Holly's Blog: Join the Army!

Inflation news out this week – currently prices are creeping up by 3.1%. Chuck in fuel rises to the equation and higher inflation ahead is inevitable. The Chief Economist at the Bank of England has done some lovely expectations management with a headline in the FT yesterday warning that inflation could hit 5%. Which all means that at some stage in the not-too-distant future we should expect to see a rise in interest rates, to try and keep things under control.

So do just think about what this could mean for your mortgage. What sort of a deal are you on? Fixed or variable? When does it expire?

September’s inflation rate has also confirmed the increase to the State Pension next year. The Government commit to an increase of at least 2.5% every year. And if inflation in September the year before is higher, they map it to this. So a 3.1% increase in the State Pension it will be. Those eligible for the full new single-tier state pension will see their pension rise by a princely £5.55p a week, up to £185.15 a week from next April. You can hear the deafening shrieks of excitement from Britain’s pensioners echoing across the land.

COP a load o’ this

There was a fantastic story doing the rounds on social media this week – claiming that Tesla cars had been brought in to transport COP26 delegates but there weren’t enough charging points, so they would be charged by a diesel generator. Oh my God you couldn’t make it up! Except you could. The less satisfying truth is that Jaguar Land Rover will be supplying electric vehicles and any generators required will be run on recycled cooking oil. Does that mean that Monsieur Macron will smell like he’s just popped into a Glaswegian chippie!?

There is certainly a lot of talk about sustainability in every sector from fashion to investments. Sustainable investments have had a great run. I had a lunch with the boss of a big fund manager this week (p.s get me!) (p.p.s he paid!) (p.p.p.s he’s actually a lovely human being) and his firm run a very successful sustainable fund. He’s slightly worried that it’s actually a tech fund in disguise. Will people peg its strong returns to sustainability alone when in fact it’s riding the tech wave of returns?

Our next webinar is a deeper dive into all things ‘ESG’. (Environmental Social and Governance). My guests are Wealthify's Chief Investment Officer David Semmens and financial planner James Greenly who has recently completed the ‘pointy-headed’ CFA’s ESG certificate. Congrats.

I’ll be asking them about everything from greenwashing, to performance, exclusions and how to know what you’re getting. Does this really make a difference or is it all just a load of hoopla? Wealthify’s Ethical Portfolio has outperformed the traditional variant for 2 years+ now. Since January 2020, the Adventurous Ethical choice has returned 26% compared to the Traditional equivalent’s 15%. Why? Join us on 3rd November – register for our live webinar or watch on catch-up. Btw if you’re interested in robo performance comparisons, get the latest numbers here for all main providers across three different risk profiles.

Join our Army

We’re currently recruiting for more of our lovely readers to join the Boring Money Army. A lesser-known part of what we do is run a research business, helping the investment industry to get better, by tabling the voice of the customer. Our Army provide (paid) insights which fuel our work. Over the last 2 years we have told fund managers what you like (or don’t) about them; some of you have even drawn what your ideal factsheets should look like. You’ve told us what you want from sustainable investments and how fed up you feel with current disclosures. You’ve cut out the parts of your pension statements which didn’t make sense (there wasn’t much left..). And people with advisers have told us what they value – and what they don’t.

We would love to add more people to our Army. Sometimes it’s a quick question. Other times it’s an hour-long interview on Zoom. If you fancy a side-hustle (grandparents, if only to see the grandkids’ faces when you nonchalantly tell them “I’ve got a side-hustle”) then we’ve got some more details here. All welcome – it’s certainly NOT just the experienced investors we want to hear from.

Over and out for this week. I can’t wait for tomorrow and a lie-in. I have been plagued by the oddest dreams this week. On Monday, I dreamt about a child who was trapped in a human-sized tin of sweetcorn which was shaped like a vertical sardine tin. Someone opened the lid, by rolling it from the kid’s feet up to their knees. And the child escaped by sliding out of the bottom. What on earth was that all about!??

Disclaimer: No content in this blog constitutes – or should be understood as constituting – a recommendation to enter in any securities transactions or to engage in any of the investment strategies presented here. Taking recommendations from someone who has nightmares about children trapped in tins of sweetcorn should not be relied upon and may cause damage to financial and mental wellbeing.