International Wealth Management - Finance-Spain.com

26/11/2025

Can You Keep your UK ISA as a Spanish resident?

Yes you can keep your ISA and other UK based investments when you move to Spain but you will lose all the tax benfits and there are better investment solutions in Spain

02/07/2025

Are you being taxed too much on investment income? Here's a comparison between a standard platform and a Spanish Compliant Bond. https://www.finance-spain.com/How-Spanish-Compliant-Bonds-Are-Taxed.html

09/06/2025

https://youtu.be/0VVndU5YJ6w Changes to UK inheritance tax, investments and pensions.

Living in Spain? What about UK inheritance tax and estate planning. The rules have changed in favour of UK expats. Here we explain the domicile regime, new r...

28/12/2023

Spanish Compliant Bonds - 5 more reasons to use these tax efficient investment platforms in Spain.

Tax benefits of Spanish Compliant Bonds it you are resident in Spain

17/05/2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOlWykia-Wg&t=125s&pp=ygUXbW92aW5nIHRvIHNwYWluIGZpbmFuY2U%3D

Moving to Spain? Here are some essential financial tips for life in Spain.Some aspects of living in Spain, when it comes to finances, are very different to t...

20/09/2022

Andalucía scraps Wealth Tax!

Andalucía is about to become with region of Spain (with the exception of the Basque Country) with the fewest taxes after Madrid, the president of the Junta, Juanma Moreno, announced this Monday morning. From Wednesday 21 September there will no longer be a wealth tax in Andalucía.

Moreno said this tax accounts for 0.6% of income for the regional government (95 million euros a year) and the change will have a very positive impact on increasing revenue and attracting investment.

Ten of the top 20 wealth tax payers in 2019 left Andalucía in 2020, resulting in a loss of income of nearly 18 million euros (3.5 million euros in wealth tax and 14 million euros in personal income tax).

The president of the regional government has said he wants people with high income who spend long periods in Andalucía to make it their permanent home and pay tax there . “This will help us to develop economic activity and employment,” he said.
Source: Sur in English

13/09/2022

All Eyes on US CPI Data this Week

Overnight Asia

Asian equities extended the global rally in risk assets amid speculation on Tuesday’s US Consumer Price data will support bets that inflation there is near peaking. Stocks rose in Japan, Australia and Hong Kong. European stock futures fell, while US contracts were steady after the S&P 500 completed its best four-day surge since June on Monday following robust pre-order data for Apple Inc.’s iPhone 14 Pro Max.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined a third day, the longest losing streak in more than a month, as investors weigh positive signs in the economy against hawkish rhetoric from Federal Reserve policy makers. Treasury yields inched lower on Tuesday after the curve steepened during the US session. The inflation report is expected to show headline CPI cooled in August to an 8% a year pace while the core measure that excludes food and energy is seen accelerating. Traders almost fully expect another jumbo-sized hike next week, following two 75-basis-point increases, taking their cue from officials supporting that view.

“Any potential upside surprise will likely see more volatility in rates,” said Giulia Specchia, a Macro Strategist at UBS Group AG in Sydney. “We do expect the monthly pace of inflation to slow notably over the remainder of the year.”

US bond market indicators suggest that investors are gaining confidence that this year’s spike in inflationary pressures will be brought under control. The cost of hedging high inflation has fallen, while so-called breakeven rates on Treasury Inflation Protected Securities — a proxy for where markets expect inflation to be — have also dropped.

Among other assets, Crude oil erased gains as global demand concerns offset tailwinds from the greenback’s recent decline and Bitcoin traded above $22,000. The offshore Yuan weakened
versus the Dollar, even as the People’s Bank of China set the daily reference rate for the currency stronger than expected for a 14th day. The PBOC’s actions have been a “bit of a handbrake” on investors getting too negative on the Yuan, Paul Mackel, Global Head of Currency Research at HSBC Holdings Plc, said on Bloomberg Television. “There’s still a lot of cyclical pressure against the currency.”

Here are some key events to watch this week:
• US CPI, Tuesday
• UK CPI, Wednesday
• US PPI, Wednesday
• US business inventories, empire manufacturing, retail sales, initial jobless claims, industrial production, Thursday
• China home sales, retail sales, industrial production, fixed assets, surveyed jobless rate, Friday
• Euro area CPI, Friday
• US University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:


Stocks

• S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 6.24 am in London. The Index climbed 1.10% on Monday
• Nasdaq 100 contracts were flat. The gauge jumped 1.20%
• Japan’s Topix Index gained 0.30%
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.70%
• Kospi Index advanced 2.60%
• Hang Seng Index jumped 0.40%
• Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.30%
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.20%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.10%
• The Euro rose 0.10% to $1.0131 to the Dollar
• The Japanese Yen rose 0.20% to 142.50 per Dollar
• The offshore Yuan slipped 0.10% to 6.9256 versus the Dollar

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell two basis points to 3.34%
• The yield on 10-year Australian bonds fell six basis points to 3.58%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate Crude slipped 0.20% to $87.63 a barrel
• Gold traded at $1,722.02 an ounce

US Market Wrap:

US equities closed higher on Monday, notching the biggest four-day gain since late June, as investors bought beaten-down stocks amid hopes that key inflation data will show signs of cooling prices before the Federal Reserve’s rates decision next week. The S&P 500 Index closed up 1.1%, with all 11 major industry groups in the green, led by the energy and information technology sectors. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 climbed 1.2%, and the Dow Jones Industrial advanced 0.7%. Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. were the biggest contributors to the S&P 500’s gains.

The stock market rebound comes as equity valuations grow more enticing after last month’s sell-off, with the S&P 500 trading below its average forward price-to-earnings ratio of the past decade. Data from China on Friday suggested inflation may have peaked globally, helping fuel the rally.

Traders are now preparing for the August Consumer Price Index due Tuesday. The CPI reading is expected to drop 8.5% from July, but remains historically high, rising 8% from a year ago. “US inflation is set to be the key driver for the markets this week,” said Fiona Cincotta, Senior Financial Markets Analyst at City Index.

Still, any optimism could quickly prove short-lived if the data indicates prices are still heated, pointing to more aggressive monetary policy and higher odds of a slowdown in the economy.

Investors are buying risk assets on the hopes of a soft landing, even though a hard landing is more likely, according to Tatjana Puhan, Deputy Chief Investment Officer at Tobam SAS. “We should be ready for a significant impact on the economy,” Puhan told Bloomberg Television. “I can easily see markets going down another 20%.”

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists said US firms that do most of their business domestically will fare better than those exposed to Europe, where a recession is all but guaranteed. A team led by David Kostin say that while the path of US growth may be “uncertain,” the economic situation in Europe is dire.

Sectors in Focus:

• US railroad stocks face volatility as tens of thousands of industry workers could be on strike by the end of this week
• European and US chipmakers in focus after Reuters reported the Biden administration plans to broaden curbs on US shipments of semiconductors for artificial intelligence and chip-making tools to China
• Energy stocks rose after oil gains, as a slump in the Dollar offsets mounting concerns that global demand is weakening

Source: Sanlam Private Wealth

12/08/2022

Global Shares Set For Longest streak of Weekly Gains Since 2021



Markets Wrap: Stocks and Futures Rise as Inflation Worries Abate.

• BofA says investors are rushing back into stocks and bonds
• Fed’s Daly says there’s more work to do to curb high inflation

Stocks and US equity futures rose on Friday as investors assessed whether signs of cooling inflation will enable the Federal Reserve to pivot to less aggressive interest rate increases.

Europe’s Stoxx 600 Index advanced 0.4%. Health care giant GSK Plc was among the outperformers, trimming a rout that was driven by Zantac litigation worries. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 contracts both climbed about 0.6%.
Traders have pared back bets on Fed rate hikes after a report on Thursday showed US producer prices fell in July from a month earlier for the first time in over two years, adding to Wednesday’s data on slower increases in consumer prices to provide signs of cooling but still troubling inflation.

“The macroeconomic environment may be starting to improve a little bit, with a peak in US CPI calling into question the need to hike rates aggressively in the months ahead,” Economists at Rand Merchant Bank in Johannesburg said in a note. “Inflation is still high and the Fed will still need to increase rates, but the situation is not as bad as many had feared.”

A Dollar gauge headed for its deepest weekly drop since May. Treasuries steadied. Gold pushed higher and Bitcoin slipped to trade near the $24,000 level.

MSCI Inc.’s Asia-Pacific Equity Index rose, propped up by a catch-up rally in Japan following a holiday there.

Stocks, this week, have cheered the possibility that ebbing price pressures will take the pressure off the Fed to keep hiking rates sharply, making a soft economic landing more likely. Global shares are set for the longest streak of weekly gains since 2021, paring their retreat this year to about 14%.

Bank of America Corp. says investors are rushing back into stocks and bonds. Global equity funds pulled in $7.1 billion in the week through 10 August, strategists led by Michael Hartnett wrote in a note, citing EPFR Global data. US stocks saw inflows of $11 billion, the biggest in eight weeks.

In the latest US Central Banker comments, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said inflation is too high, adding she anticipates more restrictive monetary policy in 2023. Her baseline is a half-point September hike but she’s open to another 75-basis point move if necessary, Daly said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

Swaps referencing the Fed’s September meeting point to some uncertainty over whether a half-point or another 75-basis point rate hike is on the cards.

Raw material prices are adding to the complexity. Oil headed for a weekly gain that’s contributed to a more than 10% rebound in a commodity index from a July low — a trend that could darken the inflation picture if it continues.

What to watch this week:

• Euro-area industrial production, Friday
• US University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks:

• The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.40% as of 9.31 am London time
• Futures on the S&P 500 rose 0.60%
• Futures on the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.70%
• Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.50%
• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.60%
• The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.20%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
• The Euro fell 0.30% to $1.0292
• The Japanese Yen fell 0.20% to 133.32 per Dollar
• The offshore Yuan rose 0.10% to 6.7342 per Dollar
• The British Pound fell 0.30% to $1.2172

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 2.88%
• Germany’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 1.00%
• Britain’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 2.11%

Commodities

• Brent Crude rose 0.40% to $100.01 a barrel
• Spot gold was little changed



Source: Bloomberg and Sanlam Private Wealth

05/07/2022

IMPORTANT WEALTH TAX UPDATE******
Law 12/2022, of June 30 2022, regulating pensions in Spain has now been passed into legislation. This modifies the Law approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1/2002, of November 29, by introducing the following changes to (amongst other things) Wealth Tax in Spain: The law has been modified to equate the tax treatment of pan-European (EU) individual pension products to that of pension plans in Spain.

This change is great news for Spanish taxpayers who have (or are thinking of setting up/transferring in to) pension plans elsewhere within the EU, given that, to date, the rights consolidated in foreign pension schemes could not benefit from this exemption to Wealth Tax. This change eliminates the existing discrimination in relation to the tax treatment applicable to pension plans set up in other EU countries.

This will benefit all ex patriots who reside in Spain and who have consolidated rights in QROPS or QNUPS pension plans in Malta for instance.

20/04/2022

"US Stocks Gained in Broad-Based Rally".....
Stocks rose on Wednesday and a sell-off in Treasuries paused as investors evaluated the resilience of the global economic recovery to high inflation, a hawkish Federal Reserve and Covid lockdowns in China. European equity futures advanced, while Japan bolstered an Asia-Pacific share gauge. But China dropped after its banks held lending rates, disappointing investors looking for a cut to support an economy sapped by Covid curbs. Nasdaq 100 contracts retreated amid an after-hours slump in Netflix Inc. on poor subscriber numbers. That tempered some of the optimism from a rally in the S&P 500 Index ahead of the streaming giant’s results. Treasuries were steady but remain under longer-term pressure from hardening expectations of sharp Federal Reserve policy tightening. Chicago Fed President, Charles Evans said interest rates will probably exceed the neutral level in the campaign to damp price pressures.

The Dollar declined and the Yen revived after a prolonged slump. The Yen remains the weakest performer in the Group of 10 this year on the policy contrast with the US: the Bank of Japan offered to buy an unlimited amount of bonds to contain yields, underscoring its desire for loose monetary settings.

The fall-out from price pressures, Russia’s war in Ukraine and China’s parlous economic outlook continue to shape sentiment. US 10-year real yields turned positive for the first time since 2020, reflecting tighter financial conditions that may hamper riskier investments such as equities.

“It takes time for the market to recognise and then respond to higher inflation,” Belita Ong, Chairman at Dalton Investments LLC, said on Bloomberg Radio. “My concern is that we benefitted from low interest rates during an era of peace, no wars, and during an era of very significant globalisation. Both of those trends are now reversing.” Elsewhere, Oil rebounded after posting the biggest slump in almost two weeks, with an industry report pointing to a drop in US stockpiles.

US Market Wrap

US stocks gained in a broad-based rally as investors weighed the resilience of the economy against prospects for aggressive policy action to curb inflation.

Treasury yields climbed across the curve, while Oil fell on demand concerns. The S&P 500 bounced back from the lowest close in more than a month, with all 11 main industry groups advancing except energy. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 jumped more than 2%, a threshold reached by the small-cap Russell 2000 Index. Yields on short-end Treasuries — the most sensitive to changes in interest rates — led the move higher.

Netflix Inc. tumbled in after-hours trading after the streaming service lost 200,000 customers in the first quarter and projected losing another 2 million customers in the current second quarter. Shares of streaming video companies such as Walt Disney Co. and Roku Inc. also retreated. International Business Machines Corp. gained in the post-market after reporting sales that topped estimates on strong demand for its hybrid-cloud offerings.

Chicago Fed President, Charles Evans said on Tuesday that interest rates will probably rise above the neutral level.

Investors, already betting on an almost half-point Federal Reserve rate increase next month, have been reassessing expectations after St. Louis Fed President, James Bullard said hikes of as much as 75 basis points shouldn’t be ruled out. The last increase of such magnitude was in 1994.

“Generally, most markets are focused on how fast the Fed and other Central Banks are going to go, and ultimately what rates are going to take a breather at,” Brian Nick, Chief Investment Strategist at Nuveen, said by phone. “Underlying all of this, though, is the fact that economic data still is quite solid. I would say it’s strong in the United States at this point.”

Government data on Tuesday showed US housing starts rose unexpectedly in March to the highest level since 2006. The earnings season continued on Tuesday, with Johnson & Johnson gaining after reporting first-quarter earnings that beat estimates and raising its dividend. The advance comes despite the drugmaker cutting its annual profit forecast and suspending guidance for Covid-19 vaccine sales. So far, with just 48 companies in the S&P 500 reporting results as of the close of trading on Tuesday, 79% posted positive surprises, data compiled by Bloomberg show. On Monday, Bank of America Corp. joined a string of earnings beats by big lenders.

“The US first-quarter earnings season, which continues this week, looks set to be positive, and we forecast earnings per share growth of 10% for 2022 overall and 7% for 2023,” said Mark Haefele, Chief Investment Officer at UBS Global Wealth Management. “Against this backdrop, investors should also seek long-term value in stocks. Periods of heightened market volatility and uncertainty can often lead to attractive longer-term entry points in areas of structural growth.”

Other earnings related stories

• Medical-device stocks surge the most since 2020 after J&J results
• Travellers falls the most in almost two years on underwriting miss
• Peak inflation poised to rewrite stocks playbook: earnings watch

Oil retreated, snapping a four-day rally, as traders weighed the precarious demand outlook. Copper rose with other base metals as disruptions at mines in Peru added to worries about tight supplies at a time when inventories are at alarmingly low levels. Disruptions to supply chains from China’s lockdowns and to commodity flows from the war in Ukraine have kept pressure on Central Banks to rein in runaway prices at a time when global growth is tipped to slow. The International Monetary Fund slashed its world growth forecast by the most since the early months of the pandemic, and projected even faster inflation.

Russia has launched what Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov hailed as a second phase of the war in Ukraine, and early indications are it could go better for Russia than the first.

What to watch this week:

• Earnings include American Express, China Telecom, IBM, Netflix, Tesla
• EIA Crude Oil inventory report, Wednesday
• China loan prime rates, Wednesday
• Federal Reserve Beige Book, Wednesday
• French presidential election debate, Wednesday
• San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, due to speak, Wednesday
• Eurozone CPI, US initial jobless claims, Thursday
• Fed Chair Jerome Powell, ECB President Christine Lagarde discuss global economy at IMF event, Thursday
• Manufacturing PMIs: Eurozone, France, Germany, UK, Friday
• Bank of England’s Andrew Bailey to speak, Friday

Source Sanlam Wealth

14/01/2022

Getting Inflation Back Down to 2% is the
Most Important Task of the Fed

Overnight Asia

Asian stocks declined on Friday after a slew of Federal Reserve officials signalled they will combat inflation aggressively and the Nasdaq 100 fell to its lowest level since October. Equities tumbled across the region, with Indexes in Japan and Korea down more than 1%. US futures edged higher after American stocks tumbled on Thursday, led by technology companies, which are seen as most sensitive to higher rates. Treasury yields rose, while Japan’s five-year yields climbed to their highest level since 2016.

Fed Governor Lael Brainard said officials could boost rates as early as March to ensure that generation-high price pressures are brought under control. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker and Chicago Bank Leader, Charles Evans joined the calls by their policy-making colleagues for higher interest rates this year. Rising rates — an upshot of strong economic growth — could drive investors towards value stocks, which tend to be more cyclical and offer near-term cash flows. “We are in a position where much that has been positive for equities is maybe moving to neutral or negative,” said Sarah Hunt, Portfolio Manager at Alpine Woods Capital Investors. “While there are still few alternatives, it makes the equity market ripe for more fluctuations over the next few months as we see how the data shake out and how the Fed reacts.” In addition, earnings may come into play: the valuation gap between big tech and the rest of the market is likely to narrow as the pace of earnings-per-share growth remains below that of the S&P 500 into the fourth quarter, according to Gina Martin Adams, Chief Equity Strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence. Prices paid to US producers decelerated in December as two key drivers of inflation in 2021 — food and energy — declined from a month earlier, representing a respite in the recent trend of sizable increases. At the same time, producers continued to face a variety of materials shortages, limited labour supply and transportation bottlenecks that sent prices soaring last year.

In Asia, the Bank of Korea raised interest rates on Friday for the third time since the summer. The rare back-to-back hike likely indicates that Governor Lee Ju-yeol had become increasingly uncomfortable about waiting to move again, following recent signs that the Fed will probably raise borrowing costs earlier and more aggressively.

Oil headed for a fourth weekly advance, the longest streak since October, amid signs the market is tightening.

Here are some key events this week:

• Wells Fargo, Citigroup and JPMorgan are due to report earnings on Friday
• US business inventories, industrial production, University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment, retail sales on Friday
• New York Fed President John Williams speaks on Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks:

• S&P 500 futures gained 0.20% The gauge fell 1.40% on Thursday
• Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.20%. The Index fell 2.60% on Thursday
• S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.10%
• Topix slid 1.40%
• Kospi declined 1.40%
• Hang Seng slipped 0.40%
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures dropped 0.70%

Currencies:

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined 0.20%
• The Euro gained 0.10% to $1.1470
• The Japanese Yen rose 0.40% to 113.78 per Dollar

Bonds:

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose two basis points to 1.72%
• Australia’s 10-year yield fell about one basis point to 1.85%
• Japan’s five-year yield climbed two basis points to minus 0.02%

Commodities:

• West Texas Intermediate Crude was little changed at $82.15 a barrel
• Gold rose 0.20% to $1,826.97 an ounce

US Market Wrap

The rout in tech shares gathered steam in the afternoon session, sending Nasdaq 100 Index to close at its lowest level in almost three months, amid deepening angst over the outlook for higher interest rates and geo-political concerns about Russia. The S&P 500 closed down 1.4%. Eight of the 11 major industry groups were lower, with the information technology and consumer discretionary sectors leading decliners, while the utilities and consumer staples sectors advanced. Despite the sell-off, 43.8% of S&P 500 stocks closed in the green. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index fell 2.6%, its lowest close since 22 October, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5%. The Nasdaq 100’s retreat pares a weekly gain, kickstarted on Monday by investors buying the dip after last week’s sell-off.

The Nasdaq 100 had risen 5.6% from its lows Monday afternoon to its highs on Thursday morning after a reversal of a recent month-long trend favouring value over growth. Growth stocks, in particular tech, are again out of favour on Thursday, underperforming the broader market. Economic data released on Thursday was broadly in-line with expectations. December’s Producer Price Index for final demand rose 9.7% year-on-year versus a 9.8% estimate. While initial jobless claims for the week ending 8 January at 230,000 were higher than the 200,000 estimate, continuing claims at 1.559 million were lower than the 1.733 million estimate. Thursday’s PPI report follows the 7% year-on-year increase in December’s Consumer Price Index, reported on Wednesday.

JonesTrading’s Michael O’Rourke offered perspective on valuation during high inflationary periods that can generate “uncertainty about many facets of business,” noting that in the past 60 years, when CPI has been between 6% and 9%, the average S&P 500 price-to-earnings multiple has been 11.8, compared with 26 now. Inflation is on the mind of Federal Reserve officials, with San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly and Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker becoming the latest to call for a rate hike as soon as March.

Federal Reserve Governor, Lael Brainard said getting inflation back down to 2% is the most important task of the Fed in her prepared remarks during her testimony in front of the Senate Banking Committee. Concerns over possible Russian military action in Ukraine are beginning to bubble up after Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told RTVi television talks with the US are at a “dead end.” The European Union renewed economic sanctions against Russia over the situation in Ukraine by six months. European natural gas is trading sharply higher on Thursday.

Sectors in Focus:

• Delta Air Lines closed higher by 2.10% after it said it expects to return to profit in the second quarter following an Omicron-fuelled surge of infections that will likely lead to a loss in the first quarter. The Nyse Arca Airline Index was up 2.60%
• Aircraft parts manufacturers closed higher after Bloomberg reported that Boeing Co.’s 737 Max could resume commercial flights in China as soon as this month
• KB Home was up 17%, the most since April 2020, after reporting 4Q EPS and orders that beat analyst estimates

Politics/Economy:

• Prices paid to US producers decelerated in December as two key drivers of inflation in 2021 — food and energy – declined from a month earlier, representing a respite in the recent trend of sizable increases
• Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker joined the widespread calls by his policy-making colleagues for higher interest rates this year, saying he favours a March lift-off and three or four hikes for the 2022
• A divided US Supreme Court blocked the centrepiece of President Joe Biden’s push to get more people vaccinated amid a Covid-19 surge, rejecting an Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule that would have required 80 million workers to get shots or periodic tests

Markets

• S&P 500 Index down 1.40%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.50%
• NASDAQ Composite Index down 2.50%
• Russell 2000 Index down 0.80%
• Eight of 11 main S&P 500 sectors closed lower
• Information technology down 2.70%
• Consumer discretionary down 2.10%
• US Generic Govt 10-Yr down 2.80%
• Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index (Rebased Version) down 0.6%

Source - Sanlam Private Wealth