 While a “high” return may be stretching it compared to more volatile high-risk assets, the return available for low-risk Irish Government bonds has certainly increased substantially in recent years. This is especially true for the net of tax return, compared to alternatives.
 The Department of Finance published its Roadmap for the taxation of retail investment on 31 August, and for the first time we now have some real details on how the new investment account will work.
 When SpaceX rang the opening bell on June 12, 2026, it did so as the largest public offering in history. Elon Musk's rocket company, at its peak, was valued at $2.97 trillion, with a share price of $225.64 on June 16, 2026. At present, the share price has dropped roughly 50% from their post-IPO peak. This series of events begs the question, should you invest in an IPO and if so, when?
 The situation in Iran is a human tragedy, and it is unsettling to see the constant flow of negative headlines involving war, energy disruption, inflation and the humanitarian fallout. This note is to add some investment market context for Distinct clients.
 Over the weekend, the Minister for Finance Simon Harris announced that a new Savings and Investment Account (SIA) is currently being developed by the Irish Government.
 Budget 2026 and the subsequent Finance Act 2025 introduced a number of targeted measures, but stopped short of meaningful reform of the personal tax or investment landscape.
 The Finance Bill 2024 was enacted on November 12th 2024. It implemented several changes announced in Minister Chamber’s Budget speech, along with some other measures announced afterwards.
 In a week where AIB announces profits in excess of €2 billion and reports indicate Irish deposits have more than €150 billion held in cash, much of it in low yielding instant access accounts, we release the second article in our series on what options there are for Irish savers to protect the real value of their savings.
 At the start of each year, most of the main private banks and investment managers issue glossy reports with countless pages and graphs outlining their expectations for investment markets for the coming year. These expectations can vary widely depending on the analysts view of the world. Some of these predications can go spectacularly wrong.  Why should you engage a financial adviser, and what value can you expect them to add to your finances every year?  After a sustained period of relative calm in the markets in 2017, in recent weeks there has been an increase in volatility which has resulted in renewed anxiety for some investors. |