Money Marketing
16 November 2005

  • A sense of release

    17 Nov 2005

    It is up to providers and journalists to tell the public how lifetime loans work

  • Abbey launches new deals for first time buyers

    21 Nov 2005

    Abbey is introducing two new deals for first time buyers, boosting the maximum LTV available to 97 per cent.

  • Access all areas

    17 Nov 2005

    Making a firm's website accessible to disabled people should not be difficult and will ensure it complies with the Disability Discrimination Act, says Helen Monks

  • A-Day will see split into haves and have nots

    17 Nov 2005

    Companies will not have to adopt new tax-free rules

  • Adler joins Allfunds as UK operations manager

    18 Nov 2005

    Allfunds Bank has appointed Richard Adler as its UK operations manager.

  • Advisers turning more to web-based training

    17 Nov 2005

    Commercial pressures and new technology have forced a sea change in the way that advisers are choosing to receive training and development support, according to Sesame head of proposition delivery Andrew Oliver.Analysis by Sesame among advisers has highlighted a shift in preferences for how people receive training and while face- to-face workshops continue to be the preferred option, the use of web-based learning has increased fourfold over the last six months.Oliver says the ...

  • AITC in plea for open-ended tax equality

    17 Nov 2005

    The Association of Investment Trusts is lobbying the Treasury to offer investment trusts the same tax breaks on bond investments that it does for open-ended funds to enable them to compete on an equal basis.Investment trusts pay 30 per cent tax on bond income compared with 20 per cent for open-ended funds. If a unit trust or Oeic has more than 60 per cent of its assets in fixed interest and can claim bond fund status, the interest is tax-deductible so the fund pays little or no ...

  • AITC welcomes treasury announcement

    17 Nov 2005

    The AITC has welcomed the Treasurys view that regulation of investment trusts should remain in its current form following its consultation on the issue.

  • Allchurches puts its Oeic range on Transact

    16 Nov 2005

    Allchurches Investment is putting its range of five Oeic subfunds onto Transacts platform in a bid to increase its customer reach.

  • Allfunds poaches Adler from Selestia

    17 Nov 2005

    Allfunds Bank has hired Selestias head of relationship services Richard Adler as its UK operations manager.

  • Alphabetical disorder

    17 Nov 2005

    The alphabet soup of adviser qualifications is confusing consumers and some bodies are simply launching more and more to line their own pockets, says IFA Promotion chief David Elms.

  • Alternative thinking

    17 Nov 2005

    Plans for world domination are abandoned when recruitment barriers loom

  • Angry advisers get caught in RMAR traffic

    17 Nov 2005

    The FSA's website is buckling under the volume of IFAs filing their retail mediation activity returns at the last minute.Despite the regulator upgra-ding the system last month, IFAs have complained to Money Marketing that the FSA's online RMAR application system crashed last Thursday afternoon, the day before the Friday deadline.The continuing failure of the system to cope with high volumes of traffic means that IFAs filing their returns at the last minute risk missing their ...

  • Application of the law

    17 Nov 2005

    Contract law A review of the legal position regarding non-disclosure aims to strengthen protection for consumers in cases where genuine mistakes occur with policy applications, says Scottish Widows protection market director Nick Kirwan

  • Axa bringing Sipp admin in house as it revamps plan

    17 Nov 2005

    Axa is the latest insurer to bring Sipp administration in house ahead of relaunching its offering next June.The French-owned insurer currently outsources Sipp admin to Capita Sipp Services. Capita will continue to administer the existing Sipp book while Axa takes over responsibility for new business.The move follows recent decisions by Norwich Union and Standard Life to drop Sipp administrator James Hay in favour of an in-house approach.Axa says it plans to enable investors ...

  • Barred from earning living from Sipps

    17 Nov 2005

    Sipps are not all they are cracked up to be and IFAs and Sipp providers may not be aware of the pitfall that the Government has arranged for those who reach 75 and be in a position to warn their clients. I had to find out for myself by questioning the Revenue and making them spell out their regulations. I have a Sipp based on a commercial property, namely a high-street shop and office building in the Midlands, which produces an income of 10,000 a year net of the mortgage and management ...

  • Bernie Hickman

    17 Nov 2005

    Legal & General's 30-year-old protection director has a passion to change things for the better and, in his politely aggressive manner, tells Andrea Tryphonides how he hopes to close the protection gap by educating advisers and using targeted marketing to spread specific sales messages to consumers.

  • Best of health

    17 Nov 2005

    Eaton Vance is one of the biggest independent investment management businesses in the US. It has more than $110bn under management but is hardly known in the UK. But it has recently made a number of its funds available here.

  • Brokers urged to pick up on packs

    17 Nov 2005

    Brokers should start making plans for the arrival of home information packs and should not see them as a threat to their business,says United Group.United, owner of eConveyancer and United Surveyors is encouraging mortgage brokers to embrace Hips prior to full launch in 2007.Sales director Alan Dring believes that brokers must ensure they have the ability to capitalise on the commercial opportunities that the packs will generate which may include creating relationships with ...

  • Burns-Anderson selects The Exchange

    16 Nov 2005

    Burns-Anderson has chosen The Exchange to manage its new multi-tie proposition.The multi-tie will be available to Burns-Anderson's ARs as well as directly authorised IFAs.Burns-Anderson chief executive Mike Hughes says: The Exchange team clearly understood that we wanted an original multi-tie proposition to appeal to existing network members and attract a new calibre of adviser.The Exchange managing director David Child says: These arrangements once again demonstrate the value ...

  • C&G announces closure of Warwick office with 300 jobs to go to India

    16 Nov 2005

    Cheltenham & Gloucester announced today that it is to close its mortgage application centre near Warwick with 300 jobs to be transferred to India.

  • Capita confirms Quay acquisition

    21 Nov 2005

    Capita has announced the acquisition of IFA software supplier Quay for an undisclosed fee.

  • Cazalet says Equitable should unitise fund

    17 Nov 2005

    Unitisation of the with-profits fund should be the next step for Equitable Life once it has offloaded its annuity book to Prudential, says independent consultant Ned Cazalet.Pru, which still has 770m of its 1bn war chest from its rights issue, is believed to be close to making an offer for Equitable's 7bn annuity book, which is split between 5bn conventional and 2bn with-profits annuities.Cazalet Consulting proprietor Cazalet says that selling the annuity book could free some ...

  • Chadborn offering franchise scheme

    17 Nov 2005

    IFA firm Chadborn Baker & Kearle is changing to a franchise-style business model.It is devolving ownership of the company's three branches to local managers who will run the businesses under the Chadborn Baker & Kearle brand.CBK (Colchester), CBK (Nottingham) and CBK (Swansea) will operate autonomously within the wider CBK group.Principal Peter Chadborn is looking to extend the franchise to one-person bands that feel over-burdened with regulation. He believes the franchise ...

  • CII helps members meet TCF challenge

    17 Nov 2005

    New guidance offered as research shows half of advisers have not built TCF into their businesses

  • CII opens first office in Middle East

    21 Nov 2005

    The Chartered Insurance Institue is opening its first Middle Eastern office with a branch set to open in Dubai in early 2006.The office will be in the Dubai International Financial Centre and is set to help the local authorities drive forward standards in its own insurance industry. The CII is currently recruiting a head of regional business development to run the office. There are currently 930 CII members in the Middle East of which 200 have gained associate status.

  • CII set to bring in modular diploma from 2006

    17 Nov 2005

    The Chartered Insurance Institute is introducing a new diploma in financial planning in 2006 as part of its phased replacement of the AFPC with a new modular system.The changes, eight years after the last review of the AFPC, will reflect changes in the regulatory and distribution landscape.Seven new units will be added including personal tax, trusts, the tax and legal aspects of business, pension funding and income options, investment principles, markets and environments and ...

  • CII won't give compensation after exam papers are lost

    17 Nov 2005

    The Chartered Insurance Institute is refusing to compensate advisers whose exam papers were lost last month although it acknowledges that some may lose earnings as a result.Around 300 papers went missing from a Birmingham test centre on October 17 and failed to turn up by the CII's November 11 deadline.The CII promises to refund advisers and allow them to resit the exams on November 30. Advisers who cannot make that date will have to wait until January or April.The tests ...

  • Clarkson Hill adds ScotEq to panel

    17 Nov 2005

    IFA Clarkson Hill has appoin- ted Scottish Equitable Protect to its preferred protection panel in a deal which includes critical-illness insurance, income protection and term insurance.ScotEq will be one of five product providers on the protection panel along with Axa, Friends Provident, Legal & General and Scottish Pro- vident.The IFA believes it is one of the fastest growing in the country. It now has 230 RIs spread throughout the UK with its headquarters in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.Scotti

  • Clerical aids IFAs with guide for employers and trustees

    17 Nov 2005

    Clerical Medical has published advice to help IFAs prepare for the anticipated rush towards contract-based group per-sonal pension and stakehol-der schemes after A-Day.Ninety-five per cent of intermediaries highlighted new trustee responsibilities as the main driver for change among smaller occupational trust- based schemes, according to Clerical research.The firm says employers and trustees of occupational pension schemes should consider with their adviser whether the scheme ...

  • Clerical Medical holds A-day teleconferences

    18 Nov 2005

    Clerical Medical has been holding teleconferences with IFAs to enable them to prepare for A-day without leaving the office.

  • Cofunds ahead of target with 5.4bn under management

    17 Nov 2005

    Platform invests 150m in development and says it will not cut make cutbacks to bring forward profitability

  • Commercial break

    17 Nov 2005

    IFS head of faculty financial regulation Mark Roberts says brokers should take a look at the commercial property market and be willing to gain the qualifications to reap the rewards

  • Commission down by 500m, says LifeQuote

    17 Nov 2005

    LifeQuote has revealed a massive 500m drop in commission in the protection market which it believes is largely caused by mortgage regulation.It says advisers are shying away from protection, anxious at the growing UK compensation culture and added pressures from the mortgage and general insurance regimes.Lifequote says with sales continuing to look static for the rest of the year, the reduction in commission paid this year compared with 2003 looks set to hit 517,131,840.The ...

  • Compensation crunch

    17 Nov 2005

    IFAs should brace themselves for another big hit on their pockets from the compensation scheme. This is not what any adviser wants to hear or what Money Marketing wants to be relating to its readers at this time.

  • Correspondent's week

    17 Nov 2005

    This week, by freelance personal finance journalist Emma Lunn

  • Courses in fee-only financial planning

    17 Nov 2005

    Independence Financial Planners directors Alistair Bennett and Rob Noble-Warren are aiming to run courses in fee-only financial planning.

  • Credit Suisse's Francis hits back at doubters

    17 Nov 2005

    Credit Suisse income man- ager Errol Francis has hit back at doubts over his staying power.Francis took over the alpha income, income and monthly income funds at the end of October, following former manager Leigh Harrison's surprise move to Threadneedle.His appointment met with scepticism from a number of analysts, including Hargreaves Lansdown head of research Mark Dampier, who questioned Francis at a meeting last week on whether he will still be running the money in a year's ...

  • Dalby leaving Bates for major role at NU

    17 Nov 2005

    High-profile investment commentator James Dalby is leaving Bates to join Norwich Union in a new role as head of collective investments.Dalby joined Bates' valuation department in 1999, ultimately becoming head of investment strategy. He has become a frequent media commentator on investment issues.He will move to NU's head office for life, pensions and collective investments in York in the second quarter of 2006.Dalby will probably continue as a press spokesman at NU as well ...

  • Don't count IFAs out

    17 Nov 2005

    IFAs have faced threats in many forms but don't underestimate their resilience

  • DWP plans to boost pension credit take-up

    17 Nov 2005

    The Department of Work and Pensions is running a new initiative designed to help promote retirement plann- ing and boost take-up of pension credit.The study uses financial data of people over 60 already held by Revenue & Customs and uses data-matching to support pension credit take-up campaigns and increase understanding of people who work beyond state pension age as part of the DWP research into retirement planning. It will also be used to support evaluations of effectiveness of ...

  • DWP researches automatic annual increases to workplace pensions

    16 Nov 2005

    The DWP has commissioned a new study to examine if employees enrolled in a workplace pension can be encouraged to save more by agreeing to have contributions automatically increased annually.It will evaluate a small number of case studies with employers who offer and contribute to pensions in their workplace, the first will involve Legal & General.Minister for pensions reform Stephen Timms says: While methods of joining pension schemes, such as automatic enrolment, can be successful ...

  • F&C appoints new head of investments

    17 Nov 2005

    F&C Asset Management has appointed Fernando Ribiero as its head of investments with immediate effect in a new role replacing chief investment officer, held by Tony Broccardo, who is leaving the firm.

  • Fears over global property fund launches

    17 Nov 2005

    A wave of global property fund launches is causing concern over the UK commercial property market for investment IFAs.Hargreaves Lansdown head of research Mark Dampier says global property fund launches by Fidelity and First State are evidence that the UK market is overvalued as firms cast their nets fur- ther afield.Schroders also plans to launch a global property fund in the new year.Dampier points to the dramatic downturn of residen- tial property funds Target RP and ...

  • Figure it out

    17 Nov 2005

    A client from an Australian bank asked me how the regulated UK mortgage and general insurance markets are bedding in. I shared with him the numbers of directly regulated mortgage firms.

  • Foster Denovo finalises board

    17 Nov 2005

    New Tenet IFA Foster Denovo has finalised the manage-ment board that will work with executive chairman Keith Carby. Former Millfield national sales director managing partner Roger Brosch will manage the business on a day-to-day basis while sales manage-ment will be led by Nic Browne and Ray Mills. Director of partnership services Leigh Johnstone will lead support services to advisers.

  • Friends Provident adds 12 best of breed funds to its bond range

    16 Nov 2005

    Friends Provident has added 12 best of breed funds from six investment managers to its investment portfolio bond and its discounted gift bond.The managers are Cazenove, Gartmore, Invesco Perpetual, M&G, New Star and Threadneedle. Cazenove, Gartmore and M&G are new to the Friends Provident investment bond fund range.

  • FSA approves Genesis and Guaranteed merger

    16 Nov 2005

    Genesis Home Loans and Guaranteed Home Loans have received approval from the FSA for their merger, announced in August this year.Initially, both companies will continue to trade under separate brands with compliance functions based at Genesiss Peterborough office.

  • FSA considers enforcement action over web VCT marketing

    22 Nov 2005

    The FSA has raised concerns over the web-based financial promotions of 11 intermediaries marketing VCTs and is considering enforcement action against the worst offenders.

  • FSA fines UBS 100,000 for system reporting failures

    18 Nov 2005

    The FSA has fined UBS 100,000 for failures in its systems for reporting transactions in financial instruments from May 1999 to October 2005.

  • FSA wants to widen stakeholder range

    17 Nov 2005

    Regulator in discussions about private companies giving generic advice

  • Fund group four to hit the road in January

    21 Nov 2005

    Four of the UKs leading fund houses have joined forces for a nationwide series of IFA roadshows to be held across the country in January.The shows will feature managers from Gartmore, M&G, Newton and Schroders.Managers presenting include Gartmores head of UK equity income Chris Burvill, M&G head of equity investment David Jane and M&G UK equity fund managers Mike Felton and Tom Dobell. James Harries, manager of the soon to be launched Newton global higher income fund will discuss ...

  • Gmac launches exclusive range for packagers

    22 Nov 2005

    Gmac-RFC is launching a new range of non-conforming products exclusively for packagers and remote processors.

  • Hips to be mandatory from June 1, 2007

    18 Nov 2005

    The compulsion date for home information packs has been confirmed as June 1, 2007 by the Government yesterday.

  • Huge FSCS fee rise is looming as endowment claims rocket

    17 Nov 2005

    IFAs face a massive increase in Financial Services Compensation Scheme fees due to a predicted threefold increase in endowment complaints.In January, the FSCS forecast 7,000 endowment claims for 2005/06 but now says it exp- ects to receive 22,000 new claims in the period.It is warning IFAs that the surge means another major increase in fees in 2006/07.The FSCS received 10,000 new endowment claims in the first six months of the financial year 2005/6 and expects to be handling ...

  • IFA Chartwell House bought in 2m deal

    17 Nov 2005

    Syndicate Asset Management has bought Cambridge IFA Chartwell House Group for up to 2.06m.It is SAM's second IFA acquisition after it bought Ashcourt Holdings in September.It is paying 1.15m immediately in cash plus a consideration depending on the performance of Chartwell.The balance of the consideration will be paid annually from November 2006 until 2012, calculated as 15 per cent of annual turnover, and is capped at 900,000. For the financial year ended March 31, 2005, ...

  • IFA Consortium will face the 'flinch test'

    17 Nov 2005

    Intermediary collective IFA Consortium will hold its official launch on November 29.Chairmen and chief executives of each of the four distribution groups - Pi Financial, Falcon Group, Financial Synergies and Financial Services Adv-ice & Support - will present business plans to product providers.The consortium expects around 50 attendees, including providers' national account directors, to hear its intentions on how the four companies will work together while maintaining a competitive ...

  • IFA fined 60k over pension unlocking

    17 Nov 2005

    FSA rules that TV ads and promotions failed to describe risk adequately

  • IFA hosts Valentines dance for new childrens' charity

    22 Nov 2005

    Atkinson Bolton Consulting is holding a Grand Valentines Dinner Dance on 11th Februuary 2006 at Newmarket Racecourse to celebrate its launch of a new childrens' charity ABC Charitable Trust.

  • IFP retreats in row over chartered status

    17 Nov 2005

    The Institute of Financial Planning has backed down from a legal showdown with the Privy Council over the CII's launch of chartered status.Last month, the IFP accused the CII of trying to undermine its own certified financial planner accreditation with the launch of a chartered financial planner qualification.The IFP says the Privy Council - which oversees chartered status in professions - unfairly excluded it from the consultation process by failing to inform it that an application ...

  • IIL offering advisers specialist training

    17 Nov 2005

    The Insurance Institute of London has unveiled its November lecture programme which aims to give intermediaries specialist training in key areas of the industry.The first training session, called, Accommodating Complex Clients For Life - We Insure The Risks No One Else Wants To, is on November 16 and will be led by Special Risks Bureau executive chairman Garry Heath.The session will focus on the rise of computerised underwriting systems and their effect on the non-standard client. ...

  • IMA backs EU on asset management

    17 Nov 2005

    The IMA is backing the European Commission's Green Paper on the asset management industry. The IMA says simplifying the notification procedure for funds, enabling fund mergers, fund pooling and providing passports for asset management firms, are now the highest priorities.

  • IMS backs Fidelity's special sits

    17 Nov 2005

    Manager says fund split is innovative way of dealing with Bolton's departure

  • Investec extends commission terms on three funds

    21 Nov 2005

    Investec is extending its 4 per cent initial commission offer on its cautious managed fund, managed distribution fund and global free enterprise fund until December 31, 2006.The fund house says this will give IFAs the choice of taking higher commission or to give up the commission in part or whole to give clients better entry costs.Alastair Mundy manages the cautious managed fund and managed distribution fund. The global free enterprise fund is managed by Mark Breedon.

  • Investec fund managers to get profit-share scheme

    17 Nov 2005

    Investec Asset Management is believed to be planning a direct profit-share arrangement to offer incentives to and retain senior staff and fund managers.The arrangement is expected to be announced by the end of the year and will be a direct profit-share in the asset management business, ringfenced from the profits of South African owner Investec Bank.Contrarian investment guru Alistair Mundy is among the high-profile managers who would benefit from the scheme. It is not known ...

  • Investment View: FTSE loose and fancy free

    17 Nov 2005

    You would have thought that now was the time to wax lyrical over something other than the UK stockmarket. Property, perhaps. Or alternative investments - surely becoming one of the most overused of terms.

  • Investment View: FTSE loose and fancy free

    17 Nov 2005

    You would have thought that now was the time to wax lyrical over something other than the UK stockmarket. Property, perhaps.

  • Isa investors get risk appetite

    17 Nov 2005

    Unconstrained, non-benchmarked investment trusts appealed to retail investors in the third-quarter, according to the Alliance Trust Savings Select Isa rankings.Caledonia investment trust was the top choice for the three months to October, moving up from third place in the second quarter and knocking the British Empire securities & general trust off the top spot.Thames River's property trust also sold strongly, ranking second, having moved up from ninth place in the second quarter.Two ...

  • Jelf recruits team of nine to aid drive into benefits

    17 Nov 2005

    Jelf Group has recruited a team of nine corporate advisers to support the group's drive into the flexible benefits market.The advisers will predominantly be focusing on the large corporate arena, particularly around group pensions.The team will be working with the group's existing healthcare team to deliver a joint proposition to meet inc-reasing client demand for integrated benefit solutions.The flexible benefits solution includes a feasibility study for human resources ...

  • JO Hambro will cap UK opps fund at 1bn

    17 Nov 2005

    JO Hambro Capital Management is introducing a UK opportunities fund to be run by former Newton UK opportunities manager John Wood.The fund will take a two to four-year thematic approach to invest in a high-conviction portfolio of 30 to 40 growth stocks. It will not have a capitalistion bias and up to 10 per cent of the fund can be invested outside the UK.This is the group's third UK fund, positioned alongside its UK growth fund managed by Mark Costar and UK equity income fund ...

  • Join forces to oppose rules on laundering

    17 Nov 2005

    I have not written to a trade paper before but now I feel I have to. I would like to appeal to all advisers in the UK, whether IFAs, account-ants, lawyers, insurance brokers or any other form of adviser. What we need is a wholesale rejection of the chronic misapplication of money-laundering regulation being forced on all of us by the industry. Leaving apart the fact that the vast majority of the regulations with which we are involved make no tangible contribution to the prevention ...

  • L&G first to shut down product lines ahead of A-Day

    17 Nov 2005

    Insurers are closing down pension product lines as A-Day looms, with Legal & General leading the way in the early part of next year.L&G will close its executive personal pension and free- standing AVC contracts from February 28 to focus on post-A-Day lines in the run-up to April 2006.It has been known for some time that certain product lines would become defunct after A-Day such as FSAVCs, retirement annuities and Cimps.But L&G is proving to be the trailblazer, closing lines ...

  • Laundering lapses cost bond firm 170k penalty

    17 Nov 2005

    The FSA has fined emerging market bond brokerage Inv- estment Services UK 175,0000 for failing to enforce money-laundering controls that allowed 8m to go into UK bank accounts without the bank knowing the identities of the people depositing the cash.The firm has been found guilty of not fulfilling its money-laundering obligations and failing to run its business with due care and attention.The firm's managing director Ram Melwani has also been fined 30,000 personally for failing ...

  • Leeds is extending its non-income verification on its mortgage products

    22 Nov 2005

    Leeds Building Society is extending the terms of its non-income verification on its mortgage products, now available on a product specific basis.

  • Leeds to launch 100 per cent mortgage with cashback

    21 Nov 2005

    Leeds Building Society is launching a 100 per cent mortgage with a cashback option of 1 per cent. There are no application or completion fees and there is the incentive of a free valuation of up to 335.

  • Letting agents exaggerate rental returns by up to 25 per cent

    22 Nov 2005

    Letting agents in some regions of the UK are overstating rental returns by up to 25 per cent according to buy to let broker Landlord Mortgages.

  • Lincoln strengthens broker consultant team

    22 Nov 2005

    Lincoln Financial has made a series of new appointments to strengthen its focus on the IFA market.Mark Hurrell joins as sales manager, Ian Clough as senior broker consultant and Martin Hart as investment sales manager for the north.Hurrell joins from Axa where he was protection account manager, Clough joins from Coleman Clough Partnership where he was a partner and Hart was previously in a sales position at nABLE.Lincoln Financial head of sales and distribution Andy Wills says: ...

  • Liv Vic group chief executive Malcolm Berryman steps down

    18 Nov 2005

    Malcolm Berryman steps down as Liverpool Victoria’s chief executive after six years in office.Until a formal appointment can be made, chairman John Woolhouse has taken on the position of group chief executive in addition to his current role.Woolhouse says: “The board of directors thank Malcolm Berryman for his commitment and vigorous leadership in seeing Liverpool Victoria through some considerable market challenges in the last six years, and wishes him well for the future.”

  • Lloyds is pondering merger of Swip with Belgian bank Fortis

    17 Nov 2005

    Lloyds TSB is reported to be mulling over a merger of Swip and Belgian bank Fortis's asset management business which would create an investment giant with 155bn under management.Rumours have been rife in the industry following share price moves this weekend that Lloyds might spin Swip off into a joint venture with Fortis' 68bn asset management firm.The move would create a UK and European asset management giant, with Lloyds being able to sell its stake in Swip completely or maintain ...

  • Lloyds TSB and ING top Tulip HNW survey

    22 Nov 2005

    Lloyds TSB has the most high and ultra high net worth customer relationships while ING comes top for customer wealth in this sector, according to a Tulip Financial Research survey.For customer relationships the research found Lloyds TSB has 174,000, followed by Barclays and Natwest, each with 137,000, and HSBC with 132,000.In terms of liquid wealth of HNW and ultra HNW customers, ING was first with 6.15m, followed by Bank of Scotland with 5.75m and Egg with 5.45m.The survey ...

  • Lloyds TSB staff fear misselling pressure

    17 Nov 2005

    Group union survey reveals culture of centralised pressure to boost sales

  • 'Manager carousel is driving IFAs to the multi-fund firms'

    17 Nov 2005

    Fund management firms are driving IFAs towards multi-manager funds by failing to keep hold of their talented managers, says Chelsea Fin- ancial Services managing director Darius McDermott.

  • Massow's way out

    17 Nov 2005

    I read with interest your articles about Ivan Massow. His beef appears to be that as he did his best by his clients and as the products he effected for them were - according to him - best suited to their circumstances, he should be let off and not subjected to a treatment he call barbaric by a former (?) network and former clients. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt, seen it all - boring. Yes, the networks are really not fair. Clients are all nice until they decide they do not ...

  • MBO for Royal London private equity firm

    17 Nov 2005

    Royal London Private Equity Partners is changing its name to RJD Partners as its four principals buy the firm.The four principals of RJD Partners, chief executive David MacLellan and directors John Dillon, Richard Caston and Duncan Johnson are increasing their shareholdings to 85 per cent with former parent mutual insurer Royal London maintaining a 15 per cent stake in the firm.The company was set up in 2001 by MacLellan and launched its first fund in April 2003. It will continue ...

  • Medicash making corporate push with team of 18

    17 Nov 2005

    Medicash has recruited a new 18-strong salesforce to capitalise on opportunities in corporate healthcare plans.The not-for-profit health insurance team includes 13 sales managers and five sales- support representatives.The areas sales managers promote and sell Medicash reward and first to business plans to give employees the tools with which to keep themselves healthy.The sales support repres-entatives also help local businesses manage their employees' healthcare needs pro- ...

  • Mid caps are the targets for takeovers

    17 Nov 2005

    Cheap international financing will boost M&A activity

  • MM reporter Salmon wins B&B award

    17 Nov 2005

    MM regulation reporter James Salmon won Scoop of the Year and was runner-up in Trade Journalist of the Year at this year's Bradford & Bingley Press Awards. He won Scoop of the Year for his story in May about Tony Blair's attack on the FSA in a speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research.

  • Modest decline in mortgage lending shows market resilience, says CML

    18 Nov 2005

    Gross mortgage lending fell by 3 per cent in October to an estimated 27 billion, according to the latest data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

  • Moneyquest appoints chairman to lead two-year expansion plan

    17 Nov 2005

    Moneyquest has taken a key step in its plan to expand and challenge the leading mortgage broker firms with the appointment of its first chairman.Angus McSween will oversee the phone and online mortgage operation's two-year plan and steer the company towards Aim listing.Managing director Steve Pollard and operations director Paul Reynolds aim to get the Glasgow and Edinburgh-based company up among the likes of John Charcol and other big players.The company plans to inc-rease ...

  • Mortgage View: Fractured Hip?

    17 Nov 2005

    Charles Clarke took the blame for the Government's defeat on the Terror Bill last week but it is clear that the decision not to compromise on the 90-day period of detention without charge for terror suspects was the Prime Minister's.

  • 'Most brokers are still flouting self-cert rules'

    17 Nov 2005

    FSA says 64 per cent of cases it reviewed failed to demonstrate why self-cert was recommended

  • MPs join in calls for FSA to respond to concerns

    17 Nov 2005

    The Money Marketing protection campaign is hitting the agendas of politicians, with Government and Opposition MPs putting pressure on the FSA to respond to the sector's concerns.Labour MP for Edmonton Andy Love and Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park Susan Kramer both support the campaign.Kramer, who also sits on the Treasury select committee and is Treasury shadow spokeswoman, says she is "shocked" that customers who buy protection products on a direct basis and those who ...

  • Multi-manager View: Cautionary tale

    17 Nov 2005

    We are continually searching for ways to enhance client returns without incurring added risk or reduce risk without diminishing potential returns. Investing across many asset classes and using products from a wide variety of fund groups, we have a lot of freedoms which we use to construct efficient portfolios.

  • N&P says cost of recording advice is too expensive

    17 Nov 2005

    Norwich & Peterborough Building Society says recording conversations with customers could protect the wider interests of members but the costs are too high.The society has been looking at the cost benefits of recording meetings in branches as a means of fulfilling regula- tory obligations.Chief executive Matthew Bullock believes this may be the best way to safeguard N&P against misselling accusations.But although he considers that recording conversations could help to dispel ...

  • Neptune moves to profit share in bid to stem exodus

    17 Nov 2005

    Fund boutique Neptune is losing its UK equity man- ager Greg Bennett and has set up a profit-share scheme in a bid to stop more managers quitting.Bennett is reckoned to have been recruited by Marlborough fund managers and Neptune has now appointed a headhunter to find a replacement. The company lost European managers Barry Norris and Oliver Russ to Britannic earlier this year.Neptune was criticised recently for not offering adequate incentives for its managers. The firm will ...

  • New Adviser Office launched

    22 Nov 2005

    1st has formally launched the fourth version of its IFA software solution, Adviser Office.The software provider says the new model, Adviser Office 4: accelerating new business, is focused on providing increased simplicity with an easier user experience than previous versions.Key features include intelligent workflow, contract enquiry from Norwich Union and Prudential, enhanced fee and time recording, a Defaqto product library and two-way Webline integration.1st managing director ...

  • New life after ru64

    17 Nov 2005

    Scottish Equitable head of business development Steven Cameron believes that the eventual demise of the regulator's RU64 edict should finally bring a welcome boost for retirement advice and for savings

  • New report tells actuaries to assess employers on pension scheme funding

    16 Nov 2005

    A Professions Pensions Board report has urged the actuaries to incorporate formal assessments of the viability of sponsoring employers when advising on pension scheme funding.

  • New Star Isa aims at conservative market

    17 Nov 2005

    New Star is launching an Isa aimed at the conservative investor. The firm is yet to confirm full product details but the Tri-Star Isa will be available from February.

  • New Star to launch pan-European equity fund

    21 Nov 2005

    New Star International is launching its New Star pan-European equity fund in response to investor's high demand for high alpha funds.

  • No A-Day boom, says Aegon chief

    17 Nov 2005

    Aegon does not expect A-Day to increase the volume of pension business significantly next year, saying it believes growth in the market will be broadly similar to this year.The firm says its life and pension sales were flat year on year over the first three quarters of this year but this masks strong business growth in the second and third quarters after a weak start to the year.Over the nine months to the end of September, life and pension sales weighed in at 491m, just down ...

  • No more Mr Nice Guy

    17 Nov 2005

    After a decade of non-inflationary, consistently expansionary economic growth, the future is more uncertain

  • O Canada!

    17 Nov 2005

    Musing on such matters as the Widow shock, The Diary recalls that it has recently come across photographs of this gorgeous lady pictured here on the right complete with fetching tartan skirt. which appears to be distributed around the bars and phone boxes of London's Soho, near The Diary's headquarters.Apart from the coquettish smile remarkably reminiscent of the enigmatic Mona Lisa, The Diary finds this lady disconcertingly familiar. Perhaps it is the alluring flash of delicate ...

  • Occupational therapy

    17 Nov 2005

    What remedies are available where HMRC diagnoses an interest in possession?

  • Occupational therapy needed

    17 Nov 2005

    Fewer than one in five members of occupational pension schemes are aware of the level of fund they will need to support them in retirement.Research by JP Morgan Asset Management found that 82 per cent of workplace pension scheme holders are not aware that at current annuity rates, an average 65-year-old would need a fund of 250,000 to buy an income of 15,000.This lack of awareness is underlined by the fact that 24 per cent do not know whether their pension scheme is defined ...

  • Ombudsman report delayed again

    18 Nov 2005

    The Parliamentary Ombudsman's report into whether Government "maladministration" harmed members of occupational pension schemes in wind-up has been delayed again, possibly until next March.The report was expected in the Summer but was then delayed until the Autumn as the Government had requested to see new evidence.Ombudsman Ann Abraham has sent a letter to MPs and complainants saying the report will now be published by March 2006 at the latest.LibDem shadow work and pensions ...

  • 'One in three homes to be hit by IHT in the next 20 years'

    17 Nov 2005

    One in three households will be affected by inheritance tax over the next 20 years and 68 per cent more estates will pay IHT this year than a decade ago, warns Scottish Widows.Domestic estates paid out 2.9bn in IHT to the Revenue last year, which is more than the Government took in CGT over the same period.The proportion facing IHT is higher than the rest of the country, with the average house price in the capital hitting 300,000, according to Land Registry data, over the 275,000 ...

  • Opportunity knocks

    17 Nov 2005

    Over the last four years, JO Hambro Capital Management has been building a strong and successful equity arm. The group made its entrance into the retail arena in 2001 with the launch of its UK growth and European funds, run by talented managers. Last year, it launched Japan and UK equity income funds, both also managed by well-known names in the City. It now has on board John Wood, formerly of Newton, to run a UK opportunities fund.Wood previously ran the Newton UK opportunities ...

  • People on the move

    17 Nov 2005

    InvestmentProVen VCT manager Beringea has promoted Jeff Cornish, Trevor Hope and Jamie Kennell to the board as directors. Cornish joined the firm in 2004 from IFA Alexander Forbes and is responsible for raising funds for the Beringea VCTs. Hope and Kennel are investment managers and have been with the firm since 2003 and 2005 respectively.Stockbroker Christows has appointed Jim Wood Smith as head of research. Wood Smith joins from Barclays Investment Services ...

  • People on the move

    17 Nov 2005

    MortgagesBDS Mortgages has appointed Bob Hope as its network manager. He joins from MGM Home Finance. He will be responsible for the management and development of the existing network and work in partnership with intermediary firms to nurture growth. His own brokerage also joins the network as an appointed representative.Bank of Scotland Mortgages announces the appointment of Charles Haresnape as managing director. He will join the business at the end of November. ...

  • PFS award is an insult

    17 Nov 2005

    There have been numerous letters to Money Marketing regarding the designations awarded to members of the Personal Finance Society. I have been in the industry as an IFA for over 22 years and have seen many changes during this time. I am a member of the PFS and my gripe is with the PFS awarding me the Cert PFS designations. I have obtained numerous exam passes throughout my career with different examining bodies, most of which the PFS/CII appear to ignore or give very little credit ...

  • Pick 'n' mix approach needs chewing over

    17 Nov 2005

    Disability cover is an odd assortment which sticks in the throat of many consumers

  • Pink Home Loans - Paragon Fixed Rate Buy To Let

    17 Nov 2005

    Pink Home LoansParagon Fixed Rate Buy To Let

  • Playing a waiting game fails to pay off for homebuyers

    17 Nov 2005

    Many homebuyers are delaying making a purchase in the hope that prices will fall, says Alliance & Leicester Mortgages.Twenty per cent of 2,000 buyers it questioned are playing a waiting game because they believe that houses are overpriced. But 71 per cent admitted that prices have risen while they have waited.According to A&L Mortgages, over the average wait of three years and 10 months, property prices have risen by an average of 33,689.Buyers who have waited over five ...

  • Poll reveals advisers uncertain over TCF

    17 Nov 2005

    Aifa chief says FSA needs to ensure that TCF does not result in regulation via the back door

  • Premier Partnerships sets up protection business courses

    17 Nov 2005

    Premier Partnerships is holding UK-wide protection-rel- ated training courses for advisers through 2006, both for beginners and for advisers with experience of the product class.The courses are focused on the instruction of how best to advise on protection business rather than on product-spec-ific content. The curriculum is set to span 10 courses ranging from the most basic of introductory protection course for brokers who have never previously considered or sold protection through ...

  • Premium service

    17 Nov 2005

    Underwriting How can recommending a more expensive provider save clients money? LifeSearch senior technical adviser Kevin Carr explains the conundrum

  • Professional touch

    17 Nov 2005

    The IFP ran its first regional conference in Scotland on November 1.

  • Progress report

    17 Nov 2005

    Recruit the right staff by first deciding exactly what you want them to do

  • Puma roars

    17 Nov 2005

    Investment banking group Shore Capital claims its Puma absolute-return fund of hedge funds has bucked the trend for poor performance across the hedge fund industry by investing in a concentrated portfolio of managers.

  • PYV targets mortgage brokers with a second cut in PI rates

    17 Nov 2005

    Independent Lloyd's professional indemnity broker PYV has negotiated special PI rates for mortgage intermediaries with insurer St Paul Travelers.The rates are claimed to represent a cut of 25 per cent and cover general insurance as well as term and protection.It is the second time that PYV has cut rates for mortgage intermediaries by 25 per cent this year, saying it reflects the lower risk of mortgage intermediaries compared with IFAs.Director Ian Boscoe hopes the deal will ...

  • Raking over the ashes

    17 Nov 2005

    Sonia Speedy continues her round-the-world tour of some of the pension models being touted for the UK by visiting Australia, land of compulsory contributions, where concerns are growing that recent changes on fund choice could bring widespread misselling

  • Regulation's poor showing

    17 Nov 2005

    One of the most com- mon accusations against consumer-facing financial journalists is that we are always calling for tougher regulatory measures to control industry activities at the expense of common sense.

  • Regulator reels as mps take up the ifa cause

    17 Nov 2005

    The Treasury select committee is championing IFAs against providers in misselling cases and the consumer press is also backing them so the tide of public opinion is arguably turning in their favour.

  • Rensburg points to lifestyle asset

    17 Nov 2005

    Firm says lifestyle benefits mean fund managers are not lured to London

  • Revenue delays online reporting

    17 Nov 2005

    The Revenue has postponed the requirement for online pension scheme reporting for at least six months after admitting that its systems will not be fully up and running until 2007.At A-Day, scheme administrators will be able to register schemes online for tax relief purposes and register their own details with the Revenue. The main exception will be for schemes winding up just after A-Day. They will be required to file an event rep- ort but this, along with the registration of new ...

  • Reversion of fortunes

    17 Nov 2005

    Andrea Tryphonides finds there are mixed feelings in the industry on Ship's third-quarter sales figures

  • Risk facing protection

    17 Nov 2005

    Pension scheme members opting for enhanced protection but wanting to continue money-purchase life cover risk losing their protection unless new contributions are funded from the existing pension fund.Changes to the Revenue's approach to the classification of death benefits means the treatment for tax purposes now depends on the benefit promise rather than on how they are funded.This means any scheme member, DB or DC, wanting to continue, take out or increase money-purchase life ...

  • Schroders cuts initial charge to celebrate first-quartile returns

    17 Nov 2005

    Schroders' three Standard & Poor's multi-manager portfolios are offering a 2 per cent discount on the initial charge until December 31, 2005.

  • Scot Prov launches claims guide

    21 Nov 2005

    Scottish Provident has produced a series of guides to making claims for policyholders and financial advisers.

  • Scottish Life appoints Shields as head of individual business

    22 Nov 2005

    Scottish Life has appointed Barry Shields as head of individual business with immediate effect.The pensions specialist arm of Royal London is hoping to grow its proposition in the individual pension market place.Shields team will be responsible for supporting the individual and Talisman 98 propositions and for developing the Sipp propositions for the post A-Day market.

  • Service charges

    17 Nov 2005

    Our panel of experts consider whether time is running out for product providers with poor standards of service

  • Skimming off the cream

    17 Nov 2005

    A wealthy client, who has no need for further income, faces a pension dilemma as he turns 75

  • Slice of the action

    17 Nov 2005

    There are many ways in which a financial adviser can consider constructing an investment portfolio. It is by no means my intention to recommend preferred strategies, nor to comprehensively describe any one or more concepts in any great detail.

  • Standard sees 46% slump in individual pension business

    17 Nov 2005

    Standard Life saw individual pension business almost halve in the first nine months of the year, casting a shadow over the success of its Sipp launch.Although overall UK business rose by 5 per cent, the 46 per cent fall in individual pension business to 547m from 1.01bn last year follows Standard's well-publicised drive to focus on more profitable business lines ahead of its planned flotation next summer.Quarter on quarter, the drop is even more stark, with individual pension ...

  • Star quality

    17 Nov 2005

    Nicola York looks at how John Duffield has built New Star from scratch to a stellar fund giant and a much anticipated market flotation in less than five years

  • Stay ahead of the game

    17 Nov 2005

    Standard Life head of pensions policy John Lawson says advisers should be asking themselves if they are up to speed on aspects of A-Day which will affect them and he warns against some delaying action until it is too late to advise clients

  • SVM global to appoint Senator as chairman

    16 Nov 2005

    SVM global investment trust has announced it is to appoint Senator Shane Ross to succeed Simon McClean as chairman of the company.

  • SVM replaces investment team defectors

    17 Nov 2005

    Investment boutique Scottish Value Managers has taken on three managers to rebuild its investment team after a series of defections.Hugh Cuthbert, Hector Kilpatrick and Neil Veitch join the firm from Kempen Capital Management.SVM says it anticipates being up to full strength by the end of the year.Cuthbert will run the continental European fund, form-erly run by Paul Casson before he quit to join Hendersons in October. His replacement, Andrew Dykes, also quit after two weeks.Kilpatrick ...

  • Swiss Re cautions on protection price war

    17 Nov 2005

    'Industry will fail clients unless holistic approach is adopted to marketing'

  • Swiss Re poised to buy GE Insurance Solutions for 4.16bn

    18 Nov 2005

    Swiss Re is understood to be purchasing the insurance solutions arm of General Electric for 4.16bn.

  • Take the network test

    17 Nov 2005

    Mortgage Intelligence managing director Sally Laker sets out the criteria for facilities and support that brokers should ensure are provided by their network

  • Tax differences could halt single Euro market

    17 Nov 2005

    Tax differences between member states mean it will be very difficult to achieve a single retail financial services market in Europe, says FSA chairman Callum McCarthy.McCarthy told the Treasury select committee last week that having to integrate each individual state's tax regime will be a huge obstacle to overcome and may never happen.He said it would be easier to integrate the wholesale side but questions remain for retail and the task has been vastly underestimated.McCarthy ...

  • The battle of the boutiques

    17 Nov 2005

    Matt Davis looks at how smaller fund firms are winning over investors

  • The female touch

    17 Nov 2005

    The first five years of the 21st Century have spawned an array of financial advice firms setting up to cater to the female sex. The most recent entrant being non other than legendary City superwoman Nicola Horlick, who last month unveiled Bramdiva - a firm set up to meet and serve the financial needs of high-net-worth women.There is now a small army of financial advisers playing heavily on the placement of "female" or "women" in the title to bring business in through the door. Targeting ...

  • The gift of enthusiasm

    17 Nov 2005

    After a year in Australia at the tender age of 17, I did a psychology degree because I did not know what I wanted to do. I followed it immediately with an MBA in order to pursue my rowing ambitions in London.I left business school in 1983 knowing two things. First, I was unemployable - I wanted to make up my own experience every day. Second, I was maths- phobic and thought I was the only MBA graduate in the world who could not read a balance sheet.So I was shocked to find myself ...

  • The route to compliance

    17 Nov 2005

    Compliance expert Adam Samuel says the FSA wants the key elements of minimum acceptable compliance to be found in every business

  • Threadneedle appoints new analyst on US equities

    16 Nov 2005

    Threadneedle Investments has hired Alex Robarts as an analyst trying to increase its US equity coverage.

  • Threesixty offers guides to equity-release issues

    17 Nov 2005

    Threesixty Services has published new guidance designed to help IFAs grapple with the intricacies of business strat-egy, risk management and inheritance tax planning in relation to equity release.The first guide, on business strategy and risk management, is aimed at helping senior managers in IFA firms adapt to the increased FSA requirements to adopt improved standards in these areas.The guide helps IFAs reconsider the controls within their business and how they can adopt a ...

  • Title fight

    17 Nov 2005

    Arguably, the Insti-tute of Financial Planning's threat of legal action over the Chartered Insurance Institute's qualification, whose potential acronym is CFP, is splitting advisers at a time when many would hope to see a united front in the push towards greater professionalism.The IFP claims the CII's decision to launch its chartered financial planner qualification challenges the value its own pre-existing certified financial planner accreditation.The CII, which has ...

  • Too much to ask?

    17 Nov 2005

    My industry Christmas wish list is offered with tongue very much in cheek

  • Trade bodies are cashing in with the qualification sprawl, says IFAP chief

    17 Nov 2005

    IFA Promotion chief exec- utive David Elms has criticised trade bodies for confusing customers by swamping the market with qualifications to line their own pockets.Elms says customers shopping around for IFAs are baffled by the number of qualifications for advisers. He says some trade bodies are launching new qualifications just to make money and are ignoring the damage they are causing.He says the launch of the Chartered Insurance Institute's chartered financial planner accreditation ...

  • Triple alliance to raise EU up to UK compensation

    17 Nov 2005

    The FSA, the Treasury and the Bank of England are forming an alliance to press for the European Union to raise compensation to UK standards.In a joint submission to an EC consultation on compensation in financial services, the three bodies say inconsistencies in consumer protection across Europe, with customers getting less protection than in the UK, need to be addressed.They want greater co-ordination across the insurance, investor and banking sch- emes to ensure consistent ...

  • TUC offers day in a life of Pensions Minister

    21 Nov 2005

    The TUC has launched an interactive website claiming to offer users a glimpse of a day in the life of a Pensions Minister, in the run up to the Turner Reports publication.The site asks what the TUC suggests are the ten big questions facing the Government on the future of pensions. These include issues such as compulsion, scrapping S2P, a universal pension, incentives to save and raising the state retirement age.The service is part of wordSMART, the TUCs world of work website aimed ...

  • Turner to recommend increase in pension age, says leak

    18 Nov 2005

    The Turner Report will recommend the state pension rising to 67, as well as a new national pension savings plan offering charges of around 0.2 per cent a year, according to a national newspaper leak.The leak also suggests an increase to the basic state pension, paid for by the increase in pension age from 65 to 67.The new savings plan is to be named Britsaver, with individuals automatically enrolled and contributions collected through a pay-as-you-earn system offering a limited ...

  • UCB raises rates on self-cert two-year fixed loans

    17 Nov 2005

    UCB Home Loans is increa- sing interest rates on its self-certification two-year fixed-rate mortgages by 0.15 per cent.The company has now set flexible self-cert two-year fixes for purchase and remortgage at 5.14 per cent and 6.7 per cent respectively.The lender says that its other self-cert fixed rates and buy-to-let fixed rates are unchanged.Managing director Keith Astill says: "The market has enjoyed a period of low fixed rates over recent months but we can see that the ...

  • Uncover potential of US micros

    17 Nov 2005

    The US micro-cap sector is under-researched and offers good opportunities for spe- cial situations managers with research capacity, says JPM discovery trust manager Chris Jones.The micro-cap sector in the US holds stocks with 50m-500m market capitalisation. There are 2,700 stocks in the universe and Jones says many have no analysts covering them. His team of four analysts is shortly to add another full-time position to give wider coverage of the sector.Jones says US small companies ...

  • Walking through a minefield

    17 Nov 2005

    Tackling final-salary funding will be a delicate task for the Pensions Regulator

  • Wealth in experience

    17 Nov 2005

    Most IFAs, consultancies and product providers that talk to us about their recruitment plans in 2006 have already made significant progress with their A-Day marketing propositions to new and existing clients. Some of these plans have involved a significant investment both in time and financial resources.The consensus is that no stone has been left unturned in their efforts to educate their clients and to attract new business opportunities.The reality in terms of increased business ...

  • Widows for Thinc panel

    17 Nov 2005

    Thinc Destini has added Scottish Widows to its multi-tie panel, bringing the number of providers to seven.Widows will offer Thinc Destini's multi tied advisers a range of individual pensions, corporate pensions and protection products.The company joins panel members Axa, Clerical Medical, Friends Provident, Legal & General, Prudential, Scottish Equitable and Standard Life.Widows distribution development director Richard Anderson says: "This comes on the back of considerable ...

  • Woodford sees dark waters ahead as he starts 16th year at helm of income fund

    17 Nov 2005

    Neil Woodford says there are signs that the UK economy is slowing, as he marks his fifteenth anniversary of running Invesco Perpetual's income fund.The star fund manager says there is mounting evidence of a consumer slowdown in the UK. However, the Bank of England's monetary policy committee is unlikely to cut interest rates again while inflation is above trend unless there is a further significant economic slowdown.Woodford's economic outlook for 2006 is therefore pessimistic ...

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