Money Marketing
15 January 2003

  • 'Equity income is set for continued success'

    16 Jan 2003

    New Star income fund manager Toby Thompson has hit back at claims that equity income funds are in a bubble, claiming the sector is likely to be successful for many years. Speaking at the Hargreaves Lansdown conference in Bath last week, higher-income manager Thompson dismissed suggestions that equity income funds would go the same way as the technology/media/telecom sector, which collapsed in March 2000. He said prices of dividend-yielding companies have simply risen from "ridiculously ...

  • 'Final-salary plans will become Jurassic perk'

    16 Jan 2003

    The Inland Revenue's proposals for a single pension tax regime effectively rubberstamps the death of final-salary schemes, according advisers and product providers. They argue that the Revenue's proposals map out a clear future for defined-contribution schemes with final-salary schemes existing as a subset within a money-purchase framework. The industry has generally welcomed the Revenue's proposals as progress towards true simplification but some are warning that a consequence ...

  • 'FSA must limit pace of change'

    16 Jan 2003

    ABI head of life insurance Francis McGee is calling on the FSA to limit the pace of regulatory change to ease the financial pressure on life companies. The ABI says the stream of consultation papers changing the way that companies do their business is expensive and disruptive at a point when companies can ill-afford a dilution of their resources. McGee says the menu option for IFA remuneration will cost £47m up front and then £41m a year and the single money-purchase ...

  • £250m paid in FSAVC compensation

    15 Jan 2003

    Nearly 85,000 policyholders have received £250m in misselling compensation as the FSAVC review is wound down by the FSA. The review was set up in 2000 and 100,000 policyholders have had their cases investigated, with 85 per cent receiving some form of compensation. Around 10 per cent of all FSAVC sales have been looked at as part of the review, which is due to be completed as scheduled.  

  • A consumer's view

    16 Jan 2003

    The pension crisis needs a totally new approach if people are to be persuaded to save for retirement. The proposals in the Green Paper are all unattractive to the man in the street, even if the investment outlook were more cheery. Compulsion has the enormous drawback, so far as the authorities are concerned, that it leaves the Government holding the baby if things go wrong. None of the Green Paper proposals has much appeal to the public. Who wants to carry on in a dreary civil service ...

  • A new age in planning

    16 Jan 2003

    First, can I stress that the issues I will outline in this article will, over the coming months and years, prove to be among the most important developments in financial planning and all advisers must devote a great deal of time and thought to ensuring the implications are brought to the attention of their clients. In short, I believe this is one of the most important articles I have ever written. I mentioned towards the end of my last article that European legislation requires the ...

  • Aberdeen to sell seven unit trusts to New Star

    16 Jan 2003

    Aberdeen Asset Management is expected to sell seven of its unit trusts to New Star Investment Funds this week in a bid to reduce mounting debt. The deal, which was still being negotiated at the time of going to press, is likely to see New Star pay at least £60m for the funds, which have a total of more than £2bn under management and include Aberdeen's biggest fixed-interest funds. Aberdeen, which is waiting to see what, if any, punishment it will receive from the ...

  • Action stations

    16 Jan 2003

    On the economic front it looks like being a difficult year, according to most commentators. We certainly seem set for a tough time. Does this mean, for financial advisers and product providers, that it is not worth trying because nobody will have the confidence to transact financial services business? Certainly not. Encouraging your clients to take action will undoubtedly be harder but, while investment conditions may be tough, it does not mean that the basic need to provide for one's ...

  • Aegon reviews ScotEq brand

    16 Jan 2003

    The 172-year-old Scottish Equitable brand is understood to be under review as its Dutch multinational owner Aegon aims to underline its financial strength and global image. The review could see ScotEq become the latest casualty in the growing trend to drop the life industry's link to its Scottish heritage which was once seen as a major selling point. It follows Royal London's decision to put the Scottish Life brand under review and Scottish Mutual and Scottish Provident becoming ...

  • Bear bloodbath sees NU axing terminal bonuses

    16 Jan 2003

    Norwich Union is to slash payouts by up to 20 per cent and wipe out terminal bonuses on some with-profits contracts as it grapples with the bear market. The annual bonus is cut on bonds from 3.75 per cent to 3.25 per cent, on stakeholder from 4.25 per cent to 3.5 per cent and on other pensions from 4.74 to 4 per cent. NU says it has paid out about £1.5bn in bonuses to its 3.3 million policyholders in the last year. The payout on a 25-year £50 a month endowment policy ...

  • Britannia International - Split Deposit Bond

    15 Jan 2003

    Wednesday, 15 January 2003Type: Combined guaranteed equity bond and high interest accountGUARANTEED EQUITY BONDAim: Growth linked to the FTSE 100 indexMinimum-maximum investment: Existing customers £2,500, new customers £5,000-£500,000Term: Five years six monthsGuarantee: Capital returned in full regardless of performance of indexReturn: Up to 75% growth at end of termClosing date: March 13, 2003HIGH ...

  • Buy-to-let boost from Mortgage Intelligence

    16 Jan 2003

    Broker club Mortgage Intelligence is creating a commercial lending panel and a development finance scheme for members with clients who want to develop their buy-tolet business. It plans to unveil the initiative by the end of the month and it is aiming at investors looking to expand their property portfolio but facing difficulties getting sufficient funds from traditional residential lenders such as BM Solutions or Paragon. The aim is also to create a new revenue stream for brokers ...

  • Buy-to-let yields starting to slide

    16 Jan 2003

    Returns on buy-to-let properties fell slightly in the last quarter of 2002, says the Association of Residential Letting Agents. Its second quarterly analysis of buy-to-let lending by Arla members, Birmingham Midshires, GMAC-RFC, NatWest, Paragon and Standard Life Bank shows that the rate of return on the total cost of a buy-to-let investment fell to 9.52 per cent in the last quarter of 2002 from 9.62 per cent in the previous three months. The return on an initial cash investment ...

  • Canada Life call to reject Manulife bid

    15 Jan 2003

    Canada Life's board has unanimously urged its shareholders to reject the hostile bid from rivals Manulife. It says the offer, which could net the company's 60,000 shareholders £4,000 in the UK and Ireland, is opportunistic and does not reflect the true value of the company.

  • Charity gives advice on making a will

    16 Jan 2003

    Epilepsy Action has designed a booklet aimed at helping sufferers of the condition draw up a will. The 16-page booklet includes a brief introduction to inheritance tax and an explanation of some relevant legal terms. It also highlights the importance of legacies in funding the charity's work. It includes a foreword by actor Kevin Whately, known for his role as Sergeant Lewis in Inspector Morse. Copies of Your Legacy are available free through Epilepsy Action's freefone ...

  • Client ownership fears over aggregation portal

    16 Jan 2003

    An industry project for online aggregation standards must guarantee IFAs' ownership of their clients or face rejection, providers are being warned. IFAs welcome simplifying the standards but are meeting providers in Edinburgh next month to ensure that the blueprint for an aggregated portal service for group business does not restrict their ability to control client data. The e-commerce proposal, created by software house Simple 2 for Standard Life, Norwich Union, Scottish Equitable ...

  • Commercial broking deal for 'lonely' IFAs

    16 Jan 2003

    IFA support services company Turnbulls Group is offering a commercial bro-king service for small to medium-sized IFA firms. The Evolution Commercial Finance service aims to offer advisers help with debt financing, leasing, trade finance and private equity arrangements for their clients. Turnbulls, which was set up last September, is an umbrella organisation offering a range of financial services to IFAs. It is hoping to attract 300-400 franchisees across the UK and Europe. Other ...

  • Compulsion already exists for employees

    16 Jan 2003

    Am I the only person who thinks there is a compulsory pension regime already? There has been compulsion since graduated pensions, then Serps and now the state second pension. Leaving aside the basic state pension and people earning less than the lower earnings limit, if you are an employed person, you were contracted in to the old Serps and now the new S2P and you pay a higher rate of National Insurance levy to pay for it. The only way you are not contracted in is if your employer ...

  • Consensus builds to back the limited advice option

    16 Jan 2003

    A groundswell of support is building behind the limited advice option under FSA proposals for distributing Ron Sandler's suite of stakeholder products, with IFA trade bodies and consumer groups claiming it is the only way forward. Aifa, Sofa, the LIA, the Consumers' Association and the National Consumer Council all say they would support a reduction in the scope of advice as outlined in the FSA's discussion paper 19 published two weeks ago and warn that the other two options ...

  • Correspondent's week

    16 Jan 2003

    Monday - alarm goes off at 6.30am. I ignore it, snuggling into the duvet and congratulating myself on an extra day's holiday. Rudely awakened 20 minutes later by husband who suggests that as I am on holiday I can feed the poultry, walk the dogs and check the pony has enough hay. I grumble out into the cold to find the dogs want to stay in their kennels (smart animals), the pony has disappeared and the catch on the poultry shed is frozen. Cut my fingers on the catch as I struggle ...

  • Critical premiums climb at Swiss Life

    16 Jan 2003

    Swiss Life is increasing its critical-illness premiums by up to 20 per cent and is no longer offering guarantees on stand-alone policies. The move follows a general trend in the marketplace, which over the last few months has seen rivals such as Norwich Union raise rates by as much as 40 per cent. But Swiss Life says the decision, which will take effect from January 27, will still mean its average policy is cheaper than it would have been in 1998. Guarantees on accelerated ...

  • Directors shelter from the split-cap storm

    16 Jan 2003

    When Chris Fishwick finally buckled under intense pressure and resigned from Aberdeen Asset Management last year, there was widespread - but muted - applause. After a year in which 19 split-caps were either suspended or slid into receivership, the loss of the man often dubbed the architect of the sector as Aberdeen's head of investment trusts came as little surprise. But those who thought his resignation would trigger other departures have been sorely disappointed. Only brokers ...

  • DWP admits pension statistics are wrong

    15 Jan 2003

    DWP minister Andrew Smith has admitted official pension statistics should be treated with caution until the Office for National Statistics has reviewed its calculations. Tory DWP shadow David Willetts told Parliament the Government had overestimated the level of private pension provision by a third. Willetts said Britons are contributing £32bn a year into pensions rather than the ONS's figure of £46bn relied on in the DWP Green Paper.

  • DWS Investments - UK Equity Income Plus Fund

    21 Jan 2003

    Tuesday, 25 February 2003 Type: OeicAim: Income and growth by investing in UK equitiesMinimum investment: Lump sum £1,000, monthly £25Investment split: 100% in UK equitiesIsa link: YesPep transfers: YesCharges: Initial 4.25% Oeics, 3.25% Isas, 3% Pep transfers, annual 1.5%Special offer: Initial charge on Oeic investments reduced from 4.25% to 3.25%Offer period: Until April 30, 2003Commission: Initial ...

  • Equitable in court battle with auditors

    16 Jan 2003

    Accountant Ernst & Young has gone to the High Court in a bid to strike out Equitable Life's £2.6bn claim against it for negligence. Equitable is claiming that E&Y failed to provide proper accounts, leading it to over-declare bonuses and prejudice a sale to a third party that could have averted disaster. The court heard that the four companies interested in a sale pulled out when they saw Equitable's accounts. Mark Hapgood, QC, counsel for E&Y, says the auditors ...

  • Equitable to cut to the bone, warns Cazalet

    16 Jan 2003

    Leading life analyst Ned Cazalet is warning that Equitable Life could be forced into cutting benefits to its conventional annuitants, as the prospect of insolvency looms ever closer. He says the stricken life company's "wafer-thin" solvency margin means that even slight movements could push it over the edge, and says this could be caused by having to account for its subordinated debt, its own pension scheme liabilities, fewer policyholders or even small movements in its investment ...

  • Europe to get boost from US package

    16 Jan 2003

    The European market will continue to be volatile this year but there will be room for real improvement, according to Govett Investments. The firm says the EU economy will remain reliant on US developments and the recent package of tax breaks in the US will trickle down to have an impact on European markets. Govett European strategy fund manager Peter Kysel says the stockpicking environment will continue to be challenging but he expects to move from defensive to more economic-sensitive ...

  • F&C raises prospects with 4% value boost

    16 Jan 2003

    F&C is seeking to win business from disgruntled with-profits policyholders by raising the projected future share value of its with-prospects fund by 4 per cent of its net asset value. The "prospect" value of the fund, showing the minimum target for the fund price on its 10th anniversary - November 2011 - is being raised to £1.086 from £1.05, which F&C says is roughly equivalent to a 4 per cent reversionary bonus. Although that share value is not guaranteed, ...

  • FSA can see the wood for the trees

    16 Jan 2003

    In last week's Money Marketing editorial leader, the FSA was accused of being somewhat presumptuous in publishing its discussion paper on the options for regulating the sale of simplified investment products (DP19). Paraphrasing Ms Piggy, presumptuous - moi? This article sets the background to DP19 and answers the questions - Why now? Why the three options we have put forward? And what happens next? Of course, we have yet to hear from the Government about what the proposed ...

  • FSA has let down society's needy

    16 Jan 2003

    I want to tell you a story, in fact, three stories, about: •A lady who lives in London. She is 76 and has nobody to pay her life insurance premiums to. •A man who lives in Lincoln, is 84 and has been told that he cannot pay his premiums to his wife's savings plan. •Mike, who lives in Tring, Hertfordshire, who in 2002 received a letter telling him that his endowment, which matures in 2012, will have a £1,900 loss in maturity value. Last year, a letter ...

  • FSA in plea to public for alert on misleading ads

    16 Jan 2003

    The FSA is calling on the public to be vigilant over financial advertisements they feel are misleading and has published a guide on its website to help them identify misleading ads. It wants consumers to send in examples of ads they do not believe are genuine. Consumer director Anna Bradley says in the run-up to the Isa season her department will be especially keen to hear about ads for investment products such as unit trusts and Oeics to make sure they are meeting the FSA's ...

  • Gartmore hunts on a new brand range

    16 Jan 2003

    Gartmore is launching a new global brand identity and overhauling its product range with some funds being rebranded and others merged as part of an overall conversion from unit trusts to Oeics. From May, Gartmore will offer a simplified range of UK investment funds in response to feedback from investors and IFAs. It says some funds will be renamed to clarify their key investment aims while others with broadly similar investment objectives will be merged. The move is scheduled to ...

  • Goon but not forgotten

    16 Jan 2003

    Paul Lothian(Money Marketing, December 12, 2002) is spot-on - some consumers will claim they were misled regarding low-cost endowment risks recommended by the Consumers' Association rather than follow the original CA guidance to increase premiums. The FSA, far from encouraging honest intermediaries, supports cheating consumers. Its predecessors told me a decade ago that filling up endless reams of paper was more important than helping clients faced with repossession. The prototype ...

  • Grandfathering struck down

    16 Jan 2003

    The response to the Government's Green Paper from the media, many politicians and pension organisation has been generally negative although for different reasons. The criticisms fall into two main camps - those who wanted compulsion in some form, largely ill-defined, or not defined, and those who wanted something done to counteract the moves by employers to reduce their open-ended liabilities under defined-benefit schemes. In the case of the former, the Government has appointed ...

  • Green Paper fails to recognise public distrust of annuities

    16 Jan 2003

    Unfortunately, there is nothing in the Pensions Green Paper which is likely to make the slightest difference to the public's ingrained distrust of and lack of confidence in private pensions. Whether or not Joe Public still believes that the state will look after him if he makes no provision of his own is another matter. If he does, he is a fool. Given that one of the most ingrained terrors of civilised society is penury in old age, the thought that people are going to reach ...

  • Growth stocks to suffer for five years, says Mott

    16 Jan 2003

    Growth stocks have no chance of staging a comeback for another five years unless the economy slides into a major recession, according to the UK's leading income manager Bill Mott. Speaking at the Hargreaves Lansdown conference in Bath last week, Mott - Credit Suisse's top-performing income manager - said he did not see where there was enough shortage of capacity in the UK economy for growth to return. In the anaemic corporate earnings' environment in which the UK is mired, ...

  • Halifax rethinks house price index

    15 Jan 2003

    Halifax is rejigging its house price index which tracks housing market inflation admitting it overestimated the number of houses with garages leading it to slightly overstate house price inflation.

  • Have your say on Green Paper

    16 Jan 2003

    The Pensions Green Paper - week two Money Marketing and Taxbriefs are teaming up to invite readers to put their views on the Government's new Pensions Green Paper and the Inland Revenue's tax paper by answering the questions listed here on the right. Taxbriefs will then put your views to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Andrew Smith and the leader of the Revenue's pensions simplification review team Peter Hopkins at a Sofa-sponsored conference on February 6 ...

  • HSBC - Capital Protected Growth Bond

    20 Jan 2003

    Monday, 20 January 2003Type: Capital protected bondAim: Growth linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 indexMinimum-maximum investment: £3,000-no maximumTerm: Six yearsGuarantee: Capital returned in full regardless of the performance of the indexReturn: Up to 100% growth in the FTSE 100 indexClosing date: March 7, 2003 Commission: Initial 3%Tel: 0800 181890

  • HSBC goes for uncertainty factor

    16 Jan 2003

    HSBC Asset Management has established a guaranteed equity bond that could mature before its six-year term. The capital protected growth plan is linked to the FTSE 100 and provides a full capital return regardless of its performance. Investors could also receive 100 per cent of any growth in the FTSE 100 at the end of the six-year term, but this would depend on how it performs in the second and fourth years. If, during the second year of the term, the FTSE 100 index ...

  • IFA clients much more likely to buy Isas

    16 Jan 2003

    IFA clients are six times more likely to invest in an Isa over the next three months than investors who shun advice, according to research from Fidelity. In a survey of almost 2,000 investors conducted by Mori in November and December, 55 per cent of those with an IFA said they intended to buy an Isa before the end of the tax year compared with just 9 per cent of investors without an adviser. Of those who plan to buy an Isa through an IFA, the majority - 54 per cent - intend to ...

  • IFA offers protection guide

    16 Jan 2003

    The David Aaron Partnership has published a guide giving advice on life insurance and protection products. The publication is designed to raise awareness of term insurance, life policies, critical-illness cover, family and business protection and inheritance tax planning, the guide includes case studies to help clients assess the most suitable products for their needs. A recent survey showed that nearly 40 per cent of families in the UK have no form of life insurance in place. Chairman ...

  • Incentives needed for low-paid savings

    16 Jan 2003

    The majority of IFAs see more generous financial incentives as the best way to get the low-paid saving, says research from Axa. Increasing tax to pay for improved state pension provision was rejected by 68 per cent of IFAs, with 63 per cent saying the best way to address the pension funding crisis is to increase incentives for low earners. The survey showed 58 per cent of IFAs expect a surge in the importance of the workplace as the environment where individuals make retirement ...

  • Independent view

    16 Jan 2003

    As a mortgage endowment policyholder myself, I am puzzled by the media's obsession with this story as I consider it to be hyped up and flawed. Clearly, mortgage endowments were enthusiastically oversold to millions of borrowers who believed such policies were a relatively safe way of repaying a mortgage and potentially producing a surplus at the end of the term. Whether or not consumers were misled is another issue. What cannot be denied is that there was a definite bias in favour ...

  • Inside edge

    16 Jan 2003

    Imagine the scene at a suburban breakfast table in early February. The husband passes a mailpack across the table to his wife, who is engrossed in the crossword. "There's another Isa offer here, darling. We have only lost 30 per cent on last year's Isa and 55 per cent on the 2001 version. We really must hope for some growth out of that 2000 technology Isa, which is now down by 85 per cent." His wife replies: "Don't you think this would be a great time to buy another one?" This ...

  • Insight expands fund range

    15 Jan 2003

    Insight Investment has established the 24th fund in its stable, the UK dynamic fund.

  • Investment view

    16 Jan 2003

    We held our monthly asset allocation meeting last week - serious big picture stuff. Unfortunately, there is a big shadow hanging over this picture at present. The media refers to it as geo-political risk. It is the uncertainty generated by a possible war in Iraq, by the decision of North Korea to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Pact and by the ever-present threat of terrorist attack. In this, my committee enjoys a level playing field with everyone else in this game. None of ...

  • It's a hard life

    16 Jan 2003

    The year has opened with yet more bad news for beleaguered life offices. Underestimated annuitant mortality, depleted reserves, falling markets, regulatory change, extended price caps - the list goes on and on. IFAs are steeling themselves ahead of the annual bout of bonus declarations from the major offices, with little chance of anything but bad news. Axa, for instance, has already cut payouts five times on withprofits bonds within a year. Most life offices are simultaneously ...

  • Julian Gibbs

    16 Jan 2003

    A projected income of 7.25 per cent tax-free with some prospects of capital growth is highly attractive in today's markets. The new Close Brothers high-income properties fund aims to achieve this. Chip invests in a diversified portfolio of secondary properties, freeholds and long leaseholds with a wide spread of tenants. This should provide a more secure income prospect and lower risk than a City of London-weighted portfolio. Chip's initial property portfolio will comprise ...

  • Kemp has date with destiny in Abbey ad

    16 Jan 2003

    Former EastEnders star Martin Kemp is appearing in a TV ad campaign for Abbey National showing how people's fantasies can be brought to life. Kemp will be shown in various everyday situations asking ordinary people: "What is the best thing that could happen to you right now?" He will try to make their dreams come true but Abbey says that, as with any fantasy, things will not always go to plan. The ads, which start running this month, intend to show how Abbey can help people ...

  • Leeds & Holbeck - 5-Year Access Bond

    17 Jan 2003

    Friday, 17 January 2003Type: High interest accountMinimum-maximum investment: £1,000-£250,000Interest rate: 4% gross in years one, two and three, 5% gross in years four and fiveTerm: Five yearsWithdrawal penalties: No withdrawal permitted during the first yearTel: 0500 225777

  • Legg Mason mirrors US fund

    21 Jan 2003

    Legg Mason Investments has created the US equity fund, a unit trust that is managed by US-based fund manager Bill Miller.This unit trust is an onshore mirror of the offshore value fund, which is in turn a mirror of Miller's fund for US investors, the Legg Mason value trust. Miller has managed the Legg Mason value trust since it was introduced in 1982 and will be assisted on the US equity fund by Mary Chris Gay.The US equity fund aims for long-term capital growth by investing ...

  • Manulife's sterling pledge on Canada Life

    16 Jan 2003

    Canadian giant Manulife Fin-ancial has confirmed that it would pay Canada Life UK shareholders in sterling if its hostile bid for the company is successful and they elect to take cash rather than shares in Manulife. Manulife has written to all Canada Life's 200,000 shareholders, 60,000 of whom are in the UK and Ireland, with an offer that could net shareholders an average of £4,000. Canada Life, which demutualised in 1999, has said the offer materially undervalues the ...

  • MediQuote and Swiss Life in group link-up

    16 Jan 2003

    Online insurance portal Medi-Quote is teaming up with Swiss Life to offer a group protection comparative quotation system for IFAs. The portal will enable intermediaries to generate quotations for group life, group income protection and group critical illness. MediQuote says the portal will offer the products of at least three providers and it is in talks with Scottish Equitable, Unum and Canada Life to join Swiss Life on the panel. However, Bupa has ruled out joining the portal. The ...

  • Mortal combat

    16 Jan 2003

    Actuaries - what are they on, you may ask and where can I get some? No this is not an entry to the Turner prize, nor is it the cover of Now! That's What I Call Goa Trance Five. It is, in fact, the image guaranteed to strike terror in the faces of annuity providers across the land - the data from the Continuous Mortality Investigation Bureau that shows how we are all living longer. Apparently, the image shows the percentage improvement factors in graduated age-specific mortality ...

  • MPs press for equity-release regulation

    16 Jan 2003

    Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Labour MPs are calling on the Government to commit itself to FSA regulation of the entire equity-release market, including home reversionary plans, to protect consumers. At a Parliamentary debate in Westminster Hall in London on Tuesday, Tory Shadow Economic Secretary Stephen O'Brien, LibDem trade and industry spokesman Vincent Cable and Labour MP Lynne Jones united to urge Treasury Financial Secretary Ruth Kelly to deliver "appropriate and swift ...

  • MPs take a hard line on softly softly Opra

    16 Jan 2003

    The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are accusing Opra of dodging its stakeholder responsibilities by failing to prosecute the 14,000 firms which have yet to designate a scheme. The opposition parties are warning that the Government's endorsement of Opra's softly softly approach to stakeholder could spread employer apathy over the initiative. The deadline for employers designating stakeholder schemes passed in October 2001 but Opra is yet to exercise its power of fining ...

  • Multi choice

    16 Jan 2003

    What's in store for the funds of funds industry this year? I feel it is important to define my terms of reference, particularly in such a diverse sector. I am responsible for multi-manager investment at Henderson Global Investors, where I run a range of funds of fund portfolios alongside a more traditional multi-manager portfolio service. When I mention funds of funds, I speak specifically about unfettered multi-manager portfolios. Demand for multi-manager portfolios was not ...

  • Multi-managers forecast to take 30% of market

    16 Jan 2003

    Single-manager funds face losing market share as increasing numbers of IFAs switch clients into multi-manager funds, claims Bates Investment Services. Head of research James Dalby says investors are becoming disillusioned at the double whammy of poor fund performance and rapid manager turnover which has characterised the industry over the past three years. He believes that IFAs, who have borne the brunt of investors' frustration, will turn in greater numbers to multi-managers, ...

  • NDF Administration - Protected Income & Growth Plan 1

    21 Jan 2003

    Tuesday, 21 January 2003Type Guaranteed equity bondAim: Income or growth linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 indexMinimum-maximum investment: £10,000-£1m, Isa minimum £7,000Term: Five years two monthsGuarantee: Capital returned in full provided the index does not fall by more than 50%Return: 6% gross income a year, 0.46% gross income a month, up to 35% growth at end of termClosing date: February 28, 2003 Commission: ...

  • Neil Pegrum

    16 Jan 2003

    One of Neil Pegrum's main motivations for leaving fund manager M&G to join Insight Investments was that he wanted to join a player which was looking to grow. While most fund managers are battening down the hatches and looking to weather the storm of volatile stockmarkets, Pegrum says he was attracted by the prospect of an aggressive company which was unhappy with the status quo. So, after 16 years with M&G, he packed it in and moved to Insight, the HBOS subsidiary formed ...

  • Networking not working

    16 Jan 2003

    News that DBS's run-off deal excludes members who left the network during its protracted PI negotiations (Money Marketing, December 12, 2002) will not surprise IFAs who have tried to leave the UK's other networks. Rather than be positive and enhance the benefits that attach to membership, it seems some networks prefer to use scare tactics to discourage dissatisfied members from leaving. The threats employed are probably well known to most readers but the list has expanded and ...

  • New Star trio distribute income

    17 Jan 2003

    New Star Investment Funds has established the New Star distribution fund, which is designed to deliver high income and capital growth over the long term.

  • Newcastle Building Society - Guaranteed Property Bond (Issue 3)

    16 Jan 2003

    Thursday, 16 January 2003Type: Guaranteed equity bondAim: Growth linked to the performance to the Halifax house price indexMinimum-maximum investment: £1,000-£500,000Term: Five yearsGuarantee: Capital returned in full regardless of the performance of the indexReturn: 100% of the average growth at the end of the termClosing date: March 28, 2003Commission: NoneTel: 0845 6065522

  • Northern Rock Guernsey - Offshore Fifty Fifty Issue 13

    16 Jan 2003

    Thursday, 16 January 2003Type: Offshore guaranteed equity bond and high interest accountGUARANTEED EQUITY BONDAim: Growth linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 indexMinimum-maximum investment: £5,000-£2.5mTerm: Five yearsGuarantee: Original capital returned in full at end of termReturn: Up to 70% growth in the FTSE 100 index over termClosing date: January 22, 2003HIGH INTEREST ACCOUNTMinimum-maximum ...

  • Norwich Union - NU Property Isa

    15 Jan 2003

    Wednesday, 15 January 2003Type: Unit trust IsaAim: Income or growth by investing in Norwich Union Investment Company 1 which invests in the Norwich property trustMinimum investment: Lump sum £7,000Maximum investment: £7,000Catmarked: NoInvestment choice: Norwich property trustYield: 4% gross a yearCharge: Initial 5%, annual 1.25%Commission: Initial 3%Tel: 01904 688444

  • Open the window of opportunity

    16 Jan 2003

    For all those IFAs around the world who are playing to win tickets to attend the European Champions League final in Manchester in May and an invitation to attend the League Managers Association annual dinner in Nottingham on May 12, this is your monthly chance to refresh your team of funds and keep your match performance on track. In association with Money Marketing and International Money Marketing, Scottish Life International is promoting this investment strategy competition where ...

  • Opposition scrambled as Egg named cheapest lender

    16 Jan 2003

    Egg and HSBC offered the cheapest mortgage deals last year, according to financial products research company Defaqto. Its annual survey of mortgage costs show that Egg charged the least interest on a loan of £50,000 over one year, based on standard variable rates, with payments totalling £2,370. HSBC borrowers would have paid £2,375 on the same size of loan. In third place was Nationwide, whose customers paid £2,420. Intelligent Finance would have charged ...

  • Out of context

    16 Jan 2003

    •"You know how to make a woman feel good." -Sharon Prasad at Consolidated Communications to MM news editor. •"Tell him I am stalking him." - Schroders PR manager Susan Bell in phone pursuit of MM investment reporter. •"It was like Pele scoring from the halfway line - I don't think the Inland Revenue have forgiven us for that one." - Intelligent Pensions director Steve Patterson reflects on a huge tax-free lump sum extracted from a pre-1987 scheme. •"If ...

  • Outside edge

    16 Jan 2003

    When asked to comment on the Isa season, my first reaction was what Isa season? IMA figures for the first three months of last year showed net Isa sales were down by 36 per cent on the same period for the previous year and I expect figures for this year to be down further. It is difficult to attract investors into the marketplace when the FTSE 100 has registered a 24 per cent fall in 2002 and is over 40 per cent off its all-time high. The investing public now look more favourably at ...

  • Party to help kids

    16 Jan 2003

    The Nyumbani HIV charity is holding a charity evening on January 23 in aid of its orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya. The orphanage cares for babies of HIV mothers who are abandoned at birth. Those who are then found not to be infected are adopted or cared for by traditional social services agencies while children found to be HIV-positive are cared for at Nyumbani. The event, which is being supported by Insight and Rothschild Asset Management, takes place at Wicked, 4 Tooley Street, London ...

  • Popplewell leads Zifa roadshows

    16 Jan 2003

    IFA technical doyen Keith Popplewell and Zurich IFA Group are teaming up with a series of exclusive initiatives targeted at intermediaries. The initiatives include a series of seminars, a CD-Rom package and the launch of two websites - IFAsite and Probrief.com - both available free to IFAs through Zurich. IFAsite provides a template to help IFAs build their own website without many of the costs and technical knowledge associated with web design. Probrief.com, which is available ...

  • Principle buoys can act to prevent a pantomime of ethics

    16 Jan 2003

    One of the FSA's discussion papers released at the end of last year has to a large extent gone unreported. There has been only a brief comment here and there about discussion paper 18, An Ethical Framework for Financial Services. I think it is vitally important that the FSA should be asking questions about the industry's values. It is even more vital that the industry should be asking these questions of itself. Unfortunately, one of the results of an overdependency on regulation ...

  • Product matters

    16 Jan 2003

    The fund management arm of HBOS, Insight Investment, launched its UK dynamic fund this week. It is managed by top-performing fund manager Neil Pegrum, who joins the group from M&G where he worked for 16 years. His strong performance led to AA and five-star ratings from Standard and Poor's. Over three years, his M&G British opportunities fund produced a return of -2.44 per cent compared to its benchmark return, the FTSE All Share Index, of -24.82 per cent. The ...

  • Pulling a fast one?

    16 Jan 2003

    Your paper reports Standard Life's statement that the Green Paper will reduce the timeframe for selling a pension from seven to eight hours to three to four hours (Money Marketing, December 19, 2002). I don't believe it. I would like you to ask Standard Life to prove it in the paper. Life companies like to think they know what IFAs do but they don't. Doug Brodie Director (and former Money Marketing IFA of the Year), Master Adviser, London

  • Regulation forces out Canadian firm after Unum deal

    16 Jan 2003

    Sun Life Financial of Canada has finally withdrawn from the UK market after offloading its group risk business to Unum Provident, blaming the hostile regulatory environment. The deal is expected to be finalised on February 28. It leaves SLFOC's closed individual life and pension book as its only remaining UK presence. The firm says the high level of regulation is one of the main reasons for the decision to pull out of the market by closing its 1,700-strong direct salesforce, ...

  • Regulator planning to curb split-cap dealings

    16 Jan 2003

    The FSA has published proposals for new rules for investment companies which it says will restrict the activities of split-cap managers in the wake of the crisis gripping the sector. The changes were initially announced by the FSA's outgoing chairman Howard Davies in November with details published this week in consultation paper 164: investment companies - proposed changes to the listing rule and conduct of business rules. They have been broadly welcomed by the AITC but it ...

  • Royal blues

    16 Jan 2003

    May I suggest that Government plans to increase retirement ages past 65 is nothing new and is currently being put into practice by Royal & Sun Alliance. I am continually dealing with a client who has a small number of Royal & Sun Alliance pension plans which we have been trying to vest since September 9. Despite having conversations and correspondence with over 12 different members of the "retirement team", we still appear to be no close to obtaining his tax-free cash. Perhaps ...

  • Second time around for Britannia International

    20 Jan 2003

    Britannia International has unveiled the second issue of the split deposit bond, a combination of a high interest account and a guaranteed equity bond.

  • Seller's packs widely welcomed in survey

    16 Jan 2003

    Housebuyers are welcoming the proposed introduction of seller's packs to help tackle problems such as gazumping, according to a survey by Yorkshire Bank. Its quarterly housebuyers' survey of 2,500 adults carried out in December reveals that 85 per cent feel the introduction of seller's packs, planned for 2006, will go some way to ease the transaction process. Only 15 per cent of respondents opposed the introduction of the packs. One in four sellers said they would ...

  • Smith bids to blend e-business with sales at ScotLife

    16 Jan 2003

    Scottish Life is promoting Jim Smith to the newly created position of deputy sales director from his current role as head of promotion and e-business in the marketing division. The company says Smith's new role is designed to make e-commerce work in greater harmony with the face-to-face sales process rather than developing as a competitor. Smith, who has been with the company for three years, will report to sales director Jim Gilchrist. Chief executive Brian Duffin says: ...

  • Solus Multimanager Funds - Multimanager International Fund

    21 Jan 2003

    Tuesday, 21 January 2003Solus Multimanager International FundType: OeicAim: Growth by investing in international equitiesMinimum investment: Lump sum £500, monthly £40Investment split: US 54%, Europe excluding UK 26%, Japan 8%, Pacific excluding Japan 6%, emerging markets 5%, other 1%Isa link: YesPep transfers: YesCharges: Initial 3.5%, annual 1.25%Commission: Renewal 0.5%Tel: 0161 214 6868

  • Solus Multimanager Funds - Solus Multimanager Balanced Fund

    20 Jan 2003

    Monday, 20 January 2003Solus Multimanager Balanced FundType: OeicAim: Growth by investing in equities, fixed interest and cashMinimum investment: Lump sum £500, monthly £40Investment split: UK equities 50%, international equities 23%, fixed interest 22%, cash 5%Isa link: YesPep transfers: YesCharges: Initial 3.5%, annual 1.25%Commission: Renewal 0.5%Tel: 0161 214 6868

  • Solus Multimanager Funds - Solus Multimanager Growth Fund

    17 Jan 2003

    Friday, 17 January 2003Solus Multimanager Growth FundType: OeicAim: Growth by investing in equities, fixed interest and cashMinimum investment: Lump sum £500, monthly £40Investment split: UK equities 54%, international equities 27%, fixed interest 13%, cash 6%Isa link: YesPep transfers: YesCharges: Initial 3.5%, annual 1.25%Commission: Initial 3%, renewal 0.5%Tel: 0161 214 6868

  • Standard Bank surprises brokers with SVR increase

    16 Jan 2003

    Standard Life Bank has been criticised by brokers for raising its standard variable mortgage rate last week from 5 per cent to 5.1 per cent as they consider that base rates are likely to remain the same or fall. The bank blames the move on the wholesale money markets, claiming it was forced to make the increase as it is becoming more expensive to fund mortgages from capital markets and this increase for borrowers avoids slashing savings rates. The announcement surprised the industry ...

  • Take Aim at small firms

    16 Jan 2003

    The small company effect is the widely reported phenomenon which records that small company share prices perform well both absolutely and relatively in the first quarter of a calendar year. It has been noted for many years, particularly in relation to analysis of the Hoare Govett smaller companies index. Is it too rosy a view of the stockmarket to suggest that the small company effect will be alive and kicking this year? I don't think so. Needless to say, it has not been a feature ...

  • Talkback

    16 Jan 2003

    "Absolutely not. I am an IFA and I find them hard enough. The man in the street will not be capable of using them to the degree that he would need to be able to." Leon Pownsey,Independent Financial Solutions "No. They do not seem to have worked for stakeholder. People still need advice." Anthony Malone, Healey Financial Services "No, because the general public need to have financial products explained to them and, even if they do go through a decision tree, it only tells ...

  • The bonuses of contention

    16 Jan 2003

    There appears to be little for investors to cheer about this year, with stockmarkets widely predicted to remain flat and with-profits bonuses to be slashed yet again. With-profits investors must brace themselves for further cuts to their bonus rates over the coming weeks as we enter the traditional bonus declaration season. Unfortunately, this is no longer an annual experience, with most life offices making interim bonus cuts throughout the year. Axa Sun Life has led the way with ...

  • The One Account targeting advisers with flexible loan

    16 Jan 2003

    The One Account is offering its first mortgage exclusively for intermediaries this month to coincide with it dropping the Virgin brand now that it is wholly owned by Royal Bank of Scotland. The flexible product for intermediaries differs from the company's standard all-in-one offset product as borrowers will not have to link their salary to their mortgage. The One Account says this is in response to feedback from IFAs. It says brokers will get a competitive procuration fee, ...

  • Tight timetable for euro

    16 Jan 2003

    The UK faces a tighter timetable to enter the euro than countries in the first wave, leading to distribution difficulties for providers that fail to make preparations, warns Cap Gemini Ernst & Young. It says adoption of the euro would be the second-biggest compliance programme ever undertaken, after the pension review, and is estimated to cost more than twice as much as the Y2K conversion. The Government's national changeover plan gives a timetable of 24 to 30 months from ...

  • Triple trigger on HSBC protected plan

    16 Jan 2003

    HSBC Asset Management is launching the latest in a series of investment plans on January 20. It aims to emulate the success of its safe haven growth product launched last year. In addition to a full capital guarantee, the six-year capital protected growth plan is designed to trigger an early maturity at prescribed times if the FTSE 100 has increased by set amounts. If the index has grown by18 per cent by its second anniversary, investors will receive the entire growth plus ...

  • Vested interests

    16 Jan 2003

    I have a substantial fund held within various unvested personal pension arrangements with leading providers. As I have significant additional assets, I have not needed to use these funds but am now fast approaching my 75th birthday and understand that I will be forced to purchase an annuity. Can you please advise me on the options available. As you correctly suggest, UK pension legislation dictates that funds must be used to secure retirement income, in the form of an annuity, ...

  • Who wins in a war?

    16 Jan 2003

    The FTSE 100 lost around 25 per cent of its value last year, its worst-ever performance. Do you think the decline will continue or will the index recover some - if not all - of that loss? Owen: While there is scope for the index to recover, given its fall of over 40 per cent over the last three years, this will still be a difficult year. The American market is not out of the woods yet and we still have major issues, such as the possible Iraq war and an overheating property market. ...

  • Witan gets its pension

    17 Jan 2003

    WITAN INVESTMENT TRUSTWITAN SIMPLE CONTRIBUTION PENSIONType: Personal pension Minimum premium: Lump sum £3,600, monthly £234 Minimum-maximum ages: From birth-75 Fund links: Witan investment trust Charges: Purchases - dealing 0.2%, transaction £6, sales - dealing 0.2%, transaction £50Allocation rates: Premium minus £50 Minimum term: One day Commission: None Tel: 0800 0828180The ...

  • You haven't given trees a chance, says FSA's Severn

    16 Jan 2003

    Stakeholder pension decision trees cannot be written off as a failure just because most of the industry has chosen not to use them, according to the FSA. Writing in this week's issue of Money Marketing, FSA head of retail projects David Severn says that although, "on the whole", the industry has opted not to employ decision trees, they are still effective for the job for which they were designed. Severn has also denied that decision trees were ever meant to gauge suitability ...

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