Money Marketing
10 March 2004

  • ཷ% of public would not buy an annuity'

    11 Mar 2004

    Fifty-nine per cent of the population would not buy an annuity if they were not legally required to do so, according to research by Watson Wyatt. The survey of 3,500 people aged between 50 and 64 shows that 74 per cent say the principal reason for not wanting an annuity is the preference for flexibility. Forty-six per cent feel they could generate more income from their fund themselves, 45 per cent say the income from annuities is too low, 38 per cent want to pass on ...

  • 'Author of its own misfortunes'

    11 Mar 2004

    Excerpts from Treasury Financial Secretary Ruth Kelly's statement to the House of Commons on Monday. "The Government sympathises with the plight of policyholders who have suffered much worry and distress over the past four years and who have seen significant reductions in their expected income in retirement…." "Lord Penrose's central finding is that principally, the society was the author of its own misfortunes." "Lord Penrose makes no recommendation ...

  • 'Debate the issues in Parliament'

    11 Mar 2004

    Equitable Life chief executive Charles Thomson is urging the Parliamentary Ombudsman to reopen her inquiry into the society following publication of the Penrose Report. Thomson says that Parliament must fully debate the issues raised by Lord Penrose in a bid to draw a line under the suffering of policyholders. But he has expressed frustration that the report, which he says is of huge importance to the industry and Equitable, was not disclosed to the society in advance ...

  • 'Directors kept in the dark by management'

    11 Mar 2004

    Equitable Life's management and former board have come under heavy fire in the Penrose report, with former directors described as being inadequately skilled to know they were being kept in the dark by the management team. In his key findings, Penrose identifies that as early as 1983 the society's executive management had decided to meet the cost of its annuity guarantees from final bonuses, a decision not communicated to the board until 10 years later and not to policyholders ...

  • 'FSA has tightened up'

    11 Mar 2004

    Insurance industry analysts say the FSA has already done much to ensure situations such as the Equitable Life debacle do not happen again such as introducing principles and practices of financial management and probing the appointed actuary role. Independent analyst Ned Cazalet says: "What we did have in the old days was a bunch of non-executives turning up for lunch, listening to some actuarial waffle, with no skills to challenge any of it." He suggests that the outcome for Equitable ...

  • 'Treasury and Revenue free of CTF misselling claims'

    11 Mar 2004

    The Treasury and the Inland Revenue will be protected from any misselling allegations over child trust fund allocation, according to the Government's response to the Treasury select committee's second report into the CTF. The Government's response to the select committee's report, published last week, disregards the committee's advice to review the method it will use to allocate funds for families who fail to pick a provider for their child's fund. The ...

  • 'Trustees are failing to update their skills'

    11 Mar 2004

    Only 55 per cent of pension scheme trustee boards have reviewed their knowledge of pensions and investment and 65 per cent have no effective governance policy, according to a new study by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The survey of 66 chairmen of major UK pension schemes reveals that many UK pension scheme trustees lack the necessary skills and resources to implement effective corporate governance. It shows that 85 per cent of trustee boards do not have individual governance ...

  • 'Useless' PI cover up 14-fold in three years

    11 Mar 2004

    Sofa chairman and Informed Choice director Nick Bamford has seen his professional indemnity insurance premium increase by more than 14 times in three years for cover he believes is effectively useless. Bamford says his premium has risen by 27 per cent to £40,000 for the year from February from £28,875 last year - a massive increase from £2,750 three years ago. Splits are excluded from the cover and Bamford says his excess remains at £15,000 for ...

  • £118bn liabilities in closed companies - KPMG

    16 Mar 2004

    Run-off cover of closed books made up 14 per cent of liabilities of all UK life insurers in 2002 up from 8 per cent in 2001 according to a survey by KPMG LLP (UK).The research shows UK life insurers that had closed to new business had £118bn in liabilities in run-off at the end of 2002.KPMG says because the figures do not include data from life insurers that have closed only part of their business the overall industry-wide figure will be much higher.

  • A consumer's view

    11 Mar 2004

    The FSA's proposals for depolarisation have been met with the predictable welcoming reaction as the industry puts a brave face on what is basically a mess. But there is more than a hint of resignation about some of the comments. Depolarisation was never a good idea and was only considered as a sop to the bancassurers which made it plain that depolarisation was the price they would extract for selling stakeholder pensions over the counter in bank branches. Most providers ...

  • A family affair

    11 Mar 2004

    I am due to retire in June 2004 at 60. I am a member of a pre1987 money-purchase pension plan insured with Scottish Widows, with earnings above the cap. The benefits are held within its with-profits fund and I am eligible for a guaranteed annuity. The guaranteed annuity is at a rate of £98.02 annuity per £1,000 cash fund. It is guaranteed for five years but is single-life only. I am in good health, married and have three children, all of whom have left home and are working. ...

  • A licence to skill

    11 Mar 2004

    The Financial Services Skills Council is in the last stages of obtaining its licence as a qualified skills council, heading for a final meeting with its licence assessment panel on Wednesday this week. FSSC managing director Teresa Sayers is confident that the licence will be approved, granting the organisation a new status that comes with a substantial injection of cash from the Government and propelling it into its next stage of development. Sayers hopes this injection ...

  • Abbey to launch 15 year fixed rate mortgage

    16 Mar 2004

    Abbey is launching a 15 year fixed rate mortgage at 5.74 per cent later this week.The product is available for movers and remortgage as well as house purchase and first time buyers can opt for free valuation and free legals at the slightly higher rate of 5.79 per cent.

  • Action group wants a new review

    11 Mar 2004

    The Equitable Members' Action Group has criticised Treasury Financial Secretary Ruth Kelly for saying the Penrose report does not blame regulators or recommend compensation. It says the remit set for Lord Penrose precluded him from blaming the regulator or recommending compensation and believes Lord Penrose should be asked to complete a further study focusing on compensation. Law firm Clarke Willmott, which has represented Equitable policyholders, is also unsatisfied. ...

  • AMI concern over complaint plans

    11 Mar 2004

    Treasury plans to transfer mortgage complaint handling to the Financial Ombudsman Service could leave many borrowers without protection, warns the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries. The AMI believes there is a loophole in the proposals so anyone claiming against a broker who becomes an appointed representative after N4 will not be covered by the FOS. The client's only recourse would be to pursue their claim in the courts. The extension of the ombudsman's powers ...

  • Baby talk

    11 Mar 2004

    Sometimes the constant stream of press releases about new appointments can get a little repetitive so the Diary was pleased to get one release that stood out from the crowd. Whitehall Financial Independent proudly announced the arrival of new adviser John Dunseath - and his four-month-old twins. "The babies were born in October and I joined the WFI team in January - you could say it's new boys all around," he says. The Diary now knows more about WFI than it ever thought ...

  • Barclays and The Woolwich throw support behind Miles

    12 Mar 2004

    Barclays and The Woolwich have welcomed the Miles report's recommendation that all mortgage products should be available to all customers.Barclays and The Woolwich say they support Professor Miles' call for greater transparency in the mortgage market.Barclays and The Woolwich head of mortgages Andy Gray says: "We already offer products with fixed rates over two, five and 10 year periods. Our full mortgage range is available to all our customers, whether existing or ...

  • Barclays banks on combination deal

    11 Mar 2004

    Barclays is developing a proposition for customers approaching retirement that will combine the bank's products with offers from third parties. It is looking into offering equity release, long-term care, investment planning and tax planning either through third parties or by itself. The project is in the early stages but Barclays says it could include a dedicated advisory force. Barclays Financial Planning commercial director Alan Keegan says the new at-retirement ...

  • Base rate rises fail to stem house prices

    11 Mar 2004

    Increases in mortgage rates have failed to stop house price rises which went up by 1.6 per cent in February, with an annual house price inflation figure of 17.8 per cent, according to Halifax research. The two Bank of England base rate rises since last November have had a modest affect on housing affordability, raising mortgage payments as a percentage of earnings from 13.9 per cent to 15.5 per cent, but Halifax says that figure is well below the long-term average of 21 per cent. ...

  • Be top of the reform

    11 Mar 2004

    The proposals for reforming trust taxation represent an excellent opportunity for advisers to show their key clients and, perhaps more important, their key professional connections such as accountants and solicitors that they are up to date with developments relevant to financial planning in the upper end of the market. They also offer broker consultants a chance to show competence and professionalism. IFAs who deal in upmarket business will value clear communication on the proposals ...

  • Beat the conundrum

    11 Mar 2004

    Time might prove Peter Hargreaves' opinion right that only those life companies prepared to follow IBM's example and reinvent themselves as management consultants and service administrators to IFAs will prosper. Consider the hard facts of today's marketplace - depolarisation, predatory mergers and acquisitions, purchase capriciousness, legislative overload, high costs of PI cover, compliance and people, IT dependency, product sameness, profit squeeze, and so on - and ...

  • Bedford to build up quality advisers for Worldwide

    11 Mar 2004

    Former Sesame network sales director Andrew Bedford has been appointed non-executive chairman of IFA Worldwide Financial Planning. Bedford, who is currently chairman of 3D Communications, will cover media relations, brand development, provider relations and strategic development at WWFP. He will also be responsible for introducing high-quality advisers to the business over the next two years, as WWFP is aiming to be one of the top 50 IFAs within this time. Bedford says: ...

  • Berry and Sesame slam BBB scheme

    11 Mar 2004

    The retired founding director of Berry Birch & Noble Financial Services is concerned that Berkeley Berry Birch's decision to dump the firm's liabilities on the Financial Services Compensation Scheme will tarnish his reputation. BBN founder Derek Berry is joined by network giant Sesame in criticism of the FSA for approving the transfer of 150 advisers and their clients to a phoenix company within BBB, foisting the cost of potential misselling liabilities on to the FSCS. Berry ...

  • Big benefits are in site for Aegon

    11 Mar 2004

    Aegon Benefit Solutions is setting up a huge worksite marketing website which it hopes will reach around three million workers in three years. It is already giving information on pensions, mortgages, credit cards and insurance to over 300,000 staff in a pilot scheme which was started earlier this month. Mymoneypal, part of Aegon's mybenefits workplace offering, gives staff access to a wide range of financial services information and real-time data. The system ...

  • Bonds in a bind

    11 Mar 2004

    A bit like the agent of an aging actor or a fading pop star, providers of with-profits bonds are having to come to terms with the reality that their main act is diminishing in popularity. With-profits bonds have been for long the popular choice for the low-risk investor seeking some equity exposure but the last couple of years have seen a massive fall in the volume of WP bonds being sold by IFAs and other distribution channels. From a peak of almost £15bn of new sales in ...

  • Bradford & Bingley

    11 Mar 2004

    Bradford & Bingley's new group chief executive Steven Crawshaw is keen to improve operational efficiency while continuing to achieve growth objectives for the company. He is adamant that it will be business as usual at B&B but says there are a lot of issues ahead, such as depolarisation, and he wants to give a clearer message of what the company's path will be. Despite concerns that have been raised about the sustainability of buy to let, Crawshaw says he ...

  • Breakfast with Butterfield

    11 Mar 2004

    Butterfield Private Bank is holding a series of breakfast seminars for advisers keen to discover more about how its services can augment their businesses. The seminars will focus on how working with the bank can help advisers "secure future success" with services such as bank accounts, lending, specialist pensions services and offshore services up for discussion. Butterfield aims to offer advisers the chance to provide a full private banking service without disturbing ...

  • BSA agrees long-term fixed rates needs balanced approach

    12 Mar 2004

    The BSA has welcomed the publication of the Professor Miles' report into the UK Mortgage Market, which advocates a sensible and balanced approach to encouraging consumers to take out long-term fixed-rate mortgages.In particular the BSA welcome the recommendation to lower the minimum non-member funding limit for building societies.Professor Miles recognises that the UK mortgage market is innovative and dynamic but concludes that problems exist in the information and advice ...

  • Burns Anderson set to buy networks

    11 Mar 2004

    Burns Anderson is in acquisition talks with networks and IT offerings after making a profit in 2003 and taking itself off the market in December. BA has long been viewed as a potential target for acquisition, with Tenet launching a bid last year which fell through in the final stages. Group 300 and Berkeley Berry Birch were also rumoured to be in the running. However, business development director John Hayden says BA made profits of around £250,000 last year and ...

  • Call our hotline for a fair deal

    11 Mar 2004

    The second phase of the Money Marketing Fair Deal for IFAs starts this week. In response to calls from advisers, we are aiming to compile a list of the worst offenders among the companies on admin in the last six months. Some of the complaints about companies have been a regular feature on the letters pages of Money Marketing. We have already surveyed IFAs to see what their greatest admin headaches are and we print some of the results in the two tables below on this page. But ...

  • Cape crusader

    11 Mar 2004

    Talk about sleeping with the enemy. Prudential investment sales manager Andy Brown was laughing all the way to Cape Town recently, courtesy of Norwich Union. NU took its top salespeople on the jaunt for a week and allowed partners to come, one of whom is Brown. The Diary understands a high-level meeting was required to discuss Brown's presence on the adventure. What trade secrets would he have learned after a week immersed in NU sales strategies? Perhaps nothing he ...

  • Chartwell offers higher rates for GIB for larger investments

    16 Mar 2004

    Chartwell Investment Management has secured higher guaranteed income bond rates for larger investments. An investor placing £10,000 will receive 4.33 per cent and an investment of £50,000 would receive 4.43 per cent. The group is offering a limited trancheon these rates, which will be available on a first come first served basis.

  • Chris Traynor

    11 Mar 2004

    The Pru's Chris Traynor very nearly did not take up a career in the insurance industry. Desperate to get his teeth into a sales role, the ambitious young Sun Life sales support clerk accepted a more flavoursome role as a salesman for Liquorice Allsorts. But at the last minute he was talked out of it and now, more than 20 years later, finds himself sitting in the Pru intermediary sales director's seat at a desk he put his feet under for the first time last October. Before ...

  • Class act

    11 Mar 2004

    Tsk, tsk, bottom of the class. The Diary can only speculate as to whether the quiz team of a downmarket rival knew what the acronym Isa stands for at the Penrose financial services publishing quiz in the City of London last week. The Diary's team would have gone to commiserate the rag's bottom placing if they had not collected their coats and conical hats and left as soon as the result was announced.

  • Close call for property investors

    11 Mar 2004

    Close Property Investment is giving experienced investors a chance to invest in UK commercial properties which will have rental increases of at least 2.5 per cent at the next rent review. Fixed uplift properties is an offshore closed-ended fund which is also available as an exempt unit trust for self-invested personal pensions and small self-administered schemes. The fund has a target yield of between 11 per cent and 13 per cent a year and will fund 68 per cent of its ...

  • CML calls for end to policy 'schizophrenia' on home ownership

    10 Mar 2004

    The Council of Mortgage Lenders has just published an overview of the history and current state of the housing market. It has also published its own manifesto, as it believes current policies about home ownership sometimes contradict eachother.It is calling for active public policy promotion of home ownership, more help for those on the cusp of affordability through the expansion of repayable grants, a move towards greater tenure flexibility, reform of the support and subsidy systems ...

  • CML calls Miles a sensible package of measures

    12 Mar 2004

    The CML has welcomed the final Miles Review looking at the potential for a long-term fixed rate mortgages, calling it a sensible package of measures that would generate improvements in the UK mortgage market.The trade body says there is a strong interaction between some of the measures Miles has proposed and the work the FSA is doing in preparation for statutory regulation in October.CML director general Michael Coogan says: "Professor Miles has undertaken a commendably ...

  • Commentary Palatable menu

    11 Mar 2004

    Over the coming weeks, I am sure that Money Marketing is going to carry some starkly contrasting views on the latest FSA proposals for a menu approach to disclosing the cost of advice. I think that good intermediaries should be giving three cheers while firms that offer an indifferent service should start to worry. The first important point to make about the menu is that it will apply to all firms which give investment advice. So it will affect the representatives of banks and ...

  • Commission culture exacerbated endowment crisis

    11 Mar 2004

    Labour MP John McFall has blamed the financial services industry's commission culture for exacerbating the endowment crisis and has called for a "more positive engagement" from the industry in tackling the problems created by mortgage endowment shortfalls.The Treasury select committee chairman has made the call following the publication of the committee's report on restoring confidence in endowment mortgages.The committee believes the problems associated with endowments ...

  • Compensation dashed

    11 Mar 2004

    Equitable Life policyholders' compensation hopes were dealt a severe blow this week following Treasury Financial Secretary Ruth Kelly's address to Parliament on the publication of the Penrose report. Policyholders had been relying on the report to force the Government to admit regulatory failure and offer compensation but Kelly dashed those hopes on Monday when she stressed Penrose's comments that the society was "the author of its own misfortunes" and that regulatory ...

  • Compensation scheme should be a safety net, not an escape route

    11 Mar 2004

    I was disturbed to read in Money Marketing last week that Berkeley Berry Birch is letting the liabilities of its IFA firm fall to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Most of us seek to be professionals, providing people with the highest standards of advice and taking full responsibility for the quality of that advice. A sceptical public often takes some convincing of this, given the stories of misselling and commission-driven sales. How can we expect ...

  • Correspondent's week

    11 Mar 2004

    They say that travel broadens the mind and until now I have had to agree - catching up on the newspapers on the daily commute to and from the Sunday Telegraph was a fine way to do it. However, since leaving the paper and setting up the CashQuestions.com website with PR doyenne Angela Madden, travel has taken on a new meaning. I am now no stranger to red-eye flights to Edinburgh and the waiting rooms of Northern railway stations. Note to John Goodfellow, the agreeable chief executive ...

  • Crawshaw says growth is priority at B&B Aldridge moves to Gartmore

    11 Mar 2004

    Former Cofunds sales and marketing director Rod Aldridge is joining Gartmore as head of IFA sales, with responsibility for the IFA and the fund of fund sales teams. Piers Denne, who developed the strategic and tactical delivery for the IFA sales team, is leaving Gartmore. Aldridge left Cofunds at the end of January after three years in the role, during which he established Cofunds' sales proposition and helped bring in more than £1.5bn of assets. He previously ...

  • CTF is complaint waiting to happen

    11 Mar 2004

    Ever since the child trust fund was announced, I have been trying to work out how my business can afford to take any profitable interest in this new product and Government benefit. I now conclude that, irrespective of the lack of any real prospect of sufficient remuneration to make it worthwhile, this is a future misselling nightmare waiting to happen. I am driven to this conclusion on reading a summary of the regulatory notes on this government invented product. 1) It ...

  • Cycle path

    11 Mar 2004

    The only investors who shouldn't diversify are those who are right 100% of the time." - Sir John Templeton. By their nature, all financial markets are cyclical. Equity markets are rising while bond markets may be falling or the European market is up while the Asian market may be down. Investors are frequently tempted to react and try to anticipate what the markets will do next. History has shown that even the most experienced investors cannot reliably time the market. ...

  • Day dawns for protected China investment

    15 Mar 2004

    Structured product specialist Dawnay Day Quantum has established the Protected China fund, a capital-protected fund linked to the FTSE/Xinhu China 25 index for six years.With the Protected China Fund, investors will get no less than 90 per cent of their original investment whatever happens to the index. If the index stays the same or rises, investors will get all their original capital back, but falls of up to 10 per cent will mean investors lose 1 per cent of their capital for ...

  • Eagle Star cuts annual bonuses

    16 Mar 2004

    Eagle Star is scrapping the reversionary bonuses on its conventional with-profits pension policies this year, Zurich has announced.But the company will pay a reversionary bonuses of 0.25 per cent for conventional with-profits life policies. Eagle Star's new annual bonus rate for its series 5 unitised with-profits fund is 1 per cent for life policies and 2 per cent for pension policies while the company's other policies vary between 0 per cent and 4 per cent.All life policies ...

  • Exclusive Connections - 100% Plus 3-Year Fixed Rate

    10 Mar 2004

    Type: Fixed-rate mortgageFixed term: Until March 3, 2007Fixed rate:5.65%Minimum loan:£60,000Maximum loan: Up to 105% of valuation subject to a maximum of £250,000Income multiples: Up to 3.75 times principal income plus second or 2.75 times jointConditions: Six months' free mortgage payment protection insuranceArrangement fee: £375Redemption fee: Six months' interest ...

  • Fee income is essential to build strong business

    11 Mar 2004

    I read Martyn Parfect's letter on trail commission with great interest as I find it incongruous in this day and age that there are still IFA practices which continue to cling to the wreckage of commission-based advice (Money Marketing, February 26). Over the last few years, we have seen the traditional model under threat. Commission incomes have been on a downward trend while the cost base of running an IFA practice has been going in the opposite direction (not the best business ...

  • Fired up

    11 Mar 2004

    Park Row Independent Mortgages managing director Kevin Paterson has raised £400 for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service by completing in the Great South Run. Kevin runs the 10-mile race from Portsmouth every year but this year decided to raise money for the fire service benevolent fund following a serious house fire at his home last summer. During the heatwave last August, a fan overheated in his son's bedroom, causing a fire. The family moved into temporary accommodation ...

  • Firms set to agree splits compensation

    10 Mar 2004

    Aberdeen Asset Management, HSBC and UBS are reportedly set to agree to FSA demands to pay compensation to victims of split capital investment trusts. According to sources, HSBC and UBS, which acted as brokers to several splits, are keen to settle the dispute as quickly as possible while AAM is understood to favour a collective settlement which shares the blame for investors' losses. Most of the 21 companies subject to the FSA's demands are expected to follow suit.

  • FOS and lawyer split on IFAs' views

    11 Mar 2004

    The vast majority of IFAs are happy with the Financial Ombudsman Service and feel comfortable with its complaints' handling process, according to research from the FOS. Its research shows that 85 per cent of IFAs feel they are able to challenge ombudsman adjudications within the organisation's present framework. It also found that only 14 per cent of IFAs feel the need to challenge ombudsman decisions once a judgement has been made. The survey was sent ...

  • Franklin Templeton - Templeton Global Emerging Markets Fund

    12 Mar 2004

    Type: OeicAim: Growth by investing in emerging market equitiesMinimum investment: Lump sum £1,000, monthly £30Investment split: 100% in emerging market equitiesIsa link: YesPep transfers: YesCharges: Initial 5%, annual 1.75%Special offer: Initial charge reduced to 3%Offer period: Until April 30, 2004Tel: 0800 305306

  • Franklin Templeton - Templeton UK Equity Fund

    12 Mar 2004

    Type: OeicAim: Growth by investing in UK companiesMinimum investment: Lump sum £1,000, monthly £30Investment split: 100% in UK equitiesIsa link: YesPep transfers: YesCharges:Initial 5%, annual 1.5%Special offer: Initial charge reduced to 3%Offer period: Until April 30, 2004Commission: Initial 3%, renewal 0.5%Tel: 0800 305306

  • Friends is the star with big rises in sales and profits

    11 Mar 2004

    Friends Provident is proving to be one of the shining lights in the recent wave of life company results, with its new business over the £400m mark for the first time. Its preliminary results for 2003 show new life and pensions business up by 14 per cent to £429m from £377m in 2002. Profits leapt to £282m from a loss of £738m in the previous year. Friends' distribution agreement with estate agency Countrywide, made in 2002, is expected ...

  • FSA appoints new managing directors

    15 Mar 2004

    The FSA has appointed three new managing directors to fill the gap in its senior management team.The regulator has made two internal promotions and hired one managing director from the industry.Clive Briault, the FSA's present director of prudential standards, has been promoted to managing director, retail markets. Briault will have the responsibility for regulating firms whose business is predominantly at the retail end of the market. This will include insurers, high ...

  • Fund fair

    11 Mar 2004

    Credit Suisse's multi-manager funds took in almost 20 times more money than Henderson's and close to four times Jupiter's in the fourth quarter of 2003. Although this is due to many reasons - not least its decision to scrap front-end loads - there does seem to be a gap developing between the main fund of fund players and the rest. Which do you see thriving in what is an increasingly competitive market? Merricks: As ever, it will be those that market effectively to begin ...

  • Funds keep their focus on US, UK and Europe

    11 Mar 2004

    Equity funds continued to dominate the UK fund market in 2003, according to Lipper's study of global themes in the mutual fund industry. The study, which examines fundamental investment trends, issues and economic conditions affecting the mutual fund industry, shows that of the 352 funds launched in 2003, 179 were equity funds and 48 were UK equity funds. Of the funds launched into the UK market, 153 were UK-domiciled, 88 were domiciled in Dublin, 51 on the Isle of ...

  • Gifting with an attorney

    11 Mar 2004

    At this time of the year, with the Budget looming and the end of the financial year following shortly after, the question of inheritance tax planning often assumes a greater importance in the minds of clients. The potentially exempt transfer (Pet) regime is still a very favourable one in that, if a client can gift assets away by making use of a Pet, there will be no IHT to pay at the date of the gift and, providing the client can survive seven years from the date of any such gift, ...

  • Government falls short of protecting consumers

    15 Mar 2004

    The Consumers' Association is warning that unless the government protects consumers from the "mis-leading and confusing information provided by mainstream lenders", consumers will remain open to credit traps and unscrupulous lending practices.The warning comes on the back of the CA's response to the government's consumer credit white paper in which the CA has made a number of recommendations including requiring all lenders to show the APR (Annual Percentage Rate) in all ...

  • Group chief executive Ingledew leaves BBB

    11 Mar 2004

    Stephen Ingledew has left his position as group chief executive at national IFA Berkeley Berry Birch as the firm mulls over its merger with rival Inter-Alliance. Group chairman Clifford Lockyer will add Ingledew's role to his responsibilities while finance director Craig Butcher, who had been due to step down later this year, will stay on in a role that encom-passes broader commercial responsibilities. BBB says Ingledew has left the company by mutual consent. The news ...

  • Heed the warnings

    11 Mar 2004

    In my last article, I started to look at some of the ways in which IFAs can learn from the various regulatory reviews and legal judgments affecting financial services. I considered first a series of recent judgments from the Financial Ombudsman Service which shed a great deal of light on the way in which single-premium investment bonds - in particular, high-income or precipice bonds - should or should not be marketed as regards the suggested level of risk they offer to investors. I ...

  • HL puts Schroders' US fund on sell list

    11 Mar 2004

    Hargreaves Lansdown is set to place Schroders' North American fund on its sell list after the group radically overhauled its process and management for the third time in 18 months. Schroders is handing management of the fund to Grant Cowley after its quantitative-based investment strategies unit failed to boost performance following its taking over of the portfolio in September 2002. Although HL is concerned about Cowley's inexperience - he has only a 15-month track record ...

  • HL's Fof operation breaks £100m barrier

    15 Mar 2004

    Hargreaves Lansdown's fund of funds operation has hit £100m of assets under management.The assets are spread across the operation's three Fof - HL's ultimate managed, special situations and income & growth funds.Fund manager Lee Gardhouse says: "This gives us critical mass to both reward those managers whom have grown with us whilst ensuring that we use our position to ensure the best possible deals for our clients going forward"

  • Homeowners Friendly Society - Over 50's Friendly Life Cover

    11 Mar 2004

    Type: Whole of life planMinimum premium/sum assured: £8 a month/no minimumMinimum-maximum ages: 50-75Charges: ImplicitCommission: NoneTel 0500 848265

  • IFA probed over client money claims

    10 Mar 2004

    The FSA and the Nottingham Fraud Squad are investigating a Nottingham IFA Oaktree Financial Services managing director Stephen Higham over alleged misuse of clients' money.

  • IFAs feel weight of tribunals

    11 Mar 2004

    IFAs are spending more time than ever tackling human resources' red tape as the number of staff taking cases to employment tribunals soars, says HR consultancy Peninsula. The specialist employment law firm says employment tribunal cases rose by 21 per cent from 105,000 in 2002 to 127,000 last year. The average time that employers spend dealing with human resources and red tape issues has increased from 8.5 hours a week to 9.1 hours, according to Peninsula, which surveyed ...

  • IFAs want better call centre staff - Aifa poll

    16 Mar 2004

    More knowledgeable operators are what IFAs want most from their dealing with product providers according to the first Aifa IFA census.Asked what would be most helpful when contacting providers, 61 per cent of IFAs said they wanted more knowledgeable call centre staff, 55 per cent called for quicker access to information and 54 per cent wanted prompt call answering.Aifa director general Paul Smee says: "This survey shows the value of the IFA Census in finding out what IFAs ...

  • Independent view

    11 Mar 2004

    I sometimes think the world has gone mad but then I realise that it still goes round in the same old way and it is me who is fast becoming an old stuff. Or has it gone mad? Am I an old stuff? Answers on a postcard with a £5 note and an original driving licence and recent utility bill. The 2003 Joint Money Laundering Steering Group has recently issued a revised version of its notes, dated December 2003, incorporating new guidance and reflecting the provisions of ...

  • Industry culture cultivated misselling

    11 Mar 2004

    The Financial Services Consumer Panel is agreeing with the Treasury Select committee that there needs to be cultural change within the financial services industry to avoid future misselling problems similar to the endowments crisis it has recently reviewed.The committee has suggested culture change requires a fundamental movement in the current system of commission-based fees hand the FSCP believes this proposition is worth debating with the aim of treating customers fairly.Panel ...

  • Investment analysis

    11 Mar 2004

    The prospect of higher US interest rates coupled with slightly disappointing news on the economy gave investors an excuse to take profits last week and by Friday's close the FTSE World index was trading 1.6 per cent lower. Interest rates in the US were left at 1 per cent, as was widely expected, but it was the change of wording accompanying the announcement which gave cause for concern. The Fed made no mention of the fact that rates could stay on hold for a "considerable period" ...

  • Investment view

    11 Mar 2004

    Asked on a TV programme last week where I think the market will finish at the end of the year, I found myself trotting out the safe but predictable reply that it will be higher but not by much. I then spent the rest of the interview worrying how to justify such a remark. I convinced myself more easily than I would have thought possible that such a scenario is likely. It will do no harm to rehearse the arguments again. It is said that stockmarkets are driven by fear and greed. ...

  • Ipswich Building Society - Two Year Discount Fee Free Mortgage

    10 Mar 2004

    Type: Discounted-rate remortgage productDiscounted term: Two yearsDiscount: .05%Payable rate: 4.75%Minimum loan:£25,000Maximum loan: Up to 80% of valuation subject to a maximum of £350,000Income multiples: Loans up to 80% of valuation - 3.25 times principal income plus second or 2.5 times joint, loans up to 75% of valuation - 3.5 times principal income plus second or 2.75 times jointConditions: ...

  • James Hay Consultancy says it will bear cost of pensions changes

    15 Mar 2004

    James Hay Consultancy says it will make all necessary changes to small self-administered scheme documentation for schemes established between January 2004 and April 2005 to bring them into line with the proposed new rules without any additional charge. James Hay Consultancy director of consultancy David Seaton says: "This guarantee offers customers the best of both worlds - not only can they start capitalising on the compelling reasons to establish a SSAS now, but they will also ...

  • Julian Gibbs

    11 Mar 2004

    There are times when tracker funds outperform the average UK equity fund but these times are becoming more rare because 42.6 per cent of the All Share index is accounted for its 10 biggest shares and Government regulations mean it is now more difficult for bigger companies to outperform mid-cap and smaller companies. Isis has produced figures showing that 83 per cent of index funds performed below average in the UK all companies sectors over one year, 71 per cent over three years ...

  • Jupiter green guide faces up to big issues

    11 Mar 2004

    Jupiter Asset Management is offering a free guide to green investment for investors who want to invest in companies that provide solutions to environmental problems. The guide will give investors further information on companies offering environmental solutions and how to invest. It provides examples of companies that Jupiter believes will get a competitive advantage by spotting environmental trends at an early stage and developing products and services which respond ...

  • Kevin Duffy on mortgages

    11 Mar 2004

    Watching the Oscars recently put me in mind of Michael Douglas's infamous Wall Street mantra: "Greed is good." In my last article, I extolled the virtues of a well run mortgage practice in so far as profit margins are generally of the double-digit kind, which makes many brokerages more productive than even the likes of HBOS and HSBC on a pound-for-pound basis. If greed means building cash reserves for future contingencies, then I will have more of it, not least because the costs of ...

  • Keydata makes mark of innovation

    11 Mar 2004

    Keydata Investments has brought out a guaranteed equity bond that offers investors their original capital plus a return above this when the market goes up or down.The innovative growth plan is linked to the FTSE 100 index for six years. Investors will get their original capital back at the end of the term regardless of the stockmarket movements but the level of growth on top of this will depend on whether the index has risen or fallen.If the index rises, investors will ...

  • McGinn says only Abbey can drive wrap market

    11 Mar 2004

    Abbey director of intermediaries Ambrose McGinn has hit out at suggestions that its wrap platform is struggling, claiming that its rivals do not have the experience and res-ources to make their propositions succeed. Dismissing the firm's competitors as "pretenders", McGinn says only Abbey has pockets deep enough - and the requisite critical mass - to lead the development of the aggregation marketplace. McGinn says its rivals are "just small businesses" lacking the ...

  • Means-test limits edge up

    11 Mar 2004

    The means-testing capital limits for long term care are to increase from next month. The changes, effective from April 12, mean the lower capital limit for local authority support in care homes in England is to rise from £12,000 to £12,250, with the higher limit rising from £19,500 to £20,000. NHS weekly contributions towards nursing care costs in nursing homes are to increase, with the higher band increasing from £120 to £125 and ...

  • Menu does not suit all tastes

    11 Mar 2004

    The FSA's menu for the pricing of financial advice has been given a mixed reception by the industry. The FSA and Aifa are her-alding it as the key to moving ahead post-depolarisation but providers and IFAs seem split over whether the menu is a good thing. The menu was finally rel-eased two weeks ago, a year after the announcement of its adoption, but the lines have been drawn for months. LIA head of public affairs John Ellis says it is important to remember that the ...

  • Menu edge

    11 Mar 2004

    The FSA's proposed "menu for being open with customers" has laudable objectives. The FSA wants consumers 1) to understand the cost of advice, 2) to understand the various options when paying for advice, and 3) to shop around for the best deal. I believe the proposed changes will be much more effective in achieving the first two of these objectives than in achieving the third. IFAs, and indeed multi-tied advisers, will set out a key facts document, a guide ...

  • Menu edge

    11 Mar 2004

    Consumerism is a very powerful influence on all we do and we ignore it at our peril. Value for money is clearly in the spotlight in this respect. To date, it has been very difficult in the world of financial services for the public to understand what is, after all, quite a complex situation, but it is worth reflecting on the fact that, despite these difficulties, consumerism is already driving out front-end-loaded products with high initial commission. In this challenging ...

  • Menu is too inflexible, says Flight

    11 Mar 2004

    Shadow Treasury Chief Secretary Howard Flight has criticised the FSA's menu proposals and blamed Aifa for failing to push for a less rigid system. Flight believes the menu has been over-engineered and that Aifa has failed in its resolve to make the proposals as workable as possible for IFAs. He broadly welcomes the idea of clearer commission disclosure but does not believe the menu proposals will make a significant difference to customer service. He thinks ...

  • Miles report published

    12 Mar 2004

    Professor David Miles has published his final review of the long-term fixed rate mortgage market today, setting out a list of recommendations for the Government and the industry to consider.The recommendations are aimed at helping improve the advice and information borrowers receive so as to create a fairer and 'more transparent pricing structure'. They include lenders making the full range of their products available to all borrowers and that advisers helping clients ...

  • Morgan Stanley plan offers early release

    16 Mar 2004

    Morgan Stanley has established the FTSE Protected Growth Plan, a capital-protected bond that could mature half-way through its six-year term.The bond is linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 Index and provides a return of the original capital regardless of stockmarket movements. If the index rises by at least 30 per cent by the third anniversary, the product matures and pays out 30 per cent gross plus the original investment. There may be an opportunity for the investment to ...

  • NAO go-ahead for pension simplification

    11 Mar 2004

    The National Audit Office says 10,000 people, twice the number estimated by the Treasury, will be caught by the lifetime limit but it has generally vindicated the Government's view that only a tiny minority of people will be affected. The report found that around 10,000 people are likely to be hit by the controversial £1.4m lifetime limit rather than the Treasury's estimate of 5,000 although it finds this to be within a range of reasonable estimates based on the poor ...

  • Networks Regulatory Forum formed by six networks

    10 Mar 2004

    The Networks Regulatory Forum has been set up and aims to share regulatory and relevant experiences to help members comply with the FSA's requirements for mortgage and general insurance regulation.The NRF's founder members are Paymentshield compliance director Ann-Marie Stone, Countrywide Assured Financial Services compliance manager Sharon Glay, BDS Mortgage Group group compliance manager Bruce Collins, Bank of Ireland/Post Office Joint Venture head of compliance Mike Davies, ...

  • No bells and whistles for Woolwich

    11 Mar 2004

    OOLWICH PLAN MANAGERSWoolwich Capital Growth PlanType: Guaranteed equity bond Aim: Growth linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 index Minimum-maximum investment: £3,000-£500.000 Isa £7,000 Term: Six years Return: 25% growth on initial investment or 50% growth in the FTSE 100 index Guarantee: Original capital returned in full regardless of performance of index Closing date: ...

  • NU caps lifetime penalty

    11 Mar 2004

    Norwich Union is capping the early redemption charges on its lifetime mortgage, bowing to pressure from IFAs and mortgage brokers. The product was criticised last year by IFAs who said the uncapped mark-to-market ERCs were unacceptable because they are linked to long-term gilt yields so if interest rates go down, the ERC could exceed the value of the loan. NU has put a cap of 25 per cent on the ERC and is also reducing the interest rate on the product from 7.35 per cent ...

  • NU cuts MVR by a quarter

    11 Mar 2004

    Norwich Union is slashing average market value reductions by 25 per cent from 8 per cent to 6 per cent on with-profits policies that are encashed early. The change only applies to money invested between 1998 and 2002 as investments outside this period do not suffer an MVR. NU says the move reflects improved, more stable market conditions. Chartwell Investment Management business development manager Ben Willis welcomes the change. He says NU is probably ...

  • Nvesta - Secure Pension Tracker

    15 Mar 2004

    NVESTASecure Pension TrackerType: Capital-protected bond for pensionsAim: Growth linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 index Minimum-maximum investment: £20,000-no maximum Term: Six yearsReturn: Up 10 110% growthGuarantee: Original capital returned in full regardless of performance of indexClosing date: April 16, 2004Commission: NoneTel: 020 7454 0704 Nvesta's secure ...

  • Out of context

    11 Mar 2004

    •"My finger has seized up... It's just too much for me" - The Bureaux managing director Peter Quinton on thumbing through the FSA's menu consultation paper. •"Hello, is that Clerical Minimal?" - Recent call taken by Clerical's press team •"I'm pretty happy with where I am at the moment - as chief executive of a FTSE100 company I think I'm allowed to be." - Bradford & Bingley chief executive Christopher Rodrigues just before leaving for Visa International ...

  • Pension credit is savings barrier

    11 Mar 2004

    A person who saves 20 per cent of salary from age 41 to 65 will lose a third of what they save by not getting the pension credit, according to research by the Pension Policy Institute. The thinktank's study shows that someone starting saving at 41 and retiring at 65 needs to save 20 per cent of their salary to achieve a retirement income of two-thirds of final salary. The research, which looks at the alternatives facing individuals who have undersaved, shows that a ...

  • Pickering calls for a 40% pension and public exit from private plans

    11 Mar 2004

    The state should pay a basic pension of 40 per cent of average earnings from age 68 but should have no role in the design of private pension products, says the Adam Smith Institute. The right-wing thinktank says a substantial state pension would remove the need for today's heavy and expensive regulation of private pensions, transforming private provision from its present role of surrogate privatised welfare to that of marketplace product. The UK's current basic state pension ...

  • Pink offers second regulation guide for intermediaries

    15 Mar 2004

    Pink Home Loans has published a follow up guide to its initial regulation booklet entitled The Road to Regulation, aimed at supporting intermediaries.Called The Road Ahead, it outlines the main issues intermediaries need to consider when deciding on their regulatory future.Marketing manager Mark Howell says: "The first guide was very well received within the industry so we decided to put our compliance expertise and knowledge to good use again and have published a second guide."Pink ...

  • Practitioner panel starts to assess FSA's performance

    11 Mar 2004

    The Financial Services Practitioner Panel is launching the first stage of its biennial survey of regulated firms, which aims to assess the performance of the FSA. The panel says that, in the past, results from the survey have been taken on board by the FSA and had a considerable impact on the regulator's policy decision making and its regulatory operation. For example, 2002's survey brought to light the increasing cost of regulation, the inaccessibility of the FSA ...

  • Premier Group - Premier Balanced Fund

    15 Mar 2004

    Type: OeicAim: Growth by investing in with-profits, property and hedge fundsMinimum investment: Lump sum £10,000 euros 15,000, $15,000Investment split: 50% with-profits, 35% property, 15% hedge fundsPlace of registration: Isle of ManCharges:Annual 1.5%:Commission: Subject to negotiationTel: 01624 838110

  • Probe will look at mutual life after Equitable

    11 Mar 2004

    The Government is to launch an independent review into corporate governance of mutual life offices following this week's publication of Lord Penrose's comprehensive report into the Equitable Life debacle. Former Gartmore chairman Paul Myners, who carried out the Treasury-commissioned review into institutional investment, is to lead the review, looking at member involvement in mutual office governance, board accountability and the level of FSA regulation that mutuals are ...

  • Product matters

    11 Mar 2004

    The VCT market will be fairly small this year, hence the preponderance of small top-up VCTs rather than brand new launches. Electra Kingsway is fairly typical of this and is looking to raise just over £2m. First, I would say that this is entirely sensible. I would find it difficult to back a new launch when it is unlikely that much money will be raised. Electra is one of the older names in venture capital with its investment trust having an almost 30-year track ...

  • Pru portfolio planner goes on line

    11 Mar 2004

    Prudential has launched its new Prudential Portfolio Planner into the IFA market The online tool uses stochastic modelling to help IFAs prepare investment recommendations for clients and includes features such as creating a customer risk profile. The risk profiling is followed by a series of questions as part of the needs' analysis, covering growth or income goals to provide a model investment portfolio. A full audit report is provided, with reports produced for IFAs to brand ...

  • PYSS teams up with Fee Based Advice

    12 Mar 2004

    Pointon York SIPP Solutions has been selected by Fee Based Advice to support and promote Sipps to its members. Fee Based Advice is an IFA support organisation that assists IFAs in making the transition from commission to fees.There are currently about 80,000 plans in place but industry experts predict this number is set to increase substantially. PYSS managing director Christine Hallett says: "There is a great potential for fee income earning opportunities working ...

  • Reid all about it

    11 Mar 2004

    Last week saw the latest sting on the Financial Services Compensation Scheme when a company neatly sidestepped its liabilities in a series of moves that would put a chess grandmaster to shame. For nearly a year, we have seen legal firms tutoring IFA firms in this cleansing process. Out of curiosity, I attended one of their seminars and, although the plan was well thought out, I wondered just when the FSA will wake up to what is going on. What exactly is the FSA doing about this ...

  • Report says system is to blame, not individuals

    11 Mar 2004

    Regulation of Equitable Life did fail policyholders but it was the system, not the individuals, who failed, according to the Penrose report. Penrose stresses that he does not "pin the blame on individuals" but says the regulation system failed to provide the regulation that the changing nature of the industry needed. The Treasury, the DTI and the FSA have all been involved in regulating Equitable. The Government Actuary's Department has also been criticised, with Penrose ...

  • Review lists viable film schemes

    11 Mar 2004

    The latest issue of the Tax Efficient Review details all the film partnership schemes still claiming to be viable following the Inland Revenue's bombshell last month. The Revenue introduced guidelines banning certain types of schemes from raising funds because it objected to the profit-sharing ratios between producers and their members. These schemes include Scene from Teather & Greenwood, First Choice from Grosvenor Park, Inside Track from Ingenious and Premier Picture ...

  • Ritchie advice fears over A-Day

    11 Mar 2004

    Pension expert Stewart Ritchie is calling on the Inland Revenue to publish a detailed guide for advisers to avoid an advice debacle in the run-up to A-Day. In its response to the Inland Revenue's pension simplification proposals, Scottish Equitable parent Aegon UK says there are serious risks for financial advice in the tight timetable before the planned implementation date of April 2005. ScotEq pensions development director Ritchie he is concerned that advisers will ...

  • Russian reshuffle

    11 Mar 2004

    On Pancake Tuesday, President Putin tossed his government out of office, sacked Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and appointed the deputy, Viktor Khristyenko, as acting Prime Minister. Former PM Mikhail Kasyanov was regarded as being the last senior official to be closely linked to former President Yeltsin. Kasyanov was also the last member of the government to have been a vigorous defender of the oligarchs. His interests had led him to become obstructive to Putin's reforms. But ...

  • SAGA - Rab Hedged Investment Fund

    16 Mar 2004

    Type: OeicAim: Growth by investing in Europe excluding the UKMinimum investment: Lump sum £5,000Investment split: 100% in Europe excluding the UKPlace of registration: DublinCharges: Class A shares - annual 1.5%, performance fee 20%, Class B shares annual 1%, performance fee 15%Commission: NoneTel: 0800 559 3199

  • SAGA - Rab Income Plus Fund

    16 Mar 2004

    Type: OeicAim:Income and growth by investing in European corporate bondsMinimum investment: Lump sum £5,000Investment split: 100% European corporate bondsPlace of registration: DublinCharges: Class A shares annual 1.5%, performance fee 20%, Class B shares annual 1%, performance fee 15%Commission: NoneTel: 0800 5593196

  • Schroders size up UK market

    10 Mar 2004

    Schroders has introduced the Schroder UK Large Cap fund, a unit trust that invests in a portfolio of between 25 and 45 stocks listed on the FTSE 100 index.Schroders says that many IFAs and clients are making asset allocation decisions for themselves but there are not many funds invest exclusively in UK large caps. According to Schroders, most UK large-cap funds are tracker funds, so the new fund will give investors more choice.The fund is managed by Jeremy Smith, who has ...

  • ScotEq enables advisers to track underwriting online

    11 Mar 2004

    Scottish Equitable is introducing a facility that allows IFAs to track the underwriting of group protection schemes through a secure website. The tracker tool gives advisers and employers a central reference point that contains a wide range of data including scheme details and underwriting information. ScotEq says the new initiative gives IFAs greater control over group protection schemes while reducing the amount of time involved in scheme administration. It ...

  • Scottish Widows Bank announces results and new MD

    12 Mar 2004

    Scottish Widows Bank has announced a doubling in its pre-tax profit and a new managing director in Graeme Hartop.The telephone-based mortgage and deposits bank launched in 1995 has shown its pre-tax profits to be up to £16.5m from £8.1m.Mortgage lending rose 16 per cent to £2.73bn, with deposits staying constant at £2.2bn.New managing director Hartop succeeded Rob Golbourn last month. Hartop was previously deputy managing director.He says: "From ...

  • Sesame offers aid to boost business

    11 Mar 2004

    Sesame is offering a range of business planning tools to enable members to imp-rove the way they run their practices. The mega-network is sending all members a series of eight CD-Roms which address general business skills relevant to financial advisers. The programs - offered in parallel with more traditional training and competence material - cover marketing, business continuity management, advice process and selling skills from the perspective of both the sole trader ...

  • Shell shock of liability move

    11 Mar 2004

    There is a great deal of discontent among IFAs about Berkeley Berry Birch's move to leave liabilities with the shell of Berry Birch & Noble FS. It also sees a liability-free IFA emerge from the ashes. The move echoes one made by Towry Law a few years back but at this stage does not seem to involve any deal with the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which slightly sugared the pill for other advisers. At this time, BBB is not defending itself against ...

  • Skills council chief accuses critics of 'a bad fact-find'

    11 Mar 2004

    The new managing director of the Financial Services Skills Council has hit back at critics, saying they have done a "bad fact-find" on what the body is trying to achieve through its review of exams. The comments come in response to industry attacks alleging that the skills council's approach is dumbing down the industry by not having a central exam for advisory skills. But managing director Teresa Sayers told Money Marketing that there is a lot of confusion among the ...

  • Skills Council consults on exam review

    16 Mar 2004

    The Financial Services Skills Council is embarking on an industry-wide consultation for its examination review. Launching tomorrow, this will be the first time the exam review has gone out to an industry-wide consultation since the FSA handed over responsibility for completion of the exam review to the Skills Council.The FSSC is seeking views from the financial services sector on how appropriate exams should be identified and on the final draft specification for appropriate exams ...

  • Skipton three up

    12 Mar 2004

    Skipton Building Society has brought out a guaranteed equity bond that is linked to the FTSE 100 index over a three-year term.Investors will get their original capital returned at the end of the term and will also receive 100 per cent growth in the index.To calculate the returns the closing level of the index will be taken on April 20, 2004 and compared with the average closing levels of the index during the final six months of the term. There is a minimum return of 105 ...

  • Sofa to investigate life expectancy

    15 Mar 2004

    Sofa has launched a research programme to investigate whether consumers taking financial advice have a genuine understanding of their own life expectancy.It believes since life expectancy has increased significantly in the last 20 years consumers planning for retirement may not understand they may need live longer than anticipated and thus require more savings.Sofa is seeking members to help gather raw data.Sofa managing director Bob Bullivant says: "By asking our ...

  • Standard bearer

    11 Mar 2004

    What an interesting letter from Paul Smith, who wonders if fellow IFAs can reassure him that his experience of getting policy information from Legal & General is not typical of the way that other providers in this industry operate (Money Marketing, February 12). I am sorry to tell him that it is absolutely typical and he will find very little efficiency. He will find long call queues, indecipherable electronic messages on call-queuing systems and staff who are unfriendly, ...

  • Standard Life makes pledge on IFA service

    11 Mar 2004

    Standard Life is reassuring IFAs that its service to them will not be affected by its structural changes to its direct salesforce. It is splitting its direct customer division into three parts - telesales, corporate account management and direct client management. The number of staff will more than halve from 630 to around 270. Ten direct-sales branches will close, bringing the total down to 11 from 21. Sales managing director Nathan Parnaby says direct sales ...

  • Standard slashes direct salesforce

    11 Mar 2004

    Standard Life has cut 360 jobs from its direct salesforce and is closing 10 branch closures as part of a radical restructuring programme. The jobs will go from its direct-sales division, reducing the number of staff across the UK from 630 to around 270. The number of direct branch locations will be reduced from 21 to 11 branches in Belfast, Chester, Colchester, Dundee, Leicester, London West End, Maidstone, Newcastle, Sheffield and Southampton will all close. The cuts ...

  • Steady as she grows

    11 Mar 2004

    Market sentiment in Europe has swung from depression to a much more relaxed or even enthusiastic view over the last 12 to 18 months. But while it seems likely that the economic news will continue to improve, we cannot assume this means a return to rapid growth. The environment remains extremely difficult, with external influences likely to pose the biggest threat. My working assumption for the next few years is that we will see a prolonged period of low growth throughout Europe. Low ...

  • Structural review of FOS aims to gauge efficiency

    11 Mar 2004

    The Financial Ombudsman Service has commissioned a structural review of the organisation in an attempt to gauge its effectiveness as a complaint-handling body. The review will be undertaken by leading academic Elaine Kempson starting next month and finishing in July. Kempson will be assessing how the organisation can build on what the ombudsman sees as a relatively small scale of resources at its disposal to provide a feasible service. She will also be required ...

  • Structured deals double up

    11 Mar 2004

    A few years ago, investors looking for a structured product which offered a full capital return regardless of index performance and 100 per cent growth in the index would have been on a wild goose chase. Products that provided returns of 100 per cent or more tended to be precipice bonds where capital was at risk. Some products had a cliquet structure where index gains and losses were totted up during the term, making 100 per cent growth impossible to achieve. Similarly, ...

  • Structured plan sole link is China

    11 Mar 2004

    Structured product provider Dawnay Day Quantum is launching the UK retail market's first structured offering linked solely to the Chinese stockmarket, the FTSE Xinhua China 25 index. The fund offers investors 90 per cent capital protection at maturity and 70 per cent of the growth of the index which consists of companies trading on the Hong Kong, Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. The investment term is six years, after which the final value of the index is calculated as ...

  • Survey prompts FSA to educate school leavers

    11 Mar 2004

    The FSA is looking to educate young people about financial services at times such as leaving school, starting a first job or going to university as it says these activities require the need for financial products, services and money management skills. The decision comes after an NOP study commissioned by the FSA found that young people aged between 15-19 rarely shop around for financial products and services because they mostly chose providers recommended by their parents. The ...

  • Switch now, say advisers

    11 Mar 2004

    IFAs say the Penrose report has reinforced their view that policyholders should ditch any realistic hope of winning compensation and switch to another company with healthier investment prospects. Advisory firms, including Hargreaves Lansdown and A&B, say the report has done little to encourage policyholders that staying with Equitable would boost their chances of redress. Since Equitable's with-profits fund is now predominantly invested in fixed interest and gilts, they ...

  • Talkback

    11 Mar 2004

    "No. It could create a trend. Everybody could end up trying to escape their liabilities." Peter Shorter,Shorter & Co "No, it seems they are trying to evade their responsibilities." Ray Parker,Parker Financial Services "No. This has happened far too many times, one of the more notable cases being Towry Law.The FSA should take action now." John MacLaren,John MacLaren Financial Services "Absolutely not. I think it is disgraceful. Our costs will rise ...

  • Thinc merges IFAs firms into multi-distribution business

    11 Mar 2004

    Thinc Financial Planning has merged IFAs Hart House, West Anglia, Highfield Financial Services and Baron Investments into its multi-distribution advisory business. It has bought fee-based IFA firm Hart House, previously owned by solicitor Taylor Walton, for an undisclosed sum, adding £25m to its funds under management. Taylor Walton will act as an introducer for the Thinc group. Thinc now has 102 advisers and intends to continue its acquisition programme, aiming ...

  • Threadneedle fund chief quits

    10 Mar 2004

    Threadneedle American growth fund manager Zanny Perring will depart from the group this month after deciding to leave the fund management industry for family reasons. Perring, who has managed the £725m fund for more than five years, is being replaced by Andrew Holliman, who joined Threadneedle in 2003 from Baillie Gifford. Perring's other fund - the £85m American smaller companies fund she ran for more than six years - will be taken over by Robert Graham-Brown, ...

  • Treasury should recognise industry's progress

    11 Mar 2004

    The Association of British Insurers is disappointed the Treasury select committee's report into endowment misselling does not recognise extensive changes in the industry and regulation, and does not focus on how to boost savings in the future.ABI's director general Mary Francis says the industry has made clear its regret that customer communications and sales practices in the past were not better and has confirmed member companies will be improving their communications with ...

  • Turnover and losses rise for portal division of Marlborough Stirling

    11 Mar 2004

    Technology provider Marlborough Stirling's results show bigger losses last year for its portal services division up to £1.6m from £758,000 but also increased turnover. Turnover for the group's portal services, including Exweb, rose to £16.2m in 2003 from £15.7m in 2002, which the group describes as a robust performance in challenging markets. But overall distribution turnover fell by 22 per cent to £24.4m from £31.3m, reflecting ...

  • Warning that staff face jail over laundering

    11 Mar 2004

    Thousands of financial services staff risk prison or heavy fines for breaches of laws they do not know they are committing, according to consultancy Wide Learning. The firm says 37 per cent of financial services staff have had little or no training on compliance, 23 per cent do not know who their money-laundering reporting officer is and 28 per cent are unsure of regulatory duties. The survey of 200 City staff working in positions within organisations covered by the FSA ...

  • We must resist the quick fix and fight our corner

    11 Mar 2004

    No win-no fee, no fightno win. This is indicative of why the mortgage endowment misselling allegations are spiralling out of all proportion. On the one hand, we see a company jumping on the bandwagon of a no win-no fee approach for complainants. On the other hand, our industry continues to capitulate on a culture of won't fight, give them the compensation. The culprits are the banks and insurance companies who consider that the cost of attempting to defend their position ...

  • Webline offers online submission with Health-On-Line

    12 Mar 2004

    Online comparative quotation source Webline is teaming up with health insurer Health-On-Line to launch a private medical insurance business submission service.The PMI new business service, that can be embedded in the adviser's own website, allows Heath-On-Line business to be submitted online.Webline managing director Paul Holland says: "Through our relationship with Health-On-Line we believe we are delivering the first signature-less PMI e-submission solution in the UK."

  • Will split providers come cap in hand to Tiner?

    11 Mar 2004

    Next week, the FSA will find out whether its strong-arm tactics against the 21 providers in the split-capital investment trust debacle have worked. Threatening them with enforcement proceedings unless they contribute to collective settlement negotiations was a high-risk strategy and the FSA will want to see how many capitulate to its demands. It is expected that providers will only be able to thrash out a response immediately before the March 16 deadline. But some industry commentators, ...

  • Winterthur Life - Elite Distribution Managed Fund

    11 Mar 2004

    Type: Unit-linked fundAim: Income and growth by investing in equities and bondsMinimum investment: Subject to minimum for Winterthur's bond and pension productsInvestment split: 46% UK fixed interest, 26.5% UK equities, 7.9% deposit, 6.9% global fixed interest, 6.5% international equities, 6.2% index linkedCharges: Annual 0.75%Commission: Subject to negotiationTel: 0845 129 9993

  • Woolwich Plan Managers - Woolwich Capital Growth Plan

    11 Mar 2004

    WOOLWICH PLAN MANAGERSWoolwich Capital Growth PlanType: Guaranteed equity bond Aim: Growth linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 index Minimum-maximum investment: £3,000-£500.000 Isa £7,000 Term: Six years Return: 25% growth on initial investment or 50% growth in the FTSE 100 index Guarantee: Original capital returned in full regardless of performance of index Closing date: April 16, 2004, April 2, 2004 ...

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