Money Marketing
18 October 2006

  • FSA censures GDT over withdrawal

    19 Oct 2006

    The FSA has publicly censured GD Tancred Financial Services for not clearly explaining and documenting the risks of income withdrawal to customers with small pension pots. GDT is writing to all income withdrawal customers to make them aware of the risks.

  • FSCS processing 501 claims against BIA

    19 Oct 2006

    The Financial Services Compensation Scheme is processing 501 claims against Berkeley Independent Advisers, 354 of which relate to endowments. Berry Birch & Noble Financial Planning (Weston) has now been declared in default by the FSCS, with five claims against the firm.

  • A crazy Asp story

    19 Oct 2006

    There must be a difference between abuse of rules and use of rules

  • A&L gets set for big secured loans push

    19 Oct 2006

    Alliance & Leicester has become the latest name to confirm an interest in the intermediary secured loans market as part of a major push into the sector.The firm will aim to build its presence in the sector next year and it is expected advisers will play a big part in that offensive. A&L already offers secondcharge mortgages on a direct basis, albeit on a small scale.Morgan Stanley moved into the second-charge sector earlier this month after revealing it will fund Paragon's sub-prime ...

  • Abbey issues first commercial property bond

    24 Oct 2006

    Abbey has launched a capital guaranteed commercial property bond and three further capital guaranteed deposit accounts.

  • Aberdeen looks at merging funds

    19 Oct 2006

    Aberdeen is looking to merge its 404.8m managed portfolio with its 128m multi-asset fund and has written to shareholders. The firm is also looking to transfer the 40.7m Aberdeen managed distribution fund it acquired from DWS into its Oeic umbrella.

  • Advance thinking

    19 Oct 2006

    What are the tax implications when beneficiaries agree to pay premiums under a trust held for their benefit?

  • Aifa calls for reduction in costs to execute PBR

    19 Oct 2006

    Aifa says the FSA must be held accountable for the massive cost that the introduction of principles-based regulation will impose on the industry.Speaking at a Treating Customers Fairly conference in London, sponsored by Prudential, Aifa deputy director general Fay Goddard said: "This is costing the industry millions. We are very much about accountability. As lighter-touch regulation comes in, we expect to see reduced staff and reduced costs at the FSA."But the FSA says any changes ...

  • AMI issues guidance on retention

    24 Oct 2006

    The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries has launched a factsheet to help members deal with the issues around retention business. The factsheet covers compliance issues when reviewing existing mortgage arrangements and additional issues that will be raised where a client has an existing unregulated mortgage.

  • Australian firm buys up Rufus

    19 Oct 2006

    Australian technology firm Bravura has bought fund management administration firm Rufus from the Bank of New York for a fee that could rise to £32m.

  • Axa buys Thinc Destini for £100m

    23 Oct 2006

    Axa UK has confirmed it will acquire the whole of the Thinc Destini business for £100m.

  • Axa poised to buy Thinc Destini

    19 Oct 2006

    Axa is poised to buy Thinc Destini, Money Marketing can confirm.

  • Balls set to axe Asps

    19 Oct 2006

    Alternatively secured pensions look certain to be scrapped or hit with an inhibiting spoiler charge after Treasury Econ-omic Secretary Ed Balls revealed that a rule change will be announced in the pre-Budget report.

  • Bee says Government's NPSS claims are a myth

    19 Oct 2006

    Pension guru Steve Bee says Government claims that NPSS savers will receive the equivalent of 8 per cent pension contributions on their earnings are a myth because they cannot save anything from the first £5,000.Bee believes the calculations justify his fears of future widespread NPSS misselling.Under current proposals, NPSS savers will have to pay in 4 per cent of their earnings, which will be matched by a compulsory 3 per cent emp-loyer contribution and 1 per cent tax relief. ...

  • Best Advice Mortgage Network gets FSA fine

    23 Oct 2006

    The Financial Services Authority has fined Best Advice Mortgage Network £7,000 for poor record keeping.

  • Broker

    19 Oct 2006

    Is Norwich Union right to say that too many people who would be better off in a personal or stakeholder pension have been put into higher-charging Sipps?Yes 60%No "I am surprised by this. I cert-ainly have not done this and I do not agree with what Norwich Union are saying."Garth Atherton, Thomas Beales Yes Norwich Union is probably correct in some circumstances. I think a lot of people were setting up Sipps in the run-up to A-Day because residential property was ...

  • Brokers strike back at FSA over IDDs probe

    19 Oct 2006

    The FSA has warned mortgage brokers that only only one of the 300 initial disclosure documents tested in its latest quality of advice survey was compliant.But the regulator has come under fire from brokers for sending out mixed messages by wanting lighter-touch principles-based regulation while insisting on strict guidelines for IDDs.The regulator revealed ongoing failings by firms in the preliminary findings from its quality of mortgage advice investigation in a speech by head ...

  • Building blocks

    19 Oct 2006

    An investor seeks advice on the best way to invest in property

  • Canada Life adds three new funds to product range

    18 Oct 2006

    Canada Life has unveiled two new fund links with M&G and one with F&C to bring the number of funds on its UK life and pensions product range to 72.

  • Carrot soup

    19 Oct 2006

    Our panel debate whether there could be problems over firms offering incentives for staff to quit final-salary schemes

  • Chart gallery

    19 Oct 2006

    I am concluding this series of articles, updating an overview of the major investment asset classes, by summarising the relationship between the current and expected behaviour of equities against the main alternatives.

  • China in your hands

    19 Oct 2006

    It seems that Jupiter is going from strength to strength and adding talent faster than Chelsea Football Club. Richard Curling has come in from Deutsche to run the smaller companies fund and Simon Somerville came from Cazenove to run the new Japan income fund which, despite a torrid year for Japan, is at least up in the top decile. Ben Whitmore will be arriving in a few weeks from Schroders to run a special situations fund.Finally, to help bolster the Far Eastern desk, Jupiter has ...

  • Conflicting accounts

    19 Oct 2006

    NPSS Divisions are growing within the industry over how best to run the proposed personal accounts, says Annie Shaw

  • Congratulations to Informed...

    19 Oct 2006

    Congratulations to Informed Choice managing director Nick Bamford, who graduated with a 2.1 BA Hons degree in financial services last week. He promises to send the MM diary a photo of him decked out in Harry Potter-style robes at the graduation ceremony.

  • Cooper strikes distribution deal with City Financial

    19 Oct 2006

    Industry veteran Patrick Cooper's new venture Harrington Cooper has been signed up to distribute City Financial's multi-manager funds though IFAs.Cooper, formerly head of retail at JO Hambro Investment Management and Axa, will act as an introductory appointed representative of City Financial.The company's diversified absolute return fund, managed by North's John Husselbee, will shortly be joined by other new funds. City Financial says its fund range will expand through acquisition ...

  • Correspondent's Week

    19 Oct 2006

    This week by freelance financial journalist Simon HildreyThis is not a good week to try to cut back on my alcohol consumption. I have a trip arranged to Dublin and this is not the best place in the world to go to avoid excess alcohol.I have been invited to attend presentations by a life insurance company. On arrival, I discover they are being held in the Guinness Brewery. The event proves that, contrary to some reports, insurance companies can organise a piss-up in a brewery. The ...

  • Credit Suisse guru Mott is to step down

    19 Oct 2006

    Income investment guru Bill Mott is to retire from Credit Suisse at the end of the month after 30 years with the group.Mott was the long-term manager of the group's flagship income fund and its monthly income sister portfolio before stepping back from their day-to-day running to take on a mentoring role in 2003.Leigh Harrison took over the funds that year but subsequently left to join Threadneedle in 2005 and was replaced by Errol Francis.Although the flagship income fund ...

  • Crossed lines

    19 Oct 2006

    Money Marketing likes to think of itself as a law-abiding title but it nearly caused a stir at Heathrow Airport this week after an ill-timed call to PMS managing director John Malone as he was going through security.Malone asked for the mortgage hack to call back later for fear of looking suspicious before going through the stringent checks. Sources close to the airport confirm that Malone was not subject to any extra searches after the call, which is fortunate considering he admitted ...

  • Defaqto issues warnings over PPI

    20 Oct 2006

    Defaqto is warning that consumers need to seriously check what they are being sold by lenders offering payment protection insurance.

  • Delay in Ombudsmans report branded disturbing

    18 Oct 2006

    The announcement of a further delay to the Parliamentary Ombudsmans report into the collapse of Equitable Life has been branded disturbing by the group of MEPs involved in a separate inquiry.Parliamentary Ombudsman Ann Abraham has written to MPs saying her report will be delayed until at least May next year, taking the total length of the inquiry to nearly three years.Abraham says in the letter, the further delay has been caused by her team uncovering the fact potentially vital ...

  • Down to earth

    19 Oct 2006

    CBK principals Peter Chadborn and Andy Baker have taken the plunge to raise money for charity by skydiving from 10,000 feet.After 30 seconds of free-falling, they parachuted down and landed intact 10 minutes later. Chadders has raised 851 for the NSPCC so far but is hopeful that the tighter sponsors among you will cough up more."Dave's our internal restaurant guru, I can always ask him."NU's Louise Soulsby on her colleague David Gwyer's culinary expertise "I had ...

  • DTI will remove audit requirements

    19 Oct 2006

    The DTI has laid regulations to remove audit requirements for small regulated firms and appointed representatives after an FSA study. The new regime comes into force in November and the FSA estimates it will save firms £15.25m, with the biggest beneficiaries being financial advisers.

  • Edward Jones segments its UK operation

    20 Oct 2006

    Edward Jones has restructred its UK operation dividing the group into five regions with dedicated leaders.

  • Emerging views

    19 Oct 2006

    By Frances HughesEmerging markets funds may lose out at the next Adv-iser Fund Index rebalancing as panellists respond to the prospect of an econ-omic slowdown and rising interest rates.There are currently eight emerging markets funds across the AFIs. The First State global emerging markets leaders, dimensional emerging markets and Jupiter emerging European opportunities funds are among the most popular.Bates Investment Services senior investment adviser Paul Ilott says when ...

  • Epic scale

    19 Oct 2006

    Epic Investment Partners, part of the big UK financial group with over $4bn under management, has just launched a sterling version of its Epic life settlement fund.

  • Ernie milking it

    19 Oct 2006

    We learn this week that some 40 per cent of the British public own premium bonds as the concept reaches 50 years of existence, with some 32bn - for want of a better word - invested. Yet as we contemplate what the NS&I press office claims to be one of Britain's most successful financial products, we can't help thinking what a pity the 32bn was not invested in pensions. This might be a little more earnest than Ernie but arguably a better use of the money.

  • F&C bolsters US large cap team

    20 Oct 2006

    F&C has strengthened its US large cap team with the recruitment of Paul Allison as a US equities fund manager.

  • F&C's traffic lights driving IFA advice

    19 Oct 2006

    F&C Investments says the traffic light analysis that forms the basis of its multi-manager funds is increasingly being used by IFAs to check whether funds they recommended for clients in the past are still appropriate.The screening tool designed by Richard Philbin highlights consistency within funds across six criteria - correlation, performance, alpha, volatility, maximum loss and information ratio.A universe of 20,000 funds is screened on a monthly basis, with funds being flagged ...

  • Fear that political dogma could mean axe for Asps

    19 Oct 2006

    Suffolk Life director of sales and marketing John Moret says there is a danger that alternatively secured pensions will be axed in the pre-Budget report because political dogma is overshadowing common sense within the Government.Speaking at the IFP annual conference in Leicester last week, Moret said the Government has got itself into a "pickle" over the issue and an obvious way out is a PBR U-turn.He said the FSA should clamp down on pension transfer problems such as issues ...

  • Fidelity completes American special situations fund transition

    23 Oct 2006

    Fidelity American special situations fund manager Bob Haber has completed his three month transition of the fund by reducing the number of stocks from 200 to 54.

  • Fidelity to remove higher initial charge on special situations fund

    24 Oct 2006

    Fidelity is to remove the higher initial charge on new investments in the Fidelity special situations fund from November 1 2006.

  • Fight for your rights

    19 Oct 2006

    Self-investment of protected rights funds could persuade many to contract out

  • Flight defends under-fire IFAs

    19 Oct 2006

    Howard Flight has attacked the "middle-class intelligentsia" intent on attacking IFAs on the current pension reform debate.Speaking at the Money Marketing/Cicero Consulting Summit, the former Conservative shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury said he found it unacceptable the way IFAs have been treated when they have been a "crucial part" of the distribution model.Flight, who is part of the Tories' Economic Competitiveness Group's pensions sub group, said current reforms put ...

  • Former Pru adviser jailed for stealing 36k from widow

    19 Oct 2006

    'People must know they will be dealt with professionally and honestly by financial advisers,' judge tells crook

  • FSA in MVR move to give equal deal to policyholders

    19 Oct 2006

    The FSA is proposing moves to cut out any preferential treatment of shareholders over with-profits policyholders when market value reductions are applied.The move could see policyholders benefit from redistribution that could boost their plans by up to 3 per cent.The FSA says it wants to make the proposed revision to the handbook after realising that in a proprietary with-profits fund there is often no parallel mechanism to ensure reductions in bonuses applied to policyholders ...

  • FSA uncovers more PPI failings

    19 Oct 2006

    Some firms selling payment protection insurance are still failing to treat their customers fairly, according to the latest FSA review.

  • Full Marx for tragedy

    19 Oct 2006

    Back in my youth, I used to read the odd bit of Karl Marx. It was Marx who remarked that historical events have a way of repeating themselves, "the first time as tragedy, the second as farce."

  • GE gives Igroup range a rate and criteria revamp

    20 Oct 2006

    GE Money Home Lending has announced a suite of enhancements to its Igroup product range.

  • Genworth product 'will help FTBs'

    19 Oct 2006

    Insurer Genworth Financial claims lenders will be able to help more first-time buyers get on the property ladder after the launch of its specialist mortgage insurance product. Genworth says the product will help mitigate the considerable risk associated with 100 per cent loan-to-value lending by covering lenders' risk.

  • Goddard says don't close door to independent advice

    19 Oct 2006

    Independent financial advice cannot be completely exclu-ded from Personal Accounts and there must be a facility for individuals to access such advice if they feel they need it.That was the message at the summit from Aifa deputy director general Fay Goddard, who acknowledged many people entering the scheme would not need or want advice.But she said individuals needed to have access to independent advice if they were worried or unsure about the suitability of the scheme.Goddard ...

  • Going West with confidence

    19 Oct 2006

    This week sees me making my annual pilgrimage to the West Country. I always find these trips useful in helping to put some perspective on the investment world.

  • Government to build additional 100,000 new homes

    24 Oct 2006

    Housing Minister Yvette Cooper has confirmed up to 100,000 new homes will be built in areas considered “new growth points”.

  • Great expectations for Woolwich's City bonus loan

    19 Oct 2006

    Brokers have welcomed Woolwich's City bonus mortgage for staff expecting big bonuses.The lender says only people who want to borrow more than 500,000 need apply. The loan works as a discounted tracker with an offset facility that starts at 0.51 per cent below base rate, rising to 0.49 per cent above base rate in July 2007 for the life of the loan.Brokers believe Woolwich has found a niche in the market but warn the loan is only suitable for borrowers who regularly receive big ...

  • Guaranteed products make return

    19 Oct 2006

    'Certainty in an uncertain world has consumer appeal'

  • Gym'll fix it

    19 Oct 2006

    PruHealth sales director Dave Priestley says PMI providers must move towards incentives for a healthy lifestyle

  • Hamptons franchise plan for expansion

    19 Oct 2006

    Hamptons International Mortgages has revealed ambitious expansion plans following its sale to Emaar Properties in an £82m deal in August.The broker wants to more than double its branches and create franchise opportunities for small intermediaries to use the Hamptons' brand to attract more business.Hamptons has 60 branches but wants to reach a total of 130 over the next three years. It has 32 separate brokers that managing director Kevin Duffy describes as franchisees in all ...

  • Hard to make a profit on PHI plans

    19 Oct 2006

    I was interested to read the Nic Cicutti column about PHI last week in Money Marketing. I have taken to questioning myself recently over why I do not arrange many PHI contracts for my clients. My conclusion was a combination of the points made in the article. PHI really can take an incredible amount of time to get up and running and this time factor stretches across the whole process - from thoroughly researching the market and ensuring compatibility with the client and their profession. ...

  • Harrison finds room for advice

    19 Oct 2006

    Positive Solutions executive chairman David Harrison believes only 50 additional basis points on a recurring income basis would be needed to create room for IFAs to advise on personal pension accounts.Harrison, speaking at the Money Marketing/Cicero pension summit in London last week, warned the Government that it risks consigning people to the wastebin by offering only generic advice on the NPSS.He said that by excluding advisers from the NPSS debate, the Government had failed ...

  • HBOS is the best in show

    19 Oct 2006

    The Midland Bank was once regarded as the Listening Bank but today it can be applied more deservingly to HBOS which is winning graciously and seems unencumbered by arrogance, vanity or complacency.

  • 'High exit fees unimportant if deal is good'

    19 Oct 2006

    High exit fees are not a problem as long as the mortgage itself is good value, says John Charcol senior technical director Ray Boulger.He believes that a good deal will often mean an exit fee will not be triggered as the borrower will stay with the lender.Boulger's comments come after new lender ING Direct, which does not charge exit fees, claimed this week that the average cost to a lender of a borrower leaving is 35 but some lenders charge up to 295 in exit fees.The FSA ...

  • HMRC writes to pensioners hit by annuity tax changes

    24 Oct 2006

    HM Revenue & Customs says it will contact all clients receiving income from a retirement annuity who will be hit by changes to the way their annuities are taxed next year.

  • HSBC launches LTC service

    19 Oct 2006

    HSBC is launching a comprehensive long term care advice service, providing customers with specialist advice on funding immediate and future LTC needs.

  • IFA firm overturns FOS execution-only ruling

    23 Oct 2006

    An IFA firm has overturned a Financial Ombudsman Service provisional decision to uphold an execution-only bond complaint against it after convincing the Ombudsman no advice had been given.The FOS originally said it was minded to uphold the complaint on the basis the client lacked the sophistication to invest in such a product without advice.But the firm-who prefers not to be named- was granted a hearing after convincing the FOS a number of external circumstances existed that called ...

  • IFAs say Asps are as important as annuities

    19 Oct 2006

    IFAs view alternatively secured pensions as an equally important tool for post-retirement planning as conventional annuities, says Defaqto.According to the firm's Pensions Report, 55 per cent of the 500 advisers surveyed view Asps as an important part of their post-retirement business and 25 per cent say they are very important.This compares with 54 per cent and 26 per cent who view conventional annuities as important and very important respectively and 36 per cent and 50 per ...

  • IFAs work against inept providers

    19 Oct 2006

    So, more sanctimonious twaddle. Providers and distributors should work together to prevent future detriment to customers. If the regulator was in touch with reality, they might realise that most IFAs work against providers - especially life insurers - in the best interests of their clients. Their standard of service and administrative competence makes a North Korean supermarket look good. What sanctions do we have to improve their offering? None. If you work with someone, there ...

  • ING claims it will open up loan market

    19 Oct 2006

    New entrant to the lending market ING Direct has promised it will maintain what it describes as its competitive and transparent product range when it eventually opens its doors to brokers.The lender, which has built its reputation on offering competitive savings rates, last week launched into the direct mortgage market but insists it will eventually seek customers via intermediaries but has not put a timescale on when that may happen.The ING range has no exit fees and there ...

  • In-Partnership sets up mortgage arm

    19 Oct 2006

    In-Partnership has set up a mortgage arm. INnovate Mortgages promises members higher proc fees and improved service levels.

  • Just Retirement to launch equity release advice arm

    20 Oct 2006

    Just Retirement is to launch a new multi-tied equity release advisory service. Just Retirement Solutions, once approved by the FSA, will offer advice to people in retirement looking to release equity from their property.

  • Key points for FTBs

    19 Oct 2006

    Helen Pow asks if the new public-private partnership is the best deal for first-time borrowers

  • Knight in warning to lenders on instant offers

    19 Oct 2006

    GMAC chairman Stephen Knight believes lenders that fail to provide instant offers in future will see business wane.Knight predicts that ano-ther three or four lenders will have joined GMAC and Edeus by the end of next year in providing point of sale offers and brokers and packagers will get so used to Posos that anything less will be considered poor service.He also speculates whether Posos could eventually be used as a direct tool to customers, possibly via iPods.Knight ...

  • Leeds extends online facility to include BTL

    18 Oct 2006

    Leeds Building Society has expanded its online facility and case tracking functionality to include buy to let mortgages.

  • Leitch taking over as Bupa chairman

    19 Oct 2006

    Lord Leitch is taking over as chairman of Bupa next month. Leitch, former chief executive of Zurich Financial Services, was already a director of the healthcare group and succeeds Bryan Sanderson.

  • Let sleeping dogs lie

    19 Oct 2006

    Make a cup of tea, sit down and prepare for a shock. Our research on the performance of funds in the Investment Management Association's UK all companies sector shows that nearly three-quarters of them failed to outperform the FTSE All Share index over the last three years. We did the numbers again to check it wasn't a fluke, this time over five and seven years. The figures were marginally better but only because of historical bias. Many of the dogs had been put to sleep and could not ...

  • Lighthouse links up with FSSC

    19 Oct 2006

    Lighthouse Group has joined the Financial Services Skills Council. The FSSC will work in partnership with the group to provide training, education and skills development for its advisers.

  • Lloyds TSB rejects Axa and Swiss Re move for Widows

    19 Oct 2006

    Lloyds TSB has rebuffed a joint approach from Axa and Swiss Re for its subsidiary Scottish Widows.It is understood that the two European insurance giants' £8bn break-up proposals, which would have seen Axa take over the bulk of Scottish Widows, incl-uding Swip, and Swiss Re buying its closed life book, were rejected at an early stage.Swiss Re has been increa-singly aggressive in the market recently, having just bought GE Life for £465m after missing out on Abbey's life business, ...

  • London Life transfer valuation £70k short

    19 Oct 2006

    London Life has come under fire after underestimating the transfer value on a client's pension fund by £70,000.Intelligent Pensions tech-nical director David Trenner received the first transfer value of £126,544.37 on January 14. Trenner queried the figure and got a letter on June 12 restating the figure at £195,049.56 - a 36 per cent increase. After he challenged the figure again, London Life, part of the Pearl Group, told him on July 4 that the fund was worth £128,228.66.Trenner ...

  • Malone says churning rising in loan market

    19 Oct 2006

    Premier Mortgage Service managing director John Malone says churning is becoming as big a problem in the loan market as it is in long-term savings.He claims some lenders already refuse to do business with certain brokers, typically London-based, that are involved in "rebroking" mortgages.Malone says these intermediaries are not treating customers or lenders fairly. He says: "Some brokers will only support products without redemption fees so they can churn. Some of it is being ...

  • McHardy quits Widows for IF

    19 Oct 2006

    Scottish Widows Bank head of product development Murdo McHardy left the company last week to take over as head of mortgages at Intelligent Finance. He starts his new role on October 30.

  • MEPs say there's no pot of gold for Equitable policyholders

    19 Oct 2006

    The European Parliament committee investigating the Equitable Life crisis has warned policyholders that there will be no "pot of gold" for them at the end of their inquiry.The committee said the enquiry is more an opportunity to explain what happened to policyholders and scrutinise legislation and propose recommendations to ensure such a scenario does not arise again.The committee said UK regulation had been "light touch" at the time of Equitable's problems and the committee ...

  • Mercer in bid for UK retail business

    19 Oct 2006

    Mercer Global Investments, the multi-manager arm of investment and pension consultant Mercer Human Resource Consulting, is making its proposition available to the UK retail market.The Mercer group is a major player in multi-manager investment for institutional pension funds but MGI is keen to make inroads into the retail market.It says it is in preliminary talks with several UK life companies, as well as companies in continental Europe, with a view to forming third-party distribution ...

  • Model behaviour

    19 Oct 2006

    Aegon UK chief executive Otto Thoresen says financial services needs a range of new business models and hopes the industry will respond toFSA chief executive Sir Callum McCarthy's call for distribution reform but says the regulator must reward businesses that are well run and protect consumers

  • Morris quits HSBC after multi move

    19 Oct 2006

    Flagship fund manager Bob Morris has left HSBC Asset Management just two weeks after the group decided to shift the running of 2bn of its core equity funds over to its multi-manager team.Morris had been at HSBC for four years and took over the 1bn HSBC growth and income fund in 2002 after previous manager Tim Russell left to join Cazenove.Chris Rodgers, the head of UK equities at Halbis, HSBC's active fund management unit, will take over the fund. He also runs the group's income ...

  • NU pays 80m on critical cover but refuses 23% claims

    19 Oct 2006

    Norwich Union paid out over 80m for claims on critical-illness policies last year, representing an increase of 23 per cent on claims paid in 2004.The declinature rate was 23 per cent, with 12 per cent of claims turned down due to non-disclosure and 11 per cent due to policy conditions not being met.The refusal rate showed a fall from the previous year when it was 26 per cent, with 13 per cent due to non -disclosure and 13 per cent to criteria not metThe company paid out on a ...

  • Nvesta for sale as Eurolife seeks to cover liabilities

    19 Oct 2006

    Eurolife Assurance Group is being forced to sell off Nvesta to cover liabilities and pay compensation to policyholders.EAG went into administration in August when it could not pay a £700,000 instalment of a five-year compensation deal for policyholders who invested £17m in its secured bonds in 1999.Industry sources estimate Nvesta has around £120m in assets under management spread across its book of structured products and this could grow to around £140m by the time the plans ...

  • O’Brien promoted to Home of Choice MD

    23 Oct 2006

    Gerry O’Brien has been promoted to the role of managing director at Home of Choice.O’Brien moves to the position made vacant in February, after Richard Coulson was promoted to chief executive, from his previous role as sales director at the firm.Simon Thomas moves from his role as business development director to replace O’Brien as sales director.Coulson says: “Gerry’s appointment to MD is pivotal to our continued rapid expansion. His passion for distribution and product and ...

  • Old Mutual axes five in quant switch

    19 Oct 2006

    Old Mutual Asset Managers has axed five fund managers in an overhaul that will see the group's quants team take on a greater investment role.UK select large cap and UK select equity fund manager Richard Moore will be replaced by the group's quantitive strategies team although Ashton Bradbury and Luke Kerr will continue to run the small and mid-cap elements of both funds. The quants team, which already runs the 116m North American equity fund will take on Terry Ewing and Anne Hall's ...

  • On opposite sides of the means street

    19 Oct 2006

    Pensions minister James Purnell and Scottish Life's Steve Bee have been having a ding-dong argument about means testing and planned pension accounts in a series of blogs on the Guardian newspaper's website.Just last week at a Money Marketing/Cicero Summit, Purnell argued that the Government's intention was to retain some means testing but that despite this, Personal Accounts were going to be a good deal for savers when Government tax relief and employer contributions were considered.The ...

  • On-Line Partnership looking to buy firms as profits soar by 65%

    19 Oct 2006

    The On-Line Partnership has seen profits soar by almost two-thirds and says it is considering potential acquisition targets.The Horsham-based group, which has 475 registered individuals across its network and national IFA businesses says profits rose by 65 per cent to 1,2292,895 for the 12 months to the end of June from 743,253 in the previous year. Turnover was up by 24 per cent from 23.1m to 28.6m over the same period.It says it expects to see further growth and consolidation ...

  • Overseas mortgage market expected to grow, says A&L

    23 Oct 2006

    Brokers are expecting a huge increase in the amount of overseas mortgage business completed over the next decade and a half.

  • Own goals

    19 Oct 2006

    The tug of war over 'ownership' of borrowers could have TCF implications

  • Paymentshield reassures intermediaries over MPPI advice

    23 Oct 2006

    Paymentshield is warning intermediaries to apply due care with MPPI products following the latest reviews of PPI.

  • Paymentshield set for £180m sale to GI giant

    24 Oct 2006

    Paymentshield is set to be sold to one of the UK’s largest general insurance intermediaries in an expected £180m deal, Money Marketing understands.

  • Personal Accounts given an upgrade

    19 Oct 2006

    The Government's technical paper on Personal Accounts has been upgraded to a White Paper to allow for extra consultation on areas such as advice, pensions minister James Purnell has announced.Speaking at the Money Marketing/Cicero Consulting pensions summit in London last week, Purnell said a technical paper was not sufficient to take into account the impact the scheme would have.Purnell said: "We decided just doing a technical paper will not be sufficient and this reform raises ...

  • Peter mann

    19 Oct 2006

    Bankhall's chief executive is a polyglot who writes his notes in Greek so no one can crib from him but he has an open and transparent approach to business and he feels that the appointed rep model lacks dignity and the directly authorised route was the next step. Interview by Samantha Shaw

  • Platform ticket

    19 Oct 2006

    Wrap platforms will work for advisers if the rest of their business is working efficiently and profitably

  • 'Poor should not pay for the rich'

    19 Oct 2006

    NPSS savers should not be forced to subsidise the rich by being herded into annuities, says IMA chief executive Richard Saunders.Speaking at the Money Marketing/Cicero pension summit in London last week, Saunders argued that low-income NPSS savers with lower life expectancy will end up paying for the retirement incomes of the rich if pushed into an annuity when they retire.Saunders called for greater focus on decumulation in the NPSS debate. He said: "It is not too early too ...

  • PPI sector referred to Competition Commission

    19 Oct 2006

    The Office of Fair Trading has referred the UK payment protection insurance market to the Competition Commission.

  • Price of freedom

    19 Oct 2006

    New FSA rules allow unit trusts and Oeics to be singleor dual-priced. The rules, which came into force earlier this month, effectively allow unit trusts to continue to use either pricing method at the same time as introducing dual-pricing for Oeics.

  • Private investors return to equities

    23 Oct 2006

    Private investors bought £2.6bn of equities in August and September marking a reversal of the heavy selling of shares in the first half of 2006.

  • Promotion commotion

    19 Oct 2006

    Guy Anker analyses price comparison ads that have brought protests

  • Pru predicts equity release will double in two years

    19 Oct 2006

    Prudential believes the equity-release sector is likely to double in the next two years to well above 2bn.Lifetime mortgage director Ali Crossley says such a rise is well below what many would hope for but is realistic.Pru launches its direct-sales team of 20 equity-release advisers next week and plans to grow the team to 100 by the end of 2007. It says it developed the service because of the lack of IFAs in the sector and to compete against other providers.Equity Advice ...

  • Report calls on local authorities to give equity-release loans

    19 Oct 2006

    Local authorities should start providing equity-release mortgages to give the market much-needed impetus, says the influential Joseph Rowntree Foundation.A study by the foundation says a drastic solution is required to resolve the problem of consumers having little faith in the market without more high-street brands being involved, while many brands will not enter until the market is bigger.It also calls for restrictions on means-tested benefits to be relaxed so potential borrowers ...

  • Resolution snaps up Ormiston to complete European team

    18 Oct 2006

    Resolution Asset Management has completed its search for a third senior European equity team member by recruiting Singer and Friedlander head of European equity Ian Ormiston.

  • Royal Liver launches CI to meet new ABI standards

    24 Oct 2006

    Royal Liver has launched its new ABI-standard critical illness cover in conjunction with Vertex.

  • Saunders call to create quality default fund

    19 Oct 2006

    IMA chief executive Richard Saunders told the summit that the debate over means testing and the structure of the NPSS was merely a distraction and the focus should be on creat-ing a high-quality default fund.Saunders told delegates: "People who are talking about the structure of means testing in 2050 are wasting their time. We have something on the table now that is the equivalent of buy one get one free."He said the industry should stop bickering over the exact structure of ...

  • Scot Wids announces FundsNetwork deal

    20 Oct 2006

    Scottish Widows have announced a deal with Fidelity FundsNetwork in a shift to a full open-architecture approach for its new Retirement Account.Scottish Widows customers and their advisers will have access to the platform’s choice of over 1000 funds through the new product from January next year.The provider says the offering is part of a wider strategy to offer full open-architecture solutions in the investment and retirement markets.Further moves for an open architecture ...

  • Scottish Widows appoints Fraser as head of investment services

    18 Oct 2006

    Scottish Widows has appointed Alasdair Fraser to the newly created role of head of investment services.

  • Sipp fears for ScotLife

    19 Oct 2006

    Scottish Life says it has serious reservations about entering the group Sipp market due to concerns about breaching treating customers fairly rules.The firm, which will launch its individual Sipp this year, says it is still investiga-ting whether to follow this up with a group offering.Head of corporate business Mark Polson says the FSA's TCF rules are proving to be the main sticking point.He says group Sipps are typically more expensive than traditional group personal pensions. ...

  • 'Sipp market full of backhanders'

    19 Oct 2006

    The Sipp market is rife with "backhanders" and providers pocketing undisclosed earnings, industry insiders claim.Pal Partnership business development manager Richard Mattison says the most common source of undisclosed earnings are from interest rates on cash. He says interest rates paid on cash held in Sipps can vary by as much as 3 per cent and many providers receive one rate from the bank across the cash held in its Sipp book but pay less to clients and pocket the difference.He ...

  • SJP is offloading mortgage-only ARs

    19 Oct 2006

    American giant General Electric has failed to make a significant return on its investment in GE Life after the 465m sale of the retirement specialist to Swiss Re, it is claimed.GE spent 413m alone on the two acquisitions that constituted the majority of GE Life - 370m for National Mutual in 2002 and 43m for Stalwart in 1997 - before setting aside a further 200m for investment in National Mutual to develop the business.One analyst, who wishes to remain unnamed, has questioned ...

  • Skandia says Government can't justify Asp restrictions

    19 Oct 2006

    The Government has failed to justify limiting the use of alternatively secured pensions and explain why offering them more widely could constitute abuse, says Skandia Life head of marketing Billy MackayThe Government says Asps are only designed for groups such as the Plymouth Brethren with religious objections to annuities but Mackay rejects its argument that the industry has wilfully abused Asps as an inheritance tax planning tool.He says the restrictions are not enshrined in law ...

  • Stakeholder sales surge

    19 Oct 2006

    Figures show 62,000 new contracts taken out in first quarter of the year compared with 63,000 for whole of 2005

  • Standard defends Sipp commission

    19 Oct 2006

    Standard Life has defended claims that it is paying up to 5 per cent commission on internal transfers from its personal pension to its Sipp as a means to grow its Sipp business, saying it is merely offering the same rate it would on outside business coming into its Sipp.

  • Standard extending clawback on bonds

    19 Oct 2006

    Standard Life is extending commission clawbacks on its investment bond range to cover partial surrenders of over 20 per cent in the first two years of the product.The new clawback structure applies to all capital investment, distribution and with-profits bonds taken out on or after November 1.Standard says the move is a response to a rise in early encashments and is designed to encourage advisers and investors to view the products as medium to long-term savings vehicles.The ...

  • Standard says internal transfer commission will help retain business

    18 Oct 2006

    Standard Life says the introduction of up to 5 per cent commission on internal transfers between its personal pension and its Sipp is designed to give it a “fighting chance” of retaining business that was moving to other providers anyway.

  • Survey reveals extent of client recycling

    19 Oct 2006

    Existing customers account for just one-third of IFA's new business, according to Tillinghast.The consultancy says this implies the majority of new clients are recycled from other advisers and IFAs are failing to provide an ongoing service to customers.Tillinghast associate Joanna Hall says: "A cultural change is needed whereby the current sell and move on approach is replaced by a regular and ongoing advisory service. Customer value ongoing financial planning advice but currently ...

  • SVM to launch 'positive screening' pan European SRI fund

    19 Oct 2006

    SVM Asset Management is launching the all Europe Socially Responsible investment (SRI) fund on October 31.

  • Symponia aiming to orchestrate over-65s

    19 Oct 2006

    Long-term-care specialist network Symponia is expanding its business to cover all areas of financial planning for people aged 65 and over.The network is aiming to become the leading financial advice group in the UK for elderly people and will offer advice on areas such as equity release and inheritance tax planning.Symponia was initially established as a care fee planning organisation and has 60 members at present who all hold the CF8 qualification.The company says the new ...

  • Tee and sympathy

    19 Oct 2006

    Alan Easter got more than he bargained on a recent golf trip to La Manga.Easter, Hanover's Pat Field and MNFA's Damien Bradbury clearly took a detour via the 19th hole before rather than the usual apres golf, as by the time Easter reached the 11th, he had seemingly lost control of his buggy.Although Bunny will not admit to how much beer was consumed on said trip ("Tour rules apply"), these pictures seem to indicate that he was probably not playing quite on par. 1,000 euros and ...

  • Tenet offers single form for loan and protection cover

    19 Oct 2006

    Tenet is redesigning its application forms so clients can buy both mortgage and protection products by filling in a single form. The firm says it wants to encourage IFAs to write business from areas which they may be not be focusing on.Chief executive Simon Hudson says he is also concerned that advisers writing mortgage business but not recommending building and contents cover could be held liable if their client's house burns down soon after completion.Hudson says the UK is ...

  • The big cap fits

    19 Oct 2006

    Matt Goodburn considers the potential for large-cap stocks

  • The fine art of taxation

    19 Oct 2006

    It is important for advisers to put clients in the full picture regarding

  • The pieces start to fit

    19 Oct 2006

    Sipps Suffolk Life director of sales and marketing John Moret says regulation could lead to a more coherent approach in the market

  • The protection challenge

    19 Oct 2006

    Get the full lowdown on developments in the protection market and have a chance of winning a car

  • The week in Life and Protection

    24 Oct 2006

    Speculation, speculation, speculation are the three words driving the life industry at present.

  • Think out of the tick-box

    19 Oct 2006

    IFAs must genuinely embrace TCF rather than be pushed into it by regulation

  • This week in Investment

    19 Oct 2006

    Resolution Asset Management will probably be relieved to have finally put to bed one of the most entertaining investment sagas of recent months by recruiting Ian Ormiston to join their threestrong senior European equity team.

  • This week in Mortgages

    20 Oct 2006

    The payment protection insurance market took a battering this week, and the MPPI sector was not spared its share of abuse.

  • This week in Politics

    24 Oct 2006

    The Tory's independent tax commission published its well leaked proposals to reform the tax system and slash the overall burden of taxes by £21bn.

  • Thomas alters the ecology of Jupiter fund

    19 Oct 2006

    Jupiter ecology fund manager Charlie Thomas has reshaped the fund since he took over three years ago to reduce its reliance on its top 10 holdings.In September 2003, the top 10 holdings made up half of the fund but Thomas has slashed this proportion to 28 per cent.He has also reduced the 92-stock fund's focus on smallcap stocks, steering it from 68 per cent to 45 per cent over the three years. The remainder of the fund is split 37 per cent in mid caps, 16 in large caps and the ...

  • Tory tax commission calls for £21bn tax cuts

    19 Oct 2006

    The Tory’s Tax Reform Commission has published its report recommending a £21bn cut in taxes including scrapping IHT on primary residences and slashing corporation tax levels.Head of the commission Lord Forsyth told an audience at KPMG’s headquarters this morning that the proposals are realistic and set a direction of travel leading to a ‘simpler, lower, flatter, fairer and more stable tax system’.Responding to the commission George Osborne said he hoped the menu of proposals start ...

  • Trustees get some leeway on age rules

    19 Oct 2006

    Pension trustees look set to get more leeway on age discrimination rules following a move by the Department for Work and Pensions.The regulations have raised concerns among employers and trustees that they could be breaking the law and leave themselves open to legal action simply by making age-related contributions.Stakeholders successfully lobbied for a two-month delay to the rules applying to pensions, meaning they will now come into force in December.The DWP proposes ...

  • UCB launches three year self-cert

    23 Oct 2006

    UCB Home Loans is launching a new self-cert three-year tracker product.

  • Waist not

    19 Oct 2006

    The Diary left the Institute of Financial Planning conference in rainy Leicester last week in a state of outrage at the terrible bullying inflicted on jovial IFP chief executive Nick Cann throughout the two-day affair.In a particularly unpleasant session, a Selestia representative continually compared the IFP's esteemed leader with Tinky Winky - by some way the largest of the four teletubbies.Then, during an after-dinner speech, delegates whooped with joy as Cann was again ridiculed ...

  • Walls come tumbling down

    19 Oct 2006

    Advisers say that the demolition of the former Allied Dunbar training centre in Swindon is the final nail in the coffin of the old style mass training of direct salesforces. But is its passing welcomed or mourned by the industry?

  • Waste not

    19 Oct 2006

    It continually amazes me the amount of waste that my household produces. Even though I use the colour-coded bins provided by the council and make regular trips to the recycling tip, the amount to be collected by my friendly binpeople is, in my mind, far too much.

  • Websites claim to end face-to-face advice

    19 Oct 2006

    A Surrey IFA has set up two internet sites which claim to provide full online advice without the need for face-to-face meetings.Churchouse Financial Planning says most websites claiming to offer online advice only give information and clients are then required to make an appointment with an adviser.The advicemadesimple.com and pensionsmadesimple.com websites say they differ in that they take clients through a full fact-find, implement the resulting recommendations and provide ...

  • Which? has always paid its way

    19 Oct 2006

    In response to the letter by Michael Brayne of Brayne & Co in Money Marketing last week, Which? would like to put the record straight about how we conduct our research when mystery shopping financial advice. The research is designed to test the quality of financial advice available across the market. Therefore, it is essential that we visit financial advisers that represent the market as it is presented to consumers. In this research, we visited 28 tied advisers and 32 IFAs ...

  • Wind of change is a bonus for Hiscox 68m portfolio

    19 Oct 2006

    Hiscox insurance portfolio manager Alec Foster says the 68m fund's recent performance has been driven by the benign US hurricane season.Foster says many insurers took evasive action after destructive hurricane seasons in 2004 and 2005 by increasing premiums.The 32-stock fund has a 40 per cent weighting in reinsurance and Foster says it has benefited from its UK motor insurance holdings, which were boosted by the prolonged good summer weather, resulting in fewer accidents.Foster ...

  • Young dreams

    19 Oct 2006

    Helen Pow says young people want to have a rich retirement but are not making the necessary investment

  • Zopa has signed up 1,000 users

    19 Oct 2006

    Online consumer lending portal Zopa has signed up over 100,000 users since its inception in March 2005.

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