Welcome to the spring edition of the Bluesky Bulletin.

In this edition, we look forward to the brighter and warmer days of 2025 ahead of us, offer a fond farewell and a happy retirement to Ralph, and introduce some of the other events coming up this year.

Spring is a new beginning

Spring is slowly creeping around the corner. The dark mornings are becoming fewer, and the drive home is getting lighter. We’re starting to see bulbs shooting within the office grounds, and the grass has started to grow (or perhaps this is the editor’s wishful thinking).

Winter in our new office was a mixture of freezing cold days, long dark winter afternoons, and of course, lots of rain. Operating from a historic barn with high ceilings is great, but does have some drawbacks. Many of you who have visited the office will have noted that Mill Lane is occasionally closed from Lower Earley Way due to flooding, so we suggest that our visitors approach via Mole Road after any particularly heavy periods of rain.

Spring is a time of awakening and regrowth, and this editor remembers a quote from one of The Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins:

“What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again.”

This serves as a reminder that although life can sometimes bring challenges, there is always hope for the future.

Jeremy (head of our investment committee) would make a similar analogy when considering investments. Sometimes, markets can look bleak, but history tells us that stock markets typically bounce back, so holding your nerve is often the best course of action.

We had a fantastic Bluesky company day

As previous staff bulletins have detailed, each quarter, we hold an offsite day where all the staff get together for a day of company updates and training. We believe these days are invaluable as they give us time to reflect on what went well over the previous quarter, and to consider areas where we can improve.

The day is not all work, and this time, Liz devised an excellent treasure hunt that saw each team gathering clues that ultimately led to Bluesky’s core values:

• Simplicity
• Pride
• Client service
• Peace of mind

We regularly revisit these values and ask ourselves what more we could do to embed them in the company culture and the work we do for our clients.

Once the treasure hunt was complete, each team was asked to present the values in whatever medium they wished – you can see two of the teams’ drawn presentations below.

We said cheerio and a “Happy Retirement” to Ralph

Ralph joined us two years ago, and he quickly grew to be a valued member of the paraplanning team. After a serious health scare last year, he decided to retire in February, and we’re all sad to see him leave.

For his retirement party, Ralph wanted to go to Spinners in Reading for a few rounds of ten-pin bowling and crazy golf. Rob proved himself to have a golden arm in the bowling, and Anthony showed off his crazy golf skills.

We wish Ralph all the best and hope Emma doesn’t get sick of the sight of him too soon!

As a fond farewell to Ralph, we thought we should all see one of our favourite photos of him one last time!

Liz has an unusual hobby she enjoys outside of work

As part of the Bluesky Bulletin, we try to present an informal side to the staff in our team.

This month, we’d like to tell you about Liz, our Operations Manager, who enjoys a bit of bell ringing (also known as “campanology”) outside of work.

Liz recently completed a “quarter peal”, which she tells us is a continuous peal of bells that takes 45 minutes and involves 1,260 bell changes.

The photos below are from Winchester Cathedral, which is where Liz has been exploring and developing her campanology practice.

Our 2024 pension on divorce webinar series was a success

Every year, we try to put on a series of webinars aimed at family lawyers and mediators who assist couples going through divorce.

Last year, we presented to more than 350 family law professionals over three sessions. This marked a record attendance for our webinars, which shows the high regard that family lawyers have for Bluesky’s expertise in this field.

One attendee thanked us for our “excellent insight into the minefield of pensions and divorce”. Another noted that the “speaker was clear, concise, and knowledgeable”, and others simply told us that the “webinars were brilliant!”

We pride ourselves on our ability to make complex financial issues as clear as possible, so we were especially pleased to receive this feedback.

Look out for our new website

Later this year, we will be launching a new website.

We’ve had photographers busy taking photos of the office and staff, and while we’ll keep the staff photos for the website launch, there are a few shots of the office that we wanted to share. You can see them below.

We’ve sent out our end-of-tax-year letters for 2024/25

5 April is the end of the current tax year, and it’s typically a very busy time for us and our clients.

As you know, we try to pick up potential end-of-tax-year items during our annual review meetings with you, but there may be other actions required, particularly if circumstances have changed.

One of our tax year-end actions is to write to clients we have identified as having the potential capacity to make further ISA contributions. These letters should have been received by now, but we would urge all of you to pick up the phone and discuss with your adviser if you think there may be other actions that you would like to discuss. This might include making additional ISA or pension contributions, or using your tax allowances, such as your Capital Gains Tax Annual Exempt Amount.

See you next time

We hope you have enjoyed reading this quarter’s Bluesky Bulletin, and look out for our next update in June 2025.