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Michael Willgrass

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Expertise

Michael’s expertise lies within a wide range of financial planning. He has considerable previous experience in restructuring restricted stock units, performance share units, and bonus payments. Michael also enjoys working with offshore capital to ensure efficiencies are being utilised.

In addition, he has a lot of experience in drawdown planning and helping to structure tax efficient income streams; with a particular focus on comparing pension drawdown solutions.

The value of an investment with St. James’s Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested.

Experience

Michael joined Apollo Private Wealth in 2019, following three years’ experience in the financial services industry, including a year with Natixis SA working on the fixed income desk within the investment banking division. Then followed a move to Amsterdam, where Michael worked on the fixed income brokerage desk for a boutique sales trader, STX Fixed Income. After his experience in Amsterdam, Michael decided to join the private wealth sphere, and in 2018 completed a 12 month intensive SJP Financial Adviser Academy programme.

Michael takes great pride in creating long term relationships with his clients. Through holistic financial planning and investment solutions, he efficiently propositions his clients’ portfolios in order to maximise their wealth potential. He predominantly works with professionals in the private equity, legal, technology and investment banking industries.

Michael is also the Head of Advisory Development at Apollo Private Wealth. He undertook this role in 2023, to train our financial advisers, ensuring their development and growth is well looked after.

Qualifications

  • CII Level 4 Financial Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning
  • Leadership Principles Diploma, Harvard Business School
  • BSc Economics, University of Sheffield

Personal interests

Michael enjoys spending time with family, and playing sport. In particular, he is a keen golfer and cyclist. Michael has a young Staffordshire Bull Terrier named Ixtlan. He also loves to play chess, travel, and takes an interest in ancient civilisations.

Angelo Crisafulli

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Expertise

Angelo takes a holistic approach to his clients’ financial planning, providing support in areas including; investment planning; retirement planning; estate planning; tax planning; and protection. In particular, he works with; high net worth individuals; senior executives; professionals in the investment banking, hedge fund, private equity and asset management sectors; and small business owners.

Experience

With over 25 years’ experience in the financial sector, Angelo began his career as an investment manager for primary asset managers and banks, including Deutsche Bank and Anima SGR; before moving into wealth management.

Coming through the SJP Financial Adviser Academy programme, Angelo joined Apollo Private Wealth at the end of 2017 and has since developed his experience in financial advisory and financial planning.

Qualifications

  • CISI Level 4 Qualification
  • Masters Degree in Economics, Bocconi University
  • MSc in Management Engineering, Politecnico di Milano

Personal interests

Away from work, Angelo enjoys spending time with his family, listening to music, reading a good book, and travelling, when he takes part in outdoor activities such as skiing, sailing and running.

Kabir Virk

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Expertise

Kabir creates long term relationships with his clients, through holistic tax planning and investment solutions, effectively managing their portfolios to maximise their wealth potential. He specialises in working with senior professionals in both private equity and investment banking, understanding the challenges that individuals face in these fields and providing them with the most appropriate solutions.

The value of an investment with St. James’s Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested.

Experience

Kabir has been with Apollo Private Wealth since 2018, prior to which he worked for a well-known US wealth management firm. He sees himself as having a metaphorical “seat on a client’s table” as an integral part of their big life decisions, helping them to achieve their goals.

Qualifications

  • Degree in Finance & Economics from University of Reno, Nevada USA
  • CISI Investment Advice Diploma Level 4

Hugh Vernon

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Expertise

Hugh focuses on building long-term relationships with clients. He is innovative in his approach and provides clients with holistic financial planning and wealth management solutions. His main focus is on professionals within Private Equity and Investment Banking, as well as business owners across many industries.

Experience

In the early days of Hugh’s career he worked in oil and gas recruitment for roles in the Middle East. Hugh then spent three and a half years at a full service, boutique investment bank catering to private and public institutions, and high net worth individual investors. Hugh joined Apollo Private Wealth in August 2018, initially in business development and paraplanning roles, before becoming an adviser in late 2019.

Qualifications

  • CISI Level 4 Investment Advice Diploma
  • Mechanical Engineering at University of Hull

Hugh previously gained the Series 7 and Series 3 licences in the United States, to provide advice to HNW individuals.

Personal interests

Hugh has a young family, and continues to take an interest in sports, having previously played American football, rugby, and competed in various long distance running events.

Myles Deniran

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Expertise

Myles takes great pride in building exceptionally strong, trusted and long-lasting relationships with his clients, through holistic financial planning, tax optimisation and wealth management solutions. He has an exceptional work ethic and passion for helping individuals achieve their financial goals and aspirations.

By combining his expertise in financial planning, investment management, and estate planning with a commitment to personalised client servicing, he empowers clients to achieve their financial objectives and secure a prosperous future.

Experience

Myles joined Apollo Private Wealth in 2021 with a decade’s experience in the financial services industry; including 4 years at another wealth management firm; and 2 years with Vitality, during which Myles consulted financial advisers and private banks on their investment and insurance propositions.

Qualifications

  • Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning
  • Certificate in Advanced Mortgage Advice
  • Member of the Society of Mortgage Professionals
  • Certificate in Equity Release
  • Certificate in Insurance
  • BSc Economics

Personal interests

Myles enjoys spending quality time with his family, as well as running and playing various sports; particularly football; and has been said to have a similar playing style to Cristiano Ronaldo. He is also a diploma level pianist and violinist, and retains a keen interest in music.

Richard Thorne

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Expertise

Within financial planning, Richard’s focus is on tax efficiency, whether someone is in the accumulation phase of wealth building, or whether they’re in drawdown during retirement.

Richard works with his clients to reduce their income tax liability, utilising annual allowances and approved tax efficient investment vehicles, while simultaneously ensuring they have a drawdown strategy ahead of retirement.

Taking a holistic approach, Richard looks to understand clients’ goals in order of priority, then designs a coherent financial plan; holding regular reviews and adjusting where required.

The value of an investment with St. James’s Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested.

The levels and bases of taxation and reliefs from taxation can change at any time. The value of any tax relief depends on individual circumstances.

Experience

Richard has worked in financial services since 2017, beginning his career in foreign exchange. Subsequently, he chose a career in wealth management as investing interested him from a young age.

Richard believes that financial planning is very important for everyone. He finds it rewarding to alleviate financial stress from his clients, so they can concentrate on other aspects of their lives.

Qualifications

  • Investment Advice Diploma – Level 4
  • BSC Information Management and Business Studies at Loughborough University

Personal interests

Richard likes to keep active and is a regular at his local gym. He grew up in the countryside with lots of walks on his doorstep and still loves hiking. 

Shil Shah

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Expertise

Shil takes pride in building strong, trusted, and long-lasting relationships with his clients, advising on a range of wealth management solutions. He specialises in providing bespoke solutions through his understanding of tax-smart investment and retirement strategies, estate planning and comprehensive protection policies.

Experience

Shil joined Apollo Private Wealth in 2023 and brings nearly a decade’s experience in the financial services industry. This included 2 years at Deloitte, and 6 years at KPMG, in their respective private client teams; working with HNW individuals and families in the UK.

Qualifications

  • CII Level 4 Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning
  • Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland – ICAS Tax Professional (ITP)
  • Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland – Chartered Accountant (CA)
  • BSc Mathematics, King’s College London

Personal interests

In his spare time, Shil enjoys spending quality time with his family; playing basketball; and is an avid Manchester United fan.

Victoria Trapitsyna

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Expertise

Victoria helps clients discover practical solutions to the financial issues that concern them most. She covers a wide range of financial planning elements, including; retirement planning; wealth protection and preservation; savings and investment planning and tax planning.

Victoria places great emphasis on maintaining a long term relationship with clients, and becoming a source of trusted advice as their financial needs evolve over the years.

Experience

Victoria has worked in financial services since 2014, but prior to that comes from a legal background.

Qualifications

  • Chartered Financial Planner
  • MBA, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
  • Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning

Personal interests

Victoria loves travelling, and spending time with her children.

Saneka Francis-Lawrence

Expertise

Saneka helps HNW individuals and their families, across the financial planning spectrum including with protection, tax optimisation and estate planning.

Experience

Saneka joined Apollo in 2024 with over 10 years’ experience in banking and the financial services industry, ranging from the largest life insurance company in the Caribbean, to multinational banks including Santander and Lloyds. Most recently, Saneka was with another St. James’s Place practice for two years.

Qualifications

  • Level 4 Diploma for Financial Advisers (DIPFA) with London Institute of Banking and Finance.
  • BA in History from University of the West Indies

Personal interests

Saneka spends as much time as she can creating memories with her son and their family. She loves to read a good book in her downtime.

Investing A Bonus Tax Efficiently

Introduction

When it comes to bonuses, a general guideline suggests allocating around 30% for spending and saving the remaining 70%. However, it’s understandable to indulge entirely in the first instance, fulfilling a long-desired purchase.

Regardless of your circumstances, it’s prudent to devise a plan to anticipate any potential tax implications. Whether you allocate 70% or adjust the proportion based on your needs, it’s also important to consider both short and long-term objectives.

Short-term goals could include expenses such as school or university fees, weddings, or other family obligations. Long-term goals typically revolve around retirement and estate planning, ensuring sufficient funds are set aside to sustain desired lifestyles for yourself and your family beyond your working years and after your passing.

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Tax efficient investing

Short term savings

In general, prudent saving involves setting aside funds for short-term needs, whether that’s for unexpected expenses or for specific purposes like holidays, cars, or home improvements. Typically, this involves depositing money into easily accessible cash accounts or Cash ISAs.

While cash savings play a crucial role in our financial toolkit – financial advisors often advise having three to six months’ worth of emergency funds, if feasible – they may not be ideal for long-term objectives. One reason is that cash tends to lose its value to inflation over time.

Saving part of a bonus in easy-access formats may also have tax implications, if the interest you earn exceeds your annual savings allowance (£1,000 for basic rate taxpayers, £500 for higher rate taxpayers and zero for those paying the additional rate).

Please note St. James’s Place do not offer easy access cash accounts or Cash ISAs.

Long term savings

This is where investments play a crucial role. Investing entails allocating funds and allowing them to grow over time, benefiting from the compounding effect, where returns generate further returns. While investing involves assuming more risk, market fluctuations have the ability to balance out over the long term (five years or more).

It’s a good idea to utilise your annual allowances, investing some of your bonus into ISAs (up to £20,000 a year), or a pension (up to the lower of £60,000 or 100% of earnings, other than for those on very high incomes for whom their pension annual allowance may be tapered.

Mitigating higher or emergency rates of tax

One downside to earning a bonus is that it might push you into a higher tax bracket.

Planning ahead is far preferable, allowing you to mitigate potential tax liabilities before they arise, thereby avoiding last-minute stress.

One strategy to minimise the impact is to allocate a portion of the bonus directly into your pension through salary sacrifice. This approach not only reduces National Insurance and income tax but also enhances your pension savings simultaneously.

It’s worth noting that if your bonus elevates your annual earnings beyond £100,000, you may be at risk of an effective 60% rate of tax on your income – read more about avoiding this tax trap.

Non-cash bonuses

Your employer may enable you to receive your bonus through avenues other than in cash. This might help mitigate tax, for example through salary sacrifice schemes, or by earning shares on which you may be able to defer any tax due, until their value is realised.

It’s just as important to take expert advice from a financial planner in these circumstances. In sacrificing earnings, you may for instance reduce your borrowing eligibility for a mortgage.

The value of an investment with St. James’s Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested.

The levels and bases of taxation and reliefs from taxation can change at any time. The value of any tax relief generally depends on individual circumstances.

Should you require more information or have particular questions, we invite you to contact us at your convenience.

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