Money Marketing
11 October 2006

  • MEPs in probe on Equitable Life

    12 Oct 2006

    A delegation of MEPs from the European Parliament committee of inquiry is to visit London on October 16 to take evidence on whether UK regulators supervised Equitable Life's practices rigorously enough.

  • Profits boost for On-Line Partnership

    12 Oct 2006

    On-Line Partnership has reported a two-thirds increase in profits for the year to June 30 from 743,253 to 1.23m. Turnover increased by 23.7 per cent from 23.1m to 28.6m.

  • 74-Year-old client switches firms after being refused Asp

    12 Oct 2006

    Specialist pension IFA Richard Jacobs has defied Government restrictions on alternatively secured pensions by moving his client to another insurer when refused an Asp on a personal pension by Skandia.Jacobs, director of Richard Jacobs Pension & Trustee Services, argues if he had not advised his client to move elsewhere he would have not been giving his client best advice.His 74-year-old client wan- ted to take out an Asp rather than annuitise but had already received a letter ...

  • ABI chief blames contracting-out problems on IFAs

    12 Oct 2006

    The Association of British Insurers chairman has effectively washed providers' hands of contracting-out misselling, saying responsibil- ity lies at the door of advisers.Speaking at a Treasury select committee meeting this week, the ABI's Keith Satchell responded to MP's concerns about the potential misadvising of some groups to contract out, saying adv- isers handled the majority of this business.However, the ABI chairman's attempts to blame the advice sector for any potential ...

  • ABI joins fight to retain menu under Mifid

    12 Oct 2006

    'Menu has not been as effective as hoped but removing it for some products would be confusing'

  • ABI wants 'E-number' approach to menu

    12 Oct 2006

    The Association of British Insurers is calling for a radical simplification of the pay- ment menu to follow the label- ling requirements for food packaging.Head of distribution Alex Roy says the current menu design is too complex for consumers and the association believes that simple, visually appealing labelling echoing the Food Standards Agency requirements on food packaging should replace it.He says the ABI will make the suggestion as part of its response to the forthcoming ...

  • After 1,200km...

    12 Oct 2006

    After 1,200km of arduous cycling across France, members of the Invesco Perpetual UK equity team completed the Octopus Super Challenge Cycle-a-thon in one piece. Neil Woodford and colleagues Stephen Anness and Nick Hamilton (right) negotiated some challenging terrain but a lot of strategically placed padding saw them home. They set off from Esparon in Southern France on September 10 and crossed the finishing line in Notting Hill a week later, raising 115,000 for charities such as Cancerbackup ...

  • Alliance & Leicester launches offshore bond

    12 Oct 2006

    Alliance & Leicester International has launched a one year fixed rate bond with a fixed interest rate of 5.5 per cent.

  • Amps in apology after Asp attack

    12 Oct 2006

    The Association of Member-Directed Pension Schemes has apologised to the FSA for attacking its "new requirement" for IFAs to carry out research into a client's religious background when advising on alternatively secured pensions.In a speech last week, Amps chairman John Bradley said he feared it was a back-door attempt by Government to enforce a policy which breaks the law and which the Treasury has tacitly admitted to Amps is discriminatory.Amps has now apologised to the FSA ...

  • Another throw of the dice

    12 Oct 2006

    Risk Helen Pow assesses the return of investors to riskier areas of the markets

  • Average house prices up 3,000

    12 Oct 2006

    Average house prices rose by over 3,000 in August, according to Government figures. The average house price in the UK in August stood at 197,631 compared with 194,454 in July.

  • Axa raises bonuses for with-profits

    12 Oct 2006

    Axa has raised the regular bonus rates on its two with-profits funds by up to 0.75 per cent.The move means investors could see an increase of up to 6 per cent in payouts on the Axa Sun Life with-profits and the Sun Life Assurance Society with-profits funds.Regular bonus rates on ASL's with-profits bonds and with-profits personal pension have increased from 1.75 per cent to 2.5 per cent.Market value reductions have been reduced by between 2 and 5 per cent and no MVRs have ...

  • Balance of probability

    12 Oct 2006

    Bright Grey's Roger Edwards has discovered that it is indeed a small world.Edwards, who moonlights as a body combat instructor complete with bandana and yellow gloves (yes, it is true), recognised a woman in the front row of his class but could not place her until the end of the session. It turned out to be none other than the secretary to Scottish Life's Alasdair Buchanan.Edwards has just passed the international exam in body balance, achieving a distinction. Coming soon to ...

  • Balls says child funds beating expectations

    12 Oct 2006

    Over £100m in voluntary contributions has been contributed to child trust funds in the first 16 months, according to data from the Pep and Isa Managers' Association.It says its survey of CTF providers shows that nearly 30 per cent of accounts are getting additional contributions. It says £20 is the average monthly direct debit contribution, equating to £240 per account a year and nearly £75m in total contributions a year in total.Pima director general Tony Vine-Lott says: "These ...

  • 'Bancassurers are a growing threat'

    12 Oct 2006

    Bancassurers remain a growing threat to advisers as the dominant force in distribution, warns Bankhall chief executive Peter Mann.He told delegates that while IFAs still handle most life and pension business in the UK, their share has fallen while bancassurers' share has risen.Mann cited Datamonitor figures showing IFA market share has fallen from 70 per cent in 2005 to 66 per cent in 2006 compared with a rise from 14 to 18 per cent for single-tied bancassurers and 0 to 1 per ...

  • Bankhall in row over mortgage club

    12 Oct 2006

    A row has broken out between Bankhall and former emp- loyee Mike Buckley over mortgage club Premier Mortgage Service.Bankhall chief executive Peter Mann objected to comments made by PMS rival Active Management Group chief executive Buckley in Money Marketing last month.Buckley said: "John Malone at PMS has built a very successful business and he has done it by playing the numbers game. Our strategy is not to build it in the same way but we want to be more substantial and that ...

  • BGI trims quants

    12 Oct 2006

    Barclays rethinks funds ahead of move to multi-manager approach

  • Bid firm leads the way into pension sector

    12 Oct 2006

    Pension advisers can bid for customer leads in a scheme developed by Paaleads.com.The lead-generation firm, which last week launched a bidding system in the mortgage market, is set to add pensions on October 24 and claims to be the first lead-generation firm in the pension sector.The system gives priority to the highest bidder. Lower bidders will have to wait until those above them get their leads but they will only be invoiced once successful.Advisers can specify from which ...

  • Bid to calm investors after rollercoaster ride for Misys

    12 Oct 2006

    Misys chairman Sir Dominic Cadbury has moved to reassure investors after a turbulent week that saw chief executive Kevin Lomax resign and over 200m wiped off the value of the stock.Cadbury, who is acting as interim chief executive while a replacement is found, told the firm's AGM last week that it was business as usual for the divisions, including network Sesame.Misys' share price fell from 226p to 187p over the week after a management buyout led by Lomax failed, prompting him ...

  • Bill Mott set to retire from Credit Suisse

    16 Oct 2006

    Industry veteran Bill Mott is set to retire from Credit Suisse at the end of the month.

  • Blunkett calls for radical measures on IHT avoidance

    12 Oct 2006

    Former Home Secretary David Blunkett says inheritance tax needs to be reshaped radically to ensure fairness and the Government must clamp down further on those seeking to avoid the tax through complex planning.Speaking at a Resolution Foundation event at the House of Commons, Blunkett said Chancellor Gordon Brown's Budget crackdown on trusts was a welcome move but advisers would find ways of getting round the new regime.He said a rethink was needed to solve the IHT conundrum ...

  • Boulger blast for loan ads

    12 Oct 2006

    John Charcol senior technical director Ray Boulger has accused Nationwide, Britannia and HSBC of misleading customers with their use of price comparisons in ad campaigns.The three lenders have all run price comparison-focused campaigns but Boulger says none provided sufficient information for consumers to make a true comparison.Nationwide's home page states its two-year fix is chea-per than three of its rivals and states by how much, yet further information is only available ...

  • Box of tricks

    12 Oct 2006

    Making the move from box-ticking to holistic compliance

  • Bradshaw alerts IFAs to huge pension transfer market

    12 Oct 2006

    IFAs should broaden their focus beyond rich clients or risk missing out on a potential 500bn opportunity in the occupational pension transfer market, says industry veteran Paul Bradshaw.He says around half a trillion pounds of transfer money will move over the next five years and all these people will need advice.The former chief executive of Abbey's life and fund business addressed 750 delegates at Bankhall's annual member conference in Berlin last week, telling them that 30 ...

  • 'Break down EU barriers'

    12 Oct 2006

    Shadow Treasury Financial Secretary Mark Hoban called for the Government to fight the growing trend of European protectionism if the UK financial services sector is to continue to flourish.At a British Bankers' Association and Cicero Consulting fringe event at last week's annual conference in Bourne-mouth, Hoban said the "hostile protectionism' of mainland Europe was putting up barr- iers to the industry.He said the financial serv- ices sector has become "the jewel in the crown" ...

  • Broker

    12 Oct 2006

    Was Michael Portillo right to say IFAs have a moral obligation to help prevent a pension and savings crisis?Yes "But I think IFAs have always had that moral obligation. The problem is that anything the Government seems to put its hand to has come back to bite IFAs. We need some clarity from them before we can really take that ownership without worrying about what is going to come back on us later."Dennis Hall, Yellowtail Financial Planning Yes "But I would suggest ...

  • Brokers give backing to retention schemes

    17 Oct 2006

    Nearly all brokers are happy with retnetion incentives and do not beleive they work against treating customers fairly principles, according to new research.

  • Brown reckoned to be moving to axe or tax Asps

    12 Oct 2006

    Fears are growing that Chancellor Gordon Brown will introduce plans to reduce the attractiveness of alternatively secured pensions or scrap them entirely in this year's pre-Budget report.The Treasury originally raised concern in September by warning Money Market- ing that it would scrap Asps if advisers continued to "wilfully abuse" them to avoid inheritance tax.The intention of Asps was to offer an alternative to people with religious views objecting to annuiti- sation, such ...

  • BuildLoan running IFA seminars

    12 Oct 2006

    BuildLoan is hosting a series of roadshows designed to help intermediaries better deal with their clients in the market self-build mortgage market.

  • Cazenove lines up multi-asset web seminar

    12 Oct 2006

    Cazenove Capital Management is to host Asset TV's first live, interactive multi-asset web seminar for advisers.The seminar on November 15 will feature five specialist fund managers, who all run portfolios held by the Cazenove multi-manager diversity fund, discussing the outlook for their respective asset class.Advisers can register and send in questions for the managers via Cazenove, Asset TV or Cofunds.Merrill Lynch UK absolute alpha manager Mark Lyttleton will discuss ...

  • Chartwell director is joining IFP

    12 Oct 2006

    Chartwell Investment Management director Sue Whitbread is joining the Institute of Financial Planning as marketing and communications manager. The IFP is partnering with Manchester Metropolitan University Business School to provide financial services degree students the opportunity to gain CFP status.

  • CII launches online exams

    13 Oct 2006

    The Chartered Insurance Institute is launching an online exams service to replace the existing paper-based multiple choice exams from January 2007.

  • Compulsive viewing

    12 Oct 2006

    The Government needs to pay a decent pension out of general taxation

  • Consumers happy to buy life cover without advice

    12 Oct 2006

    Advice is the least important feature that consumers look for when taking out life cover, with low premiums and an efficient application process being the top-placed priorities.Research from Hargreaves Lansdown found that only 11 per cent of 428 people surveyed seek financial advice when taking out life cover while 68 per cent focus on low premiums.The findings showed that 25 per cent of consumers surveyed look for knowledgeable staff, 26 per cent want details on the provider ...

  • Correspondent's

    12 Oct 2006

    This week by freelance writer Sonia Speedy

  • Defaqto gives credence to PruHealth model

    11 Oct 2006

    Defaqto has revealed that private medical insurance following the PruHealth approach can result in premiums up to 44 per cent cheaper than the competition.

  • 'Defaqto to continue service to advisers'

    12 Oct 2006

    Find, which recently acquired Defaqto, says the research firm will continue to offer tools, including Aequos, to intermediaries.

  • Domestic science

    12 Oct 2006

    All three Adviser Fund Indices are underweight in UK equities compared with the corresponding Apcims portfolios.At the last rebalancing point in May, the Aggressive and Balanced AFIs had allocations of 45 per cent in domestic shares, with the Cautious AFI on 35 per cent.This compares with weightings of 55, 50 and 47.5 per cent respectively for the Apcims growth, balanced and income portfolios.However, when viewed alongside the MSCI All Country World index, the AFIs are significantly ...

  • Don't just grin and bare it

    12 Oct 2006

    Friends Provident life technical manager John Hendry says despite

  • EAG forced to sell Nvesta to cover liabilities

    11 Oct 2006

    The defunct Eurolife Assurance Group has been forced to sell off Nvesta to cover its liabilities and pay compensation to policyholders.

  • End of an era as Dunbar training centre to be razed

    12 Oct 2006

    The Zurich training centre in Swindon, where tens of thousands of people trained for careers in financial services with Allied Dunbar, is to be demolished and redeveloped as a four-star hotel.Many leading industry figures trained there, including Home of Choice chief executive Richard Coulson, while Positive Solutions executive chairman David Harrison and Thinc Destini chief executive Simon Chamberlain helped to run the centre.Zurich says the centre is not commercially viable ...

  • Enterprise zone

    12 Oct 2006

    How investing in an enterprise investment scheme portfolio can help a client minimise their tax liability

  • Eurolife puts Nvesta up for sale

    12 Oct 2006

    Eurolife Assurance Group, which went into administration in August, has confirmed it has put subsidiary Nvesta up for sale. Nvesta has around £120m held in structured products on its book.

  • Exceptions to the rule

    12 Oct 2006

    Continuing to analyse HMRC Capital Taxes' advice on the application of the 'not less than premiums paid' rule

  • Fastest house price rise in four years, says RICS

    12 Oct 2006

    House prices rose for the eleventh consecutive month at the fastest pace in four years, according to RICS’ UK housing market survey.

  • File checks offered online

    12 Oct 2006

    Bankhall has introduced a compliance service that all- ows members to conduct file checks online.The service, launched at its Berlin conference, has three formats - a full review, suitability review or pre-sale review.Costs range from 30 for a pre-sale or suitability review on non-investment products to 75 for an investment, pension or mortgage plan. For some more complex plans, the charge will be 75 an hour.Bankhall says it introduced the service following member demand, ...

  • Final nail in the coffin

    12 Oct 2006

    The headline, 3bn review for contracting out (Money Marketing last week), must have caught the attention, if not caused clinical depression, for many in our profession. In the same week, I have celebrated with my stepson claiming 880 windfall shares in Standard Life (worth currently some 2300) awarded as a result of setting up a rebate-only personal pension in 1997. We now hear the latest bombshell from the FSA's boardroom. Our profession has not yet recovered from the first and ...

  • Friends Provident takes stake in Home of Choice

    13 Oct 2006

    Friends Provident has made a substantial investment in network Home of Choice.Money Marketing understands the investment will see the life office take a minority stake in the firm, which was created last year.Friends last month announced the closure of its own mortgage network Friends Orion.

  • FSA publicly censures IFA for failing to explain income withdrawal risks

    17 Oct 2006

    The FSA has publicly censured GD Tancred Financial Services Limited for failing to clearly outline the risks of income withdrawal to customers with pension pots of less than £100,000.

  • FSA quality of mortgage advice probe reveals failings

    13 Oct 2006

    The Financial Services Authority has revealed ongoing failings by firms in preliminary findings from its quality of mortgage advice investigation.

  • FSA says IFAs advising on ASPs do not have to check clients' religion

    16 Oct 2006

    The FSA says IFAs will not need to ask clients about their religion when advising on an Alternatively Secured Pension.

  • GE Life sold to Swiss Re

    16 Oct 2006

    Swiss Re has bought GE Life for £465m, following months of speculation surrounding the future of the life office and equity release specialist.

  • Genworth launches 100 per cent LTV mortgage insurance

    12 Oct 2006

    Insurer Genworth Financial claims lenders will be able to help more first time buyers get on the property ladder after the launch of its specialist mortgage insurance product.

  • Global positioning

    12 Oct 2006

    Our panel discuss the new Platform Committee and reveal whether they will be backing Fidelity's new global special sits fund

  • Halo hello for pta

    12 Oct 2006

    Amanda Newman says the new deal for pension term assurance has seen the product make a major impact in the protection market but some brokers have misgivings

  • Home of Choice offered SJP's mortgage advisers

    17 Oct 2006

    St. James's Place is offloading its mortgage-only appointed representatives and has offered them to Home of Choice.

  • HomeBuy truths

    12 Oct 2006

    Last week saw the launch of the Government's new open market HomeBuy scheme. The fact that little in-depth press comment was seen in the nationals is possibly a reflection of scepticism in the market about the scheme.

  • HSBC pays 45k for TCF chief

    12 Oct 2006

    HSBC is recruiting a treating customers fairly manager on a salary of up to 45,000 plus benefits.The job is based in the firm's Canary Wharf office in London's Docklands with the aim of embedding the FSA's TCF initiative across the bank's business. The manager will be involved in strategy, sales, advice, product design and financial promotions.Anand Associates managing director Bhupinder Anand says: "This should be something that is an inherent part of a business anyway. Why ...

  • IFAP service delivers £54m value to member IFAs

    13 Oct 2006

    IFA Promotion’s ‘Find an IFA’ referral service delivered £54m of commission value to member IFAs last year with a 16 per cent increase in consumer and business enquiries.The independent study commissioned by IFAP found a 15 per cent year on year increase in income and an increase of 270 per cent since 2000.The figures show an estimated 56 per cent of hotline callers and 43 per cent of online IFA enquirers went on to visit a member IFA and buy an average of 1.2 and 1.6 products ...

  • 'IFAs risk misselling claims if they fail to recommend PTA'

    12 Oct 2006

    Advisers who do not recommend pension term assurance to their clients could risk misselling claims because life policies are liable to inheritance tax, warns Standard Life.Product marketing manager Mick James says advisers must have a good reason why they do not sell PTA because premiums are cheaper and the sum assured is not subject to IHT.He says only around 10 to 20 per cent of ordinary term policies are written in trust which exempts them from IHT. If advisers are selling ...

  • ING offering fixed and flexible deals

    12 Oct 2006

    ING Direct has entered the mortgage market this week with a fixed rate and a flexible rate . The products are not yet available through intermediaries but ING has started consulting about how best to work with brokers.

  • Insight looks to Continent with euro fund

    12 Oct 2006

    Insight Investment is looking at increasing sales of its multi-manager absolute return product range to the Continent with a euro-denominated global diversified return fund.The Dublin-domiciled fund is the firm's second retail absolute return fund. The first - the diversified total return fund - has achieved a total return of 10.3 per cent since launch in 2005.The new fund will provide European investors with access to a wide range of asset classes, which are blended using the ...

  • Integrity is vital in rebroking

    12 Oct 2006

    Having worked over the years with a number of advisers who were, let us say, keen on bond rebroking, I have always been a bit suspicious of whose interest is really being served. What Glynn Downton fails to point out (Money Marketing, September 28) is that the new bond he has recommended to his clients almost certainly has a limited administration or establishment charge, usually levied at 0.5 per cent of the investment value for the first five years. While Mr Downton claims that ...

  • Interest rates held for second month

    12 Oct 2006

    The Bank of England last week held interest rates at 4.75 per cent for the second month in a row. It follows the decision in August to raise the base rate by 0.25 per cent from 4.5 per cent, which had stood for a year.

  • JPMorgan launches life diversified growth fund for DB and DC pension investors

    16 Oct 2006

    JPMorgan Asset Management has launched the JPM Life Diversified Growth Fund for both defined benefit and defined contribution pension investors looking for high levels of long-term growth while controlling overall portfolio volatility.

  • Jupiter lines up China fund

    12 Oct 2006

    Jupiter is launching a China fund on October 20 to be managed by Philip Ehrmann. He will be assisted in running the 40-50-`x stock portfolio by Simon Somerville and Ben Surtees.

  • Just Retirement reveals good consumer knowledge of equity release

    13 Oct 2006

    Most customers believe they understand equity release, according to a study from Just Retirement.

  • Kayes quits Tenet at the top

    12 Oct 2006

    Tenet chairman Barry Kayes is leaving the firm, saying he would rather go out on a high than "do a Tony Blair" and outstay his welcome.He has been chairman since 2000 when the Tenet Group was formed from the 17m management buyout of M&E and Interdependence.Kayes, who is expected to seek another position in financial services, rem- ains adviser representat- ive on the Chartered Insur- ance Institute's faculty of life and pensions advisory board.He started his career at Scottish ...

  • Keeping up with the Dow Jones

    12 Oct 2006

    Rereading last week's column made me realise that I may have been responsible for misleading people over the performance of the US stockmarket. My reference to Wall Street moving into new high ground related specifically to the recent recovery in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. This index is almost certainly the most widely quoted in the media when it comes to remarking on how the world's biggest stockmarket is behaving but is not representative of the market as a whole.

  • Kensington widens e-commerce service

    12 Oct 2006

    Kensington has launched automated valuations and electronic identification as part of its K-net e-com- merce platform. AVMs and e-IDs are free to brokers but packagers are only entitled to free AVMs.

  • Leading from the front

    12 Oct 2006

    I am a great believer in improving standards and qualifications. For this to happen and for this whole area to receive the emphasis it deserves, there needs to be some leadership.

  • Leading questions

    12 Oct 2006

    The Labour leadership tussle is likely to have implications for pension reforms

  • Lending forecast raised by CML

    12 Oct 2006

    Strong summer boosts business

  • Lessons to be learned

    12 Oct 2006

    The Government is encouraging more young people to go on to higher education and making them pay for tuition fees on top of living expenses. This means that the average student leaves college or university with a 12,609 millstone of debt around their neck. As long as owing such big amounts is the norm, people will hardly be encouraged to save for items they cannot readily afford and the problem will spiral out of control. According to reports, lenders need to look abroad to ...

  • Look to the pension future

    12 Oct 2006

    Hear from the experts on the latest developments in the pension arena and have a chance of winning a car

  • Matter of principles

    12 Oct 2006

    Investment management is a crowded, highly competitive field in which everyone is trying to be different but the real opportunities for innovation are rare. Most of them turn out to be, at best, reinventing the wheel. At worst, they are blind alleys encased in the jargon of the times, which leave the client worse off and disillusioned.The requirement from clients is simple - they want to have their cake and eat it. This means above-benchmark and peer group returns when markets are ...

  • Meltdown averted but problems are still in the pipeline

    12 Oct 2006

    Predictions of an admin meltdown after A-Day have pro- ven overblown but there are plenty of other problems around the corner, warned panellists at the Money Marketing Sipp round table.Specialist pension IFA Richard Jacobs admitted his predictions of an A-Day meltdown, with providers buckling under increased volumes of business, have not happened.He said providers have coped relatively well on a "raw admin" level and suggested that sev- eral providers have avoided potential ...

  • Misys appoints Mike Lawrie as group chief exec

    16 Oct 2006

    Misys has appointed Mike Lawrie as group chief executive following the resignation of Kevin Lomax earlier this month, effective from November 1.

  • Mortgage Brain first to verify Edeus

    17 Oct 2006

    Mortgage Brain has signed up edeus products to its sourcing, POS and compliance system.

  • Mortgage firms told to cut jargon

    12 Oct 2006

    'Consumers with lower levels of financial literacy had difficulties with KFI'

  • Mutual maul

    12 Oct 2006

    Guy Anker looks at the furore after the BSA's onslaught on the Woolwich

  • New Star's Whittaker keeps his bets on the table

    12 Oct 2006

    New Star UK growth man- ager Stephen Whittaker remains bullish on online gaming stocks despite $5bn being wiped off the sector's value last week after the US government banned internet gambling.He says he sold his stake in PartyGaming after last week's crash because it had the biggest exposure to the US market but he retained stakes in 888 Holdings, Sportingbet and Empire Holdings because he believes prospects for the sector outside the US remain positive.Whittaker saw the gambling ...

  • Non-committal

    12 Oct 2006

    Our arguments on the problems of non-advised sales have not been answered

  • NU plans Euro property fund

    12 Oct 2006

    Norwich Union is the latest fund manager to move into the European commercial prop-erty fund sector.The Luxemburg-domic- iled fund is expected to be launched this quarter, subject to regulatory approval.Although a lead manager for the fund has not yet been named, it is understood that the portfolio will be run along similar lines to the group's UK property fund, which is managed by Geraldine Davies.NU is the latest fund firm to look at overseas property retail launches. ...

  • NU warns of Sipp crackdown

    12 Oct 2006

    Norwich Union fears too many people have been put into Sipps and the FSA will crack down on advisers and providers that cannot justify sales.Sipp sales have rocketed by 115 per cent over the last year and took in 2.5bn in the first half of 2006 alone, according to the Association of British Insurers, but NU says the minor changes to the product over the past year fail to justify this recent explosion.NU head of pensions Iain Oliver says media hype is leading many people to pressurise ...

  • Online proc fee rebates spark fears

    12 Oct 2006

    Brokers have raised concerns that a direct mortgage website that pays half the proc fee to the customer could create commission bias and misbuying.The website, moneyback mortgages.com, searches for a mortgage from its panel of 53 lenders based on the borrower's personal details and rebates 50 per cent of the proc fee.On a 200,000 mortgage, the highest share of proc fee advertised is 1,270 from Mortgages plc.Chase de Vere Mortgage Management director Nick Gardner says: "There ...

  • Open up Asps rather than axe them

    12 Oct 2006

    Any assessment of the way the wind is blowing in Whitehall suggests that Asps will be scrapped.For months now, an argument has raged between Government and opposition parties, the regulator, pension companies and advisers over the status of alternatively secured pensions.The Government wanted them restricted to people with religious objections to annuities. The industry baulked at this, suggesting that they had to give best advice. They added that legislation about religious ...

  • Origo signs 20,000 users

    13 Oct 2006

    Origo has signed its 20,000th Unipass user as it recognises the growing need for e-commerce, particularly in the mortgage industry.

  • Osborne exorcises Nimbys

    12 Oct 2006

    The FSA's move towards principle-based regulation echoes Tory leader David Cameron's calls for shared responsibility and should be welcomed, says Shadow Treasury Financial Secretary Mark Hoban.He said principle-based regulation gives businesses the freedom they need to meet the demands of the FSA.Hoban said that firms must make their own decisions about how they achieve regulatory targets and recognise that the best way to withstand the constant pressure for new regulation is ...

  • Packager refuses to take incoming broker calls

    16 Oct 2006

    Optoma Broker Solutions has closed to incoming calls from brokers until Wednesday.The packager says it will not accept calls until 9am on Wednesday morning. A message on its website says the bar was applied last Friday and will last until close of business tomorrow. Instead, it is asking brokers to use the online decision in principle facility to place cases.

  • Peter webb

    12 Oct 2006

    Unicorn Asset Management chief executive and chief investment officer Peter Webb took stock of the firm's progress recently and decided that a shake-up was needed and now he is aiming to be a leader in small-cap investment. Interview by Philip Scott

  • Pick of the bunch

    12 Oct 2006

    Since Ian McVeigh took over Jupiter UK growth in 2003, he has restored its fortunes as a top-performing fund. In my view, McVeigh is one of Jupiter's most engaging fund managers and, I believe, much under-rated by the industry.At an investment dinner in 2003, attended by journalists and brokers, he was one of the very few who remained steadfastly bullish in the face of a falling UK market.It is something that he likes to remind me about every time I see him and when I caught ...

  • Pivotal points

    12 Oct 2006

    Sources say a pension-style review of contracting out could cost the industry almost £3bn. To put this into perspective, and to demonstrate why the industry is so anxious to put its own house in order quietly, the combined profits of UK-listed insurers in 2005 was £6.376bn.

  • Power play

    12 Oct 2006

    Matt Goodburn looks at how the new freedoms of Ucits III are being used

  • PPF tells trustees not to copy its derivatives strategy

    12 Oct 2006

    The Pension Protection Fund plans to diversify its investment portfolio and improve its returns through the use of derivatives.Its latest statement of investment principles reveals a marked shift away from the current 100 per cent bond investment strategy to include equities and property.It plans to hold 50 per cent in global bonds, 20 per cent in cash, 12.5 per cent in UK equities, 7.5 per cent in global equities and 7.5 per cent in property. A derivative-based currency overlay ...

  • Prestbury debt service offers £500 for IVA deal

    12 Oct 2006

    Adviser firm Prestbury has come under fire after introducing an individual voluntary arrangement referral service that pays brokers £500 a time.Market experts believe this could result in an increase in the take-up of IVAs, which are seen by many as a last resort for people trapped by debt.Prestbury insists it will encourage advisers to ensure clients seeks specialist advice before applying for an IVA, which it says can see debts cut by around two-thirds.In September, Mortgage ...

  • Reasons to be cheerful

    12 Oct 2006

    The outlook for UK equities is positive, particularly for investors who take a long-term view

  • Redwood says revenge is riding roughshod over regulation

    12 Oct 2006

    Former Cabinet minister John Redwood says "wrongful and vengeful Government policies"are overriding regulationSpeaking at his economic competitiveness group fringe event, Redwood said Chan- cellor Gordon Brown's raid on pension funds shows that sensible Government policy rather than overbearing regulation is required to govern the industry and ensure consumer protection.Redwood said the decline in pension funds since 1997 proves that heavy regulation does not necessarily provide ...

  • Revenue clears the way for IHT advice

    12 Oct 2006

    Skandia believes the latest HM Revenue & Customs clarification on the Finance Act changes to inheritance tax and trusts should give advisers the confidence to recommend the products again.Head of tax and financial planning Colin Jelley says advisers need to be aware of the latest developments to ensure they are offering cli- ents best advice.He recommends advisers to consider using the 12-month window for reporting trust cases to HMRC and to delay reporting where poss- ible ...

  • Ringing the changes

    12 Oct 2006

    Investors with nous are latching on to the new-style investment trusts

  • Row erupts over 'gay misselling'

    12 Oct 2006

    Specialist gay IFA Chris Morgan has sparked a war of words with Ivan Massow, claiming advice given to the gay community between 1990 and 2000 is now resulting in a flood of misselling complaints.Morgan, managing director of Compass, says many gay people face significant shortfalls in their mortgage endowments and pension policies as a result of this advice. The firm is offering free initial consultations to people who feel they have been missold.But Massow is accusing Compass ...

  • Rowanmoor launches family pensions trust

    13 Oct 2006

    Rowanmoor Pensions has launched the Rowanmoor Pensions Family Pension Trust.

  • Schroders in portfolios link-up with Skandia

    12 Oct 2006

    Schroders' range of three multi-manager portfolios is now available through the Skandia platform.The distribution link enables advisers to access the Schroder S&P cautious managed, high alpha and strategic balanced portfolios through Skandia's life, pension and fund supermarket channels.Schroders says although it gets a lot of direct multi-manager business, a substantial part is also coming from open architecture life comp- any bonds.Schroders says that as it does not provide ...

  • ScotEq reveals double tax-free cash loophole

    12 Oct 2006

    Aegon Scottish Equitable says it has uncovered a loophole that enables people with deferred pensions to take two lots of tax-free cash.The loophole applies to policyholders who opted to take tax-free cash and defer taking the pension before July 27, 2004 but did not tell the scheme administrator or the trustee that they intended to continue to defer the pension.In calculating the new tranche of tax-free cash, the lump sum is ignored and the maximum that can be taken is 25 per ...

  • Second time around for FTBs in CML stats

    12 Oct 2006

    The Council of Mortgage Lenders has made the startling admission that its first-time buyer statistics do not actually relate exclusively to first-time buyers.The trade body's revelation this week casts doubt over the accuracy of its published research on one of the most emotive economic subjects.A first-time buyer is classed by the CML as someone buying a home but not simultaneously selling one, meaning people returning to the market and people buying a second home are included.The ...

  • Sheffield Mutual chief exec elected VP of AFS

    16 Oct 2006

    Sheffield Mutual Friendly Society chief executive Andrew Townsley has been elected vice president of the Association of Friendly Societies.

  • Sipps go ballistic with £2.5bn sales

    12 Oct 2006

    Sipp sales have rocketed since A-Day to become a £9bn a year business but group Sipps have failed to take off so far, according to senior industry figures.Speaking at a Money Marketing Sipp round table, Standard Life head of pensions policy John Lawson pointed to recent figures from the Association of British Insurers which showed that its members had written £2.5bn of Sipp business in the first half of this year and sales are on track for Sipps to become a £9bn a year business.Panellists ...

  • Skipton launches rate rise protection with 7-year fix

    11 Oct 2006

    Skipton Building Society has launched a 7-year fixed rate mortgage.

  • Small wonder

    12 Oct 2006

    There has been a lot of comment recently that the days of smaller company funds' outperformance are over because valuations are now comparable with those of bigger companies.

  • Sporting chance

    12 Oct 2006

    I am a great fan of Fidelity and have supported it for over 20 years. I enjoyed its recent Investment Forum but I have given up pestering it to consider using its wonderful research capability to launch a range of ethical and socially responsible funds. The distasteful part of investment seminars is the enjoyment of making profit by investing in ethically-compromised industries such as tobacco and gambling. The return the fund makes is at the expense of a lung cancer victim or a ...

  • Standard issue

    12 Oct 2006

    The recent news that Mortgage Trading Exchange has opened the standard interfaces it has developed with lenders so they can be adopted by other users paves the way for some welcome pragmatism to break out in the mortgage industry.

  • Standard Life Investments expands into Canada

    17 Oct 2006

    Standard Life Investments (SLI) has expanded its property investment operations into Canada by acquiring the £137m Standard Life Canadian pooled real estate fund.

  • 'Stop the gravy train of high commission'

    12 Oct 2006

    Leading industry figures have called for an end to the "gravy train" of high commission and condemned firms for paying massive up-front rates with no clawback.Delegates at a Money Marketing pensions round table said some providers pay 7 per cent commission on single-premium pension business with no clawback.Hargreaves Lansdown head of pensions research Tom McPhail said: "Every time you think the ridiculous gravy train has to hit the buffers, someone else comes along and says ...

  • Supermarkets may struggle to meet principles for TCF

    12 Oct 2006

    Supermarkets and websites that sell financial products could struggle to comply with the principles set out by the FSA in its discussion paper on provider and distributor responsibilities unless they change their sales processes.Released last week, the paper clarifies the principles of treating customers fairly. It says providers must take more responsibility for controlling how their products are sold and should design products for specified target markets.In a speech setting ...

  • Sweet talk

    12 Oct 2006

    I am writing in reply to the article about pension transfer "sweeteners" by Robert Reid in the September 28 edition of Money Marketing. I find his statement that "there is no doubt that if a member is offered a bribe and/or enhanced transfer value to leave a scheme, then he or she is getting the poor end of the deal" very bizarre. First, this suggests that no one should ever transfer out of final-salary schemes because if it is not worth doing with an enhanced TV, then it cannot ...

  • SWIP hires Ishii for Japan equities team

    11 Oct 2006

    Scottish Widows Investment Partnership has hired Kaori Ishii as investment director of its Japanese equities team.

  • Swiss Re call to axe cancer conditions

    12 Oct 2006

    Swiss Re is calling on the Association of British Insurers to scrap two of the cancer conditions covered under its new critical-illness definitions so consumers cannot claim for them, Money Marketing understands.The reinsurer is believed to have told the ABI that it wants the cancers to be taken out of the conditions covered before they come into force next April, warning that they could push up premiums by 1 or 2 per cent.The definitions cover two types of rare myeloproliferative ...

  • The easy option

    12 Oct 2006

    Many years ago, a good friend of mine became very seriously ill and had to take time off work. His employer's sick scheme was a decent one but months ticked away and it became obvious that although his illness was not life-threatening, it would be impossible for my friend to return to work in the near future, perhaps for years.

  • The power of speech

    12 Oct 2006

    I always held the view that reading a speech is not the same as actually witnessing one. For me the body language and eye contact of the speaker can say as much as thousands of words.

  • This week in Investment

    13 Oct 2006

    Increased scrutiny on performance has been a common thread running through the investment world over the last few months but that will be of little consequence to five fund managers at Old Mutual Asset Managers (OMAM).

  • This week in Pensions

    11 Oct 2006

    At a recent Money Marketing round table, panelists marvelled at the rapid growth in Sipp business over the last year to become the £9bn a year phenomenon it is today.

  • Thoresen says FSA must give incentives to stop churning

    12 Oct 2006

    'Reward well-run businesses which safeguard customers'

  • Three new fixed income appointments at Aegon

    16 Oct 2006

    Aegon Asset Management has announced three new appointments to its fixed income team.Kevin Telfer will join in December as a fixed income product specialist and will aid the team’s efforts to develop the scale and quality of the firm’s bond business.He joins from Aon Consulting Ltd where he was senior investment consultant and actuary to a number of pension schemes. Gregory Turnbull Schwartz joined as investment manager in September with responsibilities for industrial sector ...

  • Three's a crowd

    12 Oct 2006

    Our occasional series of look-a-likes continues with Winterthur technical wizard Andy Boyt and a menage a trois of mammoth proportions.Andy's kind colleagues have sent in convincing evidence that he was separated at birth from the overrated Phill Jupitus and still reasonably funny Johnny Vegas. Their similar ages, facial hair and, of course, girth are uncanny.l Prompted by the ABI and FSA's recent football match, the IFA Defence Union is canvassing members about similar sporting ...

  • 'Time to tidy up pension pots'

    12 Oct 2006

    IFAs must break away from the more traditional focus on spreading pension arrangements and consolidate their clients' pension pots before vesting funds, says Hargreaves Lansdown head of pensions research Tom McPhail.He told delegates at the round table that a wrinkle in A-Day rules makes it imposs- ible for clients with more than one pension pot to start drawing down funds from one pot and then transfer funds from another arrangement into that pot.McPhail argued that this development ...

  • Tory pension spokesman hits out at IFAs

    12 Oct 2006

    Conservative Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Philip Hammond has warned financial advisers that they have a worse reputation than anyone else in the industry.Speaking at an ABI/CBI event on pension reform at the party conference in Bournemouth last week, Hammond said the industry's bad repu-tation needed to be tackled to ensure successful pension reform.He singled out advisers as having a "bigger image problem than the rest of the industry" in terms of the way they are perceived ...

  • Warning over limits to pension consensus

    12 Oct 2006

    The Tories have warned the Government that their position on pension reform is "consensus with limits" and urgent work is required to address their concerns.At a Scottish Widows and Age Concern fringe event, Shadow pensions minister Nigel Waterson Waterson said: "We are in consensus mode for the right reasons. But it is consensus with limits, we are not going to sign up to a system which we think will not work, will not be fair and will not deliver improvements."He said there ...

  • Webb returning as head of distribution at Hermes

    12 Oct 2006

    Former Invesco Perpetual chief executive Mike Webb is making a comeback after a two-year break from the industry to join Hermes Pension Management.Webb, who headed distribution at Invesco after stints with GT and Prolific, returns in a similar role at Hermes.Hargreaves Lansdown head of research Mark Dampier says: "Mike Webb knows the retail market really well and has huge experience. It will be retail's loss and institutional's gain."Industry veteran Patrick Cooper is leaving ...

  • What's bruin?

    12 Oct 2006

    Market prospects Helen Pow assesses the split between the views of top fund manager Anthony Bolton who believes a bear is on the way and other managers who say the bull is still strong

  • Which? should pay up or shut up

    12 Oct 2006

    I note that Which? claims to have visited 57 adviser firms. If these firms charged, say, just £200 each for the advice, this would have cost Which? £11,400. If Which? believes fee-based advice is best, it should put its money where its mouth is and pay these firms or shut up. Just think how expensive mystery-shopping would be if all firms went fee-based. Why did Which? not compare fee-based advice with commission-based? Is it because it would have cost it too much? It is ...

  • Wind is in the sails of green investors

    12 Oct 2006

    Socially responsible investments represent a compelling opportunity and a major growth area, say advisers.At the Money Marketing round table, Worldwide Financial Planning IFA Nick McBreen predicted there will be a surge in demand for green investments from the educated, wealth generators of the future.He said: "Green investments are the perfect vehicle for people who are clearly saying they do not want to be involved with socially irresponsible industries."Richard Jacobs ...

  • 'Withdrawals over 4% could exhaust pensioners' capital'

    12 Oct 2006

    Increasing longevity means that 90 per cent of people could exhaust their savings before they die if they withdraw more than 4 per cent a year, warns Fidelity.Research by the fund firm suggests that 70 per cent of over-55s who have not yet retired do not know how much they will need to withdraw from their savings in retirement.Fidelity concludes that, for an increasing proportion of their retirement income, people will rely on sources that do not have the lifetime guarantee ...

  • With-profits values could rise by 3%

    12 Oct 2006

    With-profits shareholders could see an increase in values of up to 3 per cent under amendments to the policyholder/shareholder split of assets announced by the FSA.

  • Woolwich homeloan aims at big bonuses

    12 Oct 2006

    Woolwich has set up its City Bonus mortgage for bankers, brokers, consultants and entrepreneurs who expect big bonuses this winter. It says only people who want to borrow over 500,000 need apply. The discounted tracker with an offset facility starts at 0.51 per cent below the bank's base rate, offering an initial rate of 4.24 per cent.

  • Yorkshire offers Christmas bonus

    17 Oct 2006

    Yorkshire Building Society has launched a new range of competitive fixed rate mortgages with a Christmas Bonus applicable on two and three year products for borrowers remortgaging before Christmas.The two year fixed rate is 4.74 per cent and the three year fixed rate is 4.89 per cent.The bonus comprises of £200 cashback, a free remortgage legal service and refund of valuation fees. A £595 fee is applicable to each product.Yorkshire product development manager David Heshon ...

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