Money Marketing
14 August 2002

10 vie for top woman IFA award

15 Aug 2002

The Women's IFA Group has drawn up a short list of 10 for its IFA Woman of the Year award after getting 61 entries. The 10 advisers will go through to the next round of judging. The majority of women on the short list own their own businesses, five brought their partners into the business and all 10 have the AFPC qualification. Five women will be selected from the short list for the final round in October when they will be interviewed by a panel of judges, including Which? head ...

Aaron bids to help parents

15 Aug 2002

IFA David Aaron Partnership is releasing a new guide aimed at helping parents and grandparents invest for their children's future. The guide explains the options and stresses the benefits of taking early action. It includes details on savings accounts, National Savings products, friendly society bonds, stakeholder and stockmarket-linked investments. The company claims that by beginning to invest as early as possible, there will be more time to benefit from investment returns, ...

Advisers' fears over firm's closure to UK life business

15 Aug 2002

IFAs have reacted with concern to the closure of R&SA's UK life business, warning that other life companies will follow. Advisers say the decision to stop writing with-profits last year meant the writing was on the wall and say the closure of a household name will dent consumer confidence. They also claim the company's move to IFA distribution after selling its direct salesforce failed to convince them of its commitment to the market. Dennehy Weller managing director ...

Aegon takes over Marr firm and looks for more pension businesses

15 Aug 2002

Aegon has swooped for another IFA, acquiring 100 per cent of London-based Advisory & Brokerage Services. A&B has 29 RIs and is looking to expand by buying smaller firms. It will continue to be run independently under chief executive Gareth Marr. The Dutch insurance giant dipped its toe into distribution in June by buying half of Wentworth Rose. Aegon UK group chief executive David Henderson says he is looking to acquire up to 10 IFA pension specialist businesses by ...

Applause as introducers are omitted from rules

15 Aug 2002

Lenders and IFAs have given a mixed response to the publication of the Treasury's final rules and regulations for the mortgage market following a consultation process which started in February. Most welcome the clarification on how advice is defined and who will fall under the FSA regime from 2004. But there are warnings that the details which the regulator is drawing up will require careful inspection. One of the key outcomes of the Treasury's mortgage regulation consultation ...

B&W offers seven-year Toisa

14 Aug 2002

Bristol & West has established a Tessa-only Isa (Toisa) that is linked to four stockmarket indices for a seven-year term.

Berkeley picks Burns man as new chief

15 Aug 2002

National IFA and network Berkeley Berry Birch has appointed Richard Howells as new chief executive of its Berkeley Independent Advisers network. Howells, 31, joins from rival network Burns Anderson where he was group development director. He replaces current chief executive Martin Banbury, who has held the post for the last eight years. Banbury is staying on the board of the network and moving within the group to a new role managing special projects. His first task in the new ...

Bristol & West builds up bond offerings

15 Aug 2002

Bristol & West is launching a range of guaranteed equity bonds which it says are suited to investors wanting to diversify large amounts of their portfolios into protected investments. It claims the bonds are the most comprehensive range ever put together, offering growth, income or tax-free savings with the guarantee of a 100 per cent return of the initial investment at the end of the term. The firm says the global equity bond is central to the range. The bond is linked to ...

Buy to let slips through FSA's net

15 Aug 2002

The Treasury has been criticised for excluding certain types of lending from the FSA's remit amid warnings that this will leave consumers without protection. The main area of concern for many brokers is buy-to-let mortgages as the Treasury is sticking to the view that these are commercial transactions. The decision comes despite the FSA voicing concerns about the volatility of this market. Broker club and sourcing platform Mortgage 2000 argues that buy to let should be regulated ...

Charcol urges shopping around with brokers to save on life cover

15 Aug 2002

Consumers could be wasting £106m a year on life insurance, claims Charcol. The IFA says individuals miss out on savings of about £900 each over the 25-year lifetime of the average policy because they go direct to providers instead of using a broker to shop around. Charcol has compared the costs quoted by the top lenders for 25-year term insurance cover for £100,000 for a male non-smoker aged 30 with its own best-value premiums. The monthly premium for an Abbey ...

CIS renews backing for Northern Ireland cup

15 Aug 2002

CIS is set to sponsor the Northern Ireland Football League Cup again this year after a successful first season which saw the introduction of a new regionalised format and raised the profile of the competition. The cup, which is the equivalent of the Worthington Cup in England and the CIS Insurance Cup in Scotland, is played between the 20 semi-professional premier and first division clubs in Northern Ireland. Sponsorship money is awarded to teams according to how far they continue ...

Correspondent's week

15 Aug 2002

It is my first day back at Mainland PR after two years at Financial Dynamics and six months travelling the world with my now fiancé. She passed the final test and has been rewarded with the obligatory diamond. I have been back in the UK for a little over three weeks. Two of those were spent at FD where I had a great two years, made some good friends and worked with some seriously talented people. I am grateful to the company for those two things alone. I hope I have the opportunity ...

Drained by drawdown

15 Aug 2002

It is now several years since we set up my self-invested personal pension with income drawdown. I thought I understood the risks at the time but I am now extremely concerned about how the latest stockmarket falls are affecting my funds and, probably more important, my future income. Are there any steps I should be taking? By electing to draw income from your personal pension instead of buying an annuity, you are immediately taking a step into the unknown. While you always retain ...

Exeter Fund Managers says Europe will provide growth

20 Aug 2002

Forthcoming changes to the European market should encourage companies to invest in their future growth, according to Exeter Fund Managers.

Fixed rate buy to let from Pink

16 Aug 2002

Pink Home Loans is offering a buy to let mortgage backed by Mortgage Express with a fixed rate of 5.85 per cent until September 2007.

Friendly Isa looks for recovery

15 Aug 2002

Homeowners Investment Fund Managers is adding an equity Isa to its savings and investment portfolio. Minimum investment is £30 a month or £500 lump sum. There is no initial charge and annual 1 per cent. The Isa invests in the Homeowners Investment growth fund which is a FTSE 100 tracker. Chief executive Andrew Haigh says: "It is easy to understand why low interest rates and volatile stockmarket performance discourages people from putting money away. It is worth remembering ...

Friends Provident International - International Investment Bond

16 Aug 2002

Friday, 16 August 2002Type: Unit-linked bondAim: Growth by investing in a choice of with profit fund (series 5), managed, UK index tracker, open managed portfolio, international stewardship, UK equity growth, stewardship ethical, global equity, North American growth, European growth, Far East growth, fixed interest, cash deposit, protected global growth, secure growth portfolio, balanced portfolio, managed portfolio and growth portfolioMinimum investment: Lump sum ...

Goldfish increases savings rates

16 Aug 2002

Internet and telephone based bank Goldfish has announced an across the board increase in the interest rates of its savings bonds.

Guaranteed Bond?

15 Aug 2002

In the murky underworld of financial services, it appears there may be a MI5 agent operating in our midst. Former civil servant, FSA press officer and now NAPF PR manager Andy Fleming has confessed to the Diary that in his early days working for the Government he was considered for a job with the secret service. After taking his civil service exams in the mid-1980s, he was approached by the Department of Defence for an interview at an unmarked office in Tottenham Court Road in ...

Healthsure - Futures

19 Aug 2002

Monday, 19 August 2002Type: Healthcare cash planMinimum premium: Level one - £7 a month, £84 a year, level two - £22 a month, £264 a yearMinimum-maximum ages: 16-65Maximum benefit: Level one - health screening £150, specialist consultations £150, x-rays/scans £100, eyesight test £25, level two - health screening £450, GP consultation fees £70, specialist consultations £450, x-rays/scans ...

Homeowners Investment Fund Managers - Homeowners Equity Isa

15 Aug 2002

Friday, August 16, 2002 Type: Oeic maxi Isa Aim: Growth by investing in the Homeowners investment growth fund Minimum investment: Lump sum £500, monthly £30 Maximum investment: Lump sum £7,000 Catmarked: Yes Investment choice: 100% in Homeowners investment growth fund Charges: Annual 1% Commission: None Tel: 0800 0286248

How to score a loan goal

15 Aug 2002

A client and her husband are moving home and plan to top up their present interest-only mortgage which is secured by two low-cost endowments. They had decided on repayment for the top-up. "Why?" I asked. Well, they have lost confidence in the low-cost endowment route, although they plan to continue with their present policies. I pointed out that an endowment is not the only option alongside an interest-only mortgage - what about an Isa? However, they are already contributing to ...

IFP prefers Sandler to CP121

15 Aug 2002

The Sandler review's approach to the remuneration of advisers is much more sensible than the plan in the FSA's CP121, says the Institute of Financial Planning. But it says while it likes Sandler's recognition of the need for highly qualified fee-charging advisers, it has concerns about the no product sale, no fee allowance. Chief executive Nick Cann says this would put too much pressure on advisers to sell products and the industry would be no closer towards cleaning up its ...

Improvements to Scot Mut's flexible income bond

14 Aug 2002

Scottish Mutual has improved the terms of its Flexible Investment Bond, a single premium unit-linked bond launched in January this year.

Inflated property prices worry prospective buyers

15 Aug 2002

Nearly a quarter of prospective homebuyers worry about overstretching themselves financially while worrying about paying an inflated price for a property is a concern for 22 per cent of homebuyers. A survey by Kensington Mortgages of 1,000 new homebuyers shows that 23 per cent are worried about overstretching themselves compared with the fear of losing their job which is a concern for 14 per cent. Fears over job security rose to 34 per cent among those with defaults on their credit ...

Instant transfer comparisons with online pension technology

15 Aug 2002

Legal & General and The Exchange are offering IFAs an online pension comparison system that performs immediate transfer calculations for money-purchase and final-salary pension schemes. Called E-TVAS in the L&G version and TVAS on The Exchange, the system allows IFAs to input details of a client's pension valuations and immediately calculate if it would be beneficial to switch to a different sort of pension. Where the system recommends a switch, clients will need to ...

Investment view

15 Aug 2002

I asked my dog the other day what he thought of the prospects for the stockmarket. "Rough," he replied. Or at least, it sounded like that. In the dog days of summer, with the market behaving like a dog, I am reminded that the erstwhile boss of Fleming, John Manser, used to feature his pooch in newsletters as a canine market oracle. Presumably, he was cocking a snook - or cocking something - at the traditional market pundit. These days I suspect the Manser pet would feel quite at home. Last ...

It's a crazy world where a working system is wrecked

15 Aug 2002

Who on earth takes notice of reports which seem to gain additional credence by trying to change more and more of systems that have worked for the last 15-plus years? We hear that people who have not previously invested do not do so because of complicated products and the fact that advisers are paid commission - absolute rubbish. If people take the trouble to find a good independent adviser, this gives them the confidence to invest and the sad fact is that very few people in the ...

Julian Gibbs

15 Aug 2002

Yesterday I bought some trousers at half-price. There were hundreds of people in the store, all looking for bargains. The problem is that investors do the opposite - they buy when the market is high and sell when it is low. Now is an excellent time to buy Dublin-based high-income or growth plans with a low downside risk. The Income Option Plan from GE Life is an excellent one. It offers 10 per cent a year fixed income or 33 per cent growth over three years and two months. The capital ...

Keydata bond knocks three times

16 Aug 2002

Keydata Investment Services has established a guaranteed equity bond that offers three options.

L&G Launchpad system boosts loans and protection

15 Aug 2002

Legal & General is merging its mortgage and protection broker technology to unveil its new Launchpad service, allowing mortgage sourcing, protection quotations and applications to be completed in one process. It says the point-of-sale technology platform can cut up to an hour off the time spent on individual applications and intermediaries can get a decision in principle in one minute rather than hours. Mortgage Brain and Trigold have been picked as the sourcing systems on ...

Lamensdorf calls off flotation amid volatile markets

15 Aug 2002

IFA Lamensdorf Group has called off its planned flotation on the alternative investment market, forcing it to renegotiate the group's acquisition of Essential Mortgages. The group was in the advanced stages of its flotation and had planned to list at the end of July until rollercoaster stockmarkets forced the company to postpone the deal until further notice. Lamensdorf had been on the expansion and acquisition trail before to the planned float, merging with Maddison Monetary ...

Laundry lockout for IFAs

15 Aug 2002

An industrywide standard aimed at complying with new money-laundering regulations will see at least five major life offices refuse new business from many IFAs from September 1. The IFA Certificate has been developed by Aifa and the ABI with the aim of helping to collect the information that providers must have on file. However, the certificate has brought turmoil as many IFAs are unaware of the measure while product providers say they will close their doors to non-compliant IFAs ...

Life offices fear capital pain tax

15 Aug 2002

When the Inland Revenue issues a consultation that proposes sweeping changes of the tax regime that could result in additional taxation on savings, ears prick up. But when people see the dense and abstract document the Government issued last week on corporation tax, there is a studied silence as they try to digest the document. The ABI has already met with the Government to protest about the impact that the proposals could have on the financial services industry. The savings industry ...

Making Hay while the idea shines

15 Aug 2002

Archimedes came up with his big idea while getting into the bath, Isaac Newton's brainwave struck him under an apple tree and the blueprint for Abbey National's Sipp administration service subsidiary James Hay was drawn up under a table. The Diary understands that back in 1995, James Hay managing director Jan Regnart worked out the company's new Sipp offering on the back of a matchbox under her dining-room table. Why was the teetotal Regnart under the table? Apparently ...

Martyn sells MMA stake for semi-retirement

15 Aug 2002

My Money Adviser co-founder and managing director Ann-Marie Martyn has quit the firm, selling her stake to majority shareholder Quay Software. Martyn is best known for her six years with IFA Promotion, with half that time as chief executive. She co-founded IFA software designer MMA two years ago with partners Mitchell Philpott and Roland Rawicz-Szczerbo. Martyn says she is semi-retiring from financial services after 20 years to spend more time with her family. However, she plans ...

Mini ha ha

15 Aug 2002

The leading internet site for personal finance journalists headlinemoney.co.uk recently ran a competition, sponsored by Scottish Widows, offering users of the site the chance to win a Mini. The draw was won by former Money Marketing reporter Nic Cicutti who now works for the Financial Times, news sure to be welcomed by IFAs everywhere. Cicutti is pictured (centre), taking delivery of his prize car, with headlinemoney.co.uk boss Roger Anderson (right) and Robert Greenshields of ...

Mortgages plc appoints two new sales managers

19 Aug 2002

Specialist lender Mortgages plc has appointed two senior sales people as part of the restructure of its sales and marketing team.Mark Harrison and Bryn Hancock take up the new positions of regional managers for the north and south of the UK respectively.Harrison joins from Bank of Ireland where he was corporate lending manager and Hancock joins from Australian broker, Mortgage Choice where he was national sales manager.

Newcastle Building Society - FTSE Lock In Toisa

19 Aug 2002

Monday, August 19, 2002 Type: Tessa only Isa Aim: Growth linked to the FTSE 100 index Minimum investment: Lump sum £3,000 Maximum investment: £9,000 Catmarked: No Charges: None Commission: Initial 2% Tel: 020 7710 6906

Northern Rock goes Dutch again

20 Aug 2002

Northern Rock has introduced the 11th issue of fifty:fifty, a guaranteed equity bond and high-interest account packaged within one product.

Only certainty is the uncertainty caused by FSA

15 Aug 2002

Lorna Bourke did not go far enough in her article on what is "probably the worst crisis the FSA will ever face11 (Money Marketing, August 1). It is a crisis which, however unwittingly, the FSA has been complicit in developing. It springs directly from the regulatory environment which seeks to impose certainty upon the uncertainties which the future brings. Such aspirations are doomed for reasons which economists have understood for many decades. A free market constantly waltzes ...

Outside edge: Mark Chilton

15 Aug 2002

In the past six weeks, the mortgage industry has witnessed the most remarkable about-turn by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. Initially, it recommended that interest rates should be increased to control the continuing growth of house prices, completely ignoring the impact such a move could have on arrears. Then, like Paul on the road to Damascus, it saw the light and warned its community that just such an increase would definitely occur next year after interest rates rise. It raised the ...

Picking up the Pickering pieces

15 Aug 2002

No one will be more disappointed with the Pickering review than the Government that commissioned it. Its hope was for a coherent package of reforms for pensions and savings that would address public concerns and offer a genuine simplification of the current system. This has not been delivered. Contrary to early indications, Pickering almost entirely avoided discussing the relationship between the state and private pensions systems. Instead, the report's attention focused on ...

R&SA in move to use orphan assets to fund GARs

15 Aug 2002

Royal & Sun Alliance is meeting the FSA to discuss using its orphan estate to mitigate its £1.1bn guaranteed annuity rate liabilities following its closure to new life, pension and unit-linked business last week. Chief actuary Mike Kipling says the firm is likely to hit the funds of with-profits policyholders in its ailing Sun Alliance & London fund, where most of the liabilities reside, by about 2-3 per cent of their asset share. The move has prompted IFAs to question ...

SG Hambros - Market Recovery Deposit

16 Aug 2002

Friday, 16 August, 2002Type: Guaranteed Equity bondAim: Growth linked to the performance of FTSE 100 and Dow Jones Eurostoxx 50 indicesMinimum investment: Lump sum £50,000Place of registration: LuxemburgInvestment split: FTSE 100 index 50%, Dow Jones Eurostoxx 50 index 50%Guarantee: Original capital returned in full at end of 18-month term, regardless of movement in indicesYield: Up to 29.99% growth at end of term or 3% growth ...

State intervention not aiding market A consumer's view

15 Aug 2002

The growth of regulation and state intervention in financial services since 1986 has gone too far without obvious benefit to consumers, practitioners and companies. You should therefore beware the further extensions of state involvement contained in both the Sandler and Pickering reports. Much of both reports advocate the continuation of "softly, softly" state intervention and regulation into complex areas which should be left alone for the market to determine allied with improved ...

Summit on fund sectors

14 Aug 2002

A group of leading fund managers including Credit Suisse, Fidelity, Invesco Perpetual, M&G, Merrill Lynch, Schroders and Threadneedle have called a meeting with the three major data providers to complain at the way their funds are classified.

Three new fund chiefs at Insight

15 Aug 2002

More fund manager moves hit the industry last week, with Deutsche Asset Management and Gartmore both suffering losses as Insight Investment landed three new recruits. Deutsche UK blue-chip manager Nigel Ridge has left by mutual agreement. He will be replaced by equities manager Michael Crawford. Elan Pereg, Gartmore's corporate bond, high-yield corporate bond and capital strategy sterling bond funds manager, is returning to Israel after five years at the firm. He will be rep-laced ...

Treasury 'passes buck' on CP121

15 Aug 2002

Mortgage brokers and lenders are calling for clarification on how CP121 will affect the industry after the Treasury said the FSA will be asked to consider the impact of the polarisation consultation. While broker club and sourcing platform Mortgage 2000 is accusing the Treasury of passing the buck, lender Future Mortgages supports the move, which it claims gives the industry the chance to decide its fate. The Treasury says responses to it consultation revealed worries over a fall ...

UCB Home Loans research shows increase in self-cert lending

20 Aug 2002

Watson Wyatt wins Geest contract

16 Aug 2002

Watson Wyatt has won the contract to supply pensions, actuarial and investment services to fresh food supplier Geest PLC.Geest, based in Peterborough, has operations in Europe and South Africa. It chose Watson Wyatt after a review carried out by its pensions advisers.Watson Wyatt managing consultant Graham Mitchell says he is delighted to have added another household name to its client list.

Wheel of fortune still turns for the fund fare

15 Aug 2002

Last week's revelation that almost two-thirds of fund managers have been managing their funds for less than three years has highlighted the plight of investors and IFAs. At a time when IFAs are under increasing pressure to find funds capable of generating positive returns, the gathering pace of fund manager moves is proving to be a huge obstacle in their battle to buck the downward trend of the stockmarket. Although some of these moves have proved to be a mistake - several managers ...

Who will follow R&SA?

15 Aug 2002

Who's next? That is the question on everyone's lips following Royal & Sun Alliance's closure to new business. Offices without high-profile backers with deep pockets - even the biggest - are sure to attract scrutiny from IFAs in coming months. In R&SA's defence, it is not in the same shameful camp as the old regime at Equitable Life. Decades ago, R&SA's Sun Alliance and London fund made mistakes over guaranteed annuities. Like companies such as NPI and ...