Independent Financial Planner
Kerry Holmes
Norwich – Brooks Financial
Services for charities
We help charities to meet their requirements. Our services include charity investments, workplace pensions, employee benefits and insured benefits.
Our services
We offer a comprehensive range of services designed around the specific needs of charities and their trustees, from investment management and financial planning to employee benefits and insured benefits.
Charity investments
Do you have charity assets or investments you are responsible for? We can help formulate your investment policy statement, set clear objectives and provide independent oversight of your investment managers, with consideration of the Trustee Act 2000.
Employee benefits
Our specialists will work with you to provide cost-effective employee benefits tailored to your charity's objectives and the needs of your people, from workplace pensions and insured benefits to financial education and incentives.
Employee financial wellbeing
Our team can provide a range of cost-effective support, from workplace presentations and one-to-one sessions to webinars and our online Financial Wellbeing Hub.
Financial planning
If your trustee board requires external knowledge and expertise to help achieve your charity's financial objectives, our independent financial planners are here to help, providing peace of mind when making important decisions.
Insured benefits
Insured benefits have become a core component of modern employee benefits packages. Our specialists can work with you to integrate suitable, cost-effective insured benefits that can protect both your charity and your people.
Workplace pensions
As independent advisers, we can access the whole market to find a cost-effective workplace pension solution, as well as supporting you with employee engagement and automatic enrolment compliance.
Guide
Charity investments: A guide for trustees
Whether your board of trustees require expert oversight before committing to investing your charity’s assets, or simply wish to review the suitability of existing investment arrangements, we can help you.
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Your questions answered
Structure and objectives bound by time horizons, supported by ongoing support from a professional financial planner.
Typically, these are reviewed annually. Although, this should be more regular where relevant changes in circumstance occur.
Although a charity’s investment options and requirements might differ depending on the purpose of the organisation, charities are generally able to invest. Your powers to invest usually come from one or both of the following:
- your governing documents; and/or
- the law.Cash held in savings or instant access count as part of your investments.There are rules around permanent endowments, so do ensure you check whether this applies before committing any funds.
This is a document created by the trustees which forms a robust strategy for achieving your charity’s goals and investment objectives. It should be held alongside other governing documents.
By creating, and regularly reviewing an investment policy statement, you can ensure all investment decisions can be sensibly taken by the trustees and other professional advisers, as it will set out the organisations aims, timescales and purposes for making any investment.
The Trustee Act 2000 gives wide powers of investment to the trustees, however you must follow the strict duties and responsibilities which are set out, we have highlighted some of these below.
- You must consider any restrictions or requirements to invest (or not invest) that are detailed in your charity’s investment policy statement.
- You should regularly review your charity’s investments — this is usually done at least annually. You should keep a record of the review, even if you decide not to make any changes to how and where the funds are invested.
- Before making any investment decisions you must consider whether you need to take expert advice about the way in which you have decided to invest.
There are two main types of workplace pension schemes to consider: Defined Benefit schemes (DB), and Defined Contribution schemes (DC). The type of pension scheme that is right for your charity will depend on your organisation's budget, objectives, and unique circumstances
As the scheme is regulated and has a formal disciplinary process, you may be investigated by The Pensions Regulator (TPR) if you are found to have not completed your duties as an employer. They may take enforcement action such as compliance notices and penalties. If you have missed contribution payments, you will be ordered to backdate these, and they may enforce that you pay your employee’s missed contributions too.
Insured benefits help you to safeguard both your charity and its employees from the unexpected. For employees, this provides added financial security in the event their regular income ceases. For your charity, it ensures security in the event a senior figure is unable to work, and can improve employee acquisition and retention.
Case studies
Our team have provided support to charities for many years. We work with some of the UK’s leading charities and have a longstanding relationship with the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), who have awarded us the coveted rank of ‘Trusted Supplier’.Find out how we have helped a selection of our clients meet their needs and objectives.
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Contact us
Call us on: 020 7499 6424
or email us at: [email protected]