Money Marketing
13 September 2006

  • IMA rebuffs ABI on provider choice

    14 Sep 2006

    The IMA has rejected ABI proposals to give employers the flexibility to choose between providers to handle their employees' savings in its response to the Pensions White Paper. It proposes a fully "diversified default fund" overseen by the NPSS board for employees who do not want to make investment decisions.

  • Treasury committee probes FSA response

    14 Sep 2006

    The Treasury select committee is taking evidence looking at the responsiveness of the FSA to the needs of consumers and progress in relation to its Better Regulation Action Plan as part of its regular scrutiny of the regulator.

  • A hollow victory

    14 Sep 2006

    Given a straight choice, most of us will generally back David against Goliath. The little man, bravely fighting back against corporate might, automatically garners sympathy from people, especially IFAs, many of whom tend to see themselves in that same role.

  • Abbey revamps James Hay wrap next month

    18 Sep 2006

    James Hay Wrap, recently rebranded by Abbey Wealth Management is to undergo an upgrade at the end of next month.

  • ABI welcomes FSA's regulatory proposals for life companies

    19 Sep 2006

    The ABI has welcomed the FSAs consultation paper which proposes changes to rules for life insurers reserving and capital requirements.

  • Active expands overseas property proposition

    15 Sep 2006

    Active Management Group is expanding its overseas operation after a deal with overseas property finder Parador.

  • Advisers wary on PTA suitability

    14 Sep 2006

    Significantly more Icob advisers have recommended pension term assurance to consumers than Cob advisers, says Standard Life.Its survey, undertaken by George Street Research among 206 advisers in June, found that only 40 per cent of Cob advisers have recommended PTA compared with 54 per cent of protection advisers.Overall, 43 per cent of advisers said they felt PTA was not appropriate for their client base. Just over 25 per cent said the product did not fit their clients' needs ...

  • Aegon Scottish Equitable - Group Self-Invested Personal Pension Plan

    15 Sep 2006

    Aegon Scottish Equitable Group Self-Invested Personal Pension Plan

  • Arc Fund Management - Arc EIS 5 Growth Fund

    15 Sep 2006

    Arc Fund ManagementArc EIS 5 Growth Fund

  • Axa and Winterthur to merge group pension business but keep individual separate

    14 Sep 2006

    Axa and Winterthur will continue to run their individual personal pension and investment businesses in parallel with separate brands but the providers’ group pension businesses are to merge.Winterthur chief executive Mike Kellard will continue in his role and report to Axa Life chief executive Paul Evans.The announcement is part of an on-going review of business following Axa’s £6bn deal to acquire Winterthur in June.Axa says the decision to keep separate brands for individual ...

  • Back to back to the future

    14 Sep 2006

    Over the last 15 years, the great lost opportunity has been on affordability.

  • Barcode slashes re-reg time

    14 Sep 2006

    Cofunds is offering a new set of IFA tools which it says will significantly speed up the consolidation of client assets on to the platform and eliminate admin errors from the process.The new tools will allow bigger IFAs to move client assets in bulk using prepopulated data forms. Once the client signs the forms, they are barcoded and processed straight through the Cofunds' system, eliminating the need for manual data input.Spokesman Richard Eats says the system has taken three ...

  • Better lifestyle for retirees who seek financial advice

    14 Sep 2006

    Consumers who take financial advice are likely to maintain a better standard of living in retirement.Research by Fidelity found that 70 per cent of retired consumers who had taken advice did not have to cut back on their lifestyle and spending habits while 60 per cent of those who did not take advice were forced to limit their spending.Fidelity surveyed 1,141 people and found that 75 per cent of respondents had not consulted an adviser for retirement planning advice.Thirty ...

  • Boutique business

    14 Sep 2006

    Small fund firms are making a big impact in the investment world

  • Broker Talkback

    14 Sep 2006

    Do you agree with Aifa that advisers should be able to offer advice limited to specific areas, agreed by a disclaimer, without the compliance risk of a full fact-find?

  • Brown duels

    14 Sep 2006

    Chancellor Gordon Brown has had an interesting couple of weeks. No doubt, a Channel 4 programme by Ros Altmann attacking his pension record has caused him irritation but it is perhaps not his main focus as he tries to secure the succession to the Premiership.

  • Brown's veto could destroy UK pensions

    14 Sep 2006

    Altmann says Chancellor's vendetta is blocking reforms

  • Bupa to cut processing time with online system

    13 Sep 2006

    Bupa has launched an online quotation and application system for advisers on its protection products in a bid to reduce its processing times.

  • Cable says Which? shows need for 'genuine independence'

    14 Sep 2006

    Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable is calling for an independent system of financial advice which is not driven by advisers trying to earn commission.Cable's comments follow on from the Which? report published last week which found that fewer than a third of advisers give what Which? describes as the "benchmark for good advice".In its mystery-shopping exercise, Which? visited 57 firms of different types and found that only 26 per cent of financial advisers were giving ...

  • Capita & Octopus launch VCT & Sipp hybrid

    19 Sep 2006

    Capita Sip Services and Octopus are launching a joint wealth management product combining the tax benefits of VCTs and Sipps, allowing for 38 per cent on pension contributions.

  • Carphone Warehouse fined 245k over insurance sales

    14 Sep 2006

    The FSA has fined the Carphone Warehouse 245,000 for failing to inform the regulator in a timely manner of significant system failures surrounding sales of mobile phone insurance.The regulator says an investigation between January 14 and October 24, 2005 found that the Carphone Warehouse failed to send a statement of demands and needs to 118,000 customers who bought mobile phone insurance through its telesales channel. The FSA says it subsequently discovered that 56,000 of these ...

  • Change brings boost

    14 Sep 2006

    The Association of Investment Trust Companies has unveiled its new logo ahead of its rebrand as the Association of Investment Companies on October 1.Since the more inclusive name for the trade body was announced five months ago, its membership has diversified significantly, with 70 venture capital trusts, four UK investment companies and five offshore investment companies signing up.The association now has a total of 295 mem- ber firms.Association director general Daniel ...

  • Charity claims mortgage borrowers struggling to pay debts

    13 Sep 2006

    Around 770,000 people with a mortgage have missed one or more mortgage payments in the last twelve months, according to Citizens Advice.

  • Cheltenham & Gloucester - Two Year Fixed Rate Mortgage

    15 Sep 2006

    Cheltenham & GloucesterTwo Year Fixed Rate Mortgage

  • Cirencester stays close to its roots in rebranding

    14 Sep 2006

    Income protection specialist Cirencester Friendly Society is rebranding.The society, originally known as the Cirencester Conservative Association Working Men's Benefit Society, was founded in 1890 to help safeguard the financial stability of agricultural workers in the Cotswolds.The new logo aims to stay true to this history while presenting a modern face as an income protection specialist with 23,000 members across the UK.Chief executive Paul Hudson says: "This is more ...

  • Clawback extension to cut churning

    14 Sep 2006

    Commission clawback periods on personal and stakeholder pensions are set to increase to five years as part of an industrywide bid to clamp down on churning, says Scottish Widows.This would have a major impact on IFAs, with firms such as Aegon and Widows currently operating clawback periods of between 27 months and three years on personal pensions.Widows head of pensions market development Ian Naismith says Norwich Union's recent decision to increase the clawback period to four ...

  • CML gives advice on arrears for unregulated loans

    14 Sep 2006

    The Council of Mortgage Lenders is warning members to protect consumers by treating unregulated mortgages as if they are regulated when borrowers fall into arrears.Its guidance, which Money Marketing has been shown, says members must inform customers on which basis their arrears are being treated. If a non-regulated mortgage is being treated as a regulated mortgage, the information required by MCOB must be included.It encourages lenders to comply with its statement of practice ...

  • Coming in from the cold

    14 Sep 2006

    A dip in performance saw many brokers writing off Artemis income but Adrian Frost believes he has positioned the portfolio so it should make a strong comeback even if interest rates and inflation rise

  • Commission is not the root of evil

    14 Sep 2006

    Is commission, per se, a bad form of remuneration? I am unaware of anyone claiming that it is, not even the FSA. Does commission-based advice routinely cost more than fee-based advice? No, it does not, particularly when you factor in VAT and the extra admin costs of collecting fees. Are fees more transparent than commission? Not always. The quantities of paper required to support most recommendations must surely make commission easier to hide than fees but how do you prove that ...

  • 'Competition will avoid need for charge cap'

    14 Sep 2006

    Pension personal accounts

  • Correspondent's Week

    14 Sep 2006

    This week by The Independent deputy personal finance editor James Daley

  • Cover the key hole

    14 Sep 2006

    Zurich Financial Services protection development manager Gerry Warner says PTA might be the topic of the day but business protection is the sector where advisers really should be concentrating efforts

  • Dampier unimpressed by Gartmore and Jupiter merger talk

    18 Sep 2006

    Hargreaves Lansdown head of research Mark Dampier believes a merger of Jupiter and Gartmore is likely to have a detrimental effect on the two fund houses.

  • DB transfers risk losing enhanced protection

    14 Sep 2006

    Savers transferring out of defined-benefit pension schemes run the risk of losing their enhanced protection, according to Standard Life.Since A-Day, the most common ways of members losing enhanced protection, where a fund which exceeds the lifetime allowance is protected from a 55 per cent tax charge, is if members make a contribution to a defined-contribution scheme or accrue relevant benefits under a defined-benefit scheme after April 6 this year.But Standard Life marketing ...

  • DCA picks Staffordshire County Council team to supervise CMC regulation

    15 Sep 2006

    The Department for Constitutional Affairs has chosen Staffordshire County Council Trading Standards to supervise the regulation of claims management services nationwide.SCCTS will run the monitoring and compliance unit for the regulation of claims handlers for the DCA as a separate project from its more traditional role with a ring-fenced budget of less than £1m.Speaking this morning at the DCA, head of claims management regulation Mark Boleat said there was a risk factor in the ...

  • Duty of care to tackle debt crisis

    14 Sep 2006

    Tim Sutcliffe of the PI Consortium says lenders must share responsibility for consumers' spiralling borrowings

  • Economy has knack of correcting itself

    14 Sep 2006

    Only a few months ago the world was worrying about too much growth, the associated rise in inflationary pressures and the consequent impact on global interest rates. These concerns led to a temporary correction in markets in May and June, with those markets that had benefited most from abundant global liquidity suffering the greatest setbacks. Indeed, many emerging markets suffered the heaviest corrections, with declines of nearly 25 per cent in some cases.

  • Edeus launches with pledge to take market by storm

    14 Sep 2006

    Edeus has completed its first mortgage applications after launching yesterday.

  • Ex-Bankhall duo set up Alliance with threesixty

    14 Sep 2006

    Former Bankhall pair Mike Buckley and Gordon Covell's new mortgage support ser-vices company Active Lending Solutions has signed an alliance with Bankhall rival three-sixty, with the aim of taking on Bankhall's Premier Mortgage Service.Active will provide three-sixty's members with access to its mortgage club, lending and packaging while the IFA support services firm will provide ALS members with compliance consultancy.The business is also reorganising, with The Active Management ...

  • Fidelity - Multi-Manager Distribution Fund

    15 Sep 2006

    FidelityMulti-Manager Distribution Fund

  • Firm fined £182k over pension unlocking

    14 Sep 2006

    The FSA has fined Braemar Financial Planning £182,000 for systemic failings in its sales processes for pension unlocking. It found that between November 2002 and November 2005, Braemar persistently failed to collect sufficient information about their customers before making recommendations and failed to explain all the alternative options.

  • First profit for Lighthouse

    14 Sep 2006

    Lighthouse Group has unveiled its first profit in its half-year results to June 30. It made a profit of £112,000 compared with a £142,000 loss in the same period last year. Turnover rose by 36 per cent to £20.5m.

  • Flat prospects

    14 Sep 2006

    A cautionary tale about people's desperation to get on the property ladder

  • Friends appoints ex-Co-op Bank boss as non executive director

    14 Sep 2006

    Friends Provident has appointed Sir Mervyn Pedelty as a non-executive director with effect from 1 October 2006.

  • Friends Prov launches Special Sits fund

    14 Sep 2006

    Friends Provident has launched a UK special situations fund in response to the splitting of Fidelity’s special situations fund.

  • FSA hosts asset management conference

    15 Sep 2006

    The FSA is hosting its third annual asset management conference on Thursday 21 September including speeches from a number of senior FSA staff.Chief executive John Tiner will be outlining his vision of the regulator’s Treating Customers Fairly initiative and director retail policy and asset management sector leader Dan Waters will chair the day. Head of Mifid implementation Chris Hibben will speak at a session dedicated to the EU directive.DWP head of strategy and pensions client ...

  • FSA launches online help for advisers

    18 Sep 2006

    The Financial Services Authority has launched separate web tools for mortgage brokers and advisers to help them comply with disclosure rules.

  • Full Bore

    14 Sep 2006

    Jamie Bore (on the left of the blurry snapshot here) of IFG's accounts department obviously knows how to get the most for his money. He is just back from completing the Sucata run, a race from London to Lisbon in a vehicle costing no more than £250 to assemble.Jamie completed the 1,741-mile trip in three days and even managed to exchange his souped-up pride and joy for a taxi ride back to the airport.The event raised £12,500 for charity.

  • GMAC is first to get to the point

    14 Sep 2006

    Guy Anker finds the arrival of point of sale offers is good for the market but discovers not everyone is rushing out to introduce the technology

  • Govt misses deadline on pension legal challenge

    14 Sep 2006

    The Government has missed the deadline to respond to the legal challenge launched by the Pensions Action Group over its part in the occupational pensions scandal.A response had been required within three weeks of the publication in August of the public administration select committee inquiry into the Government's rejection of the Parliamentary Ombudsman's report.But the Government has requested more time while it "takes instruction at the highest level".People who lost some ...

  • 'Govt should back advice'

    14 Sep 2006

    Aegon says Government-subsidised advice should play a key role in the personal accounts savings scheme.The firm's response to the Pensions White Paper closely resembles the ABI submission, and says the Government should provide subsidies for generic advice at key decision points.The generic advice would focus on basic affordability, debt management, affect on with means-tested benefits, nature of investment risk and investment choice if offered and adequacy of contributions ...

  • Growing fears that PI rises could cut self-cert market

    14 Sep 2006

    Rising professional indemnity insurance costs could result in the self-cert mortgage market shrinking, warns Active Management Group joint chief executive Mike Buckley.Buckley says PI rates are already showing signs of hardening as insurers get nervous over fears that some brokers are inflating borrowers' incomes to get bigger loans but things could get worse if further abuses are uncovered by the FSA.The FSA is due to follow up investigations last year which found that not ...

  • Hiscox moving to Bermuda

    14 Sep 2006

    Lloyd's of London specialist insurer Hiscox is moving its operations to Bermuda to benefit from lighter regulation and lower taxes. Chairman Robert Hiscox criticised the UK's heavy regulation.

  • Home and away

    14 Sep 2006

    Property UK investors are increasingly looking overseas for property investments and the emergence of UK Reits will give them the benefits of a tax-advantaged wrapper and global diversification, says Alliance & Leicester head of intermediary mortgages Mehrdad Yousefi

  • HSBC looks for rise in contributions

    14 Sep 2006

    HBSC backs personal accounts, auto-enrolment and mandatory employer contributions but it says a minimum contribution of 8 per cent of band earnings is insufficient and argues that minimum contributions should be increased over time. It says socially respon- sible funds should also be available.

  • HSBC to transition UK equity team to multimanager

    18 Sep 2006

    HSBC Investments has appointed its multimanager team to manage three existing actively managed UK equity funds currently managed by HSBC Halbis Partners.

  • Icob confusion over pension term sales

    14 Sep 2006

    Direct Life & Pensions sales and marketing director Richard Verdin says Icob advisers selling pension term assurance are creating confusion among consumers because they are not regulated to advise on the suitability of the product.Verdin says Icob advisers are not regulated to give advice on pensions and as PTA is classed as a pension product, they cannot advise on its suitability.He says he is concerned about whether consumers are aware that they may not have recourse to the ...

  • IFA won't sign transfers over phoenixing fears

    14 Sep 2006

    An IFA firm director is refusing to sign client transfer documents, fearing that he could fall foul of the FSA's phoenixing crackdown.AS Insurance Brokers director Alex Ioannou says he will not sign any more transfer requests for clients and agencies to be switched from AS General Insurance Brokers to ASIB, which are based at the same address.ASGIB has gone into liquidation after being served a final notice by the FSA in July for failing to comply with two awards to complainants ...

  • IFX opens way to foreign exchange

    14 Sep 2006

    Fund firm says foreign exchange is now widely viewed as an asset class

  • IMLA appoints CML chief in director role

    15 Sep 2006

    The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders’ Association has appointed CML deputy director general Peter Williams as its first-ever executive director.

  • Inherited failures

    14 Sep 2006

    How a review of a new client's pension drawdown case exposed fundamental mistakes in advice

  • Insinger stays on defensive

    14 Sep 2006

    Insinger de Beaufort says it will maintain the defensive stance of its multi-manager income fund despite some of its peers in the cautious managed sector having a higher exposure to equities and high-yield bonds.The firm says the Investment Management Association's cautious managed sector is contradictory in some ways as it allows up to 60 per cent exposure to equities, which is relatively high for a cautious investor.A cautious managed fund can also be exposed to structured ...

  • Investec shuns equity income

    14 Sep 2006

    Investec Asset Management managing director David Aird says the firm will not try to compete in the equity income sector and is focusing on expanding its cautious managed and global equities funds.Investec has 26 UK funds but none in the highly competitive equity income sector but Aird says the cautious managed fund run by Alastair Mundy has just passed the 1bn mark and has taken 25 per cent of all IFA inflows to the sector over the last 12 months to June.He says the fund has ...

  • Is it time for technology?

    14 Sep 2006

    Adviser Fund Index

  • Is there scope for limited advice?

    14 Sep 2006

    Paul McMillan gauges industry reaction to Aifa's proposal for a new regime of limited advice without compiling a full fact-find

  • Jagged edge challenge

    14 Sep 2006

    Briefing from the regulator poses the question of justifying costs for separating Mifid and non-Mifid business

  • JLT launches high net worth division

    15 Sep 2006

    Jardine Lloyd Thompson is setting up a new division to offer independentadvice to senior managers of companies it already advises and other high networth investors. Jardine Lloyd Thompson Private Clients will see the company seek to boostits traditional pensions, insurance and healthcare offerings. JLT Benefit Solutions managing director Duncan Howorth says: “Finances are aconstant worry for employees, particularly those with large high riskinvestments. ...

  • JPMorgan Asset Management - JPM Balanced Total Return Fund

    15 Sep 2006

    JPMorgan Asset ManagementJPM Balanced Total Return Fund

  • Kensington moves into second charge market

    19 Sep 2006

    Kensington Group is launching into the second charge loan market.

  • Kensington to offer free valuations on direct business

    18 Sep 2006

    Kensington Mortgages is offering free valuations on all products in its core range placed direct with the lender, and is working with its key packager partners to provide incentives on packaged products.

  • Lacomp Investment Management - Lacomp British Enterprise EIS Fund 7

    15 Sep 2006

    Lacomp Investment ManagementLacomp British Enterprise EIS Fund 7

  • Legal & General - Guaranteed Income and Capital Bond 2

    15 Sep 2006

    Legal & GeneralGuaranteed Income and Capital Bond 2

  • Liverpool Victoria goes direct for PTA business

    14 Sep 2006

    Liverpool Victoria is piloting a scheme to sell its pension term assurance products to existing customers via dir- ect mail.The mutual will offer PTA to 45,000 of its existing non-IFA customers in mailouts starting on September 23.Customers will be able to respond to the mailshots by phone and will be asked whether they want to buy a policy on an execution-only basis or with advice.If the pilot scheme proves successful, LivVic will ext- end the direct-mail service to its ...

  • Long and the short of it

    14 Sep 2006

    Uncertainty over interest rates is causing volatility in the market but future prospects look promising

  • M&G planning to merge UK funds to cut overlap

    14 Sep 2006

    M&G is planning to cut its UK equity fund range from six to four to remove overlap between portfolios.Subject to shareholder approval, it will merge the Tom Dobell-managed £399m British opportunities fund into the recovery fund, also run by Dobell, creating a £2.1bn giant.M&G is looking to merge the UK growth and UK strategic growth funds run by Simon Murphy into a single £630m UK growth portfolio.The UK select fund, run by Mike Felton, and its index tracker will not be ...

  • Make the message clear

    14 Sep 2006

    The news that Tony Blair is committed to leaving office next year will be viewed by many as a sign that a new beginning is on the way. A New, New Labour if you like.

  • Man Investments - MGS Access

    15 Sep 2006

    Man InvestmentsMGS Access

  • Manager shot himself in the foot

    14 Sep 2006

    I refer to the last paragraph of Simon Hudson's recent article entitled, Business by appointment. It reminded me of a meeting that a not particularly popular manager called about 20 years for all the inspectors (as we were called then) in order to boost sales. At the end of a fairly pointless presentation, he finished up with the same sort of message that Simon alludes to, namely "more appointments equate more business" but I now quote verbatim (even after all this time): "The ...

  • Marr set for return to industry

    14 Sep 2006

    Former Origen chief executive Gareth Marr is expecting to return to the industry next year in a consultancy role.Marr says he wants to help advisers devise more flexible and efficient ways to communicate with their clients.He says offering purely face-to-face advice is expensive and time-consuming and advisers should embrace alternative advice methods such as online advice and using MP3, voice-activated solutions and mobile phone technology.Marr also says segmen- ting clients ...

  • Meeting of minds

    14 Sep 2006

    Time is probably the most precious commodity in people's lives today. Who would not like a few more hours to themselves each week?

  • Misys gets an offer

    14 Sep 2006

    Misys says it has had an offer for the firm and due diligence is to be carried out.

  • MitonOptimal seeks more healthy returns than cash

    14 Sep 2006

    MitonOptimal's CF global portfolio has bought in to the Axa Framlington health fund as it aims to reduce its 33 per cent weighting in cash.Fund managers Sam Liddle and Martin Gray are still wary of market sentiment but they have started buying in areas that are likely to be less sensitive to an economic slowdown.This is in contrast to earlier in the year when MitonOptimal was investing for short-term gains in sectors such as commodities and Russian markets.The Axa Framlington ...

  • Mortgage chasers to escape regulation

    14 Sep 2006

    Claim-chasers in the mortgage market could be exempt from regulation once the Compensation Act comes into force.The Department for Constitutional Affairs' head of claim regulation Mark Boleat admits that a loophole may exist for firms whose claims are not based on the sale of a product.At present, legislation will only apply to those who help consumers claim over a mis-sell. But some claim companies, such as Loancheck are working on claims over the calculation of fees and interest ...

  • Mortgage Express - Self Cert Two Year Discount

    15 Sep 2006

    Mortgage ExpressSelf-Cert Two Year Discount

  • Mortgage Express - Self Cert Two Year Fixed Rate

    15 Sep 2006

    Mortgage ExpressSelf Cert Two Year Fixed Rate

  • Mortgage Express - Self Cert Two Year Fixed Rate

    15 Sep 2006

    Mortgage ExpressSelf Cert Two Year Fixed Rate

  • Mortgage Express -Self-Cert Two Year Discount

    15 Sep 2006

    Mortgage ExpressSelf-Cert Two Year Discount

  • Mortgage Next - Accord Near Prime Status Two-Year Fixed

    15 Sep 2006

    Mortgage NextAccord Near Prime Status Two-Year Fixed

  • 'Most IFAs should stick to mortgages and GI'

    14 Sep 2006

    Prestbury chief says economics of being independent do not stack up for 70% of advisers

  • Move to set up Reits diploma for advisers

    14 Sep 2006

    The Reits and Quoted Prop- erty Group is seeking a partner to develop a Reit diploma for financial advisers.RQPG is approaching property companies and profess-ional development organisations, including the Chartered Insurance Institute and the Institute of Financial Planning, to help it devise a syllabus.Reits are set to be introduced into the UK market on January 1 and the group is keen to educate IFAs on the product and says the introduction of the diploma would give investors ...

  • Mystery shocker

    14 Sep 2006

    Advice: Compliance consultant Adam Samuel says the FSA's mystery-shopping results underline the fundamental importance of asking the full range of questions for a fact-find and carefully considering the answers to fit the pieces together to make an accurate assessment of understanding clients' attitudes to risk before giving investment advice

  • NAPF proposes super-trusts

    14 Sep 2006

    The NAPF says there is too little choice in the scheme proposed but says there is too much choice in the ABI multiple provider model. It proposes establishing super-trusts which would create big pension schemes pooled between employers providing more generous pensions than required in the new system.

  • Nationwide Building Society - 10 Year Fixed Rate With Fee

    15 Sep 2006

    Nationwide Building Society10 Year Fixed Rate With Fee

  • Nationwide to bring in intermediary brands

    14 Sep 2006

    Nationwide Building Society is likely to launch a multi-brand intermediary mortgage arm similar to HBOS and Royal Bank of Scotland after announcing its planned merger with Portman.The merger, which will be finalised in September 2007, will see the combined society, to be headed by Nationwide finance director Graham Beale, become the second-biggest mortgage lender in the UK and give it a platform to launch an assault on HBOS's market dominance.The Portman deal will see Nationwide ...

  • Network Data set for floatation

    19 Sep 2006

    Network Data is to float on the Alternative Investment Market from Thursday.The mortgage network's parent company Network Data Holdings will be valued at £11.24m with shares at 40p each. The company had planned to float in June but that date was subsequently put back.Network Data Holdings is the holding company of Network Data, Network Surveyors and the home information pack provider Hipstar.

  • Network wants to widen LTC exam

    14 Sep 2006

    Long-term-care specialist network Symponia says the FSA is guilty of a huge oversight by not making the remit of the CF8 qualification wide enough.Managing director Jeremy Davies says the qualification, which comes into force from next month, only takes account of immediate care plans but should be broadened to include issues such as inheritance tax planning, enduring powers of attorney and will planning. He says advisers looking to work in the LTC arena will be able to sidestep ...

  • New college brigade have lot to learn

    14 Sep 2006

    I have just returned from holiday and was interested to read the comments of Julian Stevens, Searching in vain for a true professional. I can relate to the proposition that Julian finds himself in. Having considered the position and approached the way he did, I may have also tried the opposite approach - find the IFA of tomorrow and breed my own successor(s). What a waste of time and energy. The members of the recently left college brigade that I have interviewed in the past ...

  • New STP solution from The Exchange and Focus

    19 Sep 2006

    The Exchange has launched a new straight-through processing proposition in conjunction with Focus Solutions' multi-channel advice point of sale solution.

  • Newcastle fixes at 5.49% for 20 years

    14 Sep 2006

    Newcastle Building Society is offering a 20-year mortgage fixed at 5.49 per cent.

  • 'Non-conform woes will worsen'

    14 Sep 2006

    The downturn in the non-conforming mortgage market is likely to worsen this year, according to ratings agency Standard & Poor's.The chief concerns lie in the increasing number of sub-prime borrowers in arrears, along with rising interest rates and weakening macro-economic conditions which are contributing to huge losses. S&P says this is resulting in more lenders dipping into their reserves to balance their books.The Council of Mortgage Lenders said last month says it expects ...

  • Norwich & Peterborough Building Society - Spanish Five Year Fixed Rate Mortgage

    15 Sep 2006

    Norwich & Peterborough Building SocietySpanish Five Year Fixed Rate Mortgage

  • NU keeps it simple with life cover deal

    14 Sep 2006

    Norwich Union has set up a simplified life insurance product which it says will offer most customers cover without the need for manual underwriting.

  • NU pulls out of LTC

    14 Sep 2006

    Advisers say there will still be a strong market in the long term

  • NU to slash 4,000 jobs by 2007

    14 Sep 2006

    Norwich Union will announce 4,000 job losses across its UK operations by the end of 2007.

  • Octopus Investments - Octopus Protected VCT

    15 Sep 2006

    Octopus InvestmentsOctopus Protected VCT

  • Oil is well?

    14 Sep 2006

    A strange development occurred in the oil market last week. With prices easing as fears of further disruption in the Gulf of Mexico receded and with a potentially major new find in that region, the price of Texas crude was actually lower than at the same time last year. This was the first time this had happened for more than two and a half years.

  • One in four pensioners plan to take their debt to the grave, says Sesame

    15 Sep 2006

    One in four pensioners is racking up debt with no intention of paying it off, according to Sesame.

  • Out of context

    14 Sep 2006

    "Didn't you know that regulation is the new rock and roll?"-Aifa's Chris Cummins gettnig a little overexcited over the upcoming raft of FSA announcements.

  • Paternoster lands 70 buyout deals

    14 Sep 2006

    Defined-benefit consolidator Paternoster says it has 70 scheme buyout deals in the pipeline, amounting to over £10bn in liabilities.Chief executive Mark Wood says the start-up firm, which signed its first deal last month, will reveal its contract deals in the next six weeks after the changes have been communicated to scheme members.Wood says the company has had a "highly lucrative" August and is in advanced negotiations with 70 employers with pension liabilities totalling ...

  • Personal services

    14 Sep 2006

    Standard Life marketing technical manager Andrew Tully examines if there is a role for IFAs to play in the proposed pension personal accounts

  • Pima says Personal Accounts should link to Isas

    13 Sep 2006

    Pima has called for Personal Accounts to be linked to Isas to create a more joined up approach to savings.In its response to the Government’s White Paper, Pima says a percentage of monies taken into Personal Accounts should be allowed to be filtered into Isas.Pima says the move would put consumer demand and consumer’s real life needs at the heart of pension reform by harnessing the popularity of Isas.It says the ‘artificial’ distinction between medium and long-term savings ...

  • Pinball player

    14 Sep 2006

    Fundsnetwork's David Dalton-Brown has revealed a secret past as a film star.The platform's head told partygoers at Fidelity's recent Somerset House bash of his appearance as a young lad in the film Tommy after his potential was spotted in the street by director Ken Russell.Ever modest Dalton-Brown has kept pretty quiet about his role in the 1975 film version of the rock opera but the Diary thinks he should be proud to be a part of rock history.

  • Pioneer to use Exweb as e-commerce partner for IP

    13 Sep 2006

    The Exchange has confirmed that Pioneer Friendly Society will be using the Exweb portal service as its first online e-commerce partner.

  • Portman deal will make Nationwide second-biggest lender

    14 Sep 2006

    Nationwide Building Society will become the second-biggest mortgage lender in the UK once its merger with Portman is finalised next year.It will leapfrog Abbey and Lloyds TSB in the pack behind runaway leader HBOS at the top of the mortgage lending league.The merger between Nationwide and Portman is expected to be completed in September 2007, creating a giant with combined assets of 150bn. It will use the Nationwide name, with the Portman brand disappearing. The combined group ...

  • PPI problem could be tip of iceberg

    14 Sep 2006

    Having heard continuous reassurances from mortgage industry trade bodies that payment protection insurance is not a problem for mortgage intermediaries, I found it ironic that the first penalty handed out by the FSA in relation to this misselling scandal should be to exactly such a firm. Furthermore, who is to say that Regency Mortgage Corporation's 56,000 fine will not be the first of many? In the sub-prime market, where Regency primarily operates, those wanting to be perceived ...

  • PPI says reforms lack foundation

    14 Sep 2006

    The Pensions Policy Institute says the reforms do not provide the certainty of a solid state pension foundation to help with the introduction of auto-enrolment into personal accounts. It warns that personal accounts may damage existing pension saving but it backs plans to raise the state pension age.

  • Product matters

    14 Sep 2006

    There has long been talk regarding an income protection/PA & sickness plan hybrid. Now, finally, one has been launched by British Insurance under the name Safetyfirst.In truth, the plan is an amalgam because the initial 52 weeks' payments are under- written by Hitachi Capital Insurance Europe, with the Original Holloway Friendly Society underwriting after this period.The plan follows a simple design. After 30 days, continuous inability to work, the income is backdated to ...

  • Prudential - Flexible Retirement Plan Sipp

    15 Sep 2006

    PrudentialFlexible Retirement Plan Sipp

  • Put your trusts in order

    14 Sep 2006

    The timing of setting up trusts can now have an effect on liability to inheritance tax

  • Questions are answer

    14 Sep 2006

    Internet sellers should adopt new methods to stop misleading consumers

  • Rebrand follows fund manager merger

    15 Sep 2006

    Stock broker and fund manager Christows is to rebrand as Williams de Broe from the start of next month as part of the integration of the two businesses. Christows parent company the Evolution Group bought Williams de Broe in Junethis year. Christows director of sales and marketing Robin O’Grady says: “We believe the combined organisation will best benefit from the heritage and brand awareness of the Williams de Broe name, a business founded in 1869. The organisation ...

  • Reits of passage

    14 Sep 2006

    Campaign chairman Patrick Sumner is spreading the word on Reits and is confident IFAs will take up the products

  • Rensburg Fund Management - UK Managers Focus Trust

    15 Sep 2006

    Rensburg Fund ManagementUK Managers Focus Trust

  • Re-registration at heart of wrap fears

    14 Sep 2006

    How can the big wrap players get advisers to wrap around the clock? Well, there are a few things that might get advisers and their clients dancing.

  • Retirement Plus unveils new offering

    13 Sep 2006

    Retirement Plus has launched into the fledgling impaired life property market.

  • Revenue rules on tax-free transfers

    14 Sep 2006

    HM Revenue and Customs has ruled out the possibility of transferring tax-free cash from a pension scheme into an unsecured pension with a different provider.The industry had requested clarification on whether unvested pension funds can be transferred from one scheme to a new scheme offered by another provider, with the intention of going into an unsecured pension with the new scheme.The lump sum would be paid to the member under the original scheme by the original provider before ...

  • 'Rewrite wrap rules with a single KFD'

    14 Sep 2006

    FundsNetwork and Standard Life are calling for a rewrite of the FSA rulebook so advisers using platforms only have to offer clients a single key features document.They say definitions of packaged products are muddled and many are not relevant in a technology-driven environment.FundsNetwork marketing director Rob Fisher says the regulator should scrap individual KFDs for products sold through a wrap to cut the admin burden and simplify the process for clients by introducing a ...

  • Riley email barrage hits IFAs

    14 Sep 2006

    Scottish Life has apologised after bombarding over 100 IFA firms with thousands of copies of an email, leaving several advisers' email systems crippled.CBK principal Peter Chadborn says he got over 2,000 emails containing information on Scottish Life's new investment bond Riley which clogged up the firm's system.The Colchester branch of CBK had to shut down its email system for several hours and Chadborn says he is considering claiming compensation from ScotLife for the time ...

  • Royal London - Riley

    15 Sep 2006

    Royal LondonRiley

  • Save our Asps

    14 Sep 2006

    We need to fight off the threats to alternatively secured pensions

  • Schroders Investment Management - Global Energy Fund

    15 Sep 2006

    Schroders Investment ManagementGlobal Energy Fund

  • Scot Wids launches offset mortgage

    18 Sep 2006

    Scottish Widows Bank has launched a two year fixed rate offset mortgage product enabling customers to offset against a fixed rate until October 31 2008.

  • Scot Wids terminates Asda partnership

    15 Sep 2006

    Scottish Widows is terminating its agreement with Asda to sell life insurance through the supermarket chain.

  • Scottish Widows Investment Partnership - Swip Islamic Global Equity Fund

    15 Sep 2006

    Scottish Widows Investment PartnershipSwip Islamic Global Equity Fund

  • 'Securitising lenders stifling innovation'

    14 Sep 2006

    Accord Mortgages managing director Linda Will says the increasing number of lenders securitising business is stifling innovation in the market.She says that more lenders are designing products to suit a future portfolio sale rather than for the benefit of the consumer and the market.Her comments come after US giant Wachovia revealed last month that it is looking at moving into UK lending.Alliance & Leicester's push into the non-conforming market is based on selling loans ...

  • Security charges

    14 Sep 2006

    Our panel discuss the cost of protection on the new Riley bond, plus should IFAs be concerned over wrap data?

  • Self-cert inquiry set for Q4

    14 Sep 2006

    The FSA says it will conduct a full-scale investigation into the self-certification market as mortgages dominate its thematic work in the coming months.The inquiry will begin in the fourth quarter and will involve desk-based reviews and supervisory visits of intermediaries. Results are expected to be released in the first quarter of 2007.The investigation follows a 2005 probe which found that affordability and suitability checks were inadequate but brokers dismiss suggestions ...

  • Sesame firms want chartered status

    14 Sep 2006

    Two-thirds of Sesame members say IFAs need to attain chartered financial planner status if they are to be seen as professionals on a par with accountants and solicitors.In the latest Sesame member survey, 66 per cent of the 300 respondents agreed that the industry needs to move towards chartered status to improve its professionalism.Sesame says the reason the public does not rate financial advice as highly as other professions could partly be down to a lack of understanding ...

  • 'Sesame slow on bond claims'

    14 Sep 2006

    Sesame is taking over five months to deal with investment bond complaints, according to claim management firm Brunel Franklin.Brunel Franklin claims director Ian Allison says out of the "seriously overdue" cases on the firm's BondCompensation. com service, over 60 per cent are Sesame cases and the average number of days outstanding for these cases is 161 days.FSA guidelines suggest it should take up to 56 days for a decision followed by payout within a "reasonable" time.Allison ...

  • Shop aholics

    14 Sep 2006

    Money Marketing saw PR firm Lansons at perhaps its quietest as it was taken on a grand tour of its very colourful offices.We were informed it was because they were all told "to be on best behaviour". MM was shown the firm's stunning meeting rooms, The Mezzanine ("Where all the thinking gets done", although the sofas seem to lend themselves more to recovering from hangovers and sleeping off long client lunches if you ask us, The Basement, "where the naughty ones get relegated to" ...

  • Sipp exemption for student residences

    14 Sep 2006

    Investors in student halls of residence can put their property in a Sipp but HM Revenue and Customs has laid down strict criteria to avoid exploitation.Following the Chancellor's last-minute decision to ban residential property in Sipps, the Finance Act 2006 included an exemption for "a hall of residence for students".The exemption caused some confusion in the market, with advisers and investors unclear about what constitutes a hall of residence and what constitutes a block ...

  • Skandia boosts Old Mutual profits

    15 Sep 2006

    Old Mutual released the first set of results since its acquisition of Skandia which saw sales of life and pension products more than double to £732m on an annual premium equivalent basis.

  • Skandia MultiFunds - Protected Portfolio Investment

    15 Sep 2006

    Skandia MultiFundsProtected Portfolio Investment

  • Skipton Building Society - Flexible 10 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage

    15 Sep 2006

    Skipton Building SocietyFlexible 10 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage

  • Standard Life slams ABI's ban plan

    14 Sep 2006

    Standard Life has launched a scathing attack on ABI proposals to protect existing pensions through contribution caps and limits on transfers for personal accounts.In its response to the Pensions White Paper last week, the Association of British Insurers agreed with the Pension Commission's proposals for an annual contribution cap of £3,000 a year and an initial ban on transferring in or out of personal accounts.But Standard Life head of pensions policy John Lawson says: "Measures ...

  • Standard sets art challenge for advisers

    14 Sep 2006

    Standard Life is offering advisers the chance to commission their own piece of art from a budding young artist.The firm is sponsoring BraveArt 06, a showcase for Scottish student artists to be held at the Atlantis Gallery, Brick Lane, London, on September 21-24.The winning entrant, chosen at random, will be given 1,500 to commission an artist of their choice from BraveArt 06 to produce a piece of art for them. Works on display will include paintings, sculptures, photography and ...

  • Strong returns in the pipeline

    14 Sep 2006

    Matt Goodburn canvasses fund managers for their short-term sector picks

  • Sumus takes over FSAS

    14 Sep 2006

    Falcon parent company Sumus has bought the network Financial Services Advice and Support Limited for a fee of up to £2m.FSAS is based in Dunfermline and has over 160 IFAs and mortgage advisers operating within 54 active appointed representative businesses.The network has 60,000 clients, with around £700m assets under advice and an estimated turnover of around £10m for the year ending October 2006.The deal means the Sumus group now has over 300 IFAs and mortgage brokers, ...

  • Survey reveals widespread misconceptions over IHT

    14 Sep 2006

    is aware that IHT is charged at 40 per cent and just 27 per cent of people have a will.Friends Provident head of wealth management Christine Foyster says: "This is no longer a tax on the rich. Ordinary people are being caught unawares by the IHT trap, mainly because property price gains have so completely outstripped any increases in the inheritance tax threshold."No doubt, the argument over keeping, abolishing or reforming IHT will rage on but I hope that it does not distract ...

  • Swip will run 150m Isle of Man portfolio

    14 Sep 2006

    Scottish Widows Investment Partnership has won a 150m mandate from the Isle of Man government to manage a portfolio of assets for its National Insurance investment account.Swip will aim to outperform the Bank of England base rate by 2.5 per cent a year over rolling three-year periods.The portfolio will be managed on an absolute return basis. Head of global strategy Ken Adams, who will be overseeing the portfolio, will be working with Swip's equity, bond and cash teams to seek ...

  • The big freeze

    14 Sep 2006

    Loan trusts have classic estate freezing qualities and can benefit IHT planners by avoiding an exit charge in the first 10 years

  • The conversion of Paul

    14 Sep 2006

    Informed Choice managing director Nick Bamford describes how a client comes to see the light on the benefits of consolidating his various pension plans into one Sipp

  • The MM Profile: Philip Milton

    14 Sep 2006

    Religion and business go hand in hand for this motorcycling Devon-based adviser, who believes that some unscrupulous advisers are blinded by the lure of commission and are giving the financial market in general a bad name. Interview by Paul McMillan

  • The Mortgage Business - Flexi 85 Three Year Tracker Mortgage

    15 Sep 2006

    The Mortgage BusinessFlexi 85 Three Year Tracker Mortgage

  • The Mortgage Works - 3 Year Fixed Rate Buy-To-Let

    15 Sep 2006

    The Mortgage Works 3 Year Fixed Rate Buy-To-Let

  • The true cost of tailored protection

    14 Sep 2006

    It was good to read the positive coverage of the launch of Riley, Royal London's new investment bond (Money Marketing, August 31). Justin Modray's review reflected some uncertainty in relation to the cost of protection, with the suggestion that Riley might be expensive. It may be useful to IFAs if I explain that, for each investor, an individual cost of protection is calculated by Goldman Sachs, which provides the insurance. The cost varies on a daily basis, depending on the protected ...

  • This week in Life and Protection

    19 Sep 2006

    It was all about Norwich Union last week after the parent group Aviva announced it was cutting 4,000 jobs which came hot on the heels of the news that NU was withdrawing from the long-term care market.

  • This week in Mortgages

    14 Sep 2006

    There's only one place to start this week and that is the shock merger of Nationwide and Portman.

  • This week in Regulation

    18 Sep 2006

    Aifa's call for the introduction of limited or focused advice on specific product areas has been welcomed by many in the industry as long as important caveats are established.

  • This week in Regulation

    13 Sep 2006

    With the Pensions White Paper consultation finally drawing to a close this week it has been very difficult to get many pensions stalwarts to talk about anything else.

  • Top of the platforms

    14 Sep 2006

    What regulatory requirements do advisers need to consider when choosing the most suitable fund platform for clients? Legal & General managing director

  • Transfer standard is the platform priority

    14 Sep 2006

    The newly launched Platform Committee says developing a standard for re-registra- tion between platforms is its top priority.The committee was set up last week by Cofunds, Funds Network, Skandia, Selestia and Standard Life and will have input from the Investment Management Association.At a Money Marketing wrap round table last week, Funds Network executive director David Dalton-Brown said he backs platform-to-platform re-registration but common standards are needed to ensure ...

  • Treasury sets date for home reversion regulation

    13 Sep 2006

    The Government has today published the secondary legislation to bring home reversions and Islamic mortgages into regulation.

  • Turkish shares look a delight

    14 Sep 2006

    A star European fund manager who is little known to most IFAs but not to institutions, is James Hordern, now with Dalton Strategic Partnership.

  • Way adds estate transfer plan to range

    14 Sep 2006

    The Way Group is adding an estate transfer plan to its range of inheritance tax planning vehicles underwritten by Isle of Man Assurance.Way says the estate transfer plan, which is only available through an insurance policy, will offer the benefits of a discounted plan but with increased flexibility for the donor over the extent and longevity of the discount.Its current range includes a flexible gift plan, a discounted gift plan and gift and loan plan, all of which are available ...

  • Wheel of fortune

    14 Sep 2006

    Three intrepid cyclists from Invesco Perpetual should now be about mid way through the seven-day Octopus Super Challenge Cycle-a-thon which started from Esparon in Southern France last Sunday.All being well, income and high-income fund guru Neil Woodford and colleagues Nick Hamilton and Stephen Anness aim to complete the gruelling 1,165km ride back to London next Sunday.They hope to raise over £70,000 for various charities including the Shooting Star children’s hospice with £63,000 ...

  • Why IMA opted not to split

    14 Sep 2006

    Following a review of the UK All Companies sector, the Investment Management Association has decided not to split the sector.

  • Widows proposes initial fee to slash NPSS cost

    14 Sep 2006

    Scottish Widows says introducing an initial charge on pension personal accounts could cut set-up costs by up to 75 per cent.In its response to the Government's Pensions White Paper, Widows also says the proposed 0.3 per cent annual management charge needs to be at least doubled to avoid the danger of future cost increases or ongoing taxpayer subsidies.However, it admits the Government is unlikely to accept the Association of British Insurers' proposal for no charge capWidows ...

  • Woolwich - Fee Free Lifetime Tracker

    15 Sep 2006

    WoolwichFee Free Lifetime Tracker

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