not do. There are perhaps four key areas for investors to focus on.

We live in a world of over leverage and over valuation.

These two in combination vary by sector and region but the broad point is valid. This does not mean there is necessarily now a top in equity markets but argues for caution especially if interest rates rise markedly. Most wealth destruction from stock market setbacks have occurred at a time of over leverage and over valuation.

This is an age of disruption.

This has several dimensions with things not continuing or happening in a normal way. The first of these is economics, where non-normal or unconventional monetary policy has disrupted normal valuations. In politics, the injustice suffered by the electorate through the post GFC period is resulting in the election of politicians with unconventional policies. There is a view that those that caused the Financial Crisis have not paid for it with the costs borne by ordinary people. The slogan “Make America Great Again” takes in both nationalism and nostalgia which are powerful forces. There are now signs that the era of globalisation is moving to one of de-globalisation.

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Another area of disruption is through the effects of technology on business models. US shale oil has successfully cut costs significantly due to technology and there is the threat of electric cars to the auto industry.

In an era of disruption, it is harder to be confident how events and timing will unfold. What’s happening is beyond the experience of most investors. An approach focused on traditional analysis could easily be wrong-footed so in these circumstances it is advisable to proceed with caution.

Geopolitics There are a number of ongoing tensions and potential new ones.

The first of these is ISIS and terrorism. China and the South China Seas has seen a defiance of international court recommendations.

North Korea is developing a nuclear threat.

Russia is involved in the Middle East and the Trump administration has appointed pro Israel hawks to senior roles. There is now a sense that America is retreating from its global role. There is the potential for tensions to erupt, together with threats to free trade through protectionism.

If America/China tensions rose China could change tack and support North Korea.

Regime Shift The era of low inflation and low interest rates appears to be at an end. This was already emerging pre-Trump having started in the early autumn. This came with moves by governments to supplement economies through fiscal support rather than total reliance on monetary policy. This move has been boosted and accelerated by the arrival of Trump. There is now the prospect of increased fiscal measures in the States at a time when growth prospects are more positive and economic momentum has improved. For the global economy and inflation energy costs are now a headwind rather than a tailwind. Wages in the States are picking up.

Trump is likely to want to start with a bang with a burst of activity with popular measures such as tax cuts, hard line on China, etc.

Policy and how it is pursued will be important. This is an important point with policy likely to be pursued in a different way than in the past as Trump has appointed business managers who are used to negotiating in a different way. Investors will have to wait to see whether reality will be different to rhetoric. Of the Trump 3P’s identified in the December Market Outlook the ‘personality’ one is causing most concern at present. Trump is a populist President who wants to stay popular so has backed down after some announcements went down badly with the electorate. This does give some hope that extremes will be avoided ultimately, although it is impossible to be certain on this. Trump is unlikely to get all his pro-growth policies through and ultimately would settle for better trade deals rather than protectionism.

US ECONOMY The US growth rate is likely to be 3% or above in 2017 and inflation move to over 2% on the Fed measure, so interest rates will move up. In this environment the US 10 year Treasury yield may well move over 3%, which would be in keeping with a 2% Fed Funds rate which is not tight policy, but is likely to limit market upside although secular forces will contain and restrain inflation.

CHINA

US STOCK MARKET For the US market it is possibly better to travel than arrive. It is arguable that the pro growth policies of Trump caused markets to rise before he actually got inaugurated and there is now widespread optimism of higher levels of growth, then that these policies will pass Congress easily and that Trump will not put in place any trade nasties. In practice, it is unlikely to be that simple.

Markets are overbought so there could be a short term setback.

US research firm Ned Davis has said since 1928 the average number of days before a 20% market correction was 625, but in secular bull market periods this rose to 1,105 days. Today there has been 1,950 days without a 20% market correction. On the other hand technicians, would say that the break in the S&P above 2130/2140 after a continuous sideways move since 2015 could indicate another market leg up. Other US indices such as the Dow Transport Index have also confirmed a break out.

Although the US market looks full valued to overvalued, if there were significant tax cuts at both the individual and corporate level earnings could rise significantly, bringing the PE ratio back more in line with longer term averages. Thus it is possible that the policies announced by Trump may validate the rise in the market. On the other hand some things could be negative such as higher financing costs, higher energy bills and FX translation.

Weaker currencies should help European and Japanese earnings.

Bonds remain expensive looking at yields relative to inflation which seem too low and offer little long term value, certainly at the government level.

China, with its Party Congress due in late 2017, is likely to pull out the stops to keep growth close to the 6.5% range and also stop debt problems emerging. Current activity levels in both manufacturing and services are showing continued expansion with PMIs coming in at 51 or above. In the medium term it is likely China and the US will come to a trade agreement, but there could be anxious moments on the way. The Chinese President Xi needs to be seen to be strong and how he reacts to Trump could cause volatility, with China likely to allow its currency to weak versus the US$.

EUROPE Europe has delivered faster than expected growth in 2016 and PMI levels are higher than they have been since 2014.

Political uncertainty with the rise of populist parties which are in all likelihood not strong enough to win elections in France, Germany and Italy, will provide an uncertain backdrop. It is likely a deal will be done to recapitalise the Italian banks that satisfies the ECB and there is likely to be further softening of austerity.

Monetary policy in Europe will remain loose, although the ECB will continue to taper its asset purchases.

JAPAN For Japan a weaker Yen is a positive and the latest Tankan survey was at the highest level for the year in December with growth forecasts raised to 1.5%. A record budget was announced in November.

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EMERGING MARKETS For emerging markets valuations are reasonable but with a strong US currency and rising US rates the environment could be problematic for certain countries with current account deficits such as Turkey. The Korean currency has also been under pressure.

This year is likely to be one where: Firstly, monetary policy divergence continues, with Europe and Japan keeping expansionary policies in place with no tightening in contrast to the US. This is likely to support a stronger US currency. Other factors supporting a stronger Dollar is that the US is moving to a policy mix of looser fiscal policy and tighter monetary policy which would usually result in currency strength rather than weakness. Potential political problems in Europe are also likely to keep a check on a significant Euro rally until elections are out of the way. Both Japan and Europe want a weaker currency.

On oil there is a lot of divergence in views, both amongst analysts and the energy agencies, with a $40 - $60 range reasonable.

More shale production will come on stream. The recent OPEC meeting in December has reduced supply with Saudi production now below 10m barrels per day. For commodities demand and supply are both important and the lack of investment means that increased levels of supply are unlikely to come on stream in many commodities. China continues to reduce some coal and iron ore production, with its main coal province producing 25% less coal than previously. The focus of the gold market is on rising US interest rates and this suggests gold is not likely to rally significantly in the short term.

Investors need to think about whether cyclical Donald will Trump ‘secular stagnation’. When considering this investors should focus on the 3 D’s – Debt/Demographics/Deficits. Will rises in interest rates be contained below previous levels in real terms.

A fiscal boost is occurring at a time of US full employment and therefore will a rise in interest rates hurt asset prices which could result in a fiscal boost to the economy short circuiting itself. In 2017 announcements will affect markets rather than the actual policy effects which might not impact economically until 2018.

Another point to consider is the length of the US bull market which on the 15th March would be the longest on record, surpassing the previous 1921-29 bull market. If broad valuations are ok this would be less of a concern, but long bull markets can breed complacency. If this occurs negative news flow can therefore surprise. This suggests a need to be careful and to proceed with caution. The probability of more extreme outcomes has increased either as a positive or a negative. Pimco have labelled this as a world of radical uncertainty.

Investor Approach-Back to Basics This is a time to focus on sentiment, valuations and fundamentals.

Sentiment for the market is positive and is occurring after a long bull market when valuations are relatively full. Whilst growth fundamentals are improving, monetary policy is likely to tighten to some degree. The prospects for equities continue to look more positive than for government bonds, providing extreme outcomes are avoided.

The most likely environment for markets is that the rise in interest rates will not yet derail the bull market completely, as the most extreme Trump policies will not happen. This also makes the assumption that China will not implode in 2017 and the EU stays intact. Investors should focus on a more fundamentally driven market which is moving into the late cycle earnings phase. It is likely that overall PE valuations start to fall back, or in other words, market gains this year do not match earnings growth as the market will de-rate. This could be a muddle through year with heightened volatility and holding some cash for market setbacks and avoiding big positions seems prudent. There may also be the need for a more active approach if policy shifts dramatically.

There is a need in portfolios to cater for different outcomes and avoid longer duration bonds.

Economist Paul Krugman who had previously stated deficits didn’t matter has now changed tack slightly on this, saying they matter more at a time of full employment as government borrowing could crowd out private sector borrowing.

Overall in developed markets value as a style looks more attractive than growth, whilst the prospect of less stimulative monetary policy in Asia and the emerging world mitigating this view in the developing world. A full blown US China trade war would be damaging to Japan and also bad news for Australia. Equities have scope to make some progress in 2017, but it is likely to be a fairly modest year of gains with periods of heightened volatility due to policy uncertainty.

GRAHAM O’NEILL Director at Independent Research Consultancy Limited.

Graham is an investment researcher of international note and has been working in this area for over 20 years. He began his career in the stock broking industry before becoming an institutional fund manager where he practiced both in Ireland and the UK where he worked in senior roles with a number of institutions including Royal Life holdings, Guardian Royal Exchange and Abbey Life.

Throughout his career, he has managed multi-million Euro funds and developed innovative investment fund concepts. Seeing the need for non biased, critical analysis of the investment industry, Graham began work as an independent investment researcher in 1992 and since then, principally, he has provided services to financial institutions. Graham is also a director of RSM Group, a leading UK investment research company.

Through his research process, Graham filters through the broad range of Irish and International investment fund managers for those investment managers who consistently perform best.

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He conducts in the region of 150 teleconference meetings and on site interviews with asset managers in UK, Europe, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia. Following on from these meetings, Graham produces detailed research notes.

BUSINESS BRIEFS ALMOST 28MILLION PASSENGERS USED DUBLIN AIRPORT IN 2016 Passengers numbers at Dublin Airport reached an all-time high last year with a record 27.9 million passengers. The impressive figures sees an increase of 11% in comparison with the previous year, more than four times the population of Ireland. Dublin Airport experienced significant growth across both its short-haul and long-haul networks - and traffic performance exceeded the record set in 2015 by over 2.8 million passengers.

Managing Director at Dublin Airport, Vincent Harrison commented that the airport had a very strong performance

EGYPTIAN MARKET REOPENS TO IRISH BEEF Irish and Egyptian authorities have reached an agreement to reopen the market in the North African country to Irish beef for the first time in more than 16 years.

Under the terms of the deal, five Irish plants are approved to begin beef exports to Egypt, once necessary arrangements are in place. Before Egypt banned Irish beef exports in November 2000 over BSE fears, the country had been one of the largest markets for the product.

Egypt is now the largest consumer market in the Middle East and North Africa with around 95 million consumers. It is the third biggest destination for Irish agri-food exports (which

€38BN CONTRIBUTED TO ECONOMY BY PHYSICS-BASED INDUSTRY Industry based on physics contributes €38bn a year to the Irish economy, a new report from the Institute of Physics has claimed. However, the organisation says if Ireland is to sustain this work and continue to build its physics based industries, there needs to be strong support for basic research. The study, carried out by the UK based Centre for Economic and Business Research, examined the period of 2011-2014 to see what contribution physics based industries including electrical component manufacturing, extraction of oil and gas and computer service make here. It found they

in 2016 with double digit growth across their largest market segments and gained new passengers and added additional routes.

Almost 24.3 million passengers took short-haul flights to and from Dublin - an increase of 11% on an annual basis while long-haul passenger numbers increased by 12% from the previous year to more than 3.6 million.

According to Mr Harrison, additional connectivity at the airport has also helped to boost business between Ireland and its trading partners. 2016 was the 6th consecutive year of traffic growth and since Terminal 2 opened in 2010, annual traffic through the airport has increased by 9.5 million passengers.

were almost exclusively dairy and seafood) to Africa, with exports of €45 million in 2015.

This latest deal comes following the opening of the Egyptian market to live Irish cattle in February 2016. It also includes approval for beef offal and a limited approval for particular types of sheep-meat products.

Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed said the deal is an example of achieving market access goals outlined in the Food Wise 2025 strategy. The Department of Agriculture’s search for new 3rd country markets has taken on an additional urgency given the UK’s upcoming exit from the EU. The Irish Creamery and Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) welcomed the deal but noted that announcing new export opportunities is pointless unless primary beef producers can see a resultant improvement in their cattle prices.

generated €49bn in turnover in 2013 alone, equivalent to 14% of the overall turnover in the business economy.

287,000 people are employed in the sectors, representing nearly 9% of total employment, which is greater than both the financial and construction sectors. In 2014 the industries accounted for just under 83% of all external research and development spending, and each employee accounts for around €138,000 a year in added value to the economy.

Chairperson of the Institute, Dr Mark Lang, also said that while Ireland is a strong physics nation, it must strongly support basic research if that is to continue. The report has been welcomed

by Minister of State for Training, Skills and Innovation, John Halligan, who said more must be done to ensure a greater number of schools offer physics at Leaving Cert.

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REASONS Why Your Website Could Be Losing You Business

IT LACKS CREDIBILITY

Your website is probably the most valuable asset your business possesses - provided you don’t make these common mistakes.

A business website used to be a luxury, but that’s no longer the case. If your business doesn’t have a website, you’re missing out on an important business tool. A website provides an effective form of communicating with your target audience.

Yet, not all websites are equal, and it may lack efficiency for many reasons. Here are the top 10 reasons why websites fail.

IT IS TOO SLOW

What is in a credible website? Firstly, it has a current design and it is regularly maintained. While you don’t have to update your website on a monthly basis, it doesn’t help if you have not had a decent website makeover in the last 2-3 years either.

Nearly half of all consumers are not prepared to wait more than two seconds for a page to load and nearly 80% of all shoppers who don’t enjoy the user experience on a site, are less likely to return to the site again.

If your site looks as though it was built in the 90s, it is time for a major overhaul.

Use GTmetrix and Pingdom to test your site speed and gain valuable insights and tips on how to improve the speed of your website.

IT’S NOT RESPONSIVE Handheld devices have surpassed desktop usage and this mobile revolution is set to continue. If your site is not optimised for mobile use, you are definitely missing out on a huge chunk of the market.

Many websites are still not mobile friendly, and this is causing them to be penalised in search engine rankings. The result is that fewer people find the sites, and conversion rates are decreased.

Most importantly, it provides a poor user experience for visitors.

Responsive web design uses large buttons and simple layouts that are automatically resized for smaller screens.

IT IS CLUTTERED Few things are as annoying as auto playing videos or music to welcome guests, other than flashy text, bright colours and too many banner ads. Apart from being annoying, it also slows down the load time of the page, which means that today’s fast-paced consumer will most likely click away from your site.

These days, most people browse sites on their mobile devices, which means that your site should be neat, clean and wellorganised. Present information in a clear and concise manner and ensure that graphic elements are easily digestible.

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IT IS TOO COMPLEX As an expert in your field, you may be tempted to try to demonstrate your authority in the field by showcasing all your knowledge. However, only fellow industry experts will understand all the jargon. Your average customer will not understand your technical jargon. Stick with simple language that your customers will understand.

IT LACKS CONTENT People visit websites because they want answers. Your website is the place where you can provide your target audience with the information and valuable solutions. Be sure to deliver fresh, valuable information and answers to your audience’s burning questions.

People may not be searching for your business in particular, but for a related service and product. For instance, a person looking for ways to save money may land upon a financial services website, which is why an insurance broker might like to blog about budgeting for a holiday, so that their site is then found in Google searches for “budgeting” or “saving”.

Too much information to go on your site? Use your blog to establish yourself as an authority in your field and to boost your marketing and search engine optimisation efforts.

IT OFFERS POOR NAVIGATION Many business owners view additional pages as an afterthought when they design and market websites. As such, all their traffic is directed towards the home page. In reality, the home page is not all that important.

Specific landing pages are more important to your various customers, so direct relevant traffic there instead.

IT LACKS USER EXPERIENCE As a webmaster, you have to ensure that your site works as it should at all times. Test it regularly to see that the payment platform or shopping cart works and that there are no missing or broken links.

IT LACKS CALLS-TO-ACTION You don’t need to be too subtle on your website. Remember, most of your visitors will be unfamiliar with the creative processes that went into creating your site and therefore, they need to be guided to the relevant pages on your site. Provide them with clear calls-to-action or hyperlinks that are plainly visible and selfexplanatory.

Action buttons should stand out, with clear instructions, such as ‘‘sign up’’, ‘‘download’’, and ‘‘click here’’.

Visitors are polite, in that they want to be invited to take the next step. Make the process easier for them in order to generate more conversions.

ESSENTIAL INFORMATION IS HARD TO FIND People are directed to your site to find general information about the products or services you offer. Once you have charmed them with your knowledge and expertise, they may want to engage with your company. You need to make that process as easy for them as possible, by providing information they may need to proceed.

This could include: • Your company’s address and a map link, if you have a brick and mortar business.

• Contact information, including your phone and email, should ideally be displayed in the same place on every page.

• Social media plugins, for visitors who want to share your info or connect.

• ‘About Us’ page, so that they know who you are and what you do.

• Pricing, as many people will not be prepared to contact you unless they know that they can afford it.

• Business hours, so that they know when to contact or visit you.

Many businesses don’t include all this information on their websites and security conscious visitors may avoid such sites.

In most cases, it is free and simple to add this information to a website.

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APPS 5 to Boost Productivity

It’s the great paradox of our time on earth. We have all the technology at our disposal, yet we have less time than ever.

Why? Because we’re not using it effectively, and sometimes, we are so distracted by unproductive technology that we forget the important tasks. Other than that, there are those tedious, repetitive tasks that suck the energy and motivation out of our days.

Here are some of the best productivity apps that you can use to make the most of your day and perhaps even free up some time to do the things you enjoy most.

ANY.DO for iOS and Android If you’re a fan of the old To Do List, this is for you! Instead of trying to wing it, hoping you will remember all your tasks throughout the day, try Any.do.

This free app will allow you to quickly and easily create a To Do List and it will even remind you when a task is due. The + symbol allows you to select your task from a list of available actions, including Call, Email, Meet, Clean, Buy, Send, Make and Pay which can be customised to your task. For the call and email functions, it will allow you to access your contacts in order to select the correct person.

Add your calendar to keep all your tasks in a central place, and share it with others.

GOODNOTES for iOS Turn your iPad into a notebook with Goodnotes! Use your stylus or Apple Pencil to take notes, and back items up into the cloud. Now you no longer have to search through notebooks and scraps of paper, because it’s all right there on Goodnotes. You can even convert your handwritten notes to text for saving, emailing and sharing.

As if that’s not exciting enough, the app is also available for your iPhone. Simply import PDF documents that need to be signed.

There’s no need to print, sign, scan and email - it’s done in seconds on your phone. Imagine the time you’ll save!

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EVERNOTE for iOS, Android and Web If you use different devices, Evernote is the secret to having everything available wherever you need it, since the app syncs across all your devices.

The Windows and Mac app for desktop allows you to encrypt your notes.

Items are organised according to specific notebooks, and they include relevant to do lists and notes.

Search across notes, and collaborate with your team on group projects, since everything is updated as you go along.

The basic app is free, with additional features on the premium upgrade.

SLACK for iOS, Android and Web Speaking of collaboration, Slack is a great app for project management. It combines all the benefits of instant messaging and file sharing into one great system.

Additionally, the developers are constantly adding additional features, such as voice calls. You can even add your favourite services into Slack, such as Skype video calls or Qualtrics for surveys. Create channels for your different topics or teams, or communicate privately or with the whole company.

Finally, Slack enables you to create a searchable archive. You only need to pay if you want to maintain a complete archive, and you have fairly heavy usage.

IFTTT for iOS, Android and Web Ever dreamed about connecting your services in order to cut out the manual input from the middleman (you)? Well, IFTTT allows you to do just that. Short for If This Then That, the app reacts to events on one service, by setting in motion an event on another service.

For example, it can update a Google sheet with information every time that you add a new contact to your LinkedIn account. It is available for a vast range of cloud services, instant messaging platforms, and various devices in your smart home.

You can create your own ÂŤrecipesÂť on If This Then That, or you can customise public recipes.

The objective of this app is to help you save time.

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3Tips

ONLINE NETWORKING SUCCESS for

Use this strategy to make the most of your online connections

It’s becoming ever more common for professionals to work with colleagues and clients across the globe and in order to stay competitive, it’s important to master online marketing.

Use these three tips to connect with other professionals via Linkedin and other online channels.

Reach Out Instead of aimlessly posting updates, find five to ten individuals whom you consider attainable contacts. Follow these people on social media and be sure to engage with them on a regular basis. You could comment on their posts, retweet, answer their questions, or share thoughtful responses to their updates.

Attract New Contacts Find a way to draw suitable contacts to you. A great way to do this, is to write thoughtful articles or blog posts to provide valuable information, or to share your point of view on a topic related to your niche. Someone who is interested in what you share, might discover your article and become interested in your product or service.

Solidify Your Online Connections In-person networking provides a great ‘‘bookend’’ to solidify online connections. If you know one of your online connections will be at an event you’re attending, send them a direct message via your social media network of choice. Use this opportunity to introduce yourself and request an in-person meeting at the event. Once you have met in person, you will be more memorable on social media, which you can use to keep the connection alive.

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5

PACT for iOS and Android

to Keep Your 2017 Resolutions in Check Don’t blame yourself for overindulging over the last month or so. Instead, take action with the help of these awesome fitness apps.

Unless you’re a natural-born gym-bunny who loves the rush of adrenaline in the weights section of the gym and the buzz of the treadmill, Pact is just the app for you.

If you’re feeling guilty paying for a gym membership you’re not using, Pact is the guilt-inducing cherry on top. Use the app to commit to fitness or healthy lifestyle goals, and pay a penalty if you fail. You will be asked to link your Paypal account to the goal, and when you don’t achieve it, you will be charged to a minimum of $5 per failure.

Achieve all your weekly activities, and you will be rewarded.

Pact is the best motivation to eat your 5-a-day or work out three times a week.

STRAVA for iOS and Android

SWORKIT for iOS and Android

Popular with runners and cyclists alike, Strava allows you to join mostly distance-based challenges with friends and even earn badges.You can also use the website to create custom routes, which you can share with your friends.

Simply Work It or Sworkit for short, offers a range of cardio, strength, yoga and stretching workouts for all levels of fitness and experience. Try the many free options, or get the premium version for more options.

Try the free app, or use the premium version (€60 / year or €8 / month) for personal coaching, live feedback, access to advanced analysis of your pace and heart-rate and a goal setting function. If you’re serious about your fitness, Strava is a worthwhile investment.

Sworkit’s real power lies in the ability to build custom workouts using the exercise library. You get three free custom workout slots on the free version. Set your workout length and, if you buy the subscription (€40 / year, or €5 / month) you can even set custom intervals. With the subscription, you will also get access to the web app and an ad-free platform.

SEVEN for iOS

Struggling to get motivated or to find time to exercise? Seven is just what you need to get started. It offers a series of workouts that you can complete in seven minutes. There are lower body workouts, core and total body workouts. The free app has plenty of content, but you can buy stretching, fat-burning or cardio workouts as well. Go all out with a short seven-minute workout, then recover with the dialed down activity, before you push yourself once again.

ZOMBIES, RUN! for iOS and Android

Would you run faster if you were being chased by zombies?

Most of us would! And that is the logic behind this running app. Zombies, Run! casts you in the role of Runner Five. You can listen to your workout playlist while you run, and you will receive broadcasts from a nearby base, which alerts you marauding hordes of zombies and keeps you on track as you collect supplies.

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How to Set

SMART Work Goals During a 2002 interview in the publication, American Psychologist, professors Gary Latham and Edwin Locke were asked to summarise their groundbreaking academic research, spanning thirty five years. They shared fascinating information regarding their research into goals.

Some of their findings included: • Rather than urging people to do their best, it would be more effective to set specific and difficult goals on a consistent basis.

• Higher goals generate the highest levels of effort and performance.

• Strict deadlines are more effective in stimulating a more rapid work pace than ubiquitous deadlines.

Based on these findings, strategic goal setting is the way to go.

By setting specific and difficult goals with tight deadlines, you are bound to obtain the predictable result, which is greater levels of persistence, increased effort and higher levels of performance.

Yet, many companies fail to follow Latham and Locke’s advice when it comes to goal setting. What’s worse, is that three common techniques used in modern organisations directly oppose the findings: percentage weights as indicators of relative goal importance, cascading goals and smart goals.

PERCENTAGE WEIGHTS

SMART GOALS

There’s no denying that some goals are more important than others, but using this method is not useful. It is not productive to accurately identify a goal’s relative importance using this method.

The SMART goal acronym specifies that goals must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound. While the SMART goal system ensures that your goal system is phrased correctly, it hardly measures whether it is a good idea to chase the specific goal. Even worse, the A and R requirements actually encourage low level goals, because if one were to only set attainable goals, there would be no need to actually set them.

And who determines what is realistic?

Instead of assigning percentage weights to your goals, indicate the level of importance by low, medium or high importance.

Alternatively, list goals in order of importance.

CASCADING GOALS Some companies advise employees that goals should cascade down from the top of the company. While your goals should not thwart those of the organisation, the concept of cascading goals, if applied too rigidly, may actually backfire. Every individual blames the person above for slowing down the goal-setting process.

One way to make this work, is to free the process from the rigid requirement of tightly linking individual goals to that of the supervisor.

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Instead of using an acronym to determine the worthiness of a goal, use the SMART goal technique to determine whether your goal statements are well-formed.

Many people make the mistake of thinking that a certain technique will simplify the goal setting process, but that is foolish.

By avoiding the above techniques, you will actually set better goals.

MEET THE TEAM Dervilla Whelan

Sarah Keane

(BBS, CTA) Managing Director

(BAAF, FCA, CTA, QFA) Director

Dervilla Whelan is the Managing Director of DLS Capital Management Ltd and also one of the founding members of DLS Partners. She was previously a taxation partner in Baker Tilly O’Hare (now part of Baker Tilly Ryan Glennon) and is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin and the Institute of Taxation in Ireland. Her key skills include advising clients on all aspects of their financial affairs, including advising on the appropriate structures required for all types of investments and pensions. Dervilla is heavily involved in the Family Office service for our high net worth clients. Dervilla’s involvement with both DLS Capital Management Ltd. and the tax practice, DLS Partners, ensures that her clients benefit from a holistic approach to all of their financial affairs

Sarah Keane is a graduate of Dublin City University in Accounting and Finance and a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Accountants (FCA). She is also a member of the Institute of Taxation in Ireland (CTA), and the Professional Association for Financial Services in Ireland (QFA). Her key skills include advising clients on all aspects of financial planning, including retirement planning strategies, taxation and investment advice. Sarah is highly experienced in the preparation of investment financing strategies for individuals and companies. Sarah is also heavily involved in the Family Office service for our high net worth clients.

Graham O’Neill

Stephen Cahill

Graham is an investment researcher of international note and has been working in this area for over 20 years. He began his career in the stock broking industry before becoming an institutional fund manager where he practiced both in Ireland and the UK where he worked in senior roles with a number of institutions including Royal Life holdings, Guardian Royal Exchange and Abbey Life.

Throughout his career, he has managed multi-million Euro funds and developed innovative investment fund concepts. Seeing the need for non biased, critical analysis of the investment industry, Graham began work as an independent investment researcher in 1992 and since then, principally, he has provided services to financial institutions. Graham is also a director of RSM Group, a leading UK investment research company.

Stephen Cahill is the Tax Manager at our Tax Practice, DLS Partners.

He graduated from DIT and is a member of both the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Irish Tax Institute. Stephen is responsible for all areas of Tax, including, VAT, PAYE, Income Tax, CGT and Corporation Tax. He also is involved in the preparation of Financial Accounts for sole traders and limited companies and assists in the preparation and review of monthly management accounts for larger corporations.

Independent Consultant

(BSc (Marketing), ACCA, CTA) Tax Manager DLS Partners

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RANGE OF SERVICES RETIREMENT PLANNING

FINANCIAL PLANNING

•• •• •• ••

•• Financial Planning is central to our

•• ••

Tax-effective funding for retirement.

Income Planning for your retirement Personal Fund Threshold calculations Protecting the underlying value of your pension fund throughout retirement Advice on the most tax effective drawn down of your pension vehicles Taking transfers from Defined benefit Pension Schemes

•• •• ••

PENSION STRUCTURE ADVICE •• Personal pensions •• Self Invested Personal Pensions •• Company/Executive pensions •• •• ••

••

- Defined Benefit Schemes - Defined Contribution Schemes Small Self Administered Schemes Personal Retirement Saving Accounts (PRSA’s) AVC’s

FAMILY OFFICE SERVICE •• Preparation of Quarterly Net Worth Statements

•• Preparation of a comprehensive

INVESTMENT ADVICE •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• ••

Managed Funds Exchange Traded Funds Unit Trusts Investment Trusts Tracker Bonds Deposits Employment and Investment Incentive Schemes (EIIS) Structured Products Qualified Investment Funds (QIF) Renewable Energy Investments

service offering We compile fact finds based on client’s personal and financial details We produce a Financial Plan for each client, showing their current financial position and their future financial objectives.

The Financial Plan will encompass all areas of a client’s financial position, e.g. investments, borrowings, protection policies and pension policies Financial Plans are reviewed on an annual basis, taking into account any changes in a client’s personal and/or financial circumstances.

•• •• •• ••

database which contains all information on Assets and Liabilities, thus facilitating instant access to information Centralisation of costs on all Personal & Investment Properties Appraisal of Investment Opportunities Monitoring of Investments Attend meetings relating to Investments on behalf of clients

DLS Capital Management 25 Merrion Square Dublin 2

www.dlscm.ie info@dlscm.ie

DLS Capital Management is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland

(p) 01 6119086 ( f ) 01 6619180