Money Marketing
19 March 2008

  • Skandia wins SimplyBiz accolade

    20 Mar 2008

    Skandia has been awarded SimplyBiz provider of the year in the service provider's 2008 Partnership Awards, followed by Standard Life in second place and Norwich Union in third.

  • 10K plea for Isa limit

    20 Mar 2008

    FundsNetwork head David Dalton-Brown has called on the Government to increase the Isa limit to £10,000 and has attacked its "mismatch" of savings policies.

  • 30% Of public to use Isa allowance

    20 Mar 2008

    Only 30 per cent of the public intend to use their Isa allowance compared with 71 per cent of active investors, says the Association of Investment Companies' investor confidence index. It says 37 per cent of active investors think a recession is the biggest threat to their finances.

  • 80% Of income from initial commission

    20 Mar 2008

    Nearly 80 per cent of adviser turnover still comes from initial commission, with only 5 per cent coming from fees, according to research from True Potential.

  • A case of do as we say, not as we do

    20 Mar 2008

    Robin Gordon-Walker is quoted as saying that the FSA's expenditure (of other peoples' money) of more than £13m on external consultants was "based on an assessment of the most efficient use of the regulator's resources". An assessment by whom, we may well ask.

  • A cert for TMW

    19 Mar 2008

    The Mortgage WorksThree-Year Self-Cert Fixed Rate

  • A day in Windsor Life

    20 Mar 2008

    I’m getting used to putting in calls to Windsor Life’s PR team at the moment due to the volume of complaints Money Marketing is receiving from disgruntled advisers.

  • A shaw thing

    20 Mar 2008

    Sam Shaw is a reporter on Money MarketingThis week centred on the large eyebrowed one that is Alistair Darling and his big red book. Our newsroom, as is always the case on Budget Day, was peppered with some rather guru-like financial services whizzes, ensuring the newsdesk's swearing quota was somewhat more limited than usual. Well, a little.

  • A word to the wise

    20 Mar 2008

    I am clearly not the only person in the UK wondering exactly what the difference is between generic financial advice and money guidance, the former having been dropped in favour of the latter by Otto Thoresen.

  • 'Action is needed soon to slash base rate'

    20 Mar 2008

    Wave director of sales and distribution Mehrdad Yousefi says the Bank of England's monetary policy committee needs to cut bank base rate by 0.5 per cent by early summer to boost the struggling mortgage market.

  • Adviser Fund Index - Positive note for trusts

    20 Mar 2008

    Investment trusts suffered towards the end of last year, as investors sold across a range of asset classes. According to Wins Investment Trusts' monthly report for December 2007, equity-focused funds were trading on an average discount to net asset value of over 10 per cent. British smaller company funds were hit even harder, with discounts reaching close to 20 per cent.

  • Advisers favour variable annuities

    20 Mar 2008

    Seventy per cent of advisers rate variable annuities more favourably than conventional annuities for generating income in retirement, according to Watson Wyatt. But most believe variable annuities are a niche product that needs at least £50,000 of assets under management to be viable.

  • Advisers shunned as small firms get help on corporation tax

    20 Mar 2008

    Aifa director general Chris Cummings has hit out at Chancellor Alistair Darling for announcing measures to mitigate increases in small business corporation tax for some industries but not advisers.

  • Advisers slam Selestia's service

    20 Mar 2008

    Advisers claim service levels at Selestia Investment Solutions have declined since the merger with Skandia last August.

  • Advocate hands in response to NU plan for orphan cash

    20 Mar 2008

    Aviva policyholder advocate Clare Spottiswoode has sent her response to Norwich Union's offer for the reattribution of its £5bn inherited estate in its with-profits funds.

  • Aegon Sipp adds charging options to group Sipp

    20 Mar 2008

    Aegon Scottish Equitable is adding four alternative charging options to its group self-invested personal pension to suit different adviser busness models.

  • Alliance & Leicester - Five Year Fixed Rate

    19 Mar 2008

    Alliance & LeicesterFive Year Fixed Rate

  • Alliance & Leicester - Five Year Fixed Rate 5.99%

    19 Mar 2008

    Alliance & LeicesterBuy to Let Two Year Fixed Rate

  • Alliance Trust says Sipps can solve CGT dilemma

    20 Mar 2008

    Alliance Trust is urging advisers to make the most of tax-saving opportunities to enhance clients' pension arrangements before the tax year ends.

  • Alternatives to annuities

    20 Mar 2008

    The Investment Management Association has called on the Government to end compulsory annuitisation after modelling eight alternative drawdown strategies.

  • Axa completes purchase of SBJ Group

    20 Mar 2008

    Axa Advisory Holdings has announced that its offer to purchase SBJ Group has successfully completed following acceptance by over 90 per cent of the shareholders of the group.

  • Axa launches onshore and offshore bond toolkit

    20 Mar 2008

    Axa has launched an adviser sales toolkit to help investors who are considering opting for onshore and offshore bonds.

  • Barclays issues ecology trio link

    19 Mar 2008

    Barclays Capital has established the ecological trio deposit account, a guaranteed equity bond aimed at investors with offshore life bonds and UK wrap accounts.

  • Beagles set for JO Hambro return

    20 Mar 2008

    Clive Beagles is returning to JO Hambro Capital Management after taking a six-month sabbatical from the firm.

  • Bear skinned by credit crunch

    19 Mar 2008

    It has been a nightmare few days for investors again as markets have been left reeling by the collapse and subsequent emergency sale of US investment bank Bear Stearns.

  • Bedlam old boys focus on European Luxellence

    19 Mar 2008

    Former Bedlam Asset Management fund managers Julian Pendock and Matt Jones have brought out the first fund under their new venture, Senhouse Capital.

  • Beware potential fallout as platforms go bump

    20 Mar 2008

    Advisers should be wary of guided architecture and the potential fallout from a wrap collapse, according to Thames River Capital.

  • Blue Sky pleases asset allocators

    19 Mar 2008

    Blue Sky Asset ManagementAsset Allocation Accelerated Growth Plan

  • Board changes at Home of Choice

    19 Mar 2008

    Home of Choice chief executive officer Richard Coulson is to become the network's executive deputy chairman following a series of board changes announced today.

  • BoE adds extra £5bn to weekly cash auction

    20 Mar 2008

    The Bank of England has confirmed it will be adding an extra £5bn to its normal weekly funds available to banks.It currently has £11bn on offer at its weekly cash auction.It has already been revealed that this week's additional funding was three times oversubscribed.As a result the BoE says an extra £5bn a week would be released at least until its next monthly meeting on interest rates on April 9.

  • Bond pressure is putting bank business under threat

    20 Mar 2008

    M&G corporate bond fund manager Richard Woolnough believes the business model of banks is under threat.

  • Bonds of contention

    20 Mar 2008

    Insurance bonds are still the right investment for certain clients and advisers have a vital role to play advising on the best course of action following this year's Budget announcement.

  • Bright Grey sets up underwriting

    20 Mar 2008

    Bright Grey is launching its own independent expert underwriting system to reduce application processing times.

  • Broker Talkback

    20 Mar 2008

    Was the Budget good for your clients?

  • Brokers wait for Abbey to reprice exclusives

    20 Mar 2008

    Mortgage brokers are expecting it to be several weeks until Abbey offers its 27 national key accounts new exclusives after withdrawing them last week.

  • Budget's hidden agenda

    20 Mar 2008

    Well, for those of you who thought Gordon Brown's last Budget delivery was boring, the latest Chancellor took us to subterranean levels.

  • BuildLoan - Skipton Three Year Base Rate Tracker

    20 Mar 2008

    BuildLoanSkipton Three Year Base Rate Tracker

  • BuildLoan - TMB Lifetime Tracker

    20 Mar 2008

    BuildLoanTMB Lifetime Tracker

  • Bullivant quits CII for chief role at Annuity Direct

    20 Mar 2008

    Chartered Insurance Institute deputy director general Bob Bullivant is joining Annuity Direct as chief executive.

  • Buoyant Savills widening reach

    20 Mar 2008

    Savills Private Finance has seen profits jump by 16 per cent from £4.4m in 2006 to £5.1m last year.

  • Business boost for PMS

    20 Mar 2008

    Premier Mortgage Service ach-ieved over £780m more business applications in January than it expected, totalling just under £4bn for the month.

  • C&G cuts BTL LTV to 80 per cent

    20 Mar 2008

    Cheltenham & Gloucester has announced it will be cutting buy-to-let loan to values down from 85 per cent to 80 per cent.

  • Capital-lite plan pays off as Standard profits soar

    20 Mar 2008

    Standard Life's profits leapt by 43 per cent last year to £881m from £614m in 2006.

  • Cardif Pinnacle buys Direct Life & Pension Services

    20 Mar 2008

    Cardif Pinnacle has acquired Direct Life & Pension Services but it will continue to run as a standalone business.

  • Cause for complaint

    20 Mar 2008

    There seems to be a swelling tide of resentment among some professionals in the financial services industry, including IFAs, about the way in which the Financial Ombudsman Service deals with disputes between customers and firms.

  • Cheshire discount best for big loans

    20 Mar 2008

    Cheshire Building Society2-Year Discoun

  • CHL Mortgages to cut up to 50 jobs

    20 Mar 2008

    CHL Mortgages has announced it will be cutting up to 50 of its 250-strong workforce.It says the move reflects the company’s plans to slow mortgage growth in the current year while focusing on credit quality and margins. Managing director Bob Young says: “Unfortunately this move will have consequences for staff numbers in the business. We have briefed staff on the impact which we believe will lead to a reduction in headcount of approximately 50 people.”

  • Claws for thought

    20 Mar 2008

    Has the Treasury finally removed its fingers from all the pies on the Government's table with last week's Budget?Alistair Darling's speech was less chief executive, UK plc, more bank manager. The Chancellor had little room for manoeuvre bound by the deteriorating economic situation and public finances Northern Rock and all.

  • Clive Briault to leave FSA by mutual agreement

    19 Mar 2008

    FSA managing director of the UK retail business unit Clive Briault is to leave the regulator by mutual agreement.

  • Cofunds cash haven fund outperforms

    20 Mar 2008

    Cofunds' cash haven has outperformed all its other funds - in or out of a tax wrapper - in January and February, which it says is due to investor nervousness regarding market volatility.

  • Commercial First stops new lending

    19 Mar 2008

    Commercial First has stopped all new lending with immediate effect.

  • 'Consolidation of IFA firms bad for RIs'

    20 Mar 2008

    MoneyMarketing.co.uk poll results: Is the growing trend for mass consolidation of IFA firms bad for RIs? Yes, 61 per cent, no, 39 per cent.

  • Credit Suisse's Toby Hogbin to join Martin Currie

    25 Mar 2008

    Former Credit Suisse director of product development Toby Martin is joining Currie as global head of product development.

  • Cutting through caution

    20 Mar 2008

    With the copylines shown above all on display in current Isa ads, no one could claim, as I sometimes have in the past, that fund managers are failing to acknowledge current market conditions. But equally, no one could claim that this forest of caution makes Isa investing look like a particularly attractive option.

  • Dampier set for first bond buy

    20 Mar 2008

    Hargreaves Lansdown head of research Mark Dampier says bond valuations are so attractive that he may invest in one for the first time in his career.

  • Darling fails to home in on crunch

    20 Mar 2008

    The mortgage industry has hit out at the Government for not taking urgent action to address the liquidity crisis in last week's Budget.

  • DDQ gets dynamic on commodities

    19 Mar 2008

    Structured product provider Dawnay Day Quantum has introduced protected commodities dynamo, a capital-protected bond linked to a basket of eight commodities.

  • Death of UK's longest-serving fund manager Nils Taube

    20 Mar 2008

    Veteran fund manager Nils Taube has died at the age of 79 following a stroke.

  • Declining moment

    20 Mar 2008

    Any industry should learn from its mistakes but sometimes it takes bold action in order to realise those mistakes.

  • Derbyshire BS to cut 50 jobs and close three branches

    25 Mar 2008

    Derbyshire Building Society will be cutting up to 50 jobs and closing three branches as it looks to maximise cost-efficiency.

  • Dull Budget aims to turn down the heat

    20 Mar 2008

    Tony Blair's former deputy director of communications Lance Price believes the dull Budget was part of a wider political strategy to "turn down the heat".

  • Eagle backs cancer victim's battle for ScotProv payout

    20 Mar 2008

    Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury Angela Eagle has called on the FSA and Association of British Insurers to investigate Scottish Provident's treatment of a cancer victim.

  • Efficiency is key to wealth health

    20 Mar 2008

    We have been in business since 1986 and in 2005 we successfully completed a merger between Milbourne Financial Services and Hayden Financial Services to create HFS Milbourne Financial. We now have a team of 20 specialising in wealth management.

  • EIS a sign of good breeding

    19 Mar 2008

    Breeding Capital II and III is an enterprise investment scheme that aims to raise up to £4m to invest thoroughbred horses for horseracing and in related assets such as stallion shares.

  • EIS plus into the power of music

    19 Mar 2008

    The Power Amp Music EIS fund is an enterprise investment scheme fund aiming to raise £10m to develop, produce and promote a portfolio of 20-30 music artists.

  • Emerging wisdom

    20 Mar 2008

    When asked to write an article on emerging markets, I was in a quandary. Did the commissioner of the article really want a commentary on the risks and rewards of investing in higher risk markets? If so, I am not sure I should be concentrating on emerging markets.

  • Energetic fund from Guinness

    19 Mar 2008

    Guinness Asset Management has introduced an alternative energy fund to provide growth by investing globally in companies involved in the alternative energy and energy technology sectors.

  • Exit routes

    20 Mar 2008

    The title of the four-time Oscar winner No Country for Old Men is sure to resonate with advisers of a certain age facing the current turbulence in the mortgage market.

  • F&C boosted by positive returns

    20 Mar 2008

    The outlook for fund management firm F&C has improved in the past couple of weeks with the publication of two positive sets of results.

  • FAS takes in six firms which are still trading

    20 Mar 2008

    The Financial Assistance Scheme has admitted its first pension schemes from solvent employers.

  • Five from Rock regulatory team have quit at FSA

    20 Mar 2008

    Five FSA officials have quit from the team of seven people who had the job of directly supervising Northern Rock.

  • Fixed on prepayment pool

    20 Mar 2008

    The Government is to work with the mortgage industry to pool and publish data on prepayment behaviour as part of its work on long-term fixed rates.

  • Former Aviva chief joins Prudential as CFO

    25 Mar 2008

    Former Aviva Europe chief executive officer Tidjane Thiam has joined Prudential today as its new chief financial officer.

  • Friends Provident comes top in e-excellence survey

    25 Mar 2008

    Friends Provident has come top in an e-excellence survey of providers by the Financial Technology Research Centre.

  • FSA called on to investigate Scot Prov blunder

    25 Mar 2008

    Scottish Provident has been referred to the FSA and the ABI by Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury Angela Eagle after its treatment of a cancer victim was highlighted in Parliament.

  • FSA fines adviser firm £31,500 for providing misleading information

    19 Mar 2008

    The FSA has fined Blake Independent Financial Services £31,500 for failing to maintain adequate capital and for providing misleading financial information.

  • FSA issues warning over market abuse

    19 Mar 2008

    The FSA this morning issued a warning it will be investigating trading in UK financial shares in recent days.

  • FSA to publish DP on commercial insurance transparency

    20 Mar 2008

    The FSA is publishing a discussion paper on transparency of information in the commercial insurance market.

  • Fund manager warns more banks could follow Bear

    20 Mar 2008

    New Star fund manager Tim Steer warns there could be more bank failings on both sides of the Atlantic in the aftermath of Bear Stearns.

  • Fund managers will set up their own wrap platforms

    20 Mar 2008

    JP Morgan believes that a growing crop of asset management companies will look to offer their own wrap propositions as fund managers try to secure a greater share of the distribution market.

  • FundsNetwork to Flex muscles

    20 Mar 2008

    FundsNetwork chief David Dalton Brown says the platform is to launch a host of new technology offerings.

  • Gartmore chief Aldridge quits firm

    20 Mar 2008

    Gartmore head of retail distribution Rod Aldridge has left after four years with the firm.

  • Generic possibilities

    20 Mar 2008

    Following the publication of the Thoresen report, will properly implemented generic financial advice or money guidance increase the take-up for protection products?

  • 'Get set for fund reaction from clients'

    20 Mar 2008

    PSigma Asset Management managing director Ian Chimes believes advisers must get prepared to reassure their investment clients in May and June after they receive their latest fund valuations.

  • Gold prospects

    20 Mar 2008

    Before last week's Budget, the Chancellor announced proposals to introduce a gold standard or kitemark that would be given to good quality mortgage securitisation.

  • Government could transform equity release

    20 Mar 2008

    The Government needs to take a positive stance to equity release to transform the market, says the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

  • Gratton takes over MoneyQuest

    20 Mar 2008

    Scottish mortgage broker MoneyQuest has been acquired by a consortium led by former Egg chief executive officer Paul Gratton.

  • Hargreaves Lansdown reports Windsor to FSA

    20 Mar 2008

    Hargreaves Lansdown says it will be reporting Windsor Life to the FSA after at least 30 of its clients were left waiting weeks for annuity payments and policy transfers.

  • Henderson adds Neptune Euro opps

    20 Mar 2008

    Henderson's multi-manager team has added Neptune European opportunities to all three of its independent portfolio funds of funds.

  • IFDS names Simon Hudson-Lund as new CEO

    25 Mar 2008

    Simon Hudson-Lund has been appointed chief executive of International Financial Data Services.

  • IFDS takes up the call

    20 Mar 2008

    IFDS is turning its talent to a different cause, providing its call centre and 300 staff to man the donation phone lines for Sport Relief 2008.

  • Ifs sees 12% rise in Cefa candidates

    20 Mar 2008

    The Ifs School of Finance says there has been a big rise in the number of people taking its entry level certificate for financial advisers.

  • Innovation ovation

    20 Mar 2008

    The end of the protection price war has been predicted repeatedly but it seems to be only the smaller companies that are trying to lead the move away from price by focusing on product innovation.

  • Invesco Euro income gets warm welcome

    19 Mar 2008

    Invesco PerpetualEuropean Equity Income Fund

  • Invesco faces struggle with Euro best sellers

    19 Mar 2008

    Invesco PerpetualEuropean Opportunities Fund

  • Job cuts loom at Money Partners

    20 Mar 2008

    Money Partners has confirmed it is to consult with staff on a move which could see up to 65 jobs cut.

  • John Tiner joins New Star as non-exec director

    20 Mar 2008

    Former FSA chief executive John Tiner has joined New Star Asset Management as a non-executive director.

  • King and Platt plan online protection brokerage

    20 Mar 2008

    Former Torquil Clark Life Insurance directors Jason King and Simon Platt are looking to launch an online protection brokerage by the end of the summer.

  • L&G acquires Suffolk Life

    20 Mar 2008

    Legal & General is set to buy Suffolk Life in a bid to increase its presence in the Sipp market.

  • L&G sees 17% fall in profits

    20 Mar 2008

    Legal & General's UK life and pension profits fell by 17 per cent last year from £874m to £720m.

  • L&G wins £400m fund deal from B&B

    20 Mar 2008

    Bradford & Bingley is to hand Legal & General a £400m multi-manager mandate after ending its contract with Axa Framlington.

  • Landlords' gearing at lowest level since May 2005

    25 Mar 2008

    The average gearing across landlords’ portfolios is at its lowest level since May 2005, according to Paragon.

  • Leadership qualities

    20 Mar 2008

    It seems that my wee firm finds itself disapproved of at the ABI. This seems to happen whenever we urge providers to be open and honest and so regain the moral high ground that an insurer should always seek to hold.

  • Lib Dems call on immediate action to stave off recession

    20 Mar 2008

    Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg says the Bank of England and Treasury must act decisively to head off a recession.

  • Living proof

    20 Mar 2008

    Last week, I made reference to the Cofunds platform conference on Investing in Retirement. With the rise in commodity prices and the Budget, I omitted some of the more interesting aspects. I know I am biased, being chairman, but it was not the usual post-retirement patter.

  • London & Capital compete with multi-manager

    19 Mar 2008

    London & CapitalPortfolio Management Service

  • LV= ups commission for advisers using express route for protection

    19 Mar 2008

    LV= has announced advisers that use its express route to apply for protection products will receive an extra 10 per cent commission.

  • M&G takes two pronged approach to Europe

    19 Mar 2008

    M&G has brought out two European funds - one investing in special situations and the other investing in undervalued stocks.

  • Make the grade

    20 Mar 2008

    A couple of weeks ago,multi-managers were talking of seeing value ininvestment-grade fundsagain after a tough time forcorporate bonds – with theaverage corporate bond funddown 3.8 per cent over the 12 months to March 3.

  • Market faces £625m proc fee shortfall, warns edeus

    20 Mar 2008

    edeus is warning the current liquidity crisis could lead to £625m being wiped off the total procuration fee revenue for the UK mortgage market.

  • Markets muddled following Fed rate cut

    19 Mar 2008

    World stock markets have produced a mixed reaction to the US Federal Reserves decision to cut base rate by 0.75 per cent yesterday.

  • 'Means-test poses threat to Thoresenscheme'

    20 Mar 2008

    Otto Thoresen's plans for a national money guidance service will fail unless the effect of means-testing on personal accounts is addressed, says Royal London executive director John Deane.

  • Metal guru

    20 Mar 2008

    The gold price has continued to soar, touching $1,000 an ounce for the first time recently. Is this the end? Probably not. A flow of bad news from the financial markets is good news for gold.

  • Meteor and Blue Sky bank on shares

    19 Mar 2008

    Blue Sky Asset Management and Meteor Asset Management have introduced capital-protected bonds that are based on a share basket comprising five major UK banks.

  • Meteor mixes risk and reward

    19 Mar 2008

    Meteor Asset Management has brought out a capital-protected bond that offers investors two risk and reward options in relation to commodities exposure.

  • MI business

    20 Mar 2008

    There is a cold regulatory wind blowing through financial services from Canary Wharf.

  • Mike Sargeant

    20 Mar 2008

    Lawrence House Fund Managers and Pharon IFA managing director Mike Sargeant is celebrating 21 years with the business this year.

  • MONEY MARKETING MARKETS: Bank Holiday Blues

    20 Mar 2008

    Investors will be relishing the long Easter weekend after an extraordinary week that revealed just how jittery the markets really are in the present climate.

  • Moneycorp expands global business with office openings

    19 Mar 2008

    Foreign exchange company Moneycorp is opening two new offices in Portugal and Turkey. The new operations are to provide specialist foreign exchange services to overseas property investors.

  • Mortgage arrears up by 35%

    20 Mar 2008

    Mortgage arrears' problems increased by 35 per cent in the first two months of this year compared with the same period in 2007, according to the Citizens Advice Bureau.

  • Mortgage deal is extended

    20 Mar 2008

    Vertex has extended its servicing contract with Livingstone Mortgages.

  • Mortgage lending falls 7% in February, says CML

    20 Mar 2008

    Gross mortgage lending fell to around £24bn in February, down 7 per cent from £25.9bn in January, says the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

  • 'Mortgage system is on the brink of seizing up'

    20 Mar 2008

    The Mortgage Practitioner sole practitioner Danny Lovey has warned that the whole UK mortgage system could seize up in the next month as a result of poor service from lenders.

  • Mortgages plc quits prime BTL

    20 Mar 2008

    Mortgages plc is withdrawing from the prime buy-to-let market with immediate effect. The firm will continue to process prime BTL applications until close of business on Wednesday, March 26.

  • 'Mutual status could have saved the Rock'

    20 Mar 2008

    Labour MP and Treasury select committee member Andy Love believes the Northern Rock crisis could have been prevented if it had stayed a mutual.

  • Nationwide chief slams Darling's ban on BTL relief

    20 Mar 2008

    Nationwide head of specialist lending Andy McQueen has hit out at the Government's exclusion of buy-to-let investors from capital gains tax entrepreneurs' relief.

  • Network Data gets £4.5m funding

    20 Mar 2008

    Network Data has secured new funding of £4.5m with Bank of Scotland.

  • Night flights for non-doms

    20 Mar 2008

    Regulations have been revised for calculating residency in the UK for non-domiciliaries and will now count nights rather than days spent in the UK.

  • Norris quits Hargreaves Lansdown

    20 Mar 2008

    Hargreaves Lansdown founding director of Pensions Direct, Adam Norris, has left the firm after nearly 10 years.

  • Northern Rock repaying BoE loan already

    20 Mar 2008

    New Star chief economist Simon Ward says the Bank of England's "other assets" on its balance sheet are now £4.8bn below a peak reached in late January.

  • Not so wide of the mark over ABI

    20 Mar 2008

    At a recent industry event I was approached by someone from the ABI who began by saying how much he enjoyed my letters (or should that be rants?) and then went on to say that he thought my previous criticisms of his august organisation were misinformed and probably ill advised. Maybe so, but I see from latest reports that only 6 per cent of his own members think he is doing a good job, so perhaps I have not been so wide of the mark.

  • Numbers game

    20 Mar 2008

    Nothing excites a fund manager more than numbers that do not seem to add up - it often flags up investment opportunities.

  • OBSR is cutting through multi-manager noise

    20 Mar 2008

    Old Broad Street Research has created a website that will help advisers categorise multi-manager funds in greater detail by comparing them to offerings that are deemed like for like.

  • Offshore mortgages won't face retro rules

    20 Mar 2008

    Industry fears have been allayed with the Budget announcement that the crackdown on offshore mortgages will not be retrospective.

  • One in 10 pension savers will stop or reduce pension contributions

    25 Mar 2008

    One in 10 pension savers will stop or reduce their contributions over the next 12 months due to the current market volatility.

  • Paragon cutting 93 staff and merging salesforces

    20 Mar 2008

    Paragon is to make up to 93 of its 650-strong workforce redundant as part of plans to restructure its Paragon Mortgages and Mortgage Trust divisions.

  • Pearl submits revised application for Resolution acquisition to FSA

    20 Mar 2008

    Pearl has submitted its revised change of control application for the acquisition of Resolution to the FSA.

  • Pension strategy

    20 Mar 2008

    I am 30, earn £35,000 a year and want to start paying into a pension. What would you recommend? I am renting and have no meaningful savings.

  • Platform usage to increase in 2008, says Skandia poll

    20 Mar 2008

    Platform usage over the next 12 months is set to increase as investment advisers turn increasingly to platforms to help them service their clients, according to a survey by Skandia.

  • Platforms need to deliver to meet needs of advisers

    20 Mar 2008

    Platforms must do more to respond to the needs of advisers to secure their long-term future, according to a report by Defaqto.

  • PMS no longer looking for new managing director

    19 Mar 2008

    Premier Mortgage Service managing director John Malone has committed to retaining the role for at least another 18 months.

  • PosSol offers advice for single parents

    20 Mar 2008

    Positive Solutions is offering a specialist financial advice service for single parents through an exclusive partnership deal with websites OnlyMums and OnlyDads.org.

  • Potter and Burdett play cautious game on equities

    20 Mar 2008

    Thames River co-heads of multi-manager Gary Potter and Robert Burdett are to continue adopting a cautious outlook on equities, preferring to hold high levels of cash and other asset classes.

  • Prestbury fails in MBO

    20 Mar 2008

    Prestbury has failed to secure backing from external shareholders for its proposed management buyout.

  • Product matters

    20 Mar 2008

    Advising clients on when to buy into funds based on investment themes is a perennial problem for advisers - too early and you risk waiting years for a pick-up, too late and you have missed the boat.

  • Pru drawdown brings pre and post retirement under same roof

    19 Mar 2008

    PrudentialIncome Drawdown With Sipp Option

  • Pru International launches new offshore bond

    19 Mar 2008

    Prudential International has launched a new single premium offshore portfolio bond.

  • Recruitment row over calls from headhunter

    20 Mar 2008

    Affluent Financial Planning has hit out at Positive Solu-tions over recruitment tactics he claims were used to headhunt its staff.

  • Relief road

    20 Mar 2008

    The proposals to reform and simplify the capital gains tax regime generated an enormous amount of comment. The changes will affect individuals, trustees and personal representatives when disposals are made on or after April 6 this year.

  • Resolution AM adds to UK desk

    20 Mar 2008

    Resolution Asset Management has announced the appointment of Martin Brown to its UK equity desk.

  • Rowanmoor picks pension chief to lead product drive

    20 Mar 2008

    Rowanmoor Pensions has appointed former Capita SIP Services pensions technical marketing and development manager Robert Graves to the newly created role of product development manager.

  • Royal Liver's Milburn leaving insurance industry

    20 Mar 2008

    Progress from Royal Liver IFA market manager Andy Milburn is leaving in April after five years with the firm.

  • Royal London cuts 25-year bonuses

    20 Mar 2008

    Royal London has increased the regular-premium final bonus rates on its 10-year with-profits policies from 11.1 per cent to 25 per cent. Regular-premium final bonus rates for 25-year policies have been cut from 140.1 per cent to 126.4 per cent.

  • Russian returns from Invesco

    19 Mar 2008

    Invesco PerpetualEmerging European Fund

  • Scottish Life hires 2 new corporate pensions managers

    25 Mar 2008

    Scottish Life has appointed Joe McGrath and Ken Tymms as corporate pensions managers.

  • Sesame overhauls packager panel

    19 Mar 2008

    Sesame has introduced a new packager panel and says it will guarantee advisers' commission in the event of a packager failure.

  • Sesame warns loan advisers over torrent of complaints

    20 Mar 2008

    Sesame is calling on mortgage advisers to protect themselves against a potential rash of complaints caused by higher levels of irresponsible borrowing.

  • Shares rebound as JPMorgan Chase raises Bear Stearns bid

    25 Mar 2008

    World markets have rebounded following the news that JPMorgan is lifting its bid for troubled investment bank Bear Stearns to $10 (£5) a share.

  • Shore Capital unleashes Puma

    19 Mar 2008

    Shore CapitalPuma Venture Capital Trust V and VI

  • Skipton buys 86 per cent stake in Torquil Clark

    25 Mar 2008

    The Skipton Building Society Group has acquired an 86 per cent shareholding in Torquil Clark in a bid to strengthen its financial advice offering.

  • Sofat designs haute couture wealth service

    20 Mar 2008

    Former Fiona Price and Partners managing director Anna Sofat has set up a new wealth management service for women, called Addidi.

  • Standard Life is reappointed by £3bn Lothian pension fund

    19 Mar 2008

    Standard Life Investments has been reappointed by the £3bn Lothian pension fund to manage a segregated property portfolio valued at £350m.

  • Still hanging on the phone

    20 Mar 2008

    I was very interested in the article 'Back-book causes backlog at 'overloaded' Windsor' (14 February), as I have experienced the problem first-hand.

  • Strategic withdrawal

    20 Mar 2008

    Much of the debate around pensions has focused on the savings side - how much should individuals save for retirement and where and how should they save it?

  • Strauss to head Lifetime wrap

    20 Mar 2008

    Norwich Union has appointed the former boss of John Scott & Partners and John Charcol. Toby Strauss. to head its Lifetime wrap.

  • Swip riding out the storm

    20 Mar 2008

    Swip's multi-manager team says it has achieved good relative returns for its multi-manager diversity and multi-manager select boutiques fund despite difficult market conditions.

  • Tactica debuts retail multi-asset range

    19 Mar 2008

    Multi-asset specialist Tactica has made its debut into the UK retail market with a range of three risk-graded Oeics, which invest directly in a range of asset classes and through investment funds.

  • Tax and trust arm for corporate sector

    20 Mar 2008

    AWD Chase de Vere is launching a tax and trust division aimed at its corporate and professional clients, to be headed by former heads of Alexander Forbes' tax and trusts team Paul Grafton-Holt and Claudio Bacci.

  • Tele vision

    20 Mar 2008

    Perhaps it seems clever to knock the competition but I fail to understand the logic behind TV ads from the UK's biggest banks and building societies which criticise certain forms of financial distribution and advice.

  • The bad old fund days

    20 Mar 2008

    I may have mentioned this before but in my spare time I am a vintage scooter fanatic. So are quite a few readers of this column. Indeed, one of my best mates in scootering is the former principal of a large IFA firm that flourished in the late 1980s before expiring some time around the formation of the old Personal Investment Authority.

  • The golden wonder fund

    20 Mar 2008

    A gold and precious metal fund called the Craton Capital Precious Metal fund launched in November 2003 has proved popular among European investors, but is as yet little known in the UK.

  • The haves and the have-nots

    20 Mar 2008

    I have now heard from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme that, in a case where a defunct firm has one person who is bankrupt and another who is a millionaire (this is an actual case), nothing can be done and the firm cannot be declared in fault.

  • The Malaysian way

    20 Mar 2008

    When I am on holiday, I never quite switch off and so it was I found myself pondering the Malaysian state and private pension system.

  • The Mortgage Works pulls 100 per cent loans

    20 Mar 2008

    The Mortgage Works has become the latest lender to withdraw from the 100 per cent loan to value market.

  • The new deal or no deal?

    20 Mar 2008

    At last the bankers have delivered. Around $300bn of likely US sub-prime losses have just been offset by as much as $500bn of additional funds announced by the US authorities earlier this month. You have just witnessed the central banking equivalent of the 1930s' New Deal.

  • There's always one...

    20 Mar 2008

    l PR Budget shame of the year goes to Maitland, I'm afraid. At precisely 12.27pm on Budget Day, an unnamed PR lady (we are not being kind, Diary would name and shame but she was not kept on the phone long enough to chat, funnily enough) from said firm felt it was appropriate to call Money Marketing's regulation reporter - who happens to be on holiday - to confirm arrangements for an all-important bowling event next week. Doh. There's always one."In retrospect, I think you did the right ...

  • Toby Strauss to head Lifetime wrap

    19 Mar 2008

    Norwich Union has appointed the former boss of John Scott & Partners and John Charcol Toby Strauss to head up its Lifetime wrap.

  • Top of the reform

    20 Mar 2008

    Minister for pension reform Mike O'Brien and Helm Godfrey managing director and resident yoga guru Bruce Wilson appear to have been separated at birth. They obviously share an interest in financial services but can O'Brien wrap his legs around his head?

  • Towry Law adds £1bn in assets under management

    25 Mar 2008

    Towry Law says it has doubled its funds under management, growing from around £1bn in 2006 to just under £2bn during the year to December 31, 2007.

  • Trading places

    20 Mar 2008

    Exchange traded funds have been one of the most notable investment success stories of recent years, with the European market growing by 30 per cent to reach euro 90bn last year.

  • True picture

    20 Mar 2008

    Commission remains by far and away the biggest form of adviser remuneration in the market. Figures from True Potential in a survey of 5,000 advisers suggest that a whopping 79 per cent of pension and investment business is through upfront commission.

  • UCB Homeloans to withdraw products today

    20 Mar 2008

    UCB Homeloans is to withdraw all of its products from end of play today after experiencing unprecedented demand for its products.

  • US investment firm Brown Advisory opens London office

    25 Mar 2008

    US-based investment firm Brown Advisory is opening a London office with a view to focusing more on the European market.

  • Variation on a theme

    20 Mar 2008

    Discussing possible topics for this article, one of my colleagues suggested writing about deeds of variation, especially in light of the introduction of the transferable nil-rate band.

  • Warning signs on borrowing

    20 Mar 2008

    Who is to blame when someone borrows too much money - broker, lender or borrower? Money Marketing gets the feeling it is going to be the subject of great debate following comments from the ombudsman Tony Boorman.

  • Watchdog set for mortgage action

    20 Mar 2008

    Association of Mortgage Intermediaries director general Chris Cummings has warned the Financial Ombudsman Service against automatically importing misselling lessons from the investment market into the mortgage market.

  • Wave ends 85% LTV across range

    20 Mar 2008

    Wave will no longer be offering loan products at 85 per cent loan to value across its entire product range.

  • Website shows Sipp valuations

    20 Mar 2008

    Merchant Investors has set up a website for advisers which includes online valuations and illustrations of its OneSipp and incomewithdrawal products.

  • Witan's new trio beat benchmarks

    20 Mar 2008

    Multi-manager investment trust Witan says the three new managers it appointed last year following a restructuring of the trust have each outperformed their benchmarks.

  • Zurich adds an online tool for portfolio plans

    20 Mar 2008

    Zurich is offering an online portfolio planner to help financial advisers build and manage client investment and pension portfolios.

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