While most of us had our terrestrial holiday plans scuppered by travel bans and quarantining, some were boldly going where few men had gone before. Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk launched themselves into space in their race to capture the space tourism market. While the real Captain Kirk (William Shatner) of Star Trek fame became the oldest human in space, at the age of 90.
Some people clearly still had money to spend and the first purely digital artwork was auctioned for US$69.3 million at Christie’s. The photo collage was the first NFT, or non-fungible token, artwork to be offered by a major auction house and also the first time they accepted payment in cryptocurrency. If fashion was more your thing, you could have bought a pair of Kanye West’s Nike Air Yeezy trainers for a record US$1.8 million at auction.
With a new album from Adele and James Bond’s No Time To Die finally premiering after an 18-month delay, it may have seemed we were putting the pandemic behind us and moving on, but that was before the Omicron variant put in a late appearance in November.
On a business front, 2021 saw the first anniversary of Insights, our website with a focus on helping our clients (and potential clients) understand the financial options open to them. Over the course of the year, we have added to our library of articles and webinars and covered a wealth of topics. Although coronavirus may have played its part, it wasn’t the only theme. We have covered wealth planning, borrowing and retirement options, and included regular investment updates and commentaries.
No round-up of the year would be complete without a ‘best of the year’ list so here are our Insights ‘top ten’ reads and listens in 2021:
- Lombard loans: your questions answered
- Spending habits of the rich and (not so) famous
- Is early retirement a wise choice?
- A plan for expat living
- Are trusts still worth setting up? – webinar
- Give a financial gift this Valentine’s Day
- What women want for women (and others)
- New year, new start: 5 steps to get ahead for 2021
- The billionaire bank of mum and dad
- Options for uncertain investors
These are just a selection of over 110 stories, videos and webinars we have published this year. If you would like to catch up on all our webinars, you can view them at Our webinars – Nedbank Private Wealth. Our library of stories from the team can be found at Insights – Nedbank Private Wealth. We hope you find the articles and webinars of interest. Please get in touch with us via email if you have any feedback, or there is a topic you’d like to see covered.
Looking ahead, we have already scheduled our first two webinars for the New Year. Our first will be a review of 2021 and the outlook for 2022, where we will be discussing the key scenarios, financial markets and what that means for your investment portfolios. If you would like to join us on Thursday 13 January, you can sign up here.
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Clients of Nedbank Private Wealth can get in touch with their private banker directly to understand how wealth planning can help them achieve their financial goals and objectives, or call +44 (0)1624 645000 to speak to our client services team.
If you would like to find out more about how we can help you with wealth planning support, please contact us on the same number as above, or complete the contact us form using the link below.
Any examples of investments and structures used are for illustrative purposes only. The inclusion does not constitute an invitation or inducement to buy any financial investment or service. None of the content constitutes advice or a personal recommendation. Nedbank Private Wealth does not provide individual tax advice, and instead works with clients’ existing advisers or can provide an introduction if needed. Individuals should seek professional advice, based on their jurisdiction and personal circumstances, before making any financial decision.