Pensions Shock - 77% of Britons are retiring on pensions of less than £2,000 per year

latest figures suggest that 77% of Britons are retiring on pensions of less than £2,000 per year - that’s just £38.46 per week!

Picture the day you finish working. You will finally have the freedom to do what you want, when you want. But will your private pension(s) provide you with enough? The shocking fact is that over three quarters of the population won't.

So how do we ensure that we have enough money to retire on? Logic tells us that the more we have in our pension pot the more we have to retire on, and in essence this is true. It's no secret that in order to maximise your retirement pot, one needs to invest, via your SIPPs (Self Invested Pension Plan), into high return and stable investments

To learn how to maximise your sipp investments contact us directly.

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Todays Market Snapshot 2nd November 2010

Market News and Views

The FTSE 100 is called to open flat this morning as investors prepare for the start of the US FOMC meeting and US elections. Overnight news saw both Australia and India raise interest rates by a quarter point to curb inflation due to strong growth. However, early focus will be on the raft of UK corporate earnings statements from companies which may help provide some direction.

Today's Company announcements

Lloyds Banking Group IMS reports that it has continued to make good progress in Q3 as it continues to deliver against the guidance provided at the Interims. Core income growth, margin improvement, integration savings, funding progress and Balance Sheet all remain on target adding that this gave it confidence that it will deliver a good financial performance in the current year.  

Imperial Tobacco Final Results saw adjusted PBT up 10% to £2.47bn on revenues ahead 6% at £28.2bn. The dividend is raised 15% to 84.3p but cigarette volumes fell just over 4% to 308.7bn and said to continued to focus on cost cutting.

BP Q3 Results saw a headline replacement cost profit of $1.8bn despite an additional pre-tax charge of $7.7bn in respect of the Gulf of Mexico spill. Total revenue in the period rose 10% to $74.65bn.

BG Q3 Results saw net profits of $849m on total oil and gas production of 56.4m barrels. Total revenue rose nearly 22% to $4.41bn in the period.

Reckitt Q3 Results saw better than expected profits and sales underpinned by developing markets and new products and set new targets for 2010.

Aviva Q3 Results saw new business sales up 6% in the first 9 months of the year and added that it was 'on track to deliver strong profitable growth and outstanding cash generation for the 2010 full year'.

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Todays Market Snapshot 1st November 2010

Market News and Views

The FTSE 100 is called to open higher this morning helped by strength overnight in Asia on the back of strong manufacturing data from China. There is a raft of economic data due out today mainly from the US but domestically we kick off the week with manufacturing PMI. However, the bigger focus for investors this week will be the outcome of the US FOMC meeting starting on Tuesday with the US mid-term elections also taking place the same day. In trading this morning, sterling is up against the dollar but near flat against the euro.

Today's Company announcements

Weir IMS reports that it has performed well in Q3 and the positive trends seen together with some further foreign exchange translation benefits means that it now expects profits for 2010 to be ahead of previous expectations.

BG Queensland LNG Project Update. It has announced final investment approval for the first phase of this project in Queensland state in Australia and will spend $15bn over the next 4 years, its single biggest investment it has undertaken. 

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Todays Market - 29th October 2010

Market News and Views

The FTSE 100 is called to open lower this morning tracking the performances on Wall Street and in Asia overnight as investors wait on the sidelines for more news on the state of the US economy ahead of next week's FOMC meeting. Today's focus will be on the advance reading of the US GDP number at lunchtime followed by other US data later in the session (see below). Overnight news from the UK saw consumer confidence register a small rise in October according to GfK NOP to -19, which was seen as a surprise.

Today's Company announcements

WPP Q3 Trading Update. Reports that revenues in the period rose over 12% to £2.25bn and lfl revenue growth accelerated to 7.5%, its strongest quarter for 10 years with reported revenues now up over 6% in the first 9 months. It noted that it was on course to exceed its full year operating margin target of a one margin point improvement with America and traditional media 'continuing to bite back'. However, it added that the current strong improvement in growth rates, particularly in the US would not last forever.

British Airways Interim Results sees its first six month profit in 2 years of £158m on the back of fare rises and cost cutting with revenues up over 8% to £4.45bn. Average passenger revenue/yield rose over 17% to 7.02p. It described the increase in the UK's Air Passenger Duty which takes effect on 1 November as 'unhelpful' in an uncertain economic environment but sa

Todays Market News and Views 26.10.2010

Market News and Views

The FTSE 100 is called to open lower this morning as investors await domestic Q3 GDP data to determine their next moves followed by figures from the US later in the session. US stocks rose again driven by the weaker dollar on continuing expectations of a further round of US quantitative easing but Asian stocks were trading lower this morning.

Today's Company announcements

ARM Holdings Q3 Results saw a 60% rise in PBT to £38.8m on normalised revenues ahead 34% at £100.4m. In dollar terms, revenue increased 29% to $158.1m, all of which appear ahead of expectations. It added that the period had been good and entered the final quarter with positive momentum and expects sequential group dollar revenue growth in Q4. Further out, despite the uncertain macro-economic environment, ARM remains well-positioned for growth with leading semiconductor companies increasingly adopting its technology in a broadening range of end-markets.

Go-Ahead IMS reports that overall trading in the period has been robust and there is no change to full year expectations. The Comprehensive Spending Review should have no direct impact on the company in the current year and at this stage believes that it can manage any impact on results in later years via a mix of further cost savings and recovery through fares. It also separately announced that Chief Executive, Keith Ludeman will retire after 15 years in July 2011 and will be succeeded by David Brown who is currently at Transport for London.

Cairn Energy Greenland Update. All operations have now been concluded at the end of the drilling season with the Alpha-1S1 exploration well suspended with the T8-1 and T4-1 exploration wells plugged and abandoned and the Alpha-1S1 well encountering oil shows in the volcanic section. Geophysical operations are still active in Greenland.

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2010 Daylight Savings Time

Daylight Savings runs from the last Sunday in March (when the clocks go forward by an hour) through to the last Sunday in October (when they go back by an hour).

• In 2010 clocks go forward by one hour on the night of 27-28 March
• Clocks go back one hour on the night of 30-31 October

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360investgroup Market Snapshot 21st October 2010

Markets Summary	Previous	Change
FTSE 100	5728.93	25.04
FTSE 250	10831.86	5.65
Dax	6524.55	33.86
Dow Jones	11107.97	129.35
Nasdaq	2457.39	20.44
S&P	1178.17	12.27
Hang Seng	23559.02	2.52
Nikkei	9376.48	-5.12

Commodities Summary	Previous	Change
Oil	83.21	-0.34
Gold	1342.45	-6.58
Silver	23.71	-0.27

Currency Summary	Previous	Change
£/$	1.5796	-0.0052
€/$	1.3929	-0.0034
$/¥	81.06	-0.0200
£/€	1.1335	-0.0002

Time	Country	Indicator	Median	Previous
9:30	UK	Retail Sales m/m	0.4%	-0.5%
1:30	US	Unemployment Claims	454k	462k
3:00	US	Philly Fed Manufacturing Index	2.3	-0.7