The latest offerings in investments, such as funds and structured products, and other notable developments.

Stellar Asset Management
Stellar Asset Management, a UK firm specialising on inheritance tax mitigation and estate planning, has added a discretionary managed services called Stellar ITS (Inheritance Tax Service).

The service is aimed investors who want to leave a legacy that is free from inheritance tax.

Investors and their beneficiaries should benefit from 100 per cent inheritance tax relief - provided that the portfolio is held for a minimum of two years, and at the time of death, Stellar said in a statement. It also provides access to a range of qualifying business activities that offer security and diversification, whilst seeking capital growth, in addition to qualifying for Business Relief, a government-approved relief from inheritance tax, it said. Investors retain ownership, control and access to their capital.

Stellar ITS covers sectors including commercial forestry, hotels and bridging finance, as well as commercial and residential property development.

“When I founded Stellar in 2007 my objective was to create a wide range of innovative and flexible inheritance tax services which allow investors to retain full control of, and access to their capital. Rather than locking capital up in trusts and insurance policies, we give our investors more choice and the opportunity to retain ownership of their capital throughout their lifetime,” Jonathan Gain, chief executive of Stellar, said.

Brewin Dolphin
Brewin Dolphin has launched a Sustainable Managed Portfolio Service for IFAs. The service will consist of five model portfolios which exclude exposure to controversial sectors and seek out exposure to companies that have a positive societal or environmental impact.

The five portfolios, called Income, Income Higher Equity, Balanced, Growth, and Global Equity, will be re-balanced monthly and managed by the existing team under David Hood.

The charge will be that of current MPS models at 0.30 per cent, with an estimated total charge of 0.54 per cent to 0.76 per cent. Launching in the next few weeks, they will be available on a range of platforms, including 7IM, Aegon ARC, The Aegon Platform, AJ Bell, Aviva, Hubwise, Novia and Standard Life WRAP.

ESG assessment will follow Exclusions: funds that seek to exclude companies involved in tobacco, controversial weapons, thermal coal, gambling, and adult entertainment; ESG Leaders: funds that are industry leaders in integrating ESG factors into investment decisions and stewardship activities; and Impactful companies: funds that invest in companies that contribute positively and measurably to social and/or environmental challenges.

The firm will also use MSCI data to track certain metrics. “We believe that transparency is really important and have decided to use a third party, MSCI, to provide an independent assessment of the ESG risk, carbon intensity and SDG alignment of our portfolios,” head of sustainability, Tom Blathwayt, said.