Taking Stock - November 2014

Taking StockNewsletter November 2014

Debbie JukesPartner

Equilibrium Asset Management LLP (a limited liability partnership) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Equilibrium Asset Management is entered on the Financial Services Register under reference 452261. The FCA regulates advice which we provide on investment and insurance business; however it does not regulate advice which we provide purely in respect of taxation matters. Copyright Equilibrium Asset Management LLP. Not to be reproduced without permission

Despite the better than average temperatures of late, autumn’s most definitely in the air as we head towards the year end, with the longer nights and shorter days. It’s not all doom and gloom though. A season of fun kicked off with Halloween and the team here at Equilibrium marked the occasion by taking part in an office fancy dress competition!

The festivities continue with bonfire and fireworks and then, of course, we head towards Christmas and the year end. As always, we’ll be hosting a seasonal lunch for our clients for which you should have already received details and I look forward to meeting you there for a celebratory tipple or two!

We’re all looking forward to a busy few months ahead; however, reflecting on the last quarter, there’s already been a huge amount of activity within EQ. Our seminar

programme resumed in September; the team has continued to expand with a further five new recruits joining the company; and Equilibrium celebrated its 19th year in business, amongst other things. Outside of our own community, Scotland remained wed to the UK, stock-markets have recently suffered some volatility, the Ebola virus affects west Africa unabated and the Oscar Pistorious case has finally come to an end.

For a little alternative light-hearted relief, take a look through this edition of Taking Stock. Feedback and comments are welcome so please feel free to drop me a line at [email protected].

It’s Fall, Y’all


Taking Stock Newsletter November 2014

Claire’s Sahara Desert Trek Niamh’s Nepal Trip

Mike Parrott’s Prudential Bike Ride

Client Manager Claire Hayward recently spent a week in the Moroccan region of the Sahara desert where she trekked through this breath-taking landscape in temperatures of up to 40 degrees for over 8 hours a day! At the end of the week she spent two days in Marrakesh volunteering where she painted classrooms and did gardening at the Dar el Bir Association. They provide help to older people lacking sufficient income and for those suffering from mental illnesses whilst also providing schooling for children who are without a family to support them.

As you may remember former Client Manager Niamh Costigan left us in July to travel to Nepal as a volunteer on behalf of the charity Restless Development. She recently returned from her trip with some amazing stories and said “I had a great time working with the happiest and most enthusiastic yet deprived people”. Whilst there, Niamh taught English to children ages 6-13 and experienced the culture first hand.

Claire joined this brilliant fundraising opportunity so she could raise money for St Luke’s Hospice, a cause close to her heart.

So far Claire has raised over £4,000, but the donations are still coming in, if you would like to support Claire in her fundraising efforts to help a brilliant cause please visit:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/ClaireSaharaTrek

Back in August, Mike Parrott (the son of Anne, whom you may have come across counting the pennies in our accounts department) participated in the Prudential London bike ride in order to raise funds for Great Ormond Street, and the Equilibrium Foundation were pleased to support his efforts bringing the grand total to a whopping £1,200.

The ride was a challenging one as he had to tackle Hurricane Bertha throughout and in the end the race had to be shortened slightly. Despite Bertha’s best efforts, Mike managed to complete the bike ride in an amazing time of 4 hours 41 minutes and 57 seconds, with his average speed at just less than 19 miles per hour.

Mike would like to thank all those who sponsored him, and a huge thanks to Equilibrium for matching his efforts.



Marathon Man Congratulations to one of our clients Peter Boulton who has so far raised over £2,000 for The Christie Hospital by completing the Great Northern Run. He took part in the race alongside his daughter Tansy, who initially persuaded him to take up running at the start of the year. Peter completed the race in 2hr 33min 1 sec, and came 177th in his age group. His brilliant fundraising efforts will be matched by The Equilibrium Foundation.

Fast or FeastThe Equilibrium management recognise that hard work deserves rewarding and every year they do just that! On the morning of the annual team briefing staff are treated to a top secret event which is only revealed a few days before. This year the team were giving an option to vote for ‘feast’ or ‘fast’, with no other clues given.

The team members who voted ‘feast’ were treated to half a day of cookery lessons at Yang Sing in Manchester. They made many different dim-sums, learnt about the benefits of different green teas, prepared crispy duck and had a go on the gigantic woks to create a beef dish and rice for the side. Once the cooking lessons had finished the team sat to feast on all of the scrumptious food. Despite best efforts we didn’t manage to get hold of all the Yang Sing secrets as to what makes their food so delicious!

For those who chose ‘fast’ a trip to Daytona Go Karting was on the cards, where they all competed for the winning spot on the podium. All drivers put in their best efforts and eagerly had their eye on previous title holder, Claire but in doing so they all failed to see Colin’s efforts as

he finished in first place and stole the show! In second place were Simon Lister & Paul and a respectable third Andrew Hirst & Barney.



Wedding Bells

All Hallows’ Eve

Jeremy Banx Competition Winner

Wedding bells are ringing again in the EQ office, after whisking Helen away to Paris for the perfect romantic proposal, Ross and Helen tied the knot on 9th August at St Peter’s of Belmont.

Receptionist Jennifer Bessell will also begin her big wedding plans as she & fiancé Gavin visited Portugal in July to celebrate Jennifer’s 30th birthday where Gavin proposed. That’ll definitely be a birthday to remember!

We wish both couples all the best in their lives together.

I’m sure you’re all aware that we recently teamed up with Jeremy Banx to bring you Equilibrium’s first ever caption competition. Thanks to all those who entered with their witty captions, however the lucky winner of a signed, personalised original Jeremy Banx illustration was Nigel A with the caption

“Well I say he’s left me…He might just be in the west wing.”

We sent Nigel his prize and he tweeted us this picture, we love it!

We decided to celebrate Halloween with casual dress Friday. Well, not so casual as you can see. We set a prize for best dressed, and the winner goes to... Nigel Grayson-Thorne, Finance Manager.



Staff UpdatesNew Starters

Since our last issue of Taking Stock there have been lots of new faces in the office. The EQ family continues to grow across various departments.

Robert Daily – Client Manager

Neal Foundly – Investment Analyst

Jamie Moynihan – Client Manager

Victoria Pearce – Compliance Manager

Simon Yarwood – Client Manager

Experience to date at Equilibrium…

Within my first few months, I have embraced the Equilibrium ethos on delivering a high quality service to our client’s, whilst working in a well-qualified, helpful and friendly team.

What have you most enjoyed about joining to Equilibrium?

Meeting client’s face to face and building a relationship with them to help manage their financial affairs.

Tell us a bit about your background:

I have over 14 years’ experience within the financial services, working in various client facing and technical roles. In this time I have attained a number of qualifications in a wide range of areas and one exam away from being a chartered financial planner.

What would you be if you weren’t a Client Manager?

A retiring footballer

And finally, tell us something we don’t know about you!

I have an A in Spanish!

Where in the World is Equilbrium?

Colin & Gaynor – Dubrovnik

Peter – Australia

Niall - America

Anne – Turkey

Courage – Ibiza

Nilesh – Majorca

Paul – Menorca

The sight-seeing trips continue thanks to our generous and hard earned holiday package. The last few months have seen various members of Equilibrium travelling to:

60 Seconds with...

Jamie Moynihan

Client Christmas parties are just around the corner and the EQ team are already excited to get into the Christmas spirit! You will have just received your invitation via Email, please RSVP to book your place as we all know how quickly they get filled!

Several of our clients have mentioned to us that it would be good to start a ‘club’ for EQ clients who may enjoy getting together for social events, such as days out. If you would be interested in attending or becoming involved in the EQ client community, email [email protected]

Events

Documents

Taking Stock - November 2014