Personal Injury Trusts
Investment Advisory Services for Personal Injury Trusts
Financial Planning and Investment Advice Individually Tailored To Each Case
Personal injury and clinical negligence settlements are awarded as a result of life-changing circumstances.
When the settlement is received, having direct access to sound financial planning and investment guidance can be of great benefit to claimants and their families as they work to rebuild their future against a backdrop of improved financial security.
Settlement funds must be managed conservatively yet productively. This requires an overall financial planning strategy which fully utilises the modern technical investment tools available, but which above all stays rooted in the personal needs of the carers, the family and the claimants themselves.
Our services are available to individuals, trustees and Court of Protection receivers.
Why use Fensham Howes?
The management of personal injury awards requires a specialised and careful approach, particularly since the law recognises the unique circumstances surrounding Personal Injury cases. We start with the personal needs of the claimant. We devote a great deal of time to understanding the background to each case, the living circumstances of the claimant, and the likely care needs that will be required.
Financial planning is about preparing for the future and understanding how each case will progress over time. To this end, we always build a customised lifetime cash flow forecast for each case. This provides an essential context within which an investment strategy can be developed. When developing the cash flow forecast, we take an all-round and sensitive view, actively considering items such as:
- Ongoing cash requirements – making sure there is always sufficient money available at short notice
- Funding the ongoing care and medical costs
- Ensuring that the dependent family needs are prudently covered
- Providing for children's education and upkeep as appropriate
- Maximising and taking into consideration State benefit entitlements
- Providing for accommodation needs – purchase, refurbishments and funding
- Financial risk control
- Advising on tax implications and tax management
Without comprehensive financial forecasting, it is not possible to develop a sensible and appropriate investment strategy for the funds.
Our Investment Approach
Our investment approach is built upon a large body of Nobel Prize winning investment research developed over the past 50 years. Collectively this body of research is known as Modern Portfolio Theory. Modern Portfolio Theory provides us with a number of practical and statistically verified tools that can be adopted by all investors. A big benefit is that these robust and intelligent investment strategies are actually relatively simple to explain and easy to understand, even for those without a formal background in finance. We think it is very important to demystify the process of investing for our clients.
Once the lifetime cash flow forecast is developed, we test our investment recommendations by running a large number of sophisticated computer simulations to understand what might happen to the investments under various market conditions. This is essential in assisting us to recommend a strategy that has the ability to continue funding necessary costs even through difficult investment market scenarios.
We choose the component parts of our recommended investment portfolios from the whole of the market. We do not have our own standardised ‘brand name’ investment funds as we believe in bespoke advice for every case we work on. Whilst we continually stay abreast of the new products and investment vehicles available in the market, we avoid investment strategies that entail paying extremely high management fees or taking investment risks where there is not well defined statistical evidence for achieving an appropriate return. For this reason we presently avoid some of the more esoteric vehicles that are currently receiving a lot of attention in the financial press, such as hedge funds.
Our Relationship With You
The process starts with an initial meeting with the carer(s) and, if appropriate, the claimant. This is where we begin learning the unique needs and circumstances of those involved. This meeting can be held at our offices, or at those of the solicitor representing the claimant; we would also be happy to visit the carer(s) and claimant in their home.
The initial meeting is free of charge and without obligation.
Following the initial meeting we will work with the claimant, the carer(s) and the other professionals involved in the case (the solicitor, care consultants, etc.) to build up an accurate picture of the likely financial demands that will be placed on the award. Once the basic figures have been agreed we then conduct analyses, stress testing and investment modelling before providing written recommendations of how we propose the investments should be structured.
In general, we recommend that clients take no more financial risk than necessary in order to achieve their specific goals. It is therefore possible that for certain very well funded settlements we may recommend that all of the funds be placed in extremely low risk instruments which the trustees can confidently manage themselves.
Once the initial investment advice has been provided and the trust has been established we then provide regular, formal reports to the trustees on the progress of the investments, and continually refine the lifetime cash flow forecast to reflect any changes in the claimant's and/or carer's circumstances.
Our Background and Team
Fensham Howes Limited was co-founded by Giles Pidcock and Lew Howes.
Lew Howes is a career financial professional with an extensive background in international banking, corporate treasury, and capital markets. He has many years of board level experience in large international companies. Lew is focused on developing investment methodologies to enable individuals and private trustees to benefit from the low cost and sophisticated investment techniques that have historically been available only to large institutions such as pension funds. Lew also serves as a Trustee and a member of the Investment Committee of the pension scheme of Inter-Continental Hotels Group, a FTSE 100 company. For more information on Lew, click here.
Giles Pidcock CFP has over 20 years experience of working with families and trustees on financial planning strategies. His focus is translating the day to day needs of clients and claimants into practical investment strategies that can meet their future needs throughout many different market conditions. Giles has a unique ability to explain the most complex financial issues to his clients in clear and understandable terms. For more information on Giles, click here.
In recent years Fensham Howes has built up an excellent reputation with the legal community and other professionals working in the personal injury field. We are regular contributors to the annual “Understanding Personal Injury Trusts” conference hosted by Wrigleys Solicitors. In addition, Lew Howes has co-authored a book with David Coldrick of Wrigleys Solicitors on Trust Investment Theory and Practice (click here for more details). The book advises trustees on how they can successfully fulfil their fiduciary obligations under the Trust Act 2000 whilst achieving realistic and efficient investment returns to match the specific needs of their trust beneficiaries.
Fees and Costs
We work on a fee basis only. We do not accept commission payments from the providers of the investment products we recommend. This preserves our impartiality and enables us to focus solely on the needs of the claimant. We are seriously dedicated to managing cost at every level of the process. This is a very important area and a separate fact sheet is available on request which transparently explains the investment related fees that the client pays at all levels, and how our fees fit into the mix. No fees are actually payable to Fensham Howes until we are formally instructed and until award monies are actually invested.