Money Marketing
16 October 2002

  • 'Red tape damaging savings'

    17 Oct 2002

    New Labour red tape must share the blame for plunging stockmarkets and the resulting damage to savings and pensions, according to Shadow Chancellor Michael Howard. In his speech at the Conservative party conference in Bournemouth last week, Howard criticised the 4,642 company regulations introduced by the Government last year, saying they must be partly responsible for the plight of those saving for retirement. He attacked Chancellor Gordon Brown for not mentioning in his speech ...

  • £1bn wasted in unnecessary inheritance tax

    22 Oct 2002

    Over £1bn in unnecessary inheritance tax will be paid this year according to IFAP.

  • A matter of trust

    17 Oct 2002

    Unit trusts are ubiquitous. Spring used to not only herald cherry blossom but also a carpeting of Isa adverts and the industry has persuaded two and-a-half million of us to invest some money in a unit trust. Investment trust companies were the first collective investment vehicles to get off the ground but they were quickly overtaken by unit trusts, which have risen to an easy dominance. The idea of a unit trust was introduced to the UK about 62 years after Foreign & Colonial's ...

  • A painful process?

    17 Oct 2002

    The Mortgage Code Compliance Board's December 31 deadline to qualify as a mortgage adviser is a matter of weeks away but it is estimated that half of all mortgage advisers are yet to obtain the necessary approved professional mortgage qualification. By the end of this year, any adviser providing mortgage advice and recommendation must have completed either the Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice (CeMAP) or the Mortgage Advice Qualification (MAQ). Under the board's registration ...

  • A thrilling deal for film backers

    17 Oct 2002

    Film partnerships company Movision Management is seeking high-net-worth individuals to invest in several projects, including A Different Loyalty, a thriller starring Sharon Stone and Rupert Everett. Movision, which is co-producing the film in a tripartite agreement with Spice Factory and Montreal-based Transfilm, is looking to attract financing from people earning at least £250,000 a year to reach A Different Loyalty's $15m budget. Shot in locations including Moscow and ...

  • A workable solution

    17 Oct 2002

    Most people in the pension industry would, I think, agree that the role of the employer is crucial to private-sector pensions in the UK. Making it easier for employers to offer and operate pension arrangements for their employees was certainly high on the Pickering review's agenda. The difficulty in considering the role of the employer, as with so many other things in life, lies in getting the balance right. At the risk of stating the obvious, we must remember that employers ...

  • Abbey move sparks fears over future of ScotMut

    17 Oct 2002

    IFAs are questioning the future of Scottish Mutual following the decision of parent Abbey National to spurn it in favour of signing a distribution deal with Prudential to sell its Prudence Bond through Abbey's high-street branches. Abbey is understood to be increasingly weary of injecting capital into its ScotMut subsidiary but has scotched rum-ours that ScotMut is up for sale or is being wound down. A survey by the With Profits Bond Shop shows that over the last five years, ...

  • Abbey names ex-UBS man as new boss

    18 Oct 2002

    Troubled banking group Abbey National has appointed Lugman Arnold as its new group chief executive.

  • Abbey National - Safety Plus Growth (Issue 9)

    18 Oct 2002

    Friday, 18 October 2002Type: Guaranteed equity bondAim: Growth linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 indexMinimum-maximum investment: £3,000-£500,000, Isa £1,000-£7,000Term: Five years six monthsGuarantee: Capital returned in full along with 20% growth at end of term regardless of performance in indexReturn: Up to 55% growthClosing date: December 3, 2002 Commission: NoneTel: 0800 302030

  • Abbey National FundsCentre - Asia Pacific

    16 Oct 2002

    Wednesday, 16 October 2002Aim: Growth by investing in Britannic Pacific growth, Henderson Pacific capital growth, JPMF Asia A, Newton oriental sterling reinvested fundsMinimum investment: £1Investment split: Choice of Britannic Pacific growth, Henderson Pacific capital growth, JPMF Asia A, Newton oriental sterling reinvested fundsIncome facility: YesCharges: Initial up to 2.25%, annual up to 1.5%Commission: NoneTel: 0845 6062929

  • Abbey National FundsCentre - Recovery UK

    17 Oct 2002

    Thursday, 17 October 2002Aim: Growth by investing in Artemis UK growth, Fidelity UK aggressive, Framlington UK growth, Schroder income fundsMinimum investment: £1Investment split: Choice of Artemis UK growth, Fidelity UK aggressive, Framlington UK growth, Schroder income fundsIncome facility: YesCharges: Initial up to 2.25%, annual up to 1.5%Commission: NoneTel: 0845 6062929

  • Aberdeen split-cap architect Fishwick resigns

    17 Oct 2002

    Chris Fishwick, the head of investment trusts at fund manager Aberdeen Asset Management and one of the architects of the split-capital investment trust sector, has resigned. Fishwick, who was responsible for Aberdeen's 19 split-caps - four of which have been liquidated or are in receivership - and was on the board of eight of its trusts is expected to get a payoff totalling £350,000 when he leaves in December. The move comes just days after the FSA decided to formalise ...

  • Absence and sensibility

    17 Oct 2002

    Many employers and some advisers view group income protection simply as a way of offsetting the cost of paying a long-term absentee. But it is worth bearing in mind that the probability of becoming seriously ill or disabled increases with age and employers will need to address this. This market will offer potential to IFAs as companies seek to ensure they have a healthy workforce prior to retirement. We predict that many companies will take a far more paternalistic interest in their ...

  • AITC to bring in code for investment trusts

    17 Oct 2002

    The AITC will publish a code of conduct for investment trusts next year on the back of research showing that the industry is keen to its tighten corporate governance. The trade body is embarking on a three-month consultation following the publication of research by consultants Trust Associates which highlights the industry's concerns about how some boards set about managing their trusts. It is requesting feedback on a range of suggestions, including whether boards should regularly ...

  • AMP is seeking buyer for Pearl 1,000 salesforce

    17 Oct 2002

    AMP is known to be seeking a buyer among IFAs for Pearl's 1,000-strong direct salesforce following its closure to new business as part of a restructure of its UK operations. The restructure will see AMP UK split into two divisions, one for ongoing business, including Towry Law, Ample and NPI, and the other operating a closed book, including London Life and Pearl. It is known that AMP had approached big IFA firms to see if they were interested in the salesforce ahead of this ...

  • Annuity firms in move to save moneyback plans

    17 Oct 2002

    Annuity providers are making a last-ditch attempt to save moneyback annuities amid concerns that the Government has turned its back on the concept. The ABI's consumer research shows that 47 per cent were interested in moneyback annuities and would be happy to pay with lower rates. However, noises coming from Government circles suggest it could reject the idea while IFAs say current low annuity rates mean people would forego such products to get the most money they can. Moneyback ...

  • Aon conference predicts UK recovery

    18 Oct 2002

    Prospects for economic growth and recovery in the equities markets are better in the UK than in Euroland according to speakers at the Aon Consulting Investment Conference held earlier this month in London.

  • Arresting warrants

    17 Oct 2002

    Securitised derivatives have been available in Europe to private investors since the late 1980s and have proved enormously popular. In July this year (a difficult month for equities), the combined premium turnover in these products in Germany, Italy and Switzerland was £5.5bn generated by over 1.6 million trades. The relatively small average trade size of £3,500 reflects the fact that the majority of this activity originates from private investors rather than institutions. ...

  • BBB in national push for non-regulated network

    17 Oct 2002

    IFA group Berkeley Berry Birch is pushing ahead with a full national launch of its non-regulated network Direct Protect after recruiting over 300 advisers from 100 firms through a pilot scheme launched in July. Direct Protect adopted the 2004 regulatory regime from the outset and aims to become the number one network of its kind within two years. The network primarily offers term insurance, critical-illness cover, mortgage protection, income protection, accident and sickness insurance ...

  • Berkeley tops network survey

    17 Oct 2002

    Berkeley Independent Advisers has topped a survey of satisfaction among IFA network members for the seventh year. The annual survey, carried out by Henry Samuels Marketing Services, rated the level of satisfaction on 11 criteria through telephone interviews with 425 network members from the 13 main networks. During the interviews, carried out in June and July, members gave their network marks out of five in each category. Networks were ranked according to the resulting average. Only ...

  • BIG in Europe

    17 Oct 2002

    Online brokers battered by plummeting share prices are hoping to profit by working in partnership with the growing number of fee-based advisers, according to Self Trade managing director Peter Moores. He claims discount broker Self Trade has weathered the storm of the dotcom crashes that sent other online businesses to the wall by targeting fee-based IFAs. He believes that if more IFAs start to use execution-only partners, then problems such as churning can be reduced. Moores says: ...

  • Bigger role for Young

    17 Oct 2002

    Misys head of mortgage services Andy Young is having his role extended to negotiate deals with lenders for all its five networks. Young, who joined last year from Zurich IFA, previously managed mortgage business for the 4,000 advisers in Misys' IFA Network, Countrywide, Kestrel and Financial Options networks but his negotiating responsibilities will now cover DBS's 3,000 members as well. Philip Holroyd will remain managing director of DBS Mortgage Services. Young believes ...

  • Bleak view as life industry 'runs out of money'

    17 Oct 2002

    There is no bigger thorn in the side of the UK life industry than iconoclastic analyst Ned Cazalet. Life 2002 - his eagerly anticipated annual compendium of the life industry - has just been published, presenting a bleak view of an industry pushed hard against the ropes financially by three successive years of falling stockmarkets. His most startling finding is that the life industry as a whole has run out of money. Statutory returns that he has scrutinised show that at the end of ...

  • Brave new world of defined-contribution pensions

    17 Oct 2002

    The Pensions Management Institute is holding a seminar on defined contribution plans on October 30 in central London. The seminar, which is aimed at pensions professionals and finance or HR directors, will provide an update on the issues surrounding defined contributions and how plans are being used to meet the needs of employers and employees. Speakers will include Watson Wyatt senior consultant Kevin Stratford, Winterthur Life pensions strategy manager Mike Morrison and Wentworth ...

  • Brown reappointed as Consumer Panel chairman

    22 Oct 2002

    The FSA has announced Financial Services Consumer Panel chairman Colin Brown has been re-appointed for a further 15 months until March 31, 2004.

  • Buried alive by bureaucrats

    17 Oct 2002

    I have read your report in Money Marketing in which your survey shows 80 per cent of the public do not want to pay fees. This has motivated me to write to you with my own views, being an IFA of some 30 years running a small practice in Buckinghamshire. It is appalling that the FSA in their research for CP121 based their findings on 36 face-to-face interviews and questioned another 40 people in focus groups. As you have pointed out, this does not represent a sufficient sample on which ...

  • CA challenges Govt's claims on misselling

    17 Oct 2002

    The only way to prevent Ron Sandler's suite of simplified stakeholder products being missold will be to change the definition of what constitutes misselling, the Consumers' Association ironically warns. Speaking at the Treasuryhosted seminar on the Sandler report, CA director of campaigns Allan Asher posed the question of how the Government planned to avoid the misselling of the new products. If the regulation of the sales process is removed as is intended, Asher warned that ...

  • CA defends campaign after concern by Smee

    17 Oct 2002

    The Consumers' Association has written to Aifa director general Paul Smee to express concern over his attitude to the CA's campaign on endowment misselling. Following a conversation with Smee at a Treasury forum last week, CA campaigns director Allan Asher has written a letter to Smee which also slams the FSA for having "failed to do enough to spur consumers to complain". Smee says the only worry he has with the CA's endowmentaction campaign, launched last month, is that ...

  • Campaign wants IFAs to encourage charity bequests

    17 Oct 2002

    A consortium of more than 80 charities is launching a £2m campaign to encourage people to make a charitable donation in their will. The Remember A Charity campaign, which is backed by Sofa and Aifa, is targeting solicitors and IFAs in a bid to increase the percentage of wills which include a gift to charity by 2 per cent to 16.3 per cent by the end of 2003. Consortium members, which include Oxfam, Barnardos, the Church Housing Trust and Leukaemia Care, hope to raise £180m ...

  • Cap is unfeasible, say providers

    17 Oct 2002

    Providers say Sandler's admission that face-to-face advice will at least initially be necessary on his suite of savings products makes the 1 per cent cap unfeasible. Following Sandler's statement at the Treasury's seminar last week, Norwich Union attacked Sandler's proposals, claiming he did not do any work to determine if 1 per cent was viable and says there is no doubt that the proposed products will need to be sold rather than bought. Standard Life senior technical manager ...

  • Cash back service from Chartwell

    22 Oct 2002

    Chartwell Investment Management is offering to split renewal commission 50/50 on an annual basis with investors who re-register or transfer their funds to the IFA.It estimates that at the end of August there was £158.9bn of funds under management which it predicts gives £397.25m in renewal commission.Chartwell calculates that if it was the broker for all these funds it would return almost £200m to investors.

  • Chase de Vere appoints MD

    16 Oct 2002

    Mark Bogard has been appointed managing director of Chase de Vere Investments.He takes over from Nigel Mitchell who last month announced his intention to leave the post for personal reasons.Bogard, 40, who joins Chase de Vere from parent company Bank of Irelend Group and has a background in fund management, will take over as managing director within a month.

  • CML seeks easier access to Islamic loans

    16 Oct 2002

    The Council of Mortgage Lender is calling on the Government to remove barriers to Islamic mortgages.

  • Cost cutters

    17 Oct 2002

    The small corporate private medical insurance market, encompassing schemes covering three to 99 lives, saw very little innovation during the 1990s. Some new health insurers came along, offered "me-too" type products - and then went. Established insurers tweaked their benefits but as comprehensive cover became more expensive, they turned to fragmenting hospital lists and introducing budget plans to control premiums rather than genuine innovation. Large corporate clients have always ...

  • Derbyshire BS launches remortgage deal

    21 Oct 2002

    Derbyshire Building Society is launching a fixed rate remortgage product with no application or valuation fee.The three-year product has a rate of 4.99 per cent and offers free accident, sickness and unemployment insurance for the first three months. Interest is calculated daily and there is no early repayment charge after the fixed period.Maximum loan to value is 80 per cent.

  • Diggle tells meeting pension tax reliefs are 'unsustainable'

    17 Oct 2002

    The current structure of tax relief on pensions is "unsustainable" as it primarily benefits the wealthy, according to senior Inland Revenue civil servant Paula Diggle. Head of savings and pensions policy Diggle made the comments at a closed Revenue workshop in Worthing attended by a number of industry figures. The meeting was scheduled to deal with issues surrounding self-invested personal pensions and small self-administered schemes but quickly diverged into a wider discussion ...

  • Discount mortgage for credit impaired

    17 Oct 2002

    Wiltshire-based mortgage packager Knight Funding is offering a discount rate of up to 2.5 per cent to borrowers with adverse credit history. The loan is discounted by 2.5 per cent until September 1, 2003. There is then an additional 1.5 per cent discount until June 1, 2004. The payable rate is between 3.25 per cent to 5.5 per cent depending on LTV, county court judgements, individual voluntary arrangements, discharged bankruptcies and if the loan is self-certified. The loan ...

  • Downing Corporate Finance - Pennine Aim VCT

    21 Oct 2002

    Monday, 21 October 2002Aim: Growth by investing initially in fixed interest securities then in Aim and unquoted companiesMinimum investment: Lump sum £2,000Opening-closing date: October 7, 2003-April 4, 2003 for 2002/2003 tax year, April 30, 2003 for 2003/2004 tax yearCharges: Initial 5.5%, annual 1.8%Commission: Initial 2.5%Tel: 020 7411 4700

  • Downing tops up Pennine VCT

    21 Oct 2002

    Downing Corporate Finance intends to raise up to £10m by issuing C shares in the Pennine Alternative investment market (Aim) venture capital trust (VCT), which is managed by Rathbones.

  • Driving forces

    17 Oct 2002

    One of the key questions that the industry has to address today and in the future is what will drive IFA usage of ecommerce? There is now a choice of portals to aggregate provider information and, for some products, a complete end-to-end process exists. The momentum is such that for the core volume products - term insurance, bonds, mortgage protection and pensions - such end-to-end processes will soon be available on all portals. So what is the problem? It seems like a job well ...

  • Enmeshed in a network

    17 Oct 2002

    Whistle the tune from the Great Escape and then send in your letter of resignation. But the chances of you leaving a network without hassle are remote in a day and age where commercial interests override everything. In the mad dash to sweep up distribution for the post-CP121 environment, the need to tie in members seems more acute than ever. The way in which a network operates allows the termination process to be anything other than simple. The vast majority of members ...

  • Firms would have risked insolvency without bonus cuts, says analyst

    17 Oct 2002

    Analyst Credit Suisse First Boston has downgraded the entire UK life sector and claims insurers would have risked breaching solvency requirements if they had not cut bonuses. Flexitime - its report into the life sector published last week - criticises the FSA for not demanding reductions in policyholder payouts and focusing instead on stopping companies becoming insolvent. It says Legal & General would have had a free-asset ratio on June 30 of 2.2 per cent if it had not cut ...

  • First-time buyers await cooler market

    17 Oct 2002

    Despite analysts' predictions of a continued rise in house prices, new research from the Yorkshire Bank warns that people should not rely on the property boom continuing at the same rate. It says its latest quarterly Housebuyers Survey of 2,000 adults shows the market's underlying value is starting to fall away and although it is not predicting a dramatic or sudden slowdown, a correction is inevitable. It says market stability is being affected by a reluctance of first-time ...

  • Fraser out as AMP splits its UK business in two

    17 Oct 2002

    AMP's new chief executive Andrew Mohl has announced a radical shake-up of its UK financial services, including the departure of managing director Tom Fraser. The UK business will be downscaled and split into two separate operations following AMP's acceptance that its ambitions to become a top five company in the UK were unrealistic. As part of the split, the "mature" businesses, consisting of the closed books of Pearl, London Life and NPI, will come under AMP UK Life Services ...

  • Friends Provident sales up

    22 Oct 2002

    Friends Provident has announced a 13 per cent increase in new business for the first nine months of the year. The results show an increased focus on group pensions and protection, with with-profits accounting for only 27 per cent of sales.

  • Fringe benefits

    17 Oct 2002

    Much like the Edinburgh Festival, at a party political conference, the fringe is where the action is. You could spend four days listening to prepared setpiece speeches from various ministers standing on a distant podium in the main conference hall. However, if you want to get up close and personal to decision makers, share a platform with industry experts, consumer groups and thinktanks or address a more informal gathering in a second-rate hotel room, the fringe is where you should ...

  • FSA fines to be paid by shareholders

    21 Oct 2002

    Fines imposed by the FSA on life offices will have to be paid by shareholders rather than out of funds owned by policyholders, the regulator has confirmed.

  • FSA mortgage and general insurance regulation both set for Oct 2004

    16 Oct 2002

  • FSA taking closer look at split-cap 'magicians'

    17 Oct 2002

    The FSA has stepped up its probe into the split-capital investment trust sector by formalising its investigation of alleged collusion between a number of fund managers. Following preliminary inquiries which began in May, the regulator has written to around a dozen investment firms in a move to determine whether a "magic circle" of fund managers colluded to invest in each others' funds to prop up their share prices. The investigation, which could last for at least a year, is ...

  • Full Monty aims to lay bare loan rip-offs

    17 Oct 2002

    Former mortgage regulator Monty Burn is launching a new advice firm backed by a video called Salesperson in a Box, which he claims will stop consumers being ripped off. Burn says his firm, Mortgage Watchdog, will process applications referred from unqualified brokers who he claims will not have to register with the MCCB, worry about compliance or pay for professional indemnity cover. He says brokers using his "Full Monty Experience" video can offer borrowers advice and a recommendation ...

  • Fund firms attack 'blind support by the Govt'

    17 Oct 2002

    Fund managers have slammed the Treasury's backing of the Sandler report, saying the Government's view is a nonsense which will do nothing to close the savings gap. At the seminar, Treasury financial secretary Ruth Kelly endorsed Sandler's stakeholder suite and said the Government agreed it was essential that a price cap is imposed. But Fidelity says a cap will be counter-productive for consumers, who it believes are considered weak-minded by the Government. New Star ...

  • Gartmore adds volantis to AlphaGen range

    18 Oct 2002

    Gartmore has added a seventh hedge fund to its AlphaGen range.

  • Gong but not forgotten

    17 Oct 2002

    The Diary is rightly outraged that one or two ungrateful journalists did not show up to the ABI awards last week, including a certain best up-and-coming national journalist category winner, the Daily Mail's Matt Kovac, who was apparently on a story at 9pm. This must be the first time in financial services history that anything has happened after 8pm, apart from the odd fraud squad raid and isn't that usually until the early hours of the morning. All we can do is advise the ...

  • Greenshields in shock exit from Zurich

    17 Oct 2002

    Zurich Financial Services UK Life chief executive Ray Greenshields has unexpectedly quit by mutual agreement after only two years in the job. Greenshields reached the agreement to leave with Zurich Financial Services UK, Ireland and South Africa chief executive Sandy Leitch. The firm is yet to ann-ounce his replacement, with Leitch and Zurich UK Life chief operating officer Keith Baldwin covering his duties. During his tenure, Greenshields oversaw the demise of the Allied Dunbar ...

  • Growing list of the wounded

    17 Oct 2002

    Darwinism is the order of the day as the bear market claims another victim with the closure of Pearl to new business. Pearl is unlikely to be the last. Several insurers and fund managers such as those with a heavy reliance on split-cap trusts can only be described as walking wounded. There is surely little hope that any of those facing a liability due to foolishly promised guarantees or threatened with compensation claims will find a buyer to rescue them from their woes. The strongest ...

  • Guide to saving for children

    17 Oct 2002

    Edinburgh Fund Managers is publishing an updated version of its consumer guide to saving for children. EFM says it updated the guide after a Mori poll commissioned by the firm found almost three-quarters of parents and grandparents in the UK are saving for their children's future, with almost half aiming to fund school or university costs. The free guide includes a questionnaire to help the reader work out what kind of saver they are and an outline of the different investment ...

  • Hanby heads R&SA's closed life operation

    16 Oct 2002

    Royal & Sun Alliance has appointed Peter Hanby as new director of its recently closed UK life operations. Present encumbent Stephan Pater is considering his options after 30 years with the company. Hanby was previously at Prudential and Sun Life Financial of Canada.

  • Handed fame on a pate

    17 Oct 2002

    While celeb spotting over lunch in a Soho restaurant with an MM reporter, Bristol & West PR Debbie Stavely got very excited when she recognised a well-known media man. When B&W head of marketing Dom Toller pointed to a small, slightly balding man leaving the restaurant with an exclamation of: "Oh, look who it is…," Stavely cried: "It's thingy O'Donnell from Financial Adviser." Toller shattered Stavely's illusions of having spotted a famous editor by telling ...

  • Hollis fears over 60/40 ratio

    17 Oct 2002

    The Government is no longer committed to reversing the 60:40 ratio of responsibility for retirement income between the state and the individual, according to Labour peer Baroness Hollis. In response to a question at the Sandler seminar, Hollis, the Parliamentary Secretary for Work and Pensions, said it would be fair to say the Government is no longer expressly devoted to reversing the figure. Following Labour's election in 1997, Chancellor Gordon Brown said the Government's ...

  • How forward thinking can help your business

    17 Oct 2002

    Now that we are over three-quarters of the way through 2002, we have to look forward to 2003. Many businesses may already have completed their plans for the year ahead. What assumptions have they made about the year to come? In financial services, we are more exposed to the economic environment than many businesses so it is essential that our planning includes a strong, challenging review of the situation. An important area to consider early on is expectations for the stockmarket. ...

  • In the offing

    17 Oct 2002

    The Diary would like to praise the outgoing managing director of UK financial services at AMP, Tom Fraser, for a remarkably refreshing attitude to press relations displayed at the ABI awards dinner. When questioned by a Mail journalist about his future, the antipodean head honcho might have laughed off such rumours with a cheerful: "No comment, sport" but he used the rather more direct: "P*ss off." He might as well have said: "Yeah, I'm off next week."

  • Independent view

    17 Oct 2002

    I noticed Plimsoll has recently published a very interesting report. For those of you who do not know Plimsoll, they are the firm who get all the information from Companies House about firms in our industry and print them in a very well presented bound guide and then try to sell the guide to us so that we can stare at the information about our own businesses which we filed at Companies House in the first place. The gist of the report was that 15 of the top 100 IFAs are in financial ...

  • Inside edge

    17 Oct 2002

    One of the most incisive parts of Ron Sandler's report was his assertion that the current conduct of business rules excludes large numbers of the public from meaningful financial advice. The current regime has allowed regulators to rule with the benefit of hindsight, forcing advisers to ringfence their advice with an expensive palisade of know your client forms, reports and reasons-why letters. If Sandler has his way that regime will be retained for the wealthy. The British ...

  • Insight Investments - Insight Investments European Smaller Companies

    18 Oct 2002

    Friday, 18 October 2002 Type: OeicAim: Income by investing in European smaller companiesMinimum investment: Lump sum £2,000, monthly £100Investment split: 100% in European smaller companiesIsa link: YesPep transfers: YesCharges: Initial 5.25%, annual 1.5%Commission: Initial 3%, renewal 0.5%Tel: 0845 8506050

  • Insight Investments - Insight Investments Foundation Income CAT Shares

    16 Oct 2002

    Wednesday, 16 October 2002 Type: OeicAim: Income by investing in fixed interest securitiesMinimum investment: Lump sum £500, monthly £50Investment split: 100% in fixed interest securitiesIsa link: YesPep transfers: YesCharges: Annual 1%Commission: NoneTel: 0845 8506050

  • Insight Investments - Insight Investments Global Bond

    21 Oct 2002

    Monday, 21 October 2002 Type: OeicAim: Income by investing in global fixed and variable rate securitiesMinimum investment: Lump sum £2,000, monthly £100Investment split: 100% in global fixed and variable rate securitiesIsa link: YesPep transfers: YesCharges: Initial 5.25%, annual 1.5%Commission: Initial 3%, renewal 0.5%Tel: 0845 8506050

  • Insight Investments - Insight Investments UK Equity

    17 Oct 2002

    Thursday, 17 October 2002 Type: OeicAim: Income by investing in UK equitiesMinimum investment: Lump sum £2,000, monthly £100Investment split: 100% in UK equitiesIsa link: YesPep transfers: YesCharges: Initial 5.25%, annual 1.5%Commission: Initial 3%, renewal 0.5%Tel: 0845 8506050

  • Insight Investments - Insight Investments UK High Yield

    22 Oct 2002

    Tuesday, 22 October 2002 Type: OeicAim: Income by investing in high yield fixed and variable rate securitiesMinimum investment: Lump sum £2,000, monthly £100Investment split: 100% in high yield fixed and variable rate securitiesIsa link: YesPep transfers: YesCharges: Initial 5.25%, annual 1.15%Commission: Initial 3%, renewal 0.5%Tel: 0845 8506050

  • Investment analysis

    17 Oct 2002

    Better than expected corporate news resulted in a surge in global equities on Friday, leaving many of the world's stockmarkets higher over what had otherwise been another difficult week. In the US, the Dow Jones surged by 316 points on Friday as investors reacted to positive results from General Electric and a more optimistic tone from technology bell weather IBM. Meanwhile, the market chose to ignore disappointing retail sales figures and the latest survey showing US consumer confidence ...

  • Investment view

    17 Oct 2002

    October. Month of mists and mellow fruitfulness. And if it is October, it must be time to head to the West Country again. Sadly, my Port Isaac retreat had gone the way of all flesh but I consoled myself with a trip to Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant. Excellent food but prices more Pimlico than Padstow. Given the state of the market, it is a wonder I could afford it. It was the state of the market that I was tackling when I met with independent financial advisers in a variety of ...

  • It's a wrap...

    17 Oct 2002

    It is hard to disagree with the contention that the current economic model operated by most IFAs is broken. The days of big upfront indemnity commission is gone. That the industry needs to make a transition to a more professional method of operation is, I believe, widely accepted. How to make such a move is, on the other hand, far from resolved. There is no doubt there will be a considerable ongoing demand for financial advice for the foreseeable future. Equally, the marketplace ...

  • Julian Gibbs

    17 Oct 2002

    In my opinion, venture capital trusts investing in the Alternative Investment Market are one of the most underrated investments now available because of the tax breaks for investors, who can claim 20 per cent tax relief and, for those lucky enough to have capital gains, up to 60 per cent relief. Out of the 15 Aim VCTs launched so far, only three would not have showed any profit, taking into account the 20 per cent tax relief based on net asset value plus dividends. The only shares ...

  • Kelly says 'very good' reason needed to rethink price cap

    17 Oct 2002

    It will take a "very good" argument to convince the Treasury of the need to raise the 1 per cent price cap on stakeholder charges, according to Treasury Financial Secretary Ruth Kelly. While not ruling out a change to the charging cap, the minister said the Treasury has adopted a very high threshold to persuasion over changes. Speaking at the Treasuryhosted seminar on the Sandler review in London last week, at which the Government confirmed it plans to push forward with the creation ...

  • Key issues

    17 Oct 2002

    I have said it many times before and I will no doubt say it many times again - the key deliverable of a financial adviser, regardless of regulatory status, is advice. Current hard times are showing us every day that, if there is to be human interaction in the delivery of financial services products, then the human must add some value (that can be charged for) along the way. This should cause advisers to think carefully about the markets they wish to concentrate on. Most obviously, ...

  • Keydata Investment Services - The Capital Plus Account

    22 Oct 2002

    Tuesday, 22 October 2002Type: Tessa only IsaAim: Growth linked to the FTSE 100 indexMinimum investment: Lump sum £5,000Maximum investment: £9,000Catmarked: NoInvestment choice: 100% linked to the FTSE 100 indexCharges: ImplicitCommission: Initial 3%Tel: 020 7710 6906

  • L&G offers mortgages for 'cleaned up' borrowers

    21 Oct 2002

    Legal & General's Mortgage Club is offering two new mortgages for borrowers who have past payment problems such as county court judgements, but have a clean record over the past year.

  • Lender aiming to improve IFA servicing

    16 Oct 2002

    Lender GMAC-RFC chief executive Stephen Knight has admitted that the firm's service for intermediaries could be better and says initiatives are being developed to rectify this.

  • List of perks for shareholders in top UK companies

    17 Oct 2002

    Premier Asset Management and Millfield have teamed up to publish the Shareholder Perks Guide 2002. The free guide, which is aimed at potential and existing investors in equities, details the special offers and privileges available to shareholders of 76 of the 350 largest companies listed in the UK stockmarket. It says many companies offer special deals to their shareholders, particularly in the general retail, leisure, entertainment and hotel sectors, but the information can be ...

  • Litigation mitigation

    17 Oct 2002

    Recent missives from my host network have reminded me of the days when I worked as an appointed representative of the now-disembowelled Guardian Royal Exchange. In the mid-90s it introduced a so-called "quality sales unit" to which every piece of business was submitted to undergo the most intense, nit-picking scrutiny imaginable. Cases were rejected for the most idiotic reasons and the unit quickly became known as the business prevention unit. I remember a particular case being ...

  • Liverpool Vic offers annuity options

    16 Oct 2002

    Liverpool Victoria has introduced two new options on its with profits pension annuity. Annuity holders can now select the anticipated bonus rate and change it as many times as they like after the second year and customers will also be able to convert from a with profits to a conventional annuity. The modifications aim to help people tailor their plan to meet future needs if their personal circumstances change. 

  • Loan rules guide for IFAs

    17 Oct 2002

    Britannic Money is publishing a guide for intermediaries explaining how they will be affected by the FSA's proposals for mortgage regulation contained in CP146. The new rules are currently under consultation by the regulator and are set to come into force in the middle of 2004 but Britannic is urging brokers to start considering the impact now. The first section of the booklet, Regulation and You, explains that some areas will remain outside the FSA's regime, notably commercial ...

  • Matrix hedge fund duo aiming to meet demand

    17 Oct 2002

    Matrix Money Management is introducing two new funds of hedge funds in response to increased demand from private investors. The Matrix Bastion fund is aimed at investors with a lower risk profile and will invest in the Tremont market-neutral fund, which is managed in the US by one of the biggest fund of fund managers, Tremont Advisers. It aims to provide a return of between 8 and 10 per cent per year. The Matrix Horizon fund will invest in the shares of the Fortis investment ...

  • Mayfair Capital - MC Property Income Fund

    16 Oct 2002

    Wednesday, 16 October 2002Type: Unit trustAim: Income by investing in UK commercial propertyMinimum investment: Lump sum £100,000Investment split: 100% in UK commercial propertyIsa link: NoPep transfers: NoCharges: Annual 1.1%Commission: Initial up to 2%Tel: 020 7495 1929

  • Millions confuse saving and borrowing rates

    17 Oct 2002

    Millions of consumers are unaware about the relationship between the interest rates they pay on borrowings, including mortgages, and how much they receive on savings, says Intelligent Finance. According to its research of 1,000 people carried out last month, one in three of the UK adult population - nearly 15 million adults - do not know the connection between the rates paid on their savings and their mortgage borrowings. One in 10 adults thought the interest rate their bank or ...

  • MM staff honoured in ABI awards

    17 Oct 2002

    Money Marketing won the award for life insurance and pensions trade publication of the year for the second time running at the ABI's annual Financial Media Awards last week. The ceremony at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London honoured both past and present MM staff, with former deputy news editor Rachel Stevenson, now with the Independent, named best life and pensions trade journalist for her work on MM. Also shortlisted was current MM deputy news editor Corey Boles. BBC reporter ...

  • Moore's code

    17 Oct 2002

    For the IFA community, attacking Standard Life has for years been all but unthinkable. This, after all, is the institution that has continued to support independent advisers, both large and small, while many competitors have treated them as an increasing irrelevance, with some actively colluding in efforts to hasten the demise of the humble high street broker. It could even be argued that the bastion of Scottish financial probity has given IFAs ammunition for their contention that ...

  • Mortgage lending high at Standard Life Bank

    21 Oct 2002

    Mortgage lending at Standard Life Bank has reached a record high of £7bn after the expansion of the bank's mortgage range.Standard Life puts the achievement down to continued growth in the UK mortgage market, as well as its expansion into new sectors last year, which saw particular growth in the strength of the first time buyer and discounted rate sectors.

  • Mortgages to remain 'buoyant'

    17 Oct 2002

    Financial professionals' confidence in the mortgage market has slipped slightly but remains at its second-highest level in nearly eight years, according to a survey commissioned by Paragon Mortgages. The latest Financial Adviser Confidence Tracking index stands at 131.3 for the third quarter of 2002, down marginally from 135.5 for the spring quarter but still higher than it was between 1995 and the beginning of this year. The index results found that the average number of mortgages ...

  • National Savings and Investments - Guaranteed Equity Bond Issue 3

    22 Oct 2002

    Tuesday, 22 October 2002Type: Guaranteed equity bondAim: Growth linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 indexMinimum-maximum investment: £2,000-£1m, £2m for joint applicationTerm: Five yearsGuarantee: Capital returned in full regardless of performance of indexReturn: Up to 65% of growth in indexInterest rate: 3.5% gross a yearClosing date: November 28, 2002Commission: NoneTel: 0845 9645000

  • National Savings gives bond a third outing

    22 Oct 2002

    National Savings and Investments has introduced the third issue of its guaranteed equity bond.

  • National Savings targets IFAs' risk-averse clients

    17 Oct 2002

    National Savings & Investments is revamping its intermediary service in a bid to secure a significant slice of the IFA market within the next five years. After several years of relative obscurity in the intermediary sector, NS&I, the UK's biggest savings institution, is aiming to take advantage of its Treasury-backed status to tempt IFAs with risk-averse clients to recommend its products. Although it remains steadfast in its refusal to pay commission, for the first time ...

  • New annuity bill predicted

    17 Oct 2002

    A Conservative MP will table a Private Member's Bill aimed at reforming the annuity regime in the upcoming Parliamentary session, according to Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary David Willetts. If a Tory MP is high enough in the order of private members' business to have a realistic chance of tabling a bill, Willetts predicted there will be another bill similar to that sponsored by David Curry in the last session. Curry tabled a bill calling for the abolition of the obligation ...

  • NU attacks Zurich for using its logo

    17 Oct 2002

    Norwich Union has lambasted rivals Zurich Financial Services for using its logo in presentations to advisers and insinuating a tie between the companies. NU is furious that, despite issuing several warnings to Zurich, it repeatedly used NU's logo on slides at conferences. NU says the slides, seen by Money Marketing, give the impression the firms are linked and confuses IFAs about NU's intentions. The dispute culminated this week with Zurich again using the slides although ...

  • NU International targets with-profits at niche market

    16 Oct 2002

    Norwich Union International has established a with-profits bond especially for the clients of IFAs based in the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

  • One Tep beyond

    17 Oct 2002

    The Tep market has moved on recently and they are now seen as an ideal addition to an investment portfolio Maligned by the media and misunderstood by many in the financial services industry, the traded endowment market has until recently found itself in the back water of financial services. Misunderstanding has been further exacerbated recently as all the major life offices continue to cut their bonus rates and impose ever higher MVAs. Despite this, using Teps in an investment ...

  • Opportunity knocks?

    17 Oct 2002

    The Pickering proposals largely ignore such specialist areas as SSASs, Sipps and EPPs and focus on the mainstream. How will the recommendations, if enacted, affect the key defined-contribution issues for IFAs and their clients? This year seems to be the Year of the Review. On the pensions front, the Pickering report was published just after Sandler in early July while the Inland Revenue's recommendations on tax simplification are still to come. IFAs' employer-sponsored pension ...

  • Outside edge

    17 Oct 2002

    Since my last article in August, the Treasury is reported to have given a ringing public endorsement of Ron Sandler's flagship recommendation of a stakeholder suite of products. Indeed, Ruth Kelly went on to say that he should be commended for recognising the advantages of "product rather than sales-based regulation". I would comment that IFAs are in the advice-based regulation, which may include a sale if appropriate. However, it is still possible to recommend a fabulous ...

  • Painting town blue

    17 Oct 2002

    Local businesses taking advantage when their town is descended upon by conference folk is only to be encouraged. But not all companies appreciate what their potential punters are in the market for. Such an elementary error was not made during the Tory party's annual conference, however, when the local branch of lap-dancing and pole-dancing club Spearmint Rhino sent out fliers welcoming the Conservative Party to Bournemouth. Featuring a blonde bombshell on the front, the fliers ...

  • People prefer paradise to a palace as their dream home

    17 Oct 2002

    Posh and Becks's mansion, labelled Beckingham Palace, has been named one of the UK's most desirable residences in a survey by Abbey National. Its Dream Home survey of 1,000 people carried out last month asked what home people would choose to buy if they won a big jackpot on the lottery. In response, 13 per cent said they would move into celebrity couple David and Victoria Beckham's property while only 2 per cent wanted to live at the real Buckingham Palace. But Abbey ...

  • Pink offers self-build loan

    17 Oct 2002

    Pink Home Loans is joining forces with specialist mortgage provider BuildStore to offer a self-build loan. The move means BuildStore's BuildLoan range of self-build and renovation loans are available to intermediaries through PHL. The BuildLoan product is designed to release money to the borrower at the start of each stage of a selfbuild project. It allows them to borrow up to 95 per cent of the value of the land or the property they wish to renovate and up to 95 per cent of ...

  • Pink pledges support to charity

    17 Oct 2002

    Pink Home Loans has pledged to donate £5 for every application it receives to the breast cancer charity the Pink Ribbon Foundation The charity campaign started on October 14 and will run until the middle of November to mark breast cancer awareness month. Pink Home Loans, which is part of the Skipton group, also supported the charity's A Night of Fashion held at the Café de Paris in September by placing an advert in the event's souvenir programme. Pink Home ...

  • Plan to protect pension rights

    17 Oct 2002

    A future Tory Government would consider introducing an insurance scheme for occupational pensions to protect employee rights in the event of companies going bankrupt. Speaking at a fringe meeting at the party's conference in Bournemouth, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary David Willetts said the idea had a degree of merit as occupational pensions are one of the most crucial ingredients to prosperity in retirement. He identified the move away from defined-benefit to defined-contribution ...

  • Platform unveiled as new name for Britannia's intermediary business

    22 Oct 2002

    Platform has been unveiled as the brand name for Britannia Building Society's new intermediary business following the merger of its Platform Home Loans and Verso divisions. The new brand offering prime to non-conforming products launches in January next year, and until then it will be business as usual for both divisions. Britannia says the Platform name has been chosen following independent research conducted among leading mortgage intermediaries.

  • Policing fears on loan exams

    17 Oct 2002

    Lenders and brokers are calling for reassurance that the Mortgage Code Compliance Board will put measures in place to effectively police whether brokers have attained the necessary qualifications from the end of the year. After the deadline of Dec-ember 31, advisers must have passed Cemap or Maq but the industry says it is confused about who will take responsibility for ensuring that those who claim to have qualified have done so. Broker club and trading platform Mortgage 2000 ...

  • Pratt quits Fidelity to join Newton

    17 Oct 2002

    Fidelity UK aggressive fund manager Glenn Pratt is quitting the US giant to join Newton Fund Managers as a senior member of its UK equity team. Pratt, who has been with Fidelity for eight years and run the aggressive fund - previously called the recovery fund - for four years, will join Newton in January but is believed to be stepping down from the £82m fund with immediate effect. His successor is thought to be Sanjay Shah, who will take control immediately, leaving the growth ...

  • Professional values

    17 Oct 2002

    I was interested to read the results of the survey concerning the payment of fees to financial advisers for advice. So what's new? Every adviser has known for years that the general public will not pay fees but why is this? Commission has been the method of remuneration for so long that the public does not perceive it as paying for advice - unlike its dealings with lawyers and other professionals. This problem should have been addressed years ago but from the Nasdim days ...

  • Pru and AbbeyNat in distribution link-up

    17 Oct 2002

    Prudential and Abbey National are setting out their stall ahead of depolarisation with a deal to sell each other's products. Under the agreement, Abbey will initially white-label the Pru with-profits bond until depolarisation, after which it will retain the Pru branding. The Pru will cease to manufacture protection products and instead white-label Abbey National-owned Scottish Provident's products after depolarisation. The companies have promised each other market-leading ...

  • Prudential goes flexible

    16 Oct 2002

    Prudential - Prudential Flexible Income Drawdown PlanType: Income drawdown Minimum investment: Lump sum £100,000 Investment choice: Choice of three investment strategies - cautious, standard, adventurous or 25 funds from M&G, Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Newton, Invesco Perpetual, UBS and Schroder. Charges: Annual 0.8 - 1.5% Allocation rates: 96 - 99% Commission: Initial 3%, renewal 0.5% Tel: 0845 0757576 Broker ...

  • Putting fun into finance

    17 Oct 2002

    Entertainment in Business, a company specialising in getting messages across using comedy, is sponsoring a comedy forum for financial services firms next month. The event takes place at London's Comedy Store from 2pm-4pm on November 28 and costs £65. It will feature Norman Pace, star of Hale & Pace, and scriptwriter Terry Morrison, who will demonstrate the effect that humour has on an audience. Creative director Terry Morrison says: "The key question that all business ...

  • S&P has negative outlook on Standard

    16 Oct 2002

    Ratings agency Standard & Poors has revised its outlook on Standard Life to negative but maintains its AAA rating. It says its capitalisation has weakened and the options open to Standard to manage capital following market volatility and any further falls are limited. S&P also says costs and payouts will have to be carefully managed, but says a negative outlook does not necessarily mean a downgrade.

  • Sandler wants advisers to sell stakeholder suite

    17 Oct 2002

    IFAs will be among the primary distribution channels for the new suite of stakeholder products, with alternative distribution channels only developing over time, according to Ron Sandler. His recommendation of the creation of safe-haven products got the official blessing of the Treasury last week at a Government-sponsored seminar in London, where Sandler pointed to IFAs and other salespeople as being the distributors for the products. Sandler said he expects other distribution ...

  • Schroders sails in with ads

    17 Oct 2002

    Schroders is rolling out a new advertising campaign in the trade press on the back of its recent sponsorship deal with the London Boat Show. The campaign will focus on promoting its UK Mid 250 fund, which celebrates its three-year anniversary next month. Ads will run in the trade papers until the end of November and will then appear in the national consumer press before the end of the year. Schroders says the aim of the campaign is to raise awareness of its credentials across ...

  • ScotEq roadshows to discuss future of pensions

    17 Oct 2002

    Scottish Equitable says simplification and change will be the key themes of its pension roadshows in November. Sixteen roadshows around the country will focus on the implications for IFAs of the Pickering and Sandler reviews and what might be expected from the pension Green Paper. Topics covered will include pension simplification, employment law, annuities, bridging the savings gap, rebate levels, retirement ages and Europe. Joining Stewart Ritchie and Margaret Craig in presenting ...

  • ScotLife puts pension tools online for IFAs

    17 Oct 2002

    Scottish Life is launching a revamped version of its BeeHive website within a newly-created online service for IFAs. The BeeHive site offers head of pension strategy Steve Bee's views on the world of pensions, along with his political papers, press articles and a collection of his cartoons. The new IFA service, Technical Central, delivers financial statistics, analysis and factsheets on pensions. It offers an interactive forum where IFAs can hold online discussions. The ...

  • Scottish Life International - Protected Bonus Bond

    16 Oct 2002

    Wednesday, 16 October 2002 Type: Guaranteed equity bondAim: Growth linked to the performance of FTSE 100, Eurostoxx 50 and S&P 500 indicesMinimum investment: Lump sum £10,000Place of registration: Isle of ManInvestment Split: 100% linked to the performance of FTSE 100, Eurostoxx 50 and S&P 500 indicesGuarantee: Original capital returned in full regardless of performance of indicesYield: Up to 54% growth over six year two month ...

  • Scottish Mutual - Commercial Property Plan

    17 Oct 2002

    Thursday, 17 October 2002Type: Investment trustAim: Income or growth by investing in commercial propertyMinimum investment: Lump sum £7,000Maximum investment: £500,000Investment split: 100% in commercial propertyTypes of shares: OrdinaryIsa link: YesPep transfers: YesRedemption date: January 15, 2013Charges: ImplicitSpecial offer: Initial share price 99.5p a share until November 22, 2002 ...

  • Scottish Mutual makes investing Ea5y

    17 Oct 2002

    Scottish Mutual has established the Ea5y income bond, a guaranteed equity bond that offers a choice of two income options or a growth option.

  • Short-term loan deals from Rock

    17 Oct 2002

    Northern Rock is launching two fixed term and rate loans aimed a borrowers wanting to repay their loan over shorter terms than the traditional 25 years. The Guarantee Repayment 10-year fixed mortgage has a rate of 5.59 per cent for the lifetime of the loan, with the 15-year option repayable at the same rate. The mortgage bank says that by offering fixed terms of 10 or 15 years rather than the standard 25 years, customers can make substantial savings. It highlights how repaying ...

  • Simple guide to the health of the investment

    17 Oct 2002

    We would like to correct any impression that Azarat's new service (Osiris) (MM, September 26) focuses solely on return of capital or indeed that a "red status" necessarily implies a bond will fail to return capital. The green, amber and red indicators are supplementary to the full Osiris reports and are meant as a simple guide to the health of the investment from the perspective of the investor. The intention is to reflect actual performance in the light of reasonable expectations ...

  • Skandia closes guaranteed fund as it seeks safe haven

    17 Oct 2002

    Skandia has closed it guaranteed pension fund to new business after falling equity markets forced it to move into gilts to meet its guarantees. The percentage of gilts in the fund has now risen to 60 per cent, at which stage the company decided the potential for further growth was too limited for it to accept new business into the fund. Savers who have taken out contracts since the beginning of July, when the asset mix changed, are being offered a backdated reallocation of funds ...

  • Skandia closes guaranteed fund as it seeks safe haven £1.2m buys stake in Lighthouse

    17 Oct 2002

    Skandia has bought a 9.9 per cent stake in national IFA and network group Lighthouse. The life office will pay almost £1.2m for 2,248,049 new shares at a price of 52p per share when the deal is completed early next month. Lighthouse plans to use the capital to support the group's drive for expansion, which focuses on recruitment rather than acquisition. The funds will be used to provide a financial buffer as the business grows and new members settle in. The group has ...

  • Splitting image is no joke for Aberdeen

    17 Oct 2002

    Barely two years after being a leading retailer in the Isa market, Aberdeen Asset Management is sitting on a mountain of debt, hamstrung by its poor investment decisions and a stockmarket which steadfastly refuses to rise. Its liabilities have ballooned to almost £250m and its shares - worth nearly £7 at their 2001 peak - have lost roughly 90 per cent of their value. The share price recently stooped below 40p and speculation is rising that Aberdeen could breach its banking ...

  • Steve Kelland

    17 Oct 2002

    As a schoolboy, Steve Kelland would always win the prize for selling most choir programmes - the prize being a free programme. A career as a salesman beckoned. After years as the top seller at a Bristol broker consultant, Kelland went on to build Burns-Anderson, a network of 260 firms and 600 RIs. Leaving grammar school in Tunbridge Wells with one O-level, Kelland signed up with the Royal Marines as soon as he was old enough, finding himself on a tour of duty in Northern Ireland by ...

  • Survey finds fund past performance is a key indicator

    17 Oct 2002

    Past performance is a key indicator when choosing which funds are more likely to enjoy top-quartile performance in the future, according to a report commissioned by the Investment Management Association. Ima claims the study by consultant Charles River Associates is the most comprehensive ever undertaken. It monitored 940 funds from four UK equity sectors - all companies, equity income, smaller companies and equity & bond - over 21 years. It found that a fund with a top-quartile ...

  • SWIP trusts beats all-share index by 28 per cent

    22 Oct 2002

    Scottish Widows Investment Partnership has appointed Matthew Harris as investment director to its Japanese equity team. Harris, 28, has more than seven years experience managing Japanese funds at Aegon Asset Management. He will work on Japanese institutional funds with responsibility for research in both retail and institutional funds. 

  • Taking the strain

    17 Oct 2002

    Rocketing private medical insurance premiums have been a difficult pill for consumers to swallow. But some IFAs are now suggesting a move towards a stakeholder model for PMI that could provide a solution for those not eligible for company schemes and unable to afford individual plans. PMI premium prices have escalated rapidly, largely because of the age difference between those now joining group plans who are of working age and therefore less likely to make expensive claims and ...

  • Talkback

    17 Oct 2002

    "Yes. There are too many sub-prime mortgages being pushed." Brian Ind, Tetbury Financial Services "No. I can't see any problem. It's no more harmful than double glazing salesmen or Jehovah's witnesses." Scott Williams, Keith Williams "If cold-calling is done in a professional manner then people can always say no." Alan Mackay, Alan Mackay & Co "Yes. There is a lot of misselling through the cold call." Lesley Wood, Sheperd Wedderburn WS "Yes. I don't ...

  • The hard facts on retirement

    17 Oct 2002

    The combination of the 20 per cent dividend tax on pension funds, falling returns, new accounting standards and the employer's open-ended commitment to make up whatever shortfall the actuary deems to exist means we have a pension system with no future. Reduced National Insurance rebates add to the lethal cocktail of legislative and market conditions. It seems our legislators actually want to see the end of defined-benefit schemes. Such schemes may become the exclusive preserve of ...

  • The route to PMI value

    17 Oct 2002

    The key to effective competition in today's private medical insurance market, where product differentiation can no longer rely on price alone, is providers' ability to add value to their PMI offerings via innovation and flexibility. The service provided by private medical insurers must as flexible as their products so that when customers' needs change, they can get the advice they need to help them change their PMI cover to meet those needs. Some people will want PMI to ...

  • Tiner tips trees as best way to sell suite

    17 Oct 2002

    The most realistic way of distributing the new Sandler stakeholder suite of products is through a decision tree approach, according to FSA managing director John Tiner. Tiner outlined three possible distribution options at the seminar. He said the FSA favours a filtered approach aimed at screening out consumers for whom the products are inappropriate. The other two possibilities are enhanced product disclosure with warnings in "plain English" or the proposal in the Sandler report of ...

  • Titans clash over with-profits

    17 Oct 2002

    Standard Life's head of with-profits marketing David Hare will clash with Skandia co-founder Paul Bradshaw over the future of with-profits in the first of a series of financial services debates to be held on Wednesday, October 30. The debates, hosted jointly by Money Marketing and the Financial Services Forum, will take place in front of an audience of IFAs and financial services professionals at Bloomberg's offices in London. Hare will propose the motion that with-profits ...

  • Treasury sets October 2004 date for FSA mortgage regulation

    16 Oct 2002

    The Council of Mortgage Lenders has welcomed today's announcement from The Treasury that FSA regulation of mortgages will come into force in October 2004.But the CML warns it will only work in practice if all mortgages are removed from the scope of the draft Consumer Credit Directive currently beginning its passage is becoming European law.

  • Underpinning poor performance

    17 Oct 2002

    Following poor performance by my investment funds, should I be investing my pension fund in property? There is no doubt the property sector has become increasingly attractive following the poor performance of equity markets since 2000. Property offers the dual benefits of rental income and capital values which usually increase over time. There are two ways in which you can link your pension to the property market - either by purchasing a commercial property or investing ...

  • Unpaid debt prompts IFA into action against MPPI firm

    17 Oct 2002

    Scunthorpe-based IFA Independent Financial Advisory Services is threatening to take further action against mortgage payment protection insurance provider Mortgage Protection UK after it failed to pay commission owed to the firm or show up for several court hearings. MPUK has owed Ifas £2,505 in commission since January 2001. This has now been increased to £5,365 by Scunthorpe County Court to take account of interest, having to make alternative protection arrangements for ...

  • UnumProvident sees brand renewed under PPIAB

    21 Oct 2002

    Income protection specialist UnumProvident has been the first brand to retain its accreditation mark under the Pension Protection Investments Accreditation Board yearly assessment.

  • Why Lincoln is far from being a closed book

    17 Oct 2002

    The article by Kevin Paterson and Aileen Croft (MM, October 3) raised some useful issues relating to the life and pension outsourcing market. The item mentioned the recent deal between Lincoln and Capita. Lincoln's book of business very much falls into one of two outsourcing categories - "existing business wanting to reduce unit costs or free management time to focus on business growth". You might guess from this that Lincoln's is not a closed book, unlike the proposition ...

  • Widows faces policyholder complaints

    16 Oct 2002

    Scottish Widows is denying that a complaint brought by a group of disgruntled policyholders has anything to do with differential treatment of guaranteed annuity rate holders. Widows says it is happy to meet with the Ombudsman to discuss the issue. 

  • Willetts or won't it?

    17 Oct 2002

    While IDS struggles to dispell his "old school" image, his party are pitching plans to encourage people to be more conservative with their money and start saving. Hot on the heels of Theresa May's leopard-print shoes at the Tory party conference came Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary David Willetts. He unveiled the Conservative's new strategy for encouraging more people on lower incomes to save - the Lifetime Savings Account. With just £3.75 saved per £100 of ...

  • Window on the world

    17 Oct 2002

    What strategy would you recommend for investors in this recently volatile asset class? The best strategy, of course, is diversification. As you know, emerging markets is just one asset category. And you must weight your equity exposure as well as your bond exposure or your fixed-income exposure. Have emerging market countries learned from past volatilities? I do not think they have. Emerging market countries are beginning to get more used to volatility simply because it ...

  • Workers strike over scheme

    17 Oct 2002

    The growing trend of workers taking industrial action in their fight to defend final-salary schemes has spread to Birmingham, where workers at the Yuasa Automotive Batteries (Europe) plant walked out this week. The strike came after a decision by the firm's management to close its final-salary scheme to existing members. The scheme was closed to new entrants in 1994. The Transport & General Workers Union says 89 per cent of employees voted for the series of weekly one-day strikes. Last ..

  • WP bonds 'could miss out in market recovery'

    17 Oct 2002

    IFA Bestinvest is warning investors to steer clear of most with-profits bonds under current conditions as they are unlikely to benefit from the full effects of a stockmarket recovery. In its latest guide, Bestinvest says only life offices with good financial strength are worth considering as many need to replenish weakened reserves and cannot offer satisfactory reversionary bonuses. As some life offices are also abolishing the guaranteed periods when market value adjusters cannot ...

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