Money Marketing
17 March 2004

  • 'Holistic approach is needed to save pensions'

    19 Mar 2004

    An holistic approach that reaches beyond the traditional domain of the financial services sector is needed to properly tackle the pension crisis, says Datamonitor lead life and pensions analyst Janette Weir. At Cityforum's Savings and Pensions in 2020 conference at the National Liberal Club in London last week, Weir said an increase in the number of workers is essential to improve the support ratio. Datamonitor's analysis of the Government Actuary's Department ...

  • 'Interference is causing complexity'

    19 Mar 2004

    The Government should not get involved in product design beyond a simple Isa-style investment product and a pension product based on the US 401(k) structure, says Investment Management Association chief executive Richard Saunders. He told delegates at the Cityforum conference last week that Government intervention in product design and elaborate tax structures are creating complexity when consumers want simplicity in savings products. He said mutual funds will be the ...

  • 'Switch over to sell income protection'

    19 Mar 2004

    The industry needs to turn its focus towards selling income protection, says Bright Grey product director Roger Edwards. Speaking at last week's Health Insurance Conference in London, Edwards questioned whether a new version of critical-illness cover is needed or whether the current model just has background issues that need repair. He concluded that, no matter what is done to CI in the future, more income protection has to be sold to meet consumers' needs. Speaking ...

  • 'The green shoots set to blossom in spring'

    19 Mar 2004

    Nationwide was the most upbeat of the house price indices in February, recording a 3.1 per cent rise in house prices up from a 0.7 per cent rise in January. This is the strongest monthly increase shown by Nationwide since April 2002. It puts the average house price at £138,730 in February, up from £134,806 in January, with annual house price inflation at 17.1 per cent, up from 14.3 per cent in January. Group economist Alex Bannister says: "There was no respite ...

  • 'Transparency in two years'

    19 Mar 2004

    Professor David Miles is calling on the FSA to require lenders to make their full range of mortgage products available to all borrowers, as he believes the present situation is unfair. His review of the UK mortgage market, published last week, criticises cross-subsidy, where existing borrowers, often on high standard variable rates, finance the discounted variable and short-term fixed-rate mortgages available to new borrowers. Miles reveals that in February, a quarter ...

  • 1% world is to blame for poor pension service

    19 Mar 2004

    I recently undertook a review of a client's investment portfolio on the issues of inheritance tax and her investments. This included her Standard Life personal pension fund, into which her estranged husband's company pays a reasonably sizeable sum each month, as does she. Her policy is one of a grouped arrangement, presumably for all full-time permanent employees of the company. Surprise, surprise, all contributions are presently directed into two of Standard Life's ...

  • 1.75 per cent inflation expected in 2004

    17 Mar 2004

    Britain should expect 1.75 per cent inflation over the next year the Chancellor has informed Parliament in today's Budget announcement.Gordon Brown has said inflation in 2004 is expected to hold this year and raise to around 2 per cent during 2005 and 2006. Brown said: "There can be no wavering of fiscal policy. Fiscal policy is and should be at the heart of long term economic stability."

  • 12 staff axed as Aegon revamps funds

    19 Mar 2004

    Aegon Asset Management is axing 12 investment professionals, including a sen-ior fund manager, as part of a major equity team restructure aimed at boosting flagging performance. Chief investment officer Wendy Hay, who is in charge of AAM's £32bn under management, will also be leaving the comp-any in the summer after maternity leave. The company says she will "almost certainly" be replaced by an external candidate. Most of the 12 investment professionals ...

  • 40,000 jobs to go in DWP

    17 Mar 2004

    40,000 jobs will go from the Department for Work and Pensions, the Chancellor has announced today in this year's budget.Gordon Brown has told Parliament he will cut DWP down to 100,000employees by 2008. Brown said he has also decided to cut 14,000 employees from the Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise.

  • A budget of missed opportunities - Bitner

    17 Mar 2004

    David Bitner, head of product operations for The MarketPlace at Bradford & Bingley, believes the Chancellor should have addressed the falling levels of first time buyers in his Budget, given he is concerned enough about supply and demand in the housing market to have commissioned the Barker Review.He says the Chancellor should have updated stamp duty bands to help the first time buyer. He says: "We believe the Chancellor has really missed an opportunity to help the beleaguered ...

  • ABI welcomes debate on funding strategy

    19 Mar 2004

    The ABI is keen to see debate over the best health funding strategy model for the UK heat up, believing that debate has been narrow so far. ABI head of health Richard Walsh says there is a different health funding system in force in every European country, all of which have their strengths and weaknesses. He says the ABI has no preferred vision of a "optimal" system but it is keen to foster debate. He believes the UK has issues to address, with the amount of ...

  • Action group wants Equitable funding

    19 Mar 2004

    Equitable Life policyholders are launching their own campaign to pursue the Government for compensation and are collecting signatures for a special resolution forcing Equitable to back the move. The Equitable Members' Action Group plans to collect over 1,000 signatures from qualified voting members for the special resolution that would see the society back Emag with £2m for its "multi-pronged" compensation campaign against the Government. It aims to collect 1,000 signatures ...

  • Actuaries face cloak being torn away

    18 Mar 2004

    Gordon Brown has not followed Ruth Kelly's lead, where she suggested that Equitable Life was someone else's problem. Instead, he has decided to use Penrose to launch a full review on the role and future of the actuarial profession. The review will be led by Sir Derek Morris, an acad-emic and economist, and will have the key objective of modernising the actuarial profession and promoting a more open market and competitive actuarial advice. Considering that Myners ...

  • Admin angst

    19 Mar 2004

    IFAs believe protection product providers need to smarten up their act and provide a slicker service. Sick of wasting hours chasing up their clients' applications, brokers say poor admin is rife in the protection industry and it is causing havoc. Riach Independent Financial Advisers proprietor Bob Riach says providers could drag themselves into the 21st Century by getting their technology up to speed. He says: "In this day and age, people expect instant technology. ...

  • Advisers back shift to culture of advice first, commission second

    19 Mar 2004

    IFAs say they support the Treasury select committee's criticism of the current remuneration structure in the long-term savings industry and agree that a cultural shift towards advice first and commission second is needed. John Scott & Partners investment manager Patrick Connolly says he believes any advice that can be biased by commission is detrimental to clients and therefore to the industry as a whole. Connolly says: "The report is hard-hitting but generally ...

  • Aegon goes it alone

    19 Mar 2004

    You would have thought that after pulling the support rug from under IFAs' feet, you would not go and broadcast it but maybe those crazy Euro kids do things differently on the Continent. The Diary would be the first to admit that Dutch giant Aegon's glossy new brochure is stylish, colourful and an extremely effective ad for office furniture. But hang about, there's something missing… where's the "supporting cast" (see picture on the right)? This is something ...

  • AIFA's view

    19 Mar 2004

    You were expecting 600 carefully crafted words on the menu, weren't you? Go on, admit it. Well, everyone seems to have been putting their oar in on this so I won't. It is a good idea, it has become over-complicated but IFAs with imagination (that is, most of you) should be able to turn it into an exposition of your talents. And you may even find clients like it. Over to you - make of it what you will. Don't forget that after-sales service can be your secret weapon and ...

  • Amex signs five top IFAs for wrap deal

    19 Mar 2004

    American Express Financial Services Europe is forging strategic alliances with five high-end IFAs to roll out a comprehensive wrap account platform designed to dramatically ease the admin burden on wealth managers. M2 Financial, Genesis, JBW Associates, Magus and Private Wealth Management have become the first firms to integrate their businesses with the platform, which Amex hopes will capture a major chunk of assets moving to wrap. The five will initially have access ...

  • AMI offers guide to mortgage rules

    23 Mar 2004

    The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries has issued a guide to the FSAs final mortgage rules aimed at mortgage intermediaries.The 15 page guide is intended to act as a guide to the 337 page Mortgage Conduct Of Business Rules, rewriting it from the mortgage intermediary perspective. It is free to AMI members and includes a break down of each section of the MCOB, highlighting those areas dealing with key intermediary responsibilities as well as notes on interpretation.AMI director ...

  • Anna Day

    19 Mar 2004

    Usually I am an organised soul - really I am. But for some odd reason, this week has been a scatterbrain nightmare. The first disaster was a long-standing lunch arrangement with the lusciously named Damian Peachey, formerly of BT and now heading press for Phones 4U. We were due to meet at Mirabelle for a stimulating chat on the virtues of pay as you go •contract phones but a morning from hell means the arrangement slips my mind completely. I only remember poor Damian ...

  • Annuity site gets boost

    19 Mar 2004

    IFA William Burrows Annuities is upgrading its website to provide annuity information. Director Billy Burrows says www.williamburrows.com features the latest annuity rates and a personal annuity calculator. It also provides advisers and individuals with historic annuity rates so they can see how rates have changed over the last 18 months. Users can download Countdown to Retirement, a regular electronic newsletter. The service is free for individuals and professional advisers. Bu

  • Artemis aims for VCT dash

    18 Mar 2004

    Noble & Company is promoting a small top-up share issue of up to £1.9m for the Artemis Alternative investment market (Aim) VCT.This VCT was established in February 2001 and aims for income and growth by investing mainly in Aim companies that operate in different industries. A small part of the portfolio may consist of companies listed on Ofex or unquoted companies.As always, the money raised will initially be invested in five Artemis unit trusts - UK smaller companies, ...

  • Axa flags opportunities from delayed pension tax simplification

    17 Mar 2004

    Axa is welcoming the Revenue's proposal for tax simplification of pensions confirmed today in Chancellor Gordon Brown's Budget speech, but warns there could be short term confusion for high earners while they adjust to the incoming new lifetime limit.It says the delay in implementing the simplification until April 2006 means advisers have more time to deal with the "pressing issues" that will affect high earners in the transitional period, warning that the new restrictions ...

  • BAM takes the long and short road with trust

    19 Mar 2004

    Baring Asset Management's directional global bond trust is a unit trust set up to take advantage of the European directive Ucits III. Ucits III allows fund managers of onshore funds to use mixed asset classes and go short. Shorting was previously only available offshore without the safety net of FSA regulation. This fund's unit trust structure means it is FSA regulated and eligible for Isas and Pep transfers despite the ability to go short. The fund aims to make ...

  • Baring goes in new direction

    23 Mar 2004

    BARING ASSET MANAGEMENTBaring Directional Global Bond TrustType: Unit trust Aim: Growth by investing long and short in Government bonds and money market instruments Minimum investment: Lump sum £1,000 Investment split: 100% in bonds and money market instruments Isa link: Yes Pep transfers: Yes Charges: Initial 5%, annual 1.75% Commission: Initial 3%, renewal subject to ...

  • Barker gets centre stage but Miles is in shadows

    18 Mar 2004

    With two key reports on housing and mortgages leading into the Budget, the difference in Gordon Brown's adoption of their proposals is startling. The Miles report has effectively been sidelined, as many in the industry expected, with a minimal mention by Brown that it will be considered by the FSA and the Treasury. Read this as meaning that there will be no artificial structures to ease the funding of long-term fixes or legislation forcing lenders to offer their new ...

  • Barker review hollow without action

    19 Mar 2004

    Online new homes specialist SmartNewHomes.com, has warned that unless the government takes action to translate the recommendations from the Barker review into government policy, the report amounts to nothing more than hot air.Academic Kate Barker has reviewed housing supply and established the need for up to 120,000 new homes each year in Britain in order to stabilise house price rises and reduce problems of homelessness, affordability and social division.However, SmartNewHomes.com ...

  • Berkeley Independent Advisers joins with Direct Protect

    23 Mar 2004

    Berkeley Independent Advisers is joining with Direct Protect to become Berkeley Berry Birch, Network Division which will have 1700 advisers. Both companies are subsidiaries of the financial services group Berkeley Berry Birch plc.Richard Howells, Chief Executive, Network Division, said "The Creation of the Network Division will lead to increased service levels for our members. We will be able to take advantage of stronger buying power and a sophisticated, centralised operations ...

  • BGI tops Morningstar Isa league table

    22 Mar 2004

    Barclays Global Investors has topped the Morningstar Isa league this month, scoring 4.43 out of a possible five stars.Second was Allchurches Investment Management with 4.40 and third GAM - which has come first in previous months - with 4.33.They were followed by Baillie Gifford (4), Lazard (3.89), Investec (3.80), L&G (3.69), Marlborough (3.64), Old Mutual (3.60)and Schroders (3.56).

  • Bird of prey

    19 Mar 2004

    Your correspondent who is talking about the market value adjusters applied by Eagle Star as opposed to Standard Life and Norwich Union has got hold of entirely the wrong end of the stick (Money Marketing, February 26). What Eagle Star is doing - and unfortunately it has affected me personally in a policy that I effected for my mother - is that it has taken MVAs off the regular withdrawals from inception. Unfortunately, I did not find out until two-and-a-half years into the plan. I ...

  • Bright Grey considers guaranteed CI move

    19 Mar 2004

    Protection specialist Bright Grey is considering moving into the guaranteed critical-illness insurance market, bucking the industry trend which has seen many firms moving away from offering guaranteed premiums. Bright Grey was set up last year just as guaranteed rates looked to be on the way out due to factors such as lower reinsurance capacity. It is still reckoned that guaranteed rates will eventually be priced out of the market but capacity is estimated to be sufficient for ...

  • Brokers sceptical at claims

    19 Mar 2004

    Brokers do not think house prices went up in February by as much as some of the indices are suggesting. Hamptons International Mortgages technical director Jonathan Cornell says in his experience, house prices continue to increase steadily in London and the South-east in February but he says the increases seen are nothing like the figure of 3.1 per cent shown by Nationwide. He believes annual house price inflation is in single digits rather than the 17.1 per cent recorded ...

  • Brown forecasts 3-3.5 per cent GDP growth for 2004

    17 Mar 2004

    In his Budget speech Chancellor Gordon Brown stuck to his forecast of 3-3.5 per cent GDP growth for 2004. He also forecast 1.75 per cent for inflation this year and 2 per cent for the next two years. He confirmed GDP growth at 2.3 per cent for 2003 and that over four years growth had averaged 2.5 per cent.

  • Budget kick in the teeth to savers says West Brom

    17 Mar 2004

    West Bromwich Building Society chief executive Andrew Messenger called today's Budget a kick in the teeth to millions of hard pressed savers and borrowers.He said the 20 per cent rate of tax on savings, deducted at source, serves only to punish and discourage those who save. He says; "We want to see this tax abolished now. This would be an important first step to encourage the 13 million Britons the Government already says aren't saving enough."He believes failure ...

  • Budget offers nothing for savers- Invesco Perpetual

    17 Mar 2004

    Brown's eighth budget is not a budget for savers and fails to offer any significant incentives according to investment house Invesco Perpetual.Pep and ISA provider Invesco says with no specific reference to ISAs included in the proposals it is not clear what the Government intends to do, so the industry has been left to assume the worst for savers and investors in the UK. Invesco head of distribution Mike Webb says: 'This is not a budget for savers, it offered no ...

  • Building societies concerned over long-term funding

    19 Mar 2004

    Trade bodies have welcomed Professor Miles' review of the mortgage market, backing his recommendations to improve advice but have raised concerns over the funding available for building societies to offer long-term fixes. Miles' recommendations are aimed at advisers and the creation of a more transparent pricing structure and examining fixed-rate mortgage funding. The BSA says it welcomes improvements to information and advice available for borrowers but director ...

  • Call our hotline for a fair deal

    19 Mar 2004

    Money Marketing is aiming to compile a list of the worst offenders among financial companies on admin. You can phone our reporter John Greenwood on our admin hotline 0207 943 8049 or email john.greenwood@centaur.co.uk to say which companies have given you problems and why. We will be taking up the worst cases and asking the firms what has gone wrong and whether they will put things right. You can also call our hotline if you feel that you have been unfairly treated by ...

  • Capita Financial Managers -Rising Income Plan

    22 Mar 2004

    Type: OeicAim: Income and growth by investing in UK corporate bonds and equitiesMinimum investment: Lump sum £1,000Investment split: 64% in UK corporate bonds, 36% in UK equitiesIsa link: YesPep transfers: YesCharges: Initial 5.25%, annul 1.5%Commission: Initial up to 3%Tel: 0117 910 7900

  • Capita tipped for £20m PPML deal

    19 Mar 2004

    Third-party outsourcing company Capita is being tipped to snap up Sipp administrator PPML in a deal rumoured to be worth £20m. PPML is owned by Winterthur Life but has been the subject of sale speculation for several months. Winterthur parent Credit Suisse put PPML up for sale in May 2001 with a price of around £50m following a rev-iew of its operations. Credit Suisse took it off the market two months later, saying it was concerned over service standard ...

  • Chancellor hikes tax relief for film partnership schemes

    17 Mar 2004

    Investors in film partnership schemes will get 20 per cent tax relief under new rules outlined in the Budget, according to Chancellor Gordon Brown.In a bid to boost investment in the schemes, the Chancellor said he will hike the relief but indicated he would close any remaining loopholes.

  • Choice words

    19 Mar 2004

    I was recently with a client, empathising over the level of bureaucracy within the farming industry, when I mentioned that I too was suffering over changing legislation and moving goalposts. I tried to paraphrase the proposed depolarisation of financial services, saying: "At present, we have those advisers that can advise on products of many, if not all, companies and those advisers that advise on just one company's products. Depolarisation will mean you will still have these ...

  • CIC becomes more critical.

    19 Mar 2004

    Week after week, articles on critical-illness insurance highlight how this market is changing and how medical advances will affect claims' experience. This has led to changes to products, with tighter definitions of the illnesses covered as well as several premium rate increases. The debate has moved on to the advantages and disadvantages of reviewable premium rates compared with guaranteed rates - but haven't we been here before? When the products first entered ...

  • Clerical Medical offers new fund range of fund collections

    17 Mar 2004

    Clerical Medical is introducing a new range of fund collections graded to risk - defensive, cautious and balanced - available from March 2004. The collections are made up of funds from Insight Investment, Clerical Medical's in-house fund manager, and from its external fund managers UBS, Newtons and Schroders.Retail funds marketing manager Amanda Pitt says: "We have designed the fund collections to give intermediaries extra diversification in investment style as well as offering ...

  • Clerical Medical offers new fund range of fund collections

    17 Mar 2004

    Clerical Medical is introducing a new range of fund collections graded to risk - defensive, cautious and balanced - available from March 2004. The collections are made up of funds from Insight Investment, Clerical Medical's in-house fund manager, and from its external fund managers UBS, Newtons and Schroders.Retail funds marketing manager Amanda Pitt says: "We have designed the fund collections to give intermediaries extra diversification in investment style as well as offering ...

  • Clerical puts forward new fund collections

    17 Mar 2004

    Clerical Medical is introducing a new range of fund collections graded according to risk as defensive, cautious and balanced for a range of its products including individual personal pensionsAvailable from March 2004, the collections recommend holding for funds from in-house fund manager Insight Investment and external fund managers UBS, Newton and Schroders. Clerical retail funds marketing manager Amanda Pitt says: "We have designed the fund collections to give intermediaries ...

  • Clerical speeds commission to help IFAs develop business

    19 Mar 2004

    Clerical Medical is to offer IFAs the option to take initial and future renewal commission within 24 hours of claiming the cash to develop their businesses as part of a boost to its adviser service. The commission accelerator scheme allows intermediaries to get up to 80 per cent of outstanding initial commission and 50 per cent of renewal commission usually within 24 hours. Clerical says the aim of the scheme is to improve cashflow in IFA companies so that they can fund ...

  • Close eye on rents

    17 Mar 2004

    CLOSE PROPERTY INVESTMENTFixed Uplift PropertiesType: Closed-ended fund Aim: Growth and income by investing in UK commercial property Minimum investment: Lump sum £25,000 Investment split:100% UK commercial property Place of registration:Isle of Man Charges: Annual 3.5%, performance fee 20% Commission: Initial 3.15% Tel: 0870 733 3773Close Property Investment's fixed uplift ...

  • Corporate and CGT tax to freeze

    17 Mar 2004

    The Chancellor has vowed to freeze corporate and capital gains tax over the coming year.Presenting the Government's budget for 2004, Gordon Brown said there were no reasons to increase these taxes at the present time.

  • Cover notes

    19 Mar 2004

    What do you see as being the major issues for insurance brokers facing regulation? Carr: Regulation should ensure a better standard of advice for those consumers who seek guidance on protection. We fear, however, that in the long run, regulation will stop people protecting families. In short, wherever there is an element of predicting the future, something, no matter how small and no matter how right it seems today, will eventually seem wrong. Wrong must then be righted ...

  • Dawnay Day in unique entrance to China

    22 Mar 2004

    DAWNAY DAY QUANTUMPROTECTED CHINA FUNDType: Capital-protected fund Aim: Growth linked to the performance of the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index Minimum investment: Lump sum £5,000-no maximum, Isa £7,0007 Investment split 100% linked to the performance of the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index Term: Six years Return: Up to 70% growth Guarantee: 90% of original capital returned regardless of performance ...

  • Dead cert

    19 Mar 2004

    A literary birdy has drawn the Diary's attention to Tom Stoppard's play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. It seems that the part of Polonius was originally played in the play's premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1966 by a thespian named Walter Merricks, curiously sharing his name with the FOS chief ombudsman. The Diary has long been aware of the watchdog's board-treading past but had been unaware that he played such an historical part as Stoppard went ...

  • Deputy Prime Minister to consult on increasing the supply and affordability of homes

    17 Mar 2004

    The Barker review published this morning revealed that the supply of new homes is considerably behind demand, and says that the number of houses being built in Britain must rise substantially if house price inflation is to be reduced and the number of affordable houses is to be increased.Chancellor Gordon Brown said the Deputy Prime Minister would consult on increasing the supply and affordability of homes, and on how to strike a balance between economic and social development ...

  • Dread reckoning

    19 Mar 2004

    Reviewable critical illness insurance can be the right product for the right type of client but there are still fears that advisers could face complaints. The concerns are over consumers seeking redress if premiums on their reviewable plans increase considerably and unexpectedly. Some experts feel the pressure is on advisers to make absolutely sure and have documented evidence that their clients are also sure that reviewable premiums are just that. Abbey for Intermediaries head ...

  • Eagle axes pension bonus

    19 Mar 2004

    Eagle Star is scrapping the reversionary bonus on conventional with-profits pensions this year to ensure that it can meet its guaranteed benefits. It will pay a reversionary bonus of 0.25 per cent for conventional with-profits life policies. Annual bonus rates for its series 5 unitised with-profits fund are 1 per cent for life policies and 2 per cent for pension policies. The firm is reducing or removing market value reductions on its 90:10 with-profits series.

  • Equitable Life Edge - Alan Steel

    19 Mar 2004

    Equitable Life policyholders hoping that Lord Penrose would uncover the misselling endemic at Equitable during the 1990s have again been left high and dry. The other day, I was asked what it was that led me to criticise Equitable Life openly in April and May 1997, being threatened with a writ in the process. At the time, I was concerned with a number of issues related wholly to mass misselling. Seven years later, none has come to light in the Penrose report. I wonder why. You ...

  • Equitable Life Edge - Tom McPhail

    19 Mar 2004

    The Equitable Life with-profits fund was nothing more than a form of sophisticated pyramid scheme. It was a con. I am paraphrasing Lord Penrose a bit here but bear with me. The scheme used complex actuarial practices which masked its true financial position from even the closest scrutiny. It deliberately maintained payouts to existing investors at unsustainably high levels specifically to entice new investors to join. Payout figures were targeted to look good in league tables. ...

  • Estate agents: Stamp duty freeze is ineffective

    17 Mar 2004

    The National Association of Estate Agents believes the Chancellor's freezing of stamp duty at current levels is effectively a rise.In response to the Chancellor's Budget speech, NAEA chief executive Peter Bolton King says with inflation at 2.4 per cent and house prices continuing to rise annually, Gordon Brown is effectively increasing the number of homebuyers who are now liable for this tax. He says figures from the Inland Revenue reveal £3.59billion was raised ...

  • Euro test progress for next budget

    17 Mar 2004

    Chancellor Gordon Brown has said today in his Budget speech that the Government will not be reporting on Britain's progress towards meeting the five Euro tests until the next budget.

  • Extra tall story

    19 Mar 2004

    Who gives you extra? The Halifax's Howard, of course. The Diary was not surprised to learn that life-sized cardboard cutouts of the all-singing all-dancing Howard have been going walkabout from branches clutched to the breasts of middleaged women. After all, he is pretty dashing. But the latest development in the Howard fan club saga is rather more surprising - an ardent fan recently disabled a building alarm and attempted to steal a 160ft Howard poster. This has to ...

  • Fair trade

    19 Mar 2004

    Many of us would argue that there has never been a better time to invest in equities but convincing a still sceptical or nervous client can be hard. Equally, it has been difficult convincing the market to invest in traded life policies. However, the last 12 months have proved that advisers in the UK are now fully committed to TLPs as sales are exceeding£2m a month. Advisers are still faced with poor returns from fixedinterest investments and customers that are unprepared ...

  • Film partnerships on cutting room floor?

    18 Mar 2004

    Budget plans to scrap section 48 relief for low-budget British films could bring down the curtain on most film partnership schemes. Wednesday's Budget confirmed that section 48 - which allows investors to write off the whole of their investment under certain conditions - is likely to be ditched next July and replaced with a tax credit scheme for production expenditure. The new relief, which will cover 20 per cent of the production costs of British films, will go direct ...

  • First time home buyers having to wait up to six years to buy

    22 Mar 2004

    A quarter of first-time home buyers have to wait nearly six years to be able to buy their first home, according to a new report from The MarketPlace at Bradford & Bingley.The report says the average first time buyer property now costs £93,925, with one in four first time buyers taking four to six years to buy their first place and 16 per cent taking seven years or more . A total of 17 per cent rely on their parents to help them with the deposit. At the same time more than ...

  • Fix your business before it's broken

    19 Mar 2004

    Back in November last year, when he came through the door of our offices in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, there was nothing in his appearance or manner that indicated that Steve Champion was going to have a big impact on our business. Five minutes into our meeting, this guy from Pivotal, describing himself as a business consultant, said: "You know that maxim, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it? Well it's wrong." Understandably, my colleagues and I thought, here comes ...

  • Former Sesame member loses out on renewals

    19 Mar 2004

    Ex-Sesame network member Roy Essex has hit out at the mega-network, saying it is taking a higher percentage of former members' renewal commission than it charges current members. He says when he left Sesame last summer, members were being charged 15 per cent of all commission. The rate was then reduced to 12.5 per cent but Essex says former members are still being charged at the rate of 15 per cent. Essex is now a directly regulated sole trader focusing on non-regulated ...

  • FSA fines Allied Dunbar £725,000 for mortgage endowment mishandling

    19 Mar 2004

    The FSA has fined Allied Dunbar £725,000 for mishandling mortgage endowment complaints, contending there were serious flaws in its procedures for handling mortgage endowment complaintsThe FSA says the flaws occurred between May 2001 and April 2003 and exposed a large number of Allied Dunbar customers to potential loss.FSA director of enforcement Andrew Procter says: "The fair treatment of customers does not begin and end at the point of clinching a sale. It applies ...

  • FSA publishes new CIS rules

    23 Mar 2004

    The FSA has published more flexible rules for UK authorised collective investment schemes, giving retail investors access to a wider range of investment opportunities. The regulator says the new regime will remove the existing category of non-UCITs authorised funds, give fund managers more flexibility to manage funds and permit them to introduce performance fees. Most of the changes were proposed in the FSA's CP185 document last year.

  • FSA responds to Miles review

    18 Mar 2004

    The FSA it will consider carefully the recommendations made by David Miles in his review of long term fixed interest rates.FSA director of high street firms Sarah Wilson says with the introduction of statutory regulation of the mortgage market on 31 October 2004, the FSA will implement reforms to improve the functioning of the market and will press ahead with these as planned.Wilson says: "David Miles has provided a comprehensive analysis of the UK mortgage market. We welcome ...

  • Furbs go flying

    19 Mar 2004

    The Government's proposals for pension simplification have raised a great number of questions. As evidence of this, at a recent meeting that we facilitated for pension specialists from many of our client companies, with a welcome contribution from members of the Inland Revenue's simplification team, there were over 50 very good questions posed. One of the topics we discussed in some depth were the proposals for the taxation of non-registered pension schemes - in effect, ...

  • Gaskin leaves board as Interlink discusses sale

    19 Mar 2004

    Directors at Interlink Premier Network are believed to have moved to reassure their members that they are not winding up the firm and are in negotiations with a potential buyer for the business. Money Marketing understands that, following concern by Interlink advisers, directors have this week told them that a deal is being discussed. Interlink chairman Jim Gaskin says he cannot comment on possible changes but confirms that he has stepped down from the board. Gaskin, ...

  • Gordon Brown

    19 Mar 2004

    Gordon Brown is viewed by many as one of the most powerful Chancellors the UK has ever had. He presided over the creation of the FSA and holds the UK's decision to join the euro in the palm of his hand. But for some reason, financial services and Brown have never been a good match. Brown grew up in Kirkcaldy in Fife, the hometown of economist Adam Smith. His father was a Church of Scotland minister and he attended church three times on a Sunday. This work ethic was ...

  • Government to allow real estate investment trusts

    17 Mar 2004

    Chancellor Gordon Brown says the Government is to push ahead with plans to introduce real estate investment trusts.In his Budget speech, the Chancellor said he would allow firms to offer the trusts, which are a common feature in many other European countries.

  • Higher property values for landlords - Paragon

    17 Mar 2004

    Paragon's buy to let index for March shows another rise in the prices landlords are paying for their residential investments, with a three per cent rise in property values in February following a 0.6 per cent rise in January.Managing director John Heron says: "The housing market has proved remarkably robust since the New Year, with both Halifax and Nationwide showing price rises of around 3.8 per cent in two months. Landlords, as 'unemotional purchasers', are often able ...

  • How FSA returns £9m in fines to the industry

    19 Mar 2004

    I am aware from recent comments in Money Marketing that there has been some recent interest in what the FSA does with the fines it receives. I thought it might be helpful if I explain the position. Our policy for dealing with fines received is explained in our consolidated policy statement on fees which is published on our website. This policy is also summarised in the accounting policies' note to our accounts. This makes it clear that, as was intended by Parliament ...

  • Howard hammers borrow now tax later Chancellor

    17 Mar 2004

    Leader of the Opposition Michael Howard has hammered the Chancellor's Budget describing it as a borrow now tax later budget from a borrow now tax later Chancellor. Howard slammed the party's savings record revealing that the number of people saving has fallen by 5 per cent from 10 per cent to 5 per cent.

  • Howard knocks Brown's 'borrow now, tax later' Budget

    18 Mar 2004

    lTechnical Connection's Tony Wickenden (below) and Money Marketing have teamed up to bring you an introductory free instant analysis of the Budget via our new Techlearn service. An online audio-visual lecture from Technical Connection will summarise the Budget for you and your clients. The innovative Techlearn technology enables us to deliver the lecture to you quickly and easily via an ordinary modem. You can log on to Money Marketing Techlearn via moneymarketing.co.uk. Conservative ...

  • HSBC - Performance Plus Isa 25

    18 Mar 2004

    Type: Capital-protected ToisaAim: Growth linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 indexMinimum-maximum investment: £3,000-£9.000Term: Five yearsGuarantee: Original capital returned in full regardless of performance of indexReturn: Up to 100% growth at end of termClosing date: May 7, 2004Commission: Initial 2%Tel: 0800 181890

  • Huge increase in purchasing financial services online predicts Sainsbury's Bank

    23 Mar 2004

    Sainsbury's Bank has predicted a big increase in how much financial services is purchased online over the next 12 months.NOP World Financial research has indicated the 31 per cent growth seen in 2003 will continue in 2004 with the number of adults arranging financial services products online increasing to 3 million.Sainsbury's Bank says it has seen a 600 per cent increase in usage of its website over the past three years and has therefore relaunched its website with ...

  • IFA warns against Brown's IHT pledge

    17 Mar 2004

    The Millfield Partnership investment specialist Anthony Clements welcomes the rise of the inheritance tax band to £263,000 but warns the Chancellor is underestimating the number of estates that will be affected by IHT.Clements says: "Although the move does not reflect, nor has it done in previous years, the rise in people's wealth and in particular the value of their main asset, their house. While Gordon Brown says that 90 per cent of estates will be IHT free, I am convinced ...

  • IHT planning on the rise

    19 Mar 2004

    Wealth management IFAs are generating up to 25 per cent of revenue from estate planning and expect this to rise, according to research by Canada Life. House prices have doubled since 1998 while the inheritance tax nil-rate band has gone up by 14 per cent to £255,000. Since Labour came to power in 1997, annual Treasury revenue from IHT has risen by 41 per cent, with the number of taxed estates up by 39 per cent. Canada Life is expanding its estate planning ...

  • iimia buys Kettering-based IFA

    22 Mar 2004

    iimia has acquired Kettering-based financial planning firm Solace Associates, bringing the fund group's assets under management to more than £200m.Solace, which was established in 2001 by four local practices, will join iimia's advisory arm after its recent acquisition of financial planners Compton House.

  • Independent view

    19 Mar 2004

    Gone are the days, thankfully, when it was unusual for a gay client to admit their sexuality openly for fear of discrimination and bigotry. With increased awareness of same-sex partnerships and long-needed changes in legislation, gay couples can now enjoy the freedom of acceptance. Or can they? I have quite a few clients in same-sex partnerships and I am becoming increasingly annoyed at how gay men are treated, particularly in relation to obtaining life, critical-illness and income ...

  • Intermediaries call for carrot rather than stick

    19 Mar 2004

    Intermediaries are calling for the Treasury to use "a carrot rather than a stick approach" to bring in Miles' recommendations, allowing lenders to make their own decisions over who has access to their products. Charcol senior technical manager Ray Boulger wants to see lenders forced to be more transparent about their policies but he does not believe they should be forced to offer all deals to all existing customers and thinks this should be a commercial decision for each lender. The ...

  • Investment analysis

    19 Mar 2004

    A combination of concerns over the global economy and corporate earnings as well as the horrific terrorist attacks in Spain gave investors all the encouragement they needed to take profits last week and, in spite of a rally in shares in the US on Friday, the FTSE World index ended the week with a loss of 3.8 per cent. The relatively defensive make-up of the UK stockmarket protected investors from the worst of the falls although the 100-point drop in the FTSE 100 on Thursday was ...

  • Investment bonds gain in trust rethink

    18 Mar 2004

    The Government's move to modernise the tax system for trusts has increased the attractiveness of offshore and onshore bonds, says Skandia marketing development manager Colin Jelley. Measures to simplify the trust tax system were ann-ounced in the Budget, with most changes set to come into effect on April 6, 2005. As announced in the pre-Budget report, the trust tax rate is to rise from 34 per cent to 40 per cent and the dividend rate will rise from 25 per cent to 32.5 ...

  • Investment trust directors' fees will rise - Principal Search

    22 Mar 2004

    The average fees paid to UK investment trust director's will rise by more than 20 per cent according to the latest research from Principal Search headhunter Kim Yates.Yates has suveyed more than 150 trusts and expects the average level of fees to rise 22 per cent to £15,000 from £12,200 per annum in the next two years.

  • Investment view

    19 Mar 2004

    Having had a few days R&R on a Mediterranean Island distinctly warmer and sunnier than the chilly capital I had left behind, it came as something of a shock to the system to be faced with an audience of several dozen investment professionals on my return. All were anxious to get a steer on what to do in the future. As if that daunting prospect was not enough, I then hotfooted it to Scotland for the first of this season's IFA Events conferences. It did not end there - but ...

  • JO Hambro to cap UK growth fund at £350m

    19 Mar 2004

    JO Hambro Capital Management expects to cap its UK growth fund at £350m this year as investors continue to clamour for exposure to its rigorous stock selection and risk control process. The fund boutique, which sets maximum asset limits on all its products, says it is not prepared to swamp its managers and risk hampering their performance for the sole aim of attracting as much money as possible. The fund is capped below the £500m level that manager Mark Costar ...

  • John Joseph on Protection

    19 Mar 2004

    Without any thought for the consequences, those who have never had to work for a living - you know, pick up a phone to earn a living, knock on doors, drive 250 miles on the off chance of a sale, sit with clients trying to warn them of the dire financial consequences of not having cover, comfort a widow or widower and feel that sinking feeling that they could have done more - issue edicts from Canary Wharf as a way to vindicate their invented position in the FSA. Wake up Docklands ...

  • Join legal forces

    19 Mar 2004

    The short article headed, Survey prompts FSA to educate school leavers (Money Marketing, March 11) is indeed good news. Most educational establishments give little or no training to young people on, say, the basics of opening a bank account. But why stop there? We in the legal profession regularly deal with young people with no idea of the legal aspects of, say, buying their first property and they are blatantly missold policies which they neither need nor can afford ...

  • Julian Gibbs

    19 Mar 2004

    With many stockmarkets now having recovered, it is vital for growth investors to diversify their investments throughout the major world stockmarkets. The Skandia Indicator, which gives the current views of 25 leading investment houses, makes emerging markets the most likely sector to perform best over the next year or so, followed closely by Pacific ex-Japan. Japan is the next most popular sector, followed by Europe and the UK, while all sectors of the bond markets give a consensus ...

  • Keep mutual choice for consumers

    19 Mar 2004

    On the back of last week's Penrose report, the Treasury has announced the set-up of yet another review, this time looking at the continuing viability of the mutual life insurance sector. Treasury Financial Secretary Ruth Kelly has asked Paul Myners, a fund manager who already has one Government-commissioned review under his belt, to take a look at mutual life companies and specifically to assess whether they are as answerable to their members as their plc rivals are to their ...

  • Keydata Investment Services - Innovative Growth Plan

    17 Mar 2004

    Type: Guaranteed equity bondAim: Growth linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 indexMinimum-maximum investment: £3,000-no maximum, Isa £7,000Term: Six yearsGuarantee: Original capital returned in full regardless of performance of indexReturn: Up to 80% growth if index rises, up to 30% growth if index fallsClosing date: April 23, 2004, Pep/Isa transfers April 8, 2004Commission: ...

  • L&G provide late ISA application service

    19 Mar 2004

    Legal & General put arrangements in place to accept applications for the 2003/ 2004 tax year up until midnight on 5 April to help investors who leave making their ISA investment to the last minute.Customers are able to use L&G's telephone dealing service on Freephone 0800 092 0092, which on Monday 5 April will be open until midnight to take applications and payment by debit card.L&G retail investments marketing director Claire Stracey says: "We always receive some applications ...

  • Lenders accusing Govt of disjointed housing policy

    19 Mar 2004

    The Council of Mortgage Lenders is criticising the Government for its "schizophrenic" policies on home ownership. It hopes this week's Budget will use fiscal policy to build a more flexible housing market which will help the Government deliver its economic and social policy objectives. Director general Michael Coogan believes the housing and mortgage markets have suffered from "too much dogma and too much political intervention of the wrong kind". In its Budget ...

  • Lessons in literature

    19 Mar 2004

    There is an old adage that you never forget a good teacher. The same could be applied to financial services companies. Those that take the time and trouble to educate their clients will reap the rewards through increased customer retention. Transparency in the financial services industry is no longer news. Nor is the imperative to use Plain English. But doing more than just paying lip service to such rulings can pay dividends. Companies that go out of their way to make financial ...

  • Long term could be just a decade

    19 Mar 2004

    The Miles review indicates a shift away from the European model based around 25-year long term fixes advocated by Chancellor Gordon Brown, with Professor David Miles stressing that long-term loans can be as short as 10 years. Last year's Budget saw Brown asking Miles to examine the case for a long-term fixed-rate mortgage market in the UK. Last June, Brown told the House of Commons that he wanted interest rates in the UK to come more into convergence with the rest ...

  • M&G - M&G Property Fund

    22 Mar 2004

    Type: Unit trustAim: Income and growth by investing in UK commercial propertyMinimum investment: Lump sum £1,000Investment split: 45% retail, 31% industrial, 9% retail warehouse, 15% officesPlace of registration: GuernseyCharges: Initial 5%, annual 1.25%Commission: Initial 3%, renewal 0.5%Tel: 01245 215707

  • Manor Park offers global exposure

    23 Mar 2004

    Manor Park has unveiled the Manor Park Guaranteed Global Growth Fund (May 2004 Series), a capital-protected offshore investment trust that offers investors a choice of capital protection and the level of return.The trust is linked to the performance of a basket of three indices during a five-year term, but these indices do not carry equal weightings. The FTSE 100 index and the Dow Jones Eurostoxx 50 Index each accounts for 30 per cent of the composite index, while the remaining ...

  • March of the machines

    19 Mar 2004

    Imagine an investment which had grown at a rate of 30-35 per cent a year since 1900. Better still, the rate of return achieved since 1940 was nearer 50 per cent a year. Impossible? Well, according to a study by William D Nordhaus of Yale University in his paper entitled, The Progress of Computing, I have just described the increase in computer power over the last century. These statistics lead me to one of my favourite discussions with IFAs - will technology ever completely replace ...

  • McAteer rails at 'ransom' in threat to block a cap rise

    19 Mar 2004

    Consumers' Association senior policy adviser Mick McAteer has accused the retail pension industry of holding the Government, consumers and taxpayers to ransom to get the 1 per cent stakeholder cap raised. In a blistering attack, McAteer told an Adam Smith Institute/Cityforum conference packed with industry leaders in London last week that the retail pension model was fundamentally unsuitable for the mass market. He warned that the CA would carry out a relentless campaign ...

  • McFall slams lack of aid on endowments

    19 Mar 2004

    Treasury select committee chairman John McFall launched a blistering attack on the savings industry last week with the publication of a report examining the extent of mortgage endowment misselling. The report claims a potential shortfall in endowment mortgages of nearly £40bn and says around 80 per cent of the 8.5 million endowment mortgage policies in force are unlikely to pay off the mortgage they were originally taken out to fund. It suggests that 50-60 per cent ...

  • MD role for Kenmir as FSA restructures

    19 Mar 2004

    Regulatory responsibility for IFAs has changed hands as David Kenmir becomes one of three managing directors in an FSA reshuffle. Clive Briault has been promoted from director of prudential standards to managing director (retail markets), giving him res-ponsibility for regulating firms with predominantly retail business. This includes IFAs, ins-urers, high-street banks, building societies and mortgage lenders. The reshuffle also sees director (deposit takers) ...

  • Medical blunder

    19 Mar 2004

    Further to the letter in connection with Norwich Union's failure to provide cover for an IFA, I thought you would be interested to see that it is not only IFAs that it fails (Money Marketing, March 4). A client of mine has a joint-life, second-death policy for £500,000 with Norwich Union and completed the appropriate forms to increase it to £600,000, to which Norwich Union agreed. It took the client's additional money, wrote a letter confirming that the policy ...

  • MGM shaves 3 per cent off bonuses

    17 Mar 2004

    MGM Assurance has cut maturity payouts on its 25-year with-profits endowment policies by 3 per cent. The mutual says it increased the proportion of equities in its conventional with-profits fund to 41 per cent from 30 per cent through 2003, and achieved a 10.1 per cent return on assets across the fund.MGM chief operating officer Neil Walker says: "Our mutual status has allowed us to provide our customers with excellent returns from their with-profits policies. This comes at a time ...

  • Miles calling for 'trail fees' to curb churning

    19 Mar 2004

    Intermediaries should be paid through "trail fees" to help reduce churn and other problems in the mortgage market, says Professor David Miles. Miles faced a barrage of criticism from brokers last December following comments in his interim report accusing brokers of aggravating churn by pushing consumers towards shorterterm products. He concedes that intermediaries consulted by the report said the practice of advisers regularly prompting customers to consider remortgaging ...

  • Miles is shunned while Barker is backed

    18 Mar 2004

    The Miles report appears to have been sidelined in the Budget, which failed to announce a consultation into the recommendations made by Professor David Miles last week. The only mention of the report in the Budget is an announcement that its recommendations will be "considered by the Government and the FSA", in a move that some say is a clear snub to Miles' look at the potential market for long-term fixed-rate mortgages. Miles was given the task in last year's Budget ...

  • Momentum welcomes removal of benefit in kind tax on pensions advice

    18 Mar 2004

    Momentum Financial Services pensions specialist Mark Stopard says the group is particularly pleased that the Chancellor has decided to remove the benefit in kind tax charge where an employer pays for pensions advice for their workforce up to £150 per employee per year.Stopard says: "This removes a significant disincentive for pensions advice in the workplace which is one of the most effective ways of increasing pension provision and starting to tackle the £27bn annual savings ...

  • Morgan Stanley - FTSE Protected Growth Plan 4

    23 Mar 2004

    Type: Capital-protected bondAim: Growth linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 indexMinimum-maximum investment: £5,000-£1m, Isa £3,000-£7,000Term: Six yearsGuarantee: Original capital returned in full regardless of performance of indexReturn: 30% growth at end of year three if index rises by at least 30%, up to 120% growth at end of termClosing date: April 23, 2004Commission: ...

  • Mortgage rates lowest for 40 years

    17 Mar 2004

    Chancellor Gordon Brown said mortgage rates, at an average of 5 per cent today, are at their lowest for 40 years.He said interest rates, at 16 per cent in the eighties and 15 per cent in the nineties, are today at 4 per cent.

  • Move to help lenders fund long-term loans

    19 Mar 2004

    Professor Miles' report into the UK mortgage market has proposed a series of changes that would enable lenders to fund longer-term fixed-rate mortgages more easily. One way for lenders to fund longer-term fixes is through issuing bonds but Miles points out that there is a lack of specific legislation in the UK. He recommends that covered bonds issued by UK lenders are treated in the same way for regulatory purposes as those issued in countries where there is specific ...

  • MPs want a shake-up to end 'aggressive pursuit of sales'

    19 Mar 2004

    MPs believe the payment structure on financial products needs urgent reform as it rewards the "aggressive pursuit of sales" rather than provision of decent advice and after-sales care. The Treasury select committee wants widespread change to end misselling. The committee's report says advisers are rewarded for pursuing an "often inappropriate sales process" and says it is disappointed that the proposed Sandler suite of products is dominated by a similar structure. It ...

  • NAPF working on plans to replace state scheme

    19 Mar 2004

    The National Association of Pension Funds is starting a major piece of work on how to manage the transition from the existing means-tested pension system to a new universal pension. Chief executive Christine Farnish told the Cityforum conference that planning must start now for an overhaul of state pensions that could take 10 years to become law. The NAPF is working with the Pensions Policy Institute on how to phase out contracted-out rebates with minimum adverse impact ...

  • New release of life

    19 Mar 2004

    Mrs Smith, who is 70, has been finding it difficult to cope financially since the death of her husband, who had predominately a pension-based income. However, the family home is worth around £500,000. Could releasing income from her home be the answer? Mrs Smith should proceed with caution. Equity release is a simple concept which belies more complicated implications both on a financial and emotional level. Nevertheless, she should give the prospect serious consideration. ...

  • Nil rate band for IHT increased to £263,000

    17 Mar 2004

    Chancellor Gordon Brown has increased the nil rate band for inheritance tax to £263,000 from £255,000.Speaking in today's budget Brown said the move would mean that more than 90 per cent of estates would pay no inheritance tax at all. The rate of inheritance tax is unchanged at 40 per cent.

  • Noble & Co - Artemis Aim VCT

    23 Mar 2004

    Type: Venture capital trustAim: Growth and income by investing in companies quoted on Aim, OFEX and unquoted companiesMinimum investment: Lump sum £3,000Closing date: April 30, 2004Charges: Initial 5 per cent, annual 2 per centCommission: Initial 3 per centTel: 020 7367 5600

  • Norwich Union offers PMI solution to smaller companies

    19 Mar 2004

    Norwich Union Healthcare has made its solutions group private medical insurance available to smaller companies.The product was originally established in May 2002 for businesses with between 50 and 249 employees but is now caters for firms with between 10 and 249 staff.Solutions provides core cover and a range of options that allow companies to add or remove benefits to suit a range of employees. Core cover benefits includes hospital charges as an in-patient or day-patient, ...

  • One year's penalty on Abbey's 15-year fix

    19 Mar 2004

    Abbey is launching a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage at 5.74 per cent with a redemption penalty of one year's interest. The company says it will judge the popularity of this loan and then decide whether it will make any further moves into the market for long-term fixed-rate products. The loan is available for purchases and remortgages. There is an arrangement fee of £199. Borrowers can opt for packages such as free valuation at a rate of 5.79 per cent. Maximum loan ...

  • Ongoing advice pays off with profit boost

    19 Mar 2004

    Advisory firms with business models based on ongoing holistic advice are far more profitable than those with transactional structures, according to research conducted by Pivotal for Sofa. The survey of 45 Sofa members looked into the differences between firms generating healthy profits and those with average profitability. Most of the successful firms - which earn double the profits for every hour worked by the firm's principals compared with their counterparts - were found ...

  • Out of context

    19 Mar 2004

    •"The dentist is almost as expensive as my PI bill now but at least the dentist is pain-free." - Informed Choice managing director Nick Bamford updates MM on his root canal work •"I can guarantee you selection in the most left-wing constituency in the UK." - Labour MP John McFall to the Adam Smith Institute's Matthew Young on hearing the right-wing thinktank's plan to double the basic state pension. •"They must be are trying to denude Norway of its trees." ...

  • Peer pressure for action in equity-release market

    19 Mar 2004

    Liberal Democrat peer Lord Sharman is pressing the Government to take action to safeguard elderly people in the equity-release market. He told a House of Lords' debate that the market, worth £1bn a year, is aimed at vulnerable people who need protection and there is huge potential for misselling. Lord McIntosh of Haringey, the Parliamentary under-secretary of state in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, said the problem with regulating home-reversion ...

  • Penrose adamant he is not keeper of the 'gates'

    19 Mar 2004

    Lord Penrose stuck to his guns in front of the Treasury select committee this week, refusing to be drawn on whether the Government should compensate Equitable Life policyholders. Penrose said there were two "gates" that needed to be passed through first in situations of laying blame, namely a definition of the duty to address the situation and a judgment on whether what had been done or not done was a breach of that duty. Ruling on these two "gates" was not for him to do, he said. Labour

  • Pension details needed to maximise extra time

    18 Mar 2004

    The headline news out of the Budget will be that the Government has listened to the industry and realises that time will be required if we are to implement retrospective pension changes properly. It is particularly important that people affected adversely by the changes are able to receive appropriate advice and that pension providers and employers also have sufficient time to implement these changes before A-Day. Setting the implementation date at April 6, 2006 instead ...

  • Pensions cap concession not enough - Mellon

    18 Mar 2004

    Despite the Chancellor's move to appease the industry by raising the pensions cap from £1.4m to £1.5m financial services provider Mellon Financial Corporation's human resources & investor solutions group believes the cap will still have a detrimental effect on middle management. Mellon HR& IS head of technical services Kevin LeGrand believes that Brown's move to up the lifetime limit and made way for the allowance level to be reviewed in the coming years indicated ...

  • Pensions limit increased to £1.8m by 2010 - A-day put back to 2006

    17 Mar 2004

    Chancellor Gordon Brown says the lifetime limit for pension saving will be increased from £1.4m to £1.5m in its first year of operation and rising to £1.8m in 2010.The Chancellor says the new pensions regime will come in in April 2006 and not April 2005 as previously planned.

  • Pifs to offer effective saving for retail investors - SJ Berwin

    18 Mar 2004

    Property investment funds - proposed in this week's Budget - will be an effective means of tax efficient saving for retail investors says law firm SJ Berwin.The firm says it expects the Government consultation on Pifs not to limit investment to residential property and urban regeneration although a minimum investment in such property is being considered.SJ Berwin property partner David Ryland says: "We believe it will be very important that there is a balance between ...

  • Pink Home Loans - Crystal Light Adverse Buy-to-Let

    19 Mar 2004

    Type: Discounted rate adverse credit buy-to-let mortgageDiscounted term: Until August 31, 2005Discount: 2%Payable rate:House purchase 5.35%, remortgages 5.6%Minimum loan: £25,001Maximum loan: Up to 80% of valuation subject to a maximum of £500,000Income multiples: Rental income must be at least 130% of mortgage repaymentsConditions: CCJs up to £3,000 allowed, no arrears in last ...

  • PPF could be next Equitable - Conservatives

    23 Mar 2004

    The Conservative party is claiming the pension protection fund could turn out to be the next Equitable Life, following an open letter from the actuarial profession to Secretary of state for Work & Pensions Andrew Smith, warning of its shortcomings.Shadow Minister for Pensions Nigel Waterson says that for the actuarial profession to take such a step shows the extent of its concern. He says ministers describe the PPF as an insurance fund, but make it clear it will operate without the ...

  • Practitioner Panel voices concerns over FSA and FOS

    22 Mar 2004

    The Financial Services Pracitioner Panel says it would like greater assurance that pracitioners do not face double jeopardy when dealing with the Financial Ombudsman Service.In its annual report, the Panel has voiced concerns firms may have complied with FSA rules but despite that might be subsequently found guilty by the FOS.The Panel says it is looking to continue hold regular discussions to see how these concerns might be addressed.

  • Property funds could be alternative to BTL

    18 Mar 2004

    The Treasury is set to introduce a UK version of US real estate investment trusts to improve the market's efficiency while encouraging expansion of the private ren-ted sector. The Government has iss-ued a consultation paper entitled, Promoting More Flexible Investment In Property, alongside the Budget seeking industry views on property investment funds, which it believes could provide an alternative to the buy-to-let market. Pifs potentially allow investors to put ...

  • Property prices rising too fast says research from The MarketPlace

    22 Mar 2004

    Over a half of Britons feel property prices are rising faster than they can save, according to new research from The MarketPlace at Bradford & Bingley.One in 4 first time buyers are now having to wait between four and six years to get on the property ladder, and 50 per cent of Brits are struggling to save a deposit because they have debts to pay.Seventeen per cent of first time buyers are relying on their parents to help them with a deposit, while eight per cent are buying ...

  • Provision gap is widening

    19 Mar 2004

    Swiss Re Life and Health technical manager Ron Wheatcroft says the income protection gap is widening. Following a speech at last week's Health Insurance conference in London in which Wheatcroft focused on the protection gap and the need for "joined-up regulatory thinking", he says in 2002 the income protection gap was around £130bn of annual benefit and early indications are this is on the rise. He says recent ABI figures show that in 2003 income protection sales ...

  • Relief is doubled for VCTs

    18 Mar 2004

    The Treasury is doubling up-front income tax relief for investments in venture capital trusts and raising the annual limit to £200,000 in a bid to encourage greater investment in the flagging sector. From April 6, investors will get 40 per cent relief instead of 20 per cent as the Treasury seeks to stop the slide which has seen the VCT market slump to £40m from its 2000/01 peak of £420m. The Treasury's decision has surprised observers, who expected it ...

  • Revenue in crackdown on avoidance schemes

    18 Mar 2004

    The Inland Revenue's move to force those who "devise and market" certain tax avoidance schemes to show the det-ails to the Revenue is unlikely to affect many IFAs, according to Towry Law product research manager Simon Farrant. Farrant says the move is an "early warning system" for the Treasury and aimed at big accountancy firms. He says it will only affect IFAs linked with accountants which market these schemes or IFA arms of big accountancy practices. The changes ...

  • Savings timebomb still ticking

    18 Mar 2004

    Building societies and high-street banks say this week's Budget does nothing to help savers or homebuyers. Harshest comments have come from West Bromwich Building Society, whose chief executive Andrew Messenger has called the Budget a kick in the teeth for savers and borrowers. He believes failure to address the saving issue is creating a savings timebomb. Halifax says the Chancellor's position on stamp duty and inheritance tax is not good news for homebuyers. Group ...

  • Seeing red

    19 Mar 2004

    HSBC, the world's local bank, is proud of its understanding of the varied interpretations that different cultures place on messages and symbols. To illustrate the fact, the bank dropped its traditional bright red corporate identity for a poster campaign and boldly adopted a very unfamiliar blue, carrying the message that in Korea, red is considered unlucky. The Diary took a quick jaunt to the bank's Korean arm home page excited at the prospect of the new blue HSBC, ...

  • Shortfalls down from £11k to £8k

    19 Mar 2004

    Independent insurance analyst Ned Cazalet is continuing to predict that 90 per cent of mortgage endowment policies will fall short despite the recent upturn in markets. But in his latest report on with-profits and solvency, Cazalet admits that the average shortfall has fallen to £8,000-£9,000 from £11,000 last year and total shortfalls have fallen from £70bn-plus last year to around £50bn. However, he believes that while the average shortfall ...

  • Simplification set for 2006 as limit is lifted

    18 Mar 2004

    The Chancellor is pressing ahead with pension simplification with a substantially increased lifetime limit and a 12-month postponement of A-Day. In what has been welcomed as a series of concessions by the Treasury, a simplified pension regime will now come in from April 2006 with a lifetime pension fund limit of £1.5m, rising to £1.8m by 2010. The limit, previously set at £1.4m and indexed to prices, has been the subject of fierce lobbying since it was ...

  • Sirius and Bankhall in IT deal

    23 Mar 2004

    Sirius Financial Systems has signed a deal to automate Bankhall's compliance system to enable on-line case checking, feedback to members and give sophisticated reporting both to Bankhall and its members.Bankhall IT Director Nigel Hopwood says: "This is an important step towards achieving Bankhall's IT vision of an end to end service for our members incorporating compliance, commissions and policy valuations."

  • Skills council facing a wait for its licence

    19 Mar 2004

    The Financial Services Skills Council must wait another two weeks before it will know whether it has got its licence from the Government. It was thought that the council would get the licence last week when it appeared in front of the licence assessment panel. But FSSC spokeswoman Kate Saunders says approval is now expected around March 24. She says even though the council expected to be notified last week, it is standard practice for sector councils to submit final evidence and ...

  • Skipton Building Society launches 2 year fix at 4.99 per cent

    23 Mar 2004

    Skipton Building Society is launching a two year fixed rate mortgage at 4.99 per cent which reverts to the Society's variable rate after the fixed rate period with a 0.75 per cent discount.The product is available at up to 95 per cent loan to value and has a completion fee of £499 which can be added to the loan. There is an early redemption charge of 3 per cent until 30 June 2006 and 2 per cent to 30 June 2007.Head of media relations Jennifer Holloway says: "By ...

  • SLI launches global corporate governance platform

    19 Mar 2004

    Standard Life Investments is this year launching a global corporate governance platform, involving portfolio managers in Edinburgh, Hong Kong, Boston and Montreal. The platform will build shareholder activism and governance into Standard's global investment processes.The platform was unveiled at the National Association of Pension Funds' annual investment conference in Edinburgh.Standard Life Investments head of corporate governance Guy Jubb says: "Standard Life Investments ...

  • Small firms hit by end to dividends

    18 Mar 2004

    Gordon Brown has closed the loophole that allowed ownermanagers of small businesses to avoid income tax by paying themselves dividends inst-ead of salary. Many IFAs see this as a "punitive measure" from the Chancellor, with Master Adv-iser managing director Doug Brodie arguing that the move could see many firms return to sole trader status, with widespread job losses. But IFAs believe the purpose of using a limited company will cease to be primarily about tax. Advisers ...

  • Stake through the heart

    19 Mar 2004

    It is no secret that stakeholder pensions have largely been shunned by their target market - those on low incomes - while attracting only a modicum of interest from the better-off. But what has been overlooked is the poor relative performance of some of the higher-profile stakeholder funds offered by firms such as Prudential, Friends Provident and Royal London. Hargreaves Lansdown has analysed the performance of the underlying funds of a host of stakeholder pensions to see how ...

  • Stamp duty frozen

    17 Mar 2004

    Chancellor Gordon Brown announced he would freeze stamp duty in his Budget today.

  • Strength in numbers

    19 Mar 2004

    NPI In March 1998, Money Marketing reported that NPI had a free-asset ratio of 12 per cent against an industry average of above 20 per cent. By October, NPI had put itself up for sale, before AMP emerged as the eventual parent. In October 1999 NPI wrote £295m worth of with-profits business despite having a FAR of only 4 per cent, raising alarm once again over its financial strength. February 2000 was the start of troubled times with NPI cutting 500 jobs. Financial ...

  • Strutt offers low entry to property

    18 Mar 2004

    STRUTT & PARKER REAL ESTATE FINANCIAL SERVICESSprefs Commercial Property FundType: Closed-ended fund Aim: Growth and income by investing in UK commercial property Minimum investment: Lump sum £15,000, Isa £3,000 Investment split: 19.7% industrial, 25.3% offices, 55% retail Place of registration: Dublin Charges: Initial 5%, annual 1.25% Commission: Initial 3% Tel: 0870 420 5511Strutt ...

  • Suit yourself

    19 Mar 2004

    Income protection, or permanent health insurance as it used to be known, has been around since late Victorian times. But over the last few years it has seen a number of radical changes as it continues to meet a real client need - preserving the standard of living of individuals and their families through times of disabling illness or injury. The key words are now choice and flexibility. It is no longer a case of one size fits all. Modern professional planning involves tailoring ...

  • T&G in second chance for cod offering

    22 Mar 2004

    The Johnson Seafarms enterprise investment scheme is seeking a second round of funding through promoters Teather & Greenwood to invest in a cod-farming business.This EIS is looking for up to £2,5m, having sought up to £1m earlier in the years through promoters Kreis Consulting. This time around, up to 500,000 cod hatchlings will be bought and these will be raised to maturity over two or three years, then sold. There are two hatcheries in the UK and Johnson Seafarms ...

  • Talkback

    19 Mar 2004

    "Definitely. It boils down to the fact that the Government and regulation are the main reasons this industry is in turmoil." Paul Rogan,Paul Rogan Financial Planning "No, because there has to be some sort of responsibility taken by Equitable Life policyholders. They were prepared to buy the contracts so they should take the consequences. There is risk in every type of investment." Scott Warren,Eric Warren Financial Services "No. It is not an easy decision to make ...

  • Templeton looks for hidden treasures

    17 Mar 2004

    Franklin Templeton Investments has unveiled the Templeton Global Emerging Markets fund, an Oeic that invests in emerging markets such as China, India, Brazil and Turkey.The fund will be managed by the same team as the Templeton Emerging Markets investment trust and will hold between 100 and 150 stocks. The team is headed by Mark Mobius, who joined Templeton in 1987 and has over 30 years' emerging markets experience. He is supported by 23 portfolio managers and analysts located ...

  • The long wait goes on for redress

    19 Mar 2004

    The Penrose report has finally arrived two-and-a-half years after being commissioned by the Treasury. The question is where do Equitable Life and its policyholders go from here? Policyholders had pinned their hopes on Lord Penrose pointing the finger at regulatory failings so the Government would be forced to provide compensation. But Penrose makes it clear in his report that his role was not to lay blame or decide who should receive compensation but to find out what ...

  • The road to the promised land

    19 Mar 2004

    In his pre-Budget report on December 10, 2003, Chancellor Gordon Brown posed three questions to the National Audit Office, with the implication that their answers would determine whether pension tax simplification would go ahead. The first question boiled down to whether, if you divide £1.4m by 20, you get £70,000. Not surprisingly, the NAO said this "is factually accurate". The NAO did, however, add that £1.4m at any given time may not be sufficient to buy a pension ...

  • Thinking out of the box

    19 Mar 2004

    The beginning of the year is always a good time to gaze into crystal balls and try to establish trends in the marketplace. It was illuminating for me to be invited to a meeting earlier this year of senior IFAs organised by Legal & General to discuss e-commerce strategy. A number of interesting points arose, many of which had little to do with e-commerce. I was struck by the fact that the IFAs demonstrated by the comments they made how much thought they had given to the whole question ...

  • Threesixty helps with authorisation

    19 Mar 2004

    Support service provider Threesixty is offering a suite of services designed to make it easier for mortgage and general insurance intermediaries to become authorised by the FSA. Partner Ross McArthur says the initiative is geared towards helping brokers make an informed decision by reviewing the full range of options open to them. Its aim is to help brokers obtain directly authorised status. McArthur believes direct authorisation is the best route for brokers rather than ...

  • Tinkering will boost the need for advice

    18 Mar 2004

    The continual increase in tax complexity by a Chancellor who is an inveterate tinkerer will continue to drive demand by clients for tax and financial planning advice from IFAs. The Chancellor has confirmed his intention to introduce a new retrospective income tax charge on the benefit that people get by having free enjoyment of assets they previously owned. This is aimed principally at residential property schemes promoted by many solicitors but it was feared that it ...

  • Tony Wickenden's Budget 2004 commentary

    19 Mar 2004

    The expectation levels for significant and mostly unwanted change that would impact directly or indirectly on financial advisers and their clients were extremely high ahead of this year's Budget speech.So what did we get? Well, quite a lot, resulting in substantial scope and need for effective communication with key clients.I will focus on three key areas. First tax avoidance. The "foundation stone" for the renewed attack on avoidance appears to have been laid ...

  • Treasury skates over the limit

    19 Mar 2004

    The National Audit Office has, in effect, given the green light for the Treasury's pension fund lifetime limit of £1.4m but some in the industry feel the sideshow has distracted attention from fundamental flaws in the Treasury's broader pension simplification. They point in particular to the fact that the limit for final-salary schemes will be nearly £1m higher than for money-purchase schemes. The NAO report found that around 10,000 people were likely ...

  • UCB Home Loans - Self-Cert - 2-Year Flexible Fixed

    18 Mar 2004

    Type: Fixed-rate self-cert mortgageFixed term: Two yearsFixed rate: 5.29%Minimum loan: £25,001Maximum loan: Up to 85% of valuation subject to a maximum of £350,000, up to 75% of valuation subject to a maximum of £500,000, up to 65% of valuation subject to a maximum of £750,000Income multiples: 3.25 times principal income plus second or 2.75 times joint Flexible features: Overpayments ...

  • Umbrellas of many colours

    19 Mar 2004

    A new breed of fund of funds that invests in a range of asset classes including investment funds, segregated mandates, direct shares and property is emerging as a result of the European Ucits 3 directive. Although mixed asset funds have been allowed since the UK adopted Ucits 3 in November 2002, providers did not adopt the new rules because of the question mark over Isa and Pep transfer eligibility. With that issue now resolved, funds that take advantage of the new regime ...

  • Universities' scheme switches managers

    19 Mar 2004

    The Universities Superannuation Scheme, the UK's third-biggest private-sector pension fund, has dropped three external fund managers. Schroders, Baillie Gifford and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers have been replaced by Wellington Management International, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Legal & General Investment Management. The scheme has £19bn in assets for more than 200,000 individuals in 350 universities and academic institutions. It manages 70 per ...

  • US Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp ex-boss to speak in London

    22 Mar 2004

    The former head of the US pension protection fund is to speak on how to run a pension guarantee system in London next month.Former Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation executive director Steve Kandarian will discuss the US experience of a pension guarantee fund at a lecture for Watson Wyatt and the Tanaka Business School.Watson Wyatt head of research Mike Orszag says: "This is a exciting opportunity for the UK to benefit from the best wisdom available on the US experience ...

  • VCTs are the sole encouragement for investors

    18 Mar 2004

    Spending appears high on the agenda for the Chancellor but encouraging savers and retail investors has been avoi-ded, other than the pension announcements. Many of the measures that should be put in place to encourage the retail investor were announced before the Budget. By doing this, the Chancellor avoided bringing negative news into a very political Budget speech. The only positive was con- centrated on what is traditionally and will continue to be a specialist market ...

  • VCTs to get tax relief boost

    17 Mar 2004

    Investors in venture capital trusts look set to receive 40 per cent income tax relief on investments up to £200,000 under new rules outlined in the Budget.In his speech, Chancellor Gordon Brown said he would boost the amount of relief available to 40 per cent from 20 per cent but he did not indicate whether this would split between trusts and investors.

  • Verity's view

    19 Mar 2004

    In the time that it takes to digest more than 800 pages of detailed report, the Equitable Life affair is emerging as a very different story to the one that journalists, lawyers, the regulators and even the Government have been telling for the last six years. The story used to be like this. Equitable ran into tro-uble over the issue of annuity guarantees. Its controversial approach to dealing with the issue was formulated in 1993 although that approach only started to bite in 1998. The ...

  • Washed up

    19 Mar 2004

    Here is a good one on money laundering. A company which for four years has been paying income to a client has accepted his instructions to renew his guaranteed income bond. However, it wants all the dreaded money laundering info. As I pointed out: "You have been paying income for four years to the very bank about which you now require details and you have also sent the original and maturity documentation over the same four years to the address you now want certifying." I ...

  • Why doesn't with-profits just fade away?

    19 Mar 2004

    I doubt if The Who had with-profits bonds in mind when they were blasting out My Generation but at least they had something to sing about. It is highly unlikely that anyone will be talking in glowing terms of next-generation with-profits bonds 30 years from now. Some companies have sought to capitalise on the with-profits name while introducing more transparent structures which have appeared to offer some of the benefits of with-profits while seeking to alleviate concerns that ...

  • Winterthur reports strong sales growth in 2003 full year results

    17 Mar 2004

    Winterthur Life is showing strong growth in new insured single premium pensions business sold through IFAs for 2003. It has reported that sales are up 15 per cent to £669m compared to 2002. Over the same period group personal pension business increased 22 per cent and defined contribution pensions went up 194 per cent. However, income drawdown fell by 5 per cent.Winterthur Life UK chief executive Mike Kellard says: "The figures validate that the 194 per cent growth experienced ...

  • Workplace advice gets a tax boost

    18 Mar 2004

    Employees will no longer be hit by a tax bill for financial advice as a benefit in kind in a move which has been described as a huge boost for IFAs in the corporate market. The Budget has acknowledged the value of advice in the workplace by allowing information and advice for workers to be exempt from being a taxable benefit up to £150 a head per employee per year. Pension IFAs say the move marks a recognition by the Treasury of the value and importance of advice ...

  • Yesterday's budget was not one for savers

    18 Mar 2004

    Ivesco Perpetual says it is disappointed in yesterday's Budget, claiming it is not a Budget for savers.Head of distribution Mike Webb says the Budget has offered no new incentives to encourage people to provide for their future and no reassurances about ISAs.He says: "Investors have nothing to look forward to but the abolition of the 10 per cent tax credit on dividend income from 6 April 2004."

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