Pictured above: At the joint Lodders Solicitors and Albert E Sharp seminar are speakers Giles Sharp, George Campion, Sofia Tayton, Martin Green, Louise Igoe, Sasha Parmar and Bill Roden

Making money is just the start, the hard part comes in keeping it for you and your successors, delegates at a joint seminar by leading private client lawyers Lodders Solicitors and investment managers Albert E Sharp were told.

The seminar, held at the Menzies Welcombe Hotel near Stratford-upon-Avon, highlighted the opportunities in both fields - investment and estate planning.

Lodders chairman, former Deloitte partner George Campion, said that Stratford-upon-Avon was increasingly being seen as a centre of excellence for individuals seeking expert legal and investment advice.

Martin Green, Lodders' head of private client, with fellow speakers Sophie Tayton and Louise Igoe covered areas of concern for a population that is increasingly living longer.

Lodders associate Sofia Tayton spoke on powers of attorney and care funding, urging people to prepare in advance for old age and possible incapacity.

It was important that they "faced up" to the issue at an early stage and took advice on how best to structure their arrangements.

Her colleague Louise Igoe stressed the need for lifetime estate planning, highlighting a recent survey which found that Britons overpaid £13 billion in tax, ten per cent of which was the result of failing to put in place an inheritance plan.

It was vital to take advantage of all the exemptions available, particularly business property relief.

And partner Martin Green, an expert on wills, urged clients and potential clients to get up to speed with recent tax changes, including those related to transferable nil rate bands.

"If you made your will before 2007 it is something you need to re-visit," he stated.

According to Albert E Sharp's experts, the UK's economic prospects are "dire", and it is only demand from China, India and other emerging markets which has prevented a double dip recession or worse in the US and Europe.

But all is not doom and gloom, with stocks and shares doing well.

It was part of a presentation on "Investment and Estate Planning in a Changing World" which attracted nearly 100 investors and advisors to an event held at the Menzies Welcombe Hotel.

In his opening remarks, Giles Sharp, chairman of Albert E Sharp, which is 100-years-old this year, said that the motto "Know your Client" was as pertinent now as it had ever been in the firm's history.

Bill Roden, chief investment officer at Albert E Sharp, cited rising inflation, a mountain of Government debt, low levels of growth and high unemployment for the "very dire outlook".

Indeed the last occasion Government debt was so massive the country had to go to the International Monetary Fund for a bail-out. Only low interest rates and a supportive bond market were staving off the threat this time.

Nevertheless the economy was being "squeezed" and growth was set to be low going forward.

Conversely the Stock Market was looking good - down to the large proportion of the FTSE represented by oil and mining shares, strong company balance sheets, a high level of profits coming from overseas, and corporate earnings growing by more than 15 per cent a year.

It was unlikely that the Middle East unrest would spread to oil rich Saudi Arabia, China and India were continuing to deliver strong profits, corporate growth in the US was over 20 per cent and there were even indications that Japan might start to bounce back.

"However we do not think the euro is sustainable long term," he noted.

Mr Roden said the UK had some world class companies such as HSBC, Vodafone, BP, Shell, Rio Tinto, Glaxo and BAT.

Historically, and against other markets, shares were looking "cheap".

Albert E Sharp fund manager Sasha Parmar was equally concerned for the UK economy. "I believe that only Asian and emerging market demand has prevented a double dip recession or depression in Europe and the United States."

And he was hugely bullish on China and India.

China's economy was in line to overtake that of the US in 2015. It built 11 million cars last year and, with just 80 million on the road and only five per cent of the population owning one, the number would quadruple in the next ten years. The Chinese market was consuming half the world's cement and steel. Construction was booming.

India was showing a huge increase in discretionary spend and leading company Tata's UK purchases included Jaguar Land Rover and steel group Corus.

There were now more billionaires in emerging markets than there were in Europe.

UK investors, said Mr Parmar, needed a portfolio which incorporated both developed and developing markets.

And the importance of the Chinese market was emphasised by Lodders chairman George Campion. "Recently, more cars were sold in China in one month than in the whole of the United States. 90 per cent went to first time buyers and 90 per cent were paid for in cash."