On September 18 2008, I wrote to all Kymin’s clients to give them my assessment of the situation following the collapse of Lehman Brothers three days earlier.

Among the things I wrote was a prediction the government would start printing money.

This they duly did the following March, 2009.

They called it Quantitative Easing but it amounted to the same thing.

At the same time, the Bank of England reduced its base rate to 0.5 per cent, where it has been ever since.

I now believe that the recession is properly over and that a period of sustained growth is upon us.

This is a happy coincidence, as next year will offer wider and more tax-efficient choices to investors.

You will have read or heard about the changes to pensions, allowing greater freedom of access to accumulated funds.

It is, after all, your money.

Whether you have a lot or a little, the rules have changed in your favour.

These will take effect from April 2015, the Autumn Statement on December 3 will 'dot the i’s and cross the t’s' of the legislation, so watch out for further information on this area in the coming weeks.

Individual Savings Accounts are now called NISAs, presumably because they are thought to be nicer! Certainly the limits have been greatly raised - you can currently invest £15,000 per annum and are much more flexible than ever before.

So you can look forward to a year of improving economic news and more flexible financial products.

 

Gerald Davies is executive chairman of the Kymin Group, Newport