Money Marketing
18 March 2010
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A bundle of platform problems
19 Mar 2010
Harry Katz, principal of Norwest Consultants, urges the regulator not to land the platform sector with complex requirements
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Acuity in row over VCT direct discount offer
18 Mar 2010
Adviser anger after Acuity Capital promises to rebate charges to clients who subscribe directly for a VCT “top-up”.
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Adviser Fund Index
19 Mar 2010
Data published last week by the Investment Management Association made worrying reading for managers in the sterling corporate bond sector. After record inflows in 2009, the news that retail investors withdrew £228m from the peer group in January marked a sharp fall in appetiteand was the biggest monthly outflow so far.
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Advisers get a warning over relying on platforms
18 March 2010
The FSA has warned advisers not to be over-reliant on platforms.
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Alliance & Leicester manager jailed for £140k fraud
19 Mar 2010
An Alliance & Leicester reg-ional manager has been jailed for 20 months for defrauding customers out of £140,000.
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AMCs of up to 9% on occupational schemes
18 Mar 2010
Some employers and scheme members are being hit with charges of up to 9 per cent on occupational plans, a Department for Work and Pensions report reveals.
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Avalon looks at offering two plans using Mip structure
18 Mar 2010
Avalon is considering launching an offshore bond and insurance policy on its platform similar to a maximum investment plan.
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Back Aifa's levy fight
18 March 2010
FSCS
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Ballot papers
18 March 2010
Money Marketing/YouGov monthly 300-IFA benchmark survey
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Bank accounts
22 Mar 2010
At the second hearing of the Which? Banking Commission recently, several former bank staff gave evidence of the sales culture they experienced while working for some of the biggest names in high-street banking. Following reports of the hearing published in Money Marketing,several former bank employees got in touch to tell us of similar experiences. Here, three former bank advisers talk to Lee Jones about the high-pressure sales culture they experienced when they were working for banks
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Barclays chief's advice claim sparks a clash
19 Mar 2010
Global retail banking chief executive Antony Jenkins accused of “living in a parallel universe”.
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Bestinvest picks new leaders
18 March 2010
John Spiers is to step down as CEO at Bestinvest for the second time.
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Bill could open the way to class actions against advisers
18 Mar 2010
Aifa warns Financial Services Bill could prompt US-style class actions against advisers, opening the floodgates to unmerited claims from consumers and claim-chasers.
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Boost for Options' transfers as 40% completed in seven days
17 Mar 2010
Transfers increased by 70 per cent to 12,000 last year although the average time taken remained 11 days for the fourth quarter.
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Bore for the core
22 Mar 2010
The Schroder managed balanced fund may be in an unexciting sector but manager Andrew Yeadon has been producing consistent outperformance
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Burgess says Govt and quango workers can't find cover
19 Mar 2010
Former British Insurance MD says some unemployment protection providers are refusing to cover Government workers and employees from quangos such as the FSA.
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Campaign for the benefits of advice
19 Mar 2010
Andrew Montlake says mortgage brokers provide a much needed service and should be proud of their role.
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Chasers' site targets annuities
18 Mar 2010
Claim-chasers have set up a website offering to help pensioners who believe they have been missold annuities win redress.
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Couple face insider dealing charges
18 March 2010
An investment banker and his wife have been charged with 13 counts of insider dealing and one of conspiracy to commit insider dealing.
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Cover all the bases
23 Mar 2010
Our panel discuss recent industry action aimed at closing the protection gap
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Crystal clear
19 Mar 2010
Make sure you explore all the options before taking the tax-free cash from a pension fund
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Dangers of Financial Services Bill
18 Mar 2010
Chris Cummings warns rushing through the bill before the general election could cause huge future problems for advisers.
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Death of Simon Clamp
18 March 2010
Simon Clamp: ‘Integrity personified’
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Death of Sir Brian Pitman
18 March 2010
Sir Brian Pitman – ‘A City giant’
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Difficulties with platforms delay CitiFirst fund launch
18 Mar 2010
CitiFirst has delayed the launch of its new Ucits III openended fund by a month and has halved the minimum investment.
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Don't run the risk of taking cautious title at face value
18 March 2010
THE EDITOR’S WEB COMMENT OF THE WEEK
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Eagle says scrap retirement age
18 Mar 2010
Pensions minister Angela Eagle believes that the default retirement age should be scrapped, even though the Labour party has yet to reach this conclusion.
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Emag pulls out of Chadwick review
18 March 2010
Equitable Life policyholder campaign group Emag is withdrawing from working with Sir John Chadwick’s review of compensation for policyholders, labelling his work a “Treasury stitch-up”.
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Enhanced share has doubled in five years
18 March 2010
Sales of enhanced annuities rose by 24 per cent to £1.79bn last year from £1.4bn in 2008, according to figures from Towers Watson.
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Euro court rejects expat pension plea
18 March 2010
The European Court of Human Rights has rejected an appeal by expatriate pensioners calling for payments to rise with inflation.
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Euro earnings
22 Mar 2010
10 MINUTES WITH… OLLY RUSS - James Smith
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Exit strategy
19 Mar 2010
As Stonehaven Equity Release becomes the latest provider to suspend lending, Paul Thomas looks at the wider implications for the sector
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Firms face second-guessing regulator
18 Mar 2010
Advisers give a mixed response to FSA product regulation plans.
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First delivery
18 Mar 2010
Pada chief Tim Jones says the Nest admin contract offers value and flexibility.
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Fortis plans name change to Ageas
18 March 2010
Fortis Insurance UK is to change its name to Ageas in 2011, subject to share-holder approval.
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FSA aims for early warning
18 March 2010
Sants sets out proposals for the regulator to get proactive
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FSA bans ex-Merrill Lynch trader
18 March 2010
The FSA has banned former Merrill Lynch trader Alexis Stenfors from any regulated activities on the grounds he is not a fit and proper person.
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FSA should figure it out
17 Mar 2010
Alan Lakey asks if the gaps in FSA thinking can really be filled by bancassurance.
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'FSA tables are now even more misleading'
18 Mar 2010
Providers launch a fresh attack on FSA’s Money Made Clear annuity tables now more have moved to post-code annuities.
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Healthy profits as Standard looks to make £100m savings
18 March 2010
Standard Life: Healthcare profits up by a third
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Ignis says small caps will beat poll jitters
18 Mar 2010
UK smaller companies fund manager David Clark goes against the grain to suggest small caps will outperform.
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Income protection taskforce sets up adviser roadshows
19 Mar 2010
The Income Protection Task Force is running roadshows across the UK from next month.
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Internet wins over IFAs for financial help
17 Mar 2010
Eight per cent of Britons go to an IFA for retirement planning while 32 per cent turn to the internet for guidance, according to Ship.
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Is inflation the price of recovery?
19 Mar 2010
As the upturn gets a grip, prices are hardening
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Jane cuts back emerging markets with M&G cautious switch to Japan
18 March 2010
M&G Investments head of multi-asset David Jane has reduced exposure to emerging markets in favour of Japan in the M&G cautious multi-asset fund.
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Jordan quits Skandia to take up teaching
18 March 2010
Skandia head of proposition marketing Peter Jordan has left the firm to pursue a career in teaching.
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Keydata Lifemark clients wait for restructure plan
19 Mar 2010
Hannah Stodell examines what the future holds for Keydata Lifemark investors.
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Lloyds offers chance to overpay without penalty
18 March 2010
Lloyds Banking Group is offering all borrowers on variablerate deals the opportunity to make overpayments of up to 20 per cent on their ortgagewithout penalty.
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Market forces
21 Mar 2010
The extreme conditions have tested the strategies of absolute return fund managers to the limit
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Meteor pulls out of Keydata bidding
18 March 2010
Meteor Asset Management has withdrawn its bid for Keydata’s structured products’ book and its associated administration, Money Marketing understands.
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MM leader: Product regulation could bring benefits all round
18 Mar 2010
Earlier intervention in product design could well be a wise move as long as these extra regulations deliver.
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Moneygate boost
18 March 2010
Moneygate Group is looking to grow its IFA network from 75 to 750 advisers over four years after a significant capital injection from MGT Capital Investments UK.
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MPs call for political pact on social care
18 March 2010
Report reveals forms of rationing
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Munich Re reshuffles protection team
18 Mar 2010
Munich Re is restructuring its management team to focus on four specific areas - individual protection reinsurance, group risk reinsurance, longevity and financial reinsurance.
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Old Mutual cost-cutting may see Skandia sell-off
18 Mar 2010
Advisers believe Old Mutual’s vow to be “ruthless” with poorperforming parts of its business gives weight to speculation that Skandia UK could be sold off.
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One more for the road
19 Mar 2010
MARR’S MARKETS - Julian Marr
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Opening the floodgates
19 Mar 2010
Changes to Ucits regulation will see an influx of overseas competitors vying for UK market share, says Chris Salih
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Out of Context
18 March 2010
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Paradigm bids to wrap up pension boom
18 Mar 2010
Helen Pow interviews pension guru Steve Bee and Bankhall founder Paul Hogarth about their wide-ranging plans to present their ParadigmPensions’ proposition to 50,000 employers.
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Part works
19 Mar 2010
Advisers should pay careful attention to detail on partial encashments of bonds or collectives.
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Partnership for LTC
18 March 2010
The King’s Fund has proposed a partnership model for funding long-term care, with the state guaranteeing to pay 50 per cent of care costs and matching individual savings contributions.
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Passage to India
18 March 2010
CALL CENTRES
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Prevention is better than cure
18 Mar 2010
“The bottom line is that we are dealing with a regulator with a new and even tougher agenda.”
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Problems loom for tripartite committee's risk role
17 Mar 2010
Regulation expert Richard Hobbs has doubts over whether a new tripartite consumer protection committee proposed by the FSA, would be effective in its main aim of identifying emerging risks.
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RDR deadline splits advisers
18 Mar 2010
Advisers remain split over whether the 2012 deadline for QCF level four qualifications is achievable, according to member research commissioned by the Chartered Insurance Institute.
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Recipe for disaster
19 Mar 2010
Advisers and clients ignore protection at their peril says PruProtect’s Deepak Jobanputra.
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Repo numbers fall
18 March 2010
New repossessions in the fourth quarter last year fell to 11,800, the lowest level since the second quarter 2008, according to the FSA.
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Rise in FOS limit could hit PI cover
18 Mar 2010
The FSA will consult on increasing the Financial Ombudsman Service’s award limit of £100,000, prompting fears that professional indemnity insurance premiums could rise.
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Robert Graves
18 Mar 2010
Rowanmoor head of technical services and Association of Member Directed Pension Schemes chairman Robert Graves describes himself as ’a small-company guy’ but he has big ambitions and while many in the industry cast doubt on the future of smaller Sipp players, he is confident the RDR will see them come into their own. Interview by Lee Jones
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RoyLon backs Europe for 35% return
19 Mar 2010
Royal London’s European gro-wth trust manager Kevin Lilley believes the European market has 35 per cent upside excluding dividends to the end of 2011.
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Sants reveals FSA flaws
18 Mar 2010
Nic Cicutti says last week’s speech by Hector Sants shows just how much the FSA has failed in its attempts to regulate the industry in the past 11 years.
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Selection process
22 Mar 2010
INVESTMENT SCOPE
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Six-year plan from Meteor
18 March 2010
Meteor Asset Management has launched the protected FTSE deposit plan, offering a potential growth payment of 45 per cent at maturity.
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SRA slams CML call for tighter rules to curb fraud
19 Mar 2010
The Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Solicitors Regulation Authority are at loggerheads after the CML called for tighter regulation to combat solicitors’ involvement in mortgage fraud.
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Stand and deliver
19 Mar 2010
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Succession picks duo
18 March 2010
Succession Advisory Services has selected Quilter to manage a range of discretionary managed portfolios and Vestra Wealth as a core provider on investment matrix offering a range of five risk-graded model portfolios.
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The role of advisers
18 March 2010
ADVICE
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The trend is nigh
18 March 2010
“Last year offered an unsustainably good environment for corporate profits and returns on risky assets. We believe 2010 is very different”.
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The united non-dom
18 Mar 2010
We could become a nation of non-doms paying no tax.
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Threesixty pledges to uphold independence after Standard takeover
18 Mar 2010
Threesixty insists it will remain unbiased after Standard Life deal, saying it will be “business as usual” for advisers and clients.
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Tories press for an end to grace and favour pensions
18 Mar 2010
Shadow leader of the House of Commons Sir George Young writes to Jack Straw following Money Marketing story.
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Turn ash into cash
19 Mar 2010
Gregor Watt smokes out the savings that can be made on insurance premiums by giving up tobacco
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Vanbrugh fund off to flying start with deft choices
18 March 2010
Hawksmoor Investment Management’s Richard Scott and Daniel Lockyer have attributed the first year’s performance of their Vanbrugh fund to asset allocation decisions.
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Warning that early Nest savers will pay for those joining later
18 Mar 2010
People who start saving into the national employment savings trust early on will end up subsidising those enrolled later, Towers Watson has warned.
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Where are they now?
19 Mar 2010
Peter Le Beau suggests it could be time to revive some past products.
