Informed Choice Radio Personal Finance Podcast

Investing in bricks and mortar, and building a property portfolio, is an ambition for many investors. The tangible nature of property makes it appear attractive. Combined with the ability to finance purchases and benefit from a stream of rental income, it's easy to understand the appeal. My guest today has a passion for property, buying her first home at age 18 before quickly establishing a sizeable property portfolio and property business empire. Michelle Niziol started out as a mortgage adviser, opening her own brokerage in 2005 and winning several industry awards, including Top UK Broker from Barclays Bank. After building her own successful property portfolio, she was inspired to do the same for her clients, providing a bespoke property solution. She founded IMS Property Group in 2008. The group of companies offers a complete property service from lettings, to estate agency, property refurbishment, development and finance. Michelle is recognised as one of the UK’s leading property and finance specialists, providing regular commentary for The Telegraph, Financial Times, Guardian and Daily Mail. She also has her own columns in industry magazines, such as What Mortgage. Back in 2006, Michelle was a candidate on The Apprentice in series 12 of the BBC show. Here's my conversation with Michelle Niziol, talking about building a property portfolio, in episode 468 of Informed Choice Radio.

An obsession with the cost of advice is denying investors access to the value of advice. When influential commentators position ongoing adviser fees as a ‘wealth tax’, they ignore the significant level of value added by the provision of good advice and planning. In this episode, why the wealth tax is really a wealth multiplier, and how financial advice adds 3% a year to the size of your portfolio.

Risk-taking is essential for innovation, fun, and the courage to face the uncertainties in life. Yet for many important decisions, we're often presented with statistics and probabilities that we don't really understand and we inevitably rely on experts in the relevant fields - policy makers, financial advisers, doctors - to analyse and choose for us. But what if they don't quite understand the way the information is presented either? How do we make sure we're asking doctors the right questions about proposed treatment? Is there a rule of thumb that could help choose the right partner? My guest on the podcast today is Gerd Gigerenzer, Director of the Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. Gerd is a former Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago. He is the author of several books on heuristics and decision making, including Reckoning with Risk. His new book, Risk Savvy, shows us how to recognize when we don't have all the information and know what to do about it. Here's my conversation with Gerd Gigerenzer, author of Risk Savvy, in episode 466 of Informed Choice Radio.

We’re fascinated by millionaires. There’s a certain mystique about how people become rich, and how they live their lives once they reach millionaire status. Some of our most popular podcast episodes have focused on wealth habits and behaviours. But did you know that there are around 47 million millionaires globally?  In this episode, the latest research into millionaires, and the traits most millionaires display that you could emulate if you want to reach this status too.

Today’s fifty-year-olds are likely to have an astounding 36 or more years to live. So if you’re approaching later life, you need to think very differently about what those extra years will hold. My guest today, Louise Ansari, has written a book designed to help you get ready for a major adventure. When We’re 64 arms readers with the knowledge, tips and pointers to think very differently about the amazing opportunity that a long life can bring. Louise is Director of Communications and Influencing at the Centre for Ageing Better, a charity working to create a society where everyone enjoys a good later life. She has worked on communications and campaigns for a range of UK and international organisations dealing with health, social policy, and local services, including several years as Head of Communications at Lambeth Council, and as a media specialist at Which? Magazine, the Food Standards Agency, and the Health Education Authority. Here's my conversation with Louise Ansari, author of When We’re 64, in episode 464 of Informed Choice Radio.

The financial press has been dominated this week by former-star fund manager, Neil Woodford. After being sacked from his flagship Equity Income fund, which is being sold off with cash returned to investors, he took the decision to wind up his multi-billion pound fund empire.  Coming up in this episode, three lessons for investors following the Woodford demise.

Real assets have grown in popularity in recent years, as an option to combat a low-yield from fixed income and perceived high equity market values. But what are real assets and how can they fit within a wider investment portfolio? My guest on the podcast today is Luke Hyde-Smith from Waverton Investment Management. Luke is Head of Third Party Fund Selection and co-manager of the Waverton Real Assets Fund, launched earlier this year. The fund invests in five broad real asset classes; property, infrastructure, asset finance, commodities and specialist lending. These investments are predominantly backed by tangible assets, often with some level of inflation linkage to the cash flows. My usual disclaimer then, because we're discussing a specific investment fund in this episode. Nothing in this episode is a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a specific investment fund. You should seek independent financial advice before making investment decisions. In this episode, we talk about the risk and reward profile of real assets, how access to infrastructure investments have changed in recent years, what some of the real assets in Luke's portfolio look like, and how real assets could perform under different Brexit scenarios. Here's my conversation with Luke Hyde-Smith from Waverton Investment Management in episode 462 of Informed Choice Radio.

We hear a lot about the Bank of Mum and Dad. With high property prices and a rising cost of living, it's becoming common for young adults to turn to parental support in order to get onto the housing ladder. But what are the options for generous parents and how can we avoid leaving ourselves destitute in retirement when we make substantial gifts or loans to the next generation? My guest on the podcast today is Mark Bogard, chief executive of Family Building Society. Mark has more than 20 years' experience in financial services focused on helping people make the most of their money. Prior to his role at Family Building Society, we ran Barclays' retail funds business and then built up Moneyextra, an aggregator website focused on mortgages and savings that was sold to Bristol & West Plc. In this episode, I talk to Mark about the factors prompting a big rise in lending from the Bank of Mum and Dad, why uncertainty around financial futures can cause hesitation for some parents who are keen to provide support, and Mark's personal experience of a changing property market. Here's my conversation with Mark Bogard, chief executive of Family Building Society, in episode 460 of Informed Choice Radio.

Big life events are often a prompt to establish a Financial Plan. Retirement is a big one, along with starting a family, buying a home, or the death of a loved one. In this episode of Informed Choice Radio, the right time to get a Financial Plan. Nick Bamford is our guest host for this episode, standing in for Martin this week.

We hear a lot about the gender pay gap, but what about the gender pension gap? My guest on the show today is Dame Helena Morrissey, Head of Personal Investing at Legal & General Investment Management. Helena joined LGIM in 2017 from Newton where she held the title of CEO for fifteen years, before becoming non-executive Chairman. During her tenure, Newton’s assets under management grew from £20 billion to £50 billion, and under her leadership the firm developed a number of market-leading strategies in absolute return, equity income and global equities. Prior to becoming CEO she was a Head of Fixed Income at Newton. She started her career as a global fixed income analyst at Schroders in New York. Helena founded the 30% Club in 2010; a cross-business initiative aimed at achieving better gender balanced boards through voluntary, business-led change. She is also Chair of the Diversity Project. As you'll hear in this episode, the proportion of women on UK company boards more than doubled over the following five years and there are now fourteen 30% Clubs throughout the world. Helena was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2012 New Year’s Honours List and promoted Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to diversity in financial services. Here's my conversation with Helena Morrissey, in episode 458 of Informed Choice Radio.