Testimonials & National Press Coverage

Advisory Client:

Your well timed phone call saved me over £170,000!! – I would also like to thank you for all the excellent advice given to me over the past 3 years and in particular your help with helping me invest the proceeds from selling my business at the end of last year. DR From Surrey

Saturday Telegraph:

Nor is the importance of sector this year a one-off. A study of unit trusts over the past 25 years by financial adviser Stephen Charles, of AC Financial, shows that the worst managers in the best sectors have easily outshone the best managers in the worst sectors. Not even the best investors can buck a poor trend. Charles reckons a £1,000 investment rolled over into the best performing sector in each of the past 25 years would be worth £290,000 today while the same £1,000 in each year’s worst performer would have shrunk to just £385.

Learn Money – A popular financial web site:

We wrote this article yesterday and having slept on it are starting to think that the research done by the fellas at AC Financial is one of the most important works on investment we've seen for a long time. Don't discount it because for those investors with a long term view, 5 -10 years+ (SIPP holders etc) it may lead to superior returns, returns which for most, even the professionals are not easy to obtain.

Saturday Telegraph Money:

Extracts of an article written by Stephen Charles at the request of The Telegraph: Our research has shown that a £1,000 investment over 25 years with the worst performing fund managers in the best performing sectors each year would have grown to £290,951 – Conversely, the best managers in the worst sectors provided a derisory £385- a loss of more than 61%.

Financial Times:

Stephen Charles, managing director of Allenbridge Charles (now AC Financial Ltd) says “The kind of clients who buy With Profit Bonds with us are actually quite affluent. Some may have up to £1 million invested in such bonds” With Profit Bond survey of bonus rates was also pro¬vided by us at the FT’s request.

The Times:

Sat 26 Feb 2000, Weekend Money Karen Woolfson Features,
But Mr Charles adds: “Some bonds are linked to very high risk indexes such as the Nasdaq 100, which includes many tech stocks. They have performed fantastically but they are overvalued and if they get hit there will be a bloodbath’’. Between 1st March 2000 and the 1st August 2002 the Nasdaq fell by 77%.

Investors Chronicle on 'With Profit Funds':

Stephen Charles at IFA firm AC Financial says, of with profits products in general. "If the clients understand how they really work, they won’t buy them. As far as we can see they are dead in the water." Some observers even suggest the idea that the bonus units are guaranteed is a myth. The reason is that if an investor wants to cash in early, the life company will normally apply a downwards ‘market value adjustment’ (MVA) if the fund’s investment performance has not met expectations. For Mr Charles this makes with-profits "the worst of all worlds. You are not getting all of the upside, because of the smoothing, but if you try and cash in early, you are suffering the downside through the MVA. It’s a nonsense".