Our content this month are as follows:-

• Mexican Report.
• The Growth of Index Funds
• Books We Have Read
• The Budget
• Quote of the Month

Noel returned from Mexico on the evening of 16th March, having cycled more than 600 kilometres from the Gulf Coast to the Pacific coast. This however is only part of the story and we will allow Noel to describe his experience in his own words.

"We arrived in Mexico City on the evening of the 2nd March and spent the night in a hotel there. Next morning we had a 7 hour coach trip to the site of our first camp and are starting point in Alvarado. When Macmillan said we would be rough camping they certainly weren't joking! Throughout the trip conditions were very basic and the only bathing opportunities were in mountain streams along the route.

On Monday 4th March we started cycling and covered 100 kilometres each day until Day 3 when we ascended a mountain 3000 metres high in a 40 kilometre stretch - one of the participants describe this as cycling up stairs!

I felt I was getting stronger throughout the trip until calamity struck after the 5th day of cycling. It was at this point that Montezuma exacted a terrible revenge on me; suffice it to say I became extremely dehydrated and was threatened with hospital at one point and was unable to cycle any further. I travelled to the hotel at Puerto Escondido a day early and did not recover until shortly before we returned.

Everybody on the trip found it extremely tough and challenging, but for me everything was put in perspective by the fact that two cancer sufferers participated and their bravery was admirable.

I am extremely pleased to have raised such a large amount of money for such a marvellous cause and would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who supported me; your sponsorship money will be put to extremely good use."

A recent article in Professional Advisor magazine reports the growth of retail index funds; since 1996 they have grown to be 6.1% of total funds invested from a starting point of 2.3%. We are happy that at Index we have been able to take things a step further and offer institutional terms to our clients. These funds have been the best kept secret in the institutional market and we were delighted to have the opportunity to make these funds available to our clients at the end of 2003. It is interesting to note this growth as it appears to be following the pattern established in the USA and Australia.

We are also happy to announce that we have concluded negotiations with Legal and General who, up to now, have made their retail All Share Tracker available to us at an annual charge of 0.5%; they have now agreed to make the institutional version available at an annual charge of 0.2%. As soon as is practical, we will transfer all clients’ holdings to the institutional fund and take advantage of the improved terms.

The experience in the USA and Australia suggest that costs will continue to come down and you can be assured that we are constantly working with providers to obtain the best possible terms for our clients.

We are all of us interested in age and the ageing process. Dr Michael F. Roizen has written a book called "Real Age, Are You As Young As You Can Be?"

The book promises to help you to get younger for life and contains 44 scientifically proven steps that delay ageing. Some of the tips are fairly obvious, such as reducing stress and losing weight but others are more intriguing; for example the doctor recommends that you "eat dessert first" and discusses how driving over the speed limit can take years off your life!

There's lots of commonsense here, but it is accompanied by the reassuring news that following these tips will really reduce your real age; those of us who visit the dentist every six months will be gratified to learn that it makes us 6.4 years younger and we couldn't help noticing that financial stress can make your real age 32 years older.

The book is available from Amazon.co.uk and if you have any trouble obtaining it please contact jayne@indexfundadvisors.co.uk.

This week's budget was thought by many commentators to contain little of note. Tucked away in the small print however, were wide-ranging changes to trusts, both new and existing. The changes have been described as "doing away with the Potentially Exempt Transfer regime" and this is probably an accurate description, certainly as far as trust planning is concerned.

We have been talking to solicitors about the changes and it would appear that estate planning via wills may need to be reviewed, along with any existing trusts, which may now incur periodic tax charges.

Once the implications have become clear we will be contacting clients to recommend appropriate courses of action, but if you wish to discuss any of these changes, please do not hesitate to contact us on 0121 502 8800.

"Keep away from small people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."

Mark Twain
1835-1910, Writer and Humorist