Money Marketing
2 April 2003

  • 'Govt has miscalculated pension limit'

    2 Apr 2003

    Shadow secretary of state for work and pension David Willetts is claiming the Treasury has miscalculated the £1.4m pensions lifetime limit and that it is a stealth tax. In a letter to Chancellor Gordon Brown he says a limit of £1.73m would be necessary to match the present earnings limit. 

  • 'Make Blair stick to pension limit'

    3 Apr 2003

    Life companies are calling on the Inland Revenue to provide a guarantee that senior Government figures will not be able to take pensions that exceed private sector limits. Scottish Equitable and Norwich Union have called for all public sector pensions to be covered by the new proposed Revenue fund limit of £1.4m. Last month, Treasury Financial Secretary Ruth Kelly told Parliament that all schemes benefiting from tax privileges would come under the rules. But the Revenue ...

  • 'Public will pay massive costs of pension reform'

    3 Apr 2003

    Norwich Union is warning that the costs of implementing the Government's pension reform proposals will outweigh any benefits, with the expense ultimately borne by consumers. It predicts there will be a huge one-off cost of simplifying the pension system, outlined in the Department for Work and Pensions Green Paper and the Inland Revenue's pension taxation simplification paper. In its response to the paper, NU executive chairman Philip Scott says life comp-anies' already ...

  • 1st Software and TMO in info exchange partnership

    4 Apr 2003

    1st Software and The Mortgage Operation have announced a partnership that will allow 1st Software's Adviser Office system 8,500 users to exchange information with TMO's 2000 advisers. Information exchange between the two systems will reduce the need to re-key data.

  • ABI says chance missed to increase retirement provision

    3 Apr 2003

    The £1.4m lifetime pension limit is at the heart of much industry criticism to the Pensions Green Paper. Life companies, industry bodies and IFAs have broadly welcomed the Inland Revenue's proposals for simplification of the tax regime but have attacked the Depart-ment for Work and Pensions' paper, saying it contains little to encourage new saving or slow the flight from final-salary schemes. The Pensions Manage-ment Institute, Standard Life, Axa and Scottish Life have ...

  • Actuaries say price falls won't hit equity release

    3 Apr 2003

    Fears over the sustainability of house prices should not deter providers from entering the equity-release market, says actuarial consultant Tillinghast Towers Perrin. Even if predictions of a 20 per cent fall in house prices by 2005 come true, it says older homeowners will still have considerable equity in their properties after seeing the value build up over many years. It believes that low annuity rates and turbulent stockmarkets mean older homeowners have much to gain by taking ...

  • Adair to be different?

    3 Apr 2003

    The choice of Adair Turner as chairman of the new Pensions Commission is good news for all of us. After a major inter-departmental battle, the terms of reference for the commission were circumscribed in the Pension Green Paper as: "To keep under review the regime for UK private pensions and long-term savings [and] to make recommendations to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on whether there is a case for moving beyond the current voluntarist approach." The intention was ...

  • All the resident's gen

    3 Apr 2003

    I am intending to buy a property in Spain and retire there. Can you explain to me what I need to do to be treated as a non-UK resident and how I can establish my domicile in Spain? The terms residence and ordinary residence are not defined in the Taxes Acts and are based largely on court rulings. To be regarded as resident in the UK, you must normally be physically present in the country at some time in the tax year. You will always be resident if you are here for 183 days ...

  • Allianz Dresdner takes conservative approach to bond fund

    7 Apr 2003

    Allianz Dresdner Asset Management has established the high income bond, an Oeic that will be managed by its sister company, Pimco.The fund has an estimated target yield of 5 per cent a year and will invest in a mixture of high-yield and investment-grade corporate bonds, mainly in the UK. However, up to 30 per cent of the portfolio may be invested internationally and each individual holding will not represent more than 5 per cent of the portfolio.Up to 50 per cent of the ...

  • Another huge fine for R&SA

    3 Apr 2003

    Royal & Sun Alliance Life and Pensions has been hit with a £950,000 fine by the FSA for mortgage endowment-related failings. The action marks the second time the life office has been fined in less than a year. Last August, the FSA imposed a record £1.35m fine for R&SA's second offence under the pension review. It was also fined £250,000 by the PIA in 1997 over the pension review. This time, the company has been fined for breakdowns in the sales ...

  • Ashley Law faces legal dispute

    3 Apr 2003

    A group of seven former Ashley Law advisers are taking legal action against the IFA, alleging it did not fulfil its contractual obligations to its advisers. The national IFA is based in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex and operates a franchise network of 70 associate offices and 125 RIs. The dispute arose in 2001 over clawback on commission and contractual obligations over marketing. The ex-members are now seeking compensation for loss of earnings, claiming breach of the contract agreement ...

  • Basket case

    3 Apr 2003

    A man in a hot-air balloon realised he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted from the basket: "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago but I don't know where I am." The woman replied: "You are in a hot-air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You are between 40 and 41degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude." "You must be an engineer," said ...

  • Best Business Press Advertisement - Sponsored by Money Marketing

    2 Apr 2003

    This award recognises the best advertisement in the business press. Another intensely competitive category, the three shortlisted agencies stood out from 57 entrants for their ability to understand the IFA's relationship with his client. Judges looked for advertisements that stood out in a crowded marketplace and made the intermediary feel the provider was creating business for them. This year's entrants dealt with IFA's concerns about how to sell financial ...

  • Best Consumer Direct Mail Pack - Sponsored by Headlinemoney

    2 Apr 2003

    In its first year as a standalone award, the Best Consumer Direct Mail Pack category has attracted over 50 entries. Judges were impressed with the different creative and novel approaches to making consumers think about financial services. This award acknowledges the most impressive pack directed at consumers.Winner: TBWA\GGT Direct - Prudential Assurance - The Mini Money BookTWBA \ GGT's Mini Money Book was described by one judge as a telling ...

  • Best Consumer Press Advertisement - Sponsored by Luther Pendragon

    2 Apr 2003

    This category is for corporate advertisements aimed at promoting specific products through national newspapers or consumer magazines. The growing prestige of these awards is reflected in the growth of this category, which received 57 entries this year compared with 36 last year. The three shortlisted consumer press advertisements stood out for their ability to leap out of the page and grab their target audience with a message that would be remembered.Winner: ...

  • Best IFA Direct Mail Pack - Sponsored by Polhill

    2 Apr 2003

    With 58 entries for the award of best direct mail pack last year, the category has been divided into two new categories, Best IFA Direct Mail Pack and Best Consumer Direct Mail Pack. This award acknowledges the best of the 72 direct mail campaigns competing across the two categories this year. Judges shortlisted the direct mail campaigns able to make an impact on the busy IFA rather than end up going straight in the bin.Winner: H.H.M. - Norwich Union Healthcare ...

  • Best Outdoor Advertisement - Sponsored by Institute of Financial Services

    2 Apr 2003

    This year's shortlisted was drawn from 25 outdoor advertisements targeting the man or woman in the street. The judges have given a special commendation to Lowe for the unique way it branded Heathrow Airport and Heathrow Express as an HSBC-owned public space. More than just an outdoor advertisement, all of the judges were thrilled by HSBC's coup in branding an entire international airport and the integrated message throughout the project delivered by Lowe & Partners ...

  • Best Radio Advertisement - Sponsored by H2B

    2 Apr 2003

    Communicating a corporate message by triggering images and emotions in customers' minds, this year's radio advertisements used innovative and creative ideas to overcome the difficulties of connecting consumers with financial services. All of the shortlisted advertisements demonstrated original ways to raise the product provider's brand profile and made the provider more acceptable to the intermediary's client.Winner: WCRS Limited - Prudential ...

  • Best TV Advertisement - Sponsored by GBTV

    2 Apr 2003

    Rewarding the most impressive advertisements that appeared on UK TV in 2002, this year's entries overcame the difficulty of making financial services attractive to viewers by relying on wit, emotion and humour. The shortlisted advertisements impressed judges with the sophisticated way they increased brand awareness and communicated the company's message.Winner: Lowe - Craig Fabian (HSBC) - Business Review Understanding the real-life ...

  • Best use of New Media - Sponsored by 1st Software

    2 Apr 2003

    End-to-end processing of electronic new business is the platform for huge cost savings that will revolutionise the financial services sector. The product providers and IFAs that will succeed in the future will be the ones that make new technology work for them by giving greater service to customers and business partners and increasing efficiency.The judges found two companies - one IFA and one life company - that stood so far ahead of the rest of the field ...

  • Big rise in impaired-life annuity business

    3 Apr 2003

    Sales of impaired-life annuities rose by 55 per cent to £651m last year from £420m in 2001 and now account for 23 per cent of annuities sold through the open-market option, says consultant Watson Wyatt. Its research shows the share of the overall annuity market taken by impaired-life annuities rose to 10.2 per cent from 7.8 per cent in 2001. The total market for conventional annuities rose by 21 per cent to £6.4bn from £5.3bn. But senior consultant ...

  • Biggest job cuts for six years hit financial services

    7 Apr 2003

    Financial services companies have slashed jobs at the fastest rate for more than six years according to latest research by CBI/PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Its quarterly survey showed a 30 perc ent drop in staffing over the last three months, the biggest since September1996. The research also showed two consecutive quarters of declining business for the first time since March 1993. These falls were most dramatic over the last quarter in the sectors closely linked with the stockmarket, ...

  • Bright Grey goes live

    3 Apr 2003

    Bright Grey, Royal London's protection arm, is accepting business from this week in a staggered launch which sees it going live first to users of the Assureweb portal. Products will be available on The Exchange in a week's time and will be rolled out gradually to other IFAs. The launch comes 18 months after Royal London first announced plans to break into the market in September 2001. The provider says it is placing IFA service at the core of its proposition in an attempt ...

  • Captive audience

    3 Apr 2003

    Let us start by stating the obvious - the PI crisis is the single most important issue the industry presently faces. That said, it is easy to forget that IFAs are not alone in experiencing massive professional indemnity insurance increases. This is a widespread problem. After accounting scandals such as Enron and Equitable Life, accountants saw savage premium increases, with many firms left with no other choice but to flee the audit business altogether. Lawyers have also recently ...

  • Catalyst Investment Group - Catalyst EIS Fund 2

    3 Apr 2003

    Thursday, 3 April 2003 Aim: Growth by investing in small fast-growth companiesMinimum investment: £3,000Opening/closing dates: March 1, 2003/April 4, 2003Charges: ImplicitCommission: Initial 3.5%Contact: www.catalystinvestment.co.uk

  • Claims collapse against Temple

    3 Apr 2003

    Seven former RJ Temple consultants have lost their claims against the national IFA for unfair dismissal. The first case was brought by former senior managers Philip Gerry, Andrew Cole, Alan Hemsworth and Barry Martin-Pitt, now directors at IFA Westpoint Financial, which has six reg- istered individuals. They alleged unfair and constructive dismissal, unlawful deduction of commission, underpayment and breach of contract. All four have now withdrawn their claims. Their case collapsed ...

  • Consumer Campaign of the Year - Sponsored by AssureWeb

    2 Apr 2003

    Awarded to the most consistent work directed at consumers, if this was the Oscars, then the Consumer Campaign of the Year category would be the award for best picture. This year's competition saw 34 entries from across the financial services sector. The award recognises the campaign best able to achieve the difficult task of communicating a financial services message to the general public across all forms of media.Winner: TBWA\GGT Direct & WCRS - Prudential ...

  • Davis heads Govt pension taskforce

    3 Apr 2003

    The man who kept Prudential out of the range of PIA pension misselling censure has been appointed head of the Government's employer pensions taskforce. Sir Peter Davis, who is now chief executive with supermarket chain J Sainsbury, has been named as the chairman of the Department for Work and Pensions' taskforce proposed in the Pension Green Paper. The taskforce is a body set up to draw on companies' experience to identify and promote employer-led solutions to increasing ...

  • Don't look a gift house in the mouth

    3 Apr 2003

    Successful businesses need to consider constantly both the short and anticipated long-term factors that may impact on their markets and clients in order to shape and continually adjust their tactics and strategy. Failure to consider short-term issues hits the bottom line and is very quickly evident. Consequently, remedial action must usually be taken sooner rather than later. But failure to consider the often gradually emerging longer-term factors can mean that what might otherwise ...

  • EIS offers breath of fresh air

    2 Apr 2003

    Hanova Company has introduced Secure Air Systems, an enterprise investment scheme (EIS) that aims to raise between £6m and £10m to market technology designed to combat biological and chemical impurities in the air.There are two different types of technology, which were both developed by scientists at the Cambridge Science Park. One type is designed to remove harmful biological and chemical elements from public places such as offices and underground train stations by ...

  • Energy regulator McCarthy switches to be FSA chairman

    3 Apr 2003

    The Treasury has appointed Callum McCarthy, currently the chairman of energy regulator Ofgem, as the next FSA chairman, replacing Howard Davies. Chancellor Gordon Brown ended speculation over who would replace Davies, who announced last December that he would be leaving the FSA in September this year to become director of the London School of Economics. McCarthy joins the FSA in September but will begin sitting in on board meetings in May. He has gained a solid reputation for favouring ...

  • Equitable 'coming out of intensive care', says Treves

    3 Apr 2003

    Equitable Life's finances are gradually stabilising, as attention shifts to its regulation by the DTI more than a decade ago, following claims it had a black hole of £1.3bn in its finances in the early 1990s. A report, commissioned by the Equitable Members' Action Group from accountant Burgess Hodgson and submitted to the Penrose inquiry, claims the DTI would have known about a newly revealed £1.3bn deficit as early as the start of the 1990s. In Equitable's ...

  • Failure to offer seller's pack will not be a criminal offence

    3 Apr 2003

    The Government has ditched controversial plans to impose criminal sanctions on homeowners who sell their property without a seller's pack after succumbing to industry pressure. In the new Housing Bill, published this week, the measure to criminally punish non-compliant homeowners has been dropped in favour of civil sanctions, likely to take the form of a fine. Previously, homeowners selling without a pack - now called a home information pack - could face sanctions equivalent ...

  • Final salary member security top Green Paper priority - Wolanski & Co

    4 Apr 2003

    Member security in final salary schemes is the main issue the pensions Green Paper needs to address says consulting actuary Wolanski & Co.

  • Firms responsible for staff complying with MCCB rules

    3 Apr 2003

    There has been recent press comment over the MCCB annual renewal process, which is currently under way, and our monitoring arrangements as regards our fitness and competence requirements, including professional qualifications for mortgage advisers. These two areas have been erroneously interlinked and some comment has been made that we are not seeking proof of exam qualifications for mortgage advisers as part of the renewal process or at all. I make the following points in reply: The ...

  • Framlington offers free transfers during May

    7 Apr 2003

    Framlington is offering what it is calling a "knockout transfer deal" for the month of May, allowing investors to transfer their Peps and Isas into its range of funds with no initial charge.

  • Friends Intl duo offering access to wide asset range

    3 Apr 2003

    Friends Provident International is adding a single-premium bond and regular-premium savings plan to its Isle of Man-based product range. The reserve wealth management account is a single-premium bond that can be tailored to suit individual investors' requirements. It is available in two versions. The first allows investors to choose from a wide range of assets including equities, bonds and investment funds. The second features a menu of unit trusts, investment trusts and ...

  • FSA decides against relaxing hedge rules

    3 Apr 2003

    The FSA has decided not to relax rules governing the marketing of hedge funds after its consultation found no desire among IFAs and providers to sell them to retail investors. The regulator, which currently does not regulate long/short products, issued a discussion paper in August 2002 asking the industry whether access to hedge funds should be widened. But following feedback, the FSA says it has decided that the existing regime provides the right balance of consumer protection and ...

  • FSA to publish 'simple guide' to handbook

    3 Apr 2003

    The FSA has pledged to design a simple guide to its regulatory handbook after a report by its practitioner panel criticised it for not being user-friendly. Following the report published in January, FSA head of investment firms David Kenmir admitted that he struggles at times to understand some aspects of the handbook. At a PI roadshow hosted by the FSA in London last week, Kenmir said one of the ongoing projects of the regulator is to create a simpler version of its lengthy handbook. A ...

  • Gourmet break to be won

    3 Apr 2003

    Scottish Friendly is inviting IFAs to win a gourmet break for two at one of the country's top restaurants. The winner and a guest will either win the meal for two, a wine-tasting session or learn how to cook fine cuisine. Advisers will be able to choose from either Rick Stein's Seafood school in Cornwall, Oz Clarke's Wine Experience in London or Gordon Ramsey's Amaryllis restaurant in Glasgow. The friendly society wants to raise the profile of its tax-free and with-profits ...

  • Grainger quitting Gartmore for F&C bond post

    3 Apr 2003

    Gartmore senior fixed-income fund manager Paul Grainger, who runs £2bn for the com-pany, is leaving in August to join F&C Management as head of UK sovereign bonds. Grainger has been with Gartmore since 1999, taking control of its monthly income, high-yield corporate bond and corporate bond funds last August after the departure of previous manager Eran Peleg. Grainger was already running the UK fixed-interest fund and institutional mandates. He will continue running the ...

  • Half can't tell bonds from equities

    3 Apr 2003

    Half of investors do not know the difference between equities and bonds and among the public at large, this figure rises to two out of three, according to research for Invesco Perpetual. The company says this is particularly worrying as corporate bond funds are among the biggest sellers this Isa season, accounting for 22 per cent of gross retail sales. Invesco says this raises the issue of whether investors know what they are buying. The research found that investment knowledge ...

  • Half of IFAs risking employee litigation

    7 Apr 2003

    Nearly half of IFAs are risking employee litigation with 47 per cent admitting they don't fully comply with all aspects of employment law according to a survey by law firm Peninsula. The survey showed more than half of those surveyed, 54 per cent, were taking short cuts and only 34 percent were aware of new employment legislation introduced this month. Peninsula head of corporate development Russell Guest says IFAs are finding it difficult to understand and keep up with the legislation ...

  • Hazell Carr chief runs in Sahara to aid rhino cause

    3 Apr 2003

    Pension consultancy Hazell Carr is offering free benefit reviews to firms if they sponsor director Kenneth Donaldson in his bid to run across the Sahara desert. Donaldson will be taking part in the Marathon des Sables to raise money for the Save the Rhino International charity. The marathon, which is described as the toughest foot race on Earth, takes place in the Sahara desert around the Moroccan town of Ouarzazate from April 6-12. Donaldson will be running with a team of ...

  • HSBC Bank - Performance Plus Isa

    2 Apr 2003

    Wednesday, 2 April 2003Type: Capital protected Tessa-only IsaAim: Growth linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 indexMinimum-maximum investment: £3,000-£9,000Investment choice: Capital protected Tessa-only IsaTerm: Five yearsGuarantee: Original capital returned in full regardless of performance in indexReturn: Up to 45% growth at end of termCatmarked: NoClosing date: May 2, 2003Charges: ImplicitCommissio

  • Human nature

    3 Apr 2003

    One of the principal challenges for any adviser wanting to operate successfully in the stakeholder market is how to do so profitably. The paltry levels of commission that can be afforded out of the price-capped product have turned this Government's flagship pension product into something of a Marie Celeste. However inadequate the direct remuneration may be, all but the smallest firms still have a legal duty to nominate a scheme. If a profitable approach can be found, this may ...

  • IFA Campaign of the Year - Sponsored by Braxton / Deloitte Consulting

    2 Apr 2003

    This award goes to the most consistently outstanding work of 2002 directed at IFAs. An increase in entries to this category from 13 last year to 29 this year reflects the increased competition among product providers in their targeting of IFAs. Judges commended campaigns that recognised and understood the challenges intermediaries face and conveyed the potential to generate more business.Winner: Rapier - AXA - AXA IFA CampaignRapier's ...

  • IFAs waiting for the war to end

    3 Apr 2003

    Axa says nearly half of IFAs are advising investors to steer clear of the stockmarket until after the end of the war with Iraq. It found that 46 per cent of IFAs are telling clients to avoid investing until after the war. The research estimates that there are 15.5 million people are looking to save an average of £6,183 each this year, with another 9.6 million with tentative plans to save but put off by the volatile stockmarkets and the Iraq war. The survey says only 18 per ...

  • IMA in tax plea as fund sales suffer

    3 Apr 2003

    Net retail sales of investment funds in February plummeted by almost £500m from the same time last year, according to the Investment Management Association. The IMA's monthly statistics reveal that retail sales slid to £194m in February, down from £222.5m in January and £670m in February 2002. At £193m, Isa sales were also down on last February's figure of £319m but showed a rise on the £158m achieved in January. The percentage of ...

  • Independent view

    3 Apr 2003

    The recent announcement of an £800,000 pay and bonus package for Standard Life chief executive Iain Lumsden is yet another kick in the teeth for with-profits policyholders. Bearing in mind the woeful underlying investment performance of Standard Life's with-profits fund, the significant fall in reserves and the currently swingeing MVAs of up to 27 per cent - higher even than Equitable Life's 20 per cent - this is highly hypocritical. All this from a mutual company owned ...

  • Inside edge

    3 Apr 2003

    There has been a fair bit of palaver in the newspapers since Opra issued guidance regarding the payment of transfer values from final-salary pension schemes. What's it all about? The rules governing the way that pension transfers are calculated and paid have not changed since the Pensions Act 1995 came into effect and allowed trustees to take account of the funding position of the pension scheme when paying out pension transfers. This is fine but does not address the problem ...

  • Investment analysis

    3 Apr 2003

    Most of the world's stockmarkets gave up some of their recent strong gains last week on the realisation that the war in Iraq is likely to be longer than anticipated and on concerns over a pick-up in oil prices. In the UK, the FTSE 100 fell by 4 per cent, leaving the index at just above the 3,700 level as a combination of war fears and a drop in UK consumer confidence weighed on sentiment. Mid and small-cap stocks, which produced less spectacular gains over the previous two weeks, ...

  • Investment view

    3 Apr 2003

    Next week sees the Chancellor make his Budget statement. By then, the new tax year will have started. Budgets that take place after the beginning of the tax year are becoming commonplace. We already know what tax increases are in store for us for this coming tax year, though. National Insurance is set to rise. But this may not be the end of the story for the poor taxpayer. Not so very long ago, the International Monetary Fund was rapping the knuckles of the Chancellor, pointing out ...

  • Is the network ethic in crisis?

    3 Apr 2003

    The notion of a network that pools resources to share admin costs while at the same time capitalising on aggregated buying power is far from new. It is something which has until recently been put to good effect in the IFA community, where the network product has been entwined around a regulatory wrapper to control the conduct of business. It is curious, therefore, that increasing numbers of people are of the opinion that IFA networks no longer have a place and will ultimately ...

  • John Dick

    3 Apr 2003

    The new man overseeing acquisitions at Tenet has had plenty of experience in dealing with difficult mergers and takeovers. John Dick's previous position as managing director of Sedgwick - Barclays' IFA - saw him integrate the 140 Sedgwick RI s into the Barclays' team. With a wry smile, he describes "making sure everyone was facing in the same direction" and some of the difficulties encountered in the deal. Dick implies he was dealing with a team of entrepreneurs used to doing ...

  • Julian Gibbs

    3 Apr 2003

    Several stockmarket-linked bonds have recently matured and will not return investors' capital in full, although, taking into account the income paid, most will have performed better than the stockmarket as a whole. Some IFAs are now shying away from these products - quite wrongly, in my opinion, because stockmarkets are unlikely to fall by a further 40 per cent or more, which is the downside protection of the better products. The one I like best for income at present is the ...

  • Keydata multiplies choice

    3 Apr 2003

    Keydata Investment Services has established a fourth issue of the extra income plan, a guaranteed equity bond linked to the FTSE 100 index during a five-year term.The bond initially offers investors a choice between two options. Option one provides a further choice of 8 per cent income a year, 1.93 per cent income a quarter or growth of 43 per cent at the end of the term. Alternatively, investors can choose income of 6 per cent a year, income of 1.44 per cent a quarter or 32 per ...

  • Legal & General in household insurance deal with GMAC-RFC

    4 Apr 2003

    GMAC-RFC has appointed Legal & General as its sole supplier of household and buy-to-let insurance.

  • Legal & General says its plans can shield Isa cash from risk

    3 Apr 2003

    Legal & General is urging investors to preserve the funds built up in their Peps or Isas by transferring to its protected index plan 2 or index growth and protection plan. It says many investors have built up big capital sums over the years and may want to protect capital from stockmarket turbulence. It says by transferring investments, investors can have exposure to stockmarkets without potential of loss of capital. The protected index plan 2 is linked to the FTSE 100 ...

  • Lenders 'using brands to sell inferior cover'

    3 Apr 2003

    High-street lenders have been accused of selling expensive and inferior term and critical-illness cover alongside their mortgage products. Protection broker Lifesearch says lenders rely on their well-known brand names to sell poor value products. Lifesearch claims products sold by lenders such as Halifax and Nationwide are more expensive than those available through IFAs. It says the products cover fewer conditions and are sold on reviewable rates. The broker says a 25-year ...

  • Letter of the law

    3 Apr 2003

    Infoline is organising an event in London on May 20 to help IFAs run a compliant sales process. The event will take place from 10am to 4pm and will be structured around seminars led by David Dinsmore, the former head of business standards at Legal & General, and Jayne Owen. Participants will get expert help to evaluate the way they write suitability letters, striking the balance between a personalised and standardised approach. Advisers will be able to compare their own ...

  • Making the medicine go down

    3 Apr 2003

    Using London Transport means there is always a need to have a ready supply of reading material. Now, you could suggest that I take advantage of reading the generous output of consultation papers from the FSA but, given their average weight, a hernia could follow. Last week, I came across an article about non-compliance in one of the broadsheets. As it was not in the business or personal finance pages, I was instantly intrigued. In fact, the article was not about the misselling of personal ...

  • Mellon backs orchestra on Europe tour

    3 Apr 2003

    Fund management group Mellon is sponsoring the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's European tour in a move aimed at raising its profile across Continental markets. The group, which owns UK investment house Newton Investment Management, is backing the orchestra's tour of nine European cities. Performing under the direction of Mariss Jansons, the symphony will perform 16 concerts. Cities visited will include Madrid, Vienna, Amsterdam and London in April. On the second leg in August, ...

  • Millfield joins Bankhall's Point One

    2 Apr 2003

    IFA Millfield has become a member of Bankhall Investment Associate’s mortgage general and associated assurance services provider Point One. The group joins nine hundred other members who have signed up for the service which provides mortgage products, software, compliance and training support, PMI and mortgage insurance.  

  • Misys reassures brokers on regulation

    2 Apr 2003

  • Misys survey reveals the red light runners

    3 Apr 2003

    Mortgage endowment figures from Misys reveal that 43 per cent of Scottish Amicable's policies are now in the red, with 37 per cent amber and 20 per cent green. This was in stark contrast to Norwich Union and Clerical Medical which both have just 7 per cent in the red, 57 and 54 per cent amber and 36 and 39 per cent green respectively. The research compiled by Misys reveals that only six endowment providers were willing to release the information, leading to Misys head of research ...

  • Moral issues behind new market

    3 Apr 2003

    Why does the traded life policy market split IFA opinion when clients can expect relatively risk-free returns of around 12 per cent and IFAs get 4 per cent initial commission plus trail? Traded life policies are life insurance contracts sold by terminally-ill policyholders to unlock the benefits before they die. Last year, Tep specialist Shepherds launched what is thought to be the UK's first fund based on traded life policies with targeted returns of 12 per cent. The fund buys ...

  • Neptune joins Skandia fund platform

    7 Apr 2003

    Neptune, the fund management company previously known as Orbitex, has joined Skandia's multi-manager platform.Neptune's market leading balanced and UK equity funds are now available to Skandia's MultiBond, MultPension, MultIsa, MultiPep and MultiFund investors.Skandia investment marketing manager Ian Thomas says: "Since its launch May 2002 Neptune has quickly built itself an excellent reputation in the industry. We are really pleased to welcome it to our platform."

  • New mortgage deals from Woolwich

    4 Apr 2003

    The Woolwich is improving its range of fixed rate and discounted mortgages.

  • Newbigging appointed High Sheriff of Wiltshire

    7 Apr 2003

    Friends Provident chairman David Newbigging has been named as High Sheriff of Wiltshire, a position appointed annually by the Queen.

  • Non-compliant advisers win rule relaxation

    3 Apr 2003

    IFAs with non-compliant PI cover will no longer have to tell their clients after the FSA relented to pressure from Aifa and advisers. The change is effective from this week and means that IFAs unable to find cover or given permission by the FSA not to have compliant PI cover will no longer have to write to clients. Aifa has been fighting for the change for some time, saying the only result of the rule has been a weakening of clients' trust in their adviser. It says that PI is ...

  • NU pension spokesman quits for consultancy role

    3 Apr 2003

    Norwich Union director of pensions development Jerry Barnfield has left to take a senior pension administration role at consultant Hewitt Bacon & Woodrow. Norwich Union will not comment on the reasons for Barnfield's sudden departure from his role as chief pension spokesman for one of the UK's biggest life companies to take on an admin role at HBW. Barnfield had been off sick from Norwich Union for several weeks before his departure was announced. Barnfield's role ...

  • NU says policyholders unconcerned by 'crisis'

    3 Apr 2003

    Norwich Union says mortgage endowment problems have been exaggerated. It says it has conducted detailed research and has found that no policyholders thought they faced real financial difficulties as a consequence of endowment shortfalls. NU claims policyholders are more disappointed at the possible loss of a tax-free lump sum on maturity. NU says awareness of the "endowment crisis" is high, with 96 per cent having heard of it. But only 15 per cent were very concerned while 52 per ...

  • nvesta - Quad Tracker Plan

    4 Apr 2003

    Friday, 4 April 2003Type: Capital protected bondAim: Growth linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 indexMinimum-maximum investment: £3,000-£2mTerm: Six yearsGuarantee: Original capital returned in full providing index does not fall by more than 50%Return: Up to four times the growth in the index subject to a maximum of 80%Closing date: May 9, 2003Commission: Initial 3%Tel: 020 7454 0704

  • nvesta - Super Tracker 30 Plan

    7 Apr 2003

    Monday, 7 April 2003Type: Capital protected bondAim: Growth linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 indexMinimum-maximum investment: £3,000-£2mTerm: Six yearsGuarantee: Original capital returned in full providing index does not fall by more than 50%Return: 30% - 100% of growth in the FTSE 100 index at end of termClosing date: May 9, 2003Commission: Initial 3%Tel: 020 7454 0704

  • nvesta offers short-term bond

    8 Apr 2003

    nvesta has established the FTSE focus plan 2, a guaranteed equity bond that offers investors a choice between income and growth.The bond is linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 index over a term of three years and two months. Investors can choose between annual income of 9 per cent a year, monthly income of 0.7 per cent or growth of 30 per cent.Investors get all their original capital returned provided the FTSE 100 index does not fall by more than 25 per cent between ...

  • Online service provides data on splits

    2 Apr 2003

    The Association of Investment Trusts has welcomed the launch of the Splitsonline Association, designed to promote transparency in the sector. The internet service sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management will provide daily statistics and analytics on split capital trusts to keep investors and advisers informed and updated. Members of the Sola will consist of boards of directors of split capital trusts and their management groups.

  • Only 1 per cent know how much they can save tax-free

    8 Apr 2003

    Just over half the population knows they can save for the future tax-free and only 1 per cent thinks they can save more than £10,000 tax-free according to research from National Savings & Investments.

  • Opportunities in Japan says Pictet

    7 Apr 2003

    Investment opportunities in Japan for those prepared to search

  • Out of context

    3 Apr 2003

    •"I don't like shaking hands with someone who has just had nuts in their hand." - Norwich Union IFA director David Barrall. •"Big job title, small business." - Cicero Consulting chief corporate counsel Iain Anderson. •'Can I pour the hot wax?" - The Jackson Consultancy head Ralph Jackson. •"Quali DEEE, that's quality with a DEEEE, just call me the Swiss Tony of financial services." - ProAct solicitor Gareth Fatchett on providing a quality captive ...

  • Outside Edge

    3 Apr 2003

    Imagine if you had been the IFA who advised a deferred pensioner in the Allied Steel and Wire Pension Scheme to transfer out to a private arrangement shortly before the sponsoring employer of that scheme went into liquidation. I suspect you would be considered something of a hero by that particular customer. How many more defined-benefit schemes are going to go the way of that scheme? Plenty more if the reports we read almost on a daily basis are anything to go by. It seems that the ...

  • Pitt quits Future Mortgage

    2 Apr 2003

    Brian Pitt, sales & marketing director at sub-prime lender Future Mortgages, has resigned from the group. Pitt, one of founders of the company, left this week after six years. Despite his sudden departure, Future says negotiations about his leaving were amicable. He has not yet been replaced. 

  • Plan for second captive PI firm

    3 Apr 2003

    Plans are being made for a second captive professional indemnity insurer for IFAs, with a scheme backed by a "major London broker" looking to set up a Gibraltar-based insurer selling PI cover into the UK. The scheme, which could launch as early as the end of May, has the necessary start-up capital in place and is seeking authorisation as a mutual insurer in Gibraltar, where capital requirements are much lower than in the UK. It would then become authorised in the UK and offer PI ...

  • Property prices fall across South-east

    3 Apr 2003

    House prices fell in March with London and the South-east suffering, according to the Hometrack monthly national survey. The slowdown has been particularly marked in London and the South East, which saw widespread price falls. The highest falls were in Central London, the City of London and Berkshire, dropping 0.4 per cent, while Wiltshire and Surrey saw falls of 0.3 per cent. Prices fell in 17 counties while 14 counties saw prices at a standstill. Price rises were seen in ...

  • Pru in talks to take on Equitable annuitants

    3 Apr 2003

    Equitable Life and Prudential have held talks which could lead to the bulk transfer of all of Equitable's beleaguered annuitants. In Equitable's preliminary announcement out this week, the society accepts that individual with-profits transfers are faced with many legal, regulatory and practical hurdles. But it accepts that these problems could be dealt with through a bulk transfer to another insurance company. It says that the move is feasible if appropriate commercial terms ...

  • Reinventing the deal

    3 Apr 2003

    MM: Why launch a new protection company now? DR: Most of the motivation comes from wanting to imp-rove the service to IFAs. Doing the right things in terms of the products and certainly the service proposition. There is a good opportunity to almost reinvent what protection insurance is all about. MM: Are the service levels of traditional providers seen by IFAs as being quite poor? DR: That is the strong feedback we get from IFAs in terms of the underwriting process. I ...

  • Residents of a South African hotel

    3 Apr 2003

    Residents of a South African hotel were surprised recently by the sight of a Ben Kingsley lookalike climbing over the perimeter wall. The marauder was in fact Whitechurch Securities chief executive Kean Seager who, with his wife, had come back late from a spin around the local hinterland only to find the hotel gates firmly closed. Before getting to his room, the luckless Mr Seager had to slip off his shoes, shimmy over the fence and persuade a gun-toting guard that he should be allowed ...

  • Returns hit 22% on mortgage-linked BTLs

    3 Apr 2003

    Returns on buy-to-let properties bought with mortgages have risen due to lower interest rates while returns on cash-bought BTL properties have dropped slightly, according to figures from the Association of Residential Letting Agents. Cash-bought BTL returns have fallen to 9.45 per cent from 9.53 per cent while BTL returns linked to mortgages have risen to 19.06 per cent from 18.89 per cent for the three months to February due to falling interest rates. Regional returns have remained ...

  • Ritchie warns pension safety net could fail

    3 Apr 2003

    The Government should heed the warning from the US experience before setting up a central insurance safety net for occupational pension schemes, says Scottish Equitable pensions development director Stewart Ritchie. The Department for Work and Pensions is understood to be looking at a central discontinuance fund to bail out members if a big underfunded defined-benefit scheme should be wound up. But Ritchie says the idea has already been shown to fail in the US, where a state-sponsored ...

  • Sarasin rejigs fund range and offers Sicavs to UK investors

    3 Apr 2003

    Thematic fund manager Sarasin is to offer eight of its Luxemburg-based Sicav funds to UK investors as part of a reorganisation of its fund range. The funds, including the £83m glob-alsar Euro, £122m oekosar portfolio and £100m emergingsar funds, are being made available through a recently established UK administrative wrapper. This move will enable daily dealing and settlement procedures in the funds on the same basis as that for Sarasin's existing UK-based ...

  • ScotEq ends guarantees on stand-alone cover

    3 Apr 2003

    Scottish Equitable Protect has stopped offering guaranteed premiums on stand-alone term and critical-illness policies. The move follows the introduction of reviewable rates across its range of policies in January. Guarantees will still be available on combined term and critical-illness policies but they will face an average increase of 20 per cent, with further gradual increases predicted. Unlike other product providers which are raising critical-illness cover premiums across ...

  • Scottish Life - Individual Section 32 Pension Plan

    7 Apr 2003

    Wednesday, 7 May 2003 Type: Individual section 32 pension planMinimum premium: Lump sum £2,500Minimum-maximum ages: 16-75Fund links: UK equity, UK ethical, global managed, European, managed, with profits, property, fixed interest, index linked, defensive managed, corporate bond, security 98, security 100, deposit, Japan, Far East, global equity, Pacific, worldwide, UK mid cap, American, Scottish Life International protected UK index 100, Scottish Life ...

  • Skandia offers multi-manager range

    2 Apr 2003

  • Skipton Guernsey - 2 Year Fixed Rate Bond Issue 2

    8 Apr 2003

    Tuesday, 8 April 2003 Type: Offshore high interest accountMinimum-maximum investment: £5,000 - £500,000Place of registration: GuernseyInterest rates: 3.8% gross a yearTerm: Two yearsOffer period: Until further noticeWithdrawal penalties: No withdrawals permitted during the termTel: 01481 727374

  • Small mercies Call banks to account

    3 Apr 2003

    An elderly gentleman telephoned us asking for information on corporate bond funds. Naturally, I probed. It turned out that he had been recommended to invest in one by one of the banks. I asked how much - £56,000 plus his and his wife's Isa allowances. I thought that was an awful lot of money to be investing in one fund, let alone one type of fund. Why was he telephoning us to ask for information? Well.... But I dropped him a line with our standard text explaining fixed-interest ...

  • Smee voted top personality

    3 Apr 2003

    Aifa director general Paul Smee proved he has won the respect of the IFA community as he was named Industry Personality of the Year at last week's prestigious Money Marketing Awards. Smee edged out life insurance analyst Ned Cazalet, Aegon's Stewart Ritchie, Scottish Life's Steve Bee and Ron Sandler to win the award, voted for by IFAs. The awards, dubbed the industry's Oscars, were hosted by comedian Bob Monkhouse at Grosvenor House in London. They saw Millfield Partnership ...

  • Sole trader IFA gets PI waiver from FSA

    3 Apr 2003

    The FSA has granted its first professional indemnity insurance waiver to a sole-trader IFA firm. The waiver granted to Reading-based Belbury Financial Services is the second year-long exemption permitted by the regulator since the current crisis began. The move means Belbury will not have to have PI cover until March 2004 as long as it maintains reserves of the higher of £160,000 or 15 per cent of its annual turnover. This is considerably higher than the £10,000 ...

  • Sour cream

    3 Apr 2003

    Despite plunging stockmarkets, the with-profits crisis and anguish about the health of the industry, life office board directors are pocketing record amounts. As life offices publish their annual reports, the extravagant amounts paid to directors in the last year have left many IFAs and trade unions aghast. Standard Life paid chief executive Iain Lumsden £743,000, including a bonus of £136,000 and a long-term incentive of £124,00. He has accrued a further £402,000 ...

  • Stop rants and start reasoning

    3 Apr 2003

    At the LIA Conference last May, I reported my disappointment at the lack of response to CP121 - less than 10 per cent of the firms affected. Now 10 months on and I must confess to being consultation paper-weary and not having the time to respond from my own firm's perspective. So why is this and how can I be so hypocritical? First, I would say that my lack of response is not one of preference but of necessity. If I spent the time needed to respond in an intelligent, well thought ...

  • Stressful times

    3 Apr 2003

    Stressful times in the insurance sector are leading companies to search for novel solutions. Norwich Union, always looking to be in the vanguard, gave all its guests at the Money Marketing Awards dinner last week a massage pen. The corporate gift was kindly accompanied by a map of the human body and different stress points. Norwich Union director of marketing planning and communications Sally Shires was intrigued by the toy and was heard to exclaim loudly: "I'm just trying to get ...

  • Swip lash

    3 Apr 2003

    After making great strides into the IFA market after a sustained period of turmoil, Scottish Widows Investment Partnership has been hit by upheaval. The resignations of chief investment officer Sandy Nairn and head of retail fund management Graham Campbell are a huge blow to a company, which has widely been seen as a sleeping giant. The company - which was formed in early 2000 following the merger of Hill Samuel and Scottish Widows Investment Management - had been battling to improve ...

  • Talkback

    3 Apr 2003

    "No. It is pretty barren out there but there are still some coming through." Peter Lawrenson, Peter Lawrenson & Co "Yes. I have not sold a single Isa this season." Roger MacMillan, Roger MacMillan Independent Financial Services "Yes. I blame the media for it." Nicholas Miles, Med-Ex Financial Advisory Services "Yes. But I do not think that people have any confidence in the market at the moment both due to the war and the perfor-mance of many Isas." Brian Hatton, ...

  • Thames River wades through emerging markets

    8 Apr 2003

    Thames River Capital has established the Thames River global emerging markets fund, a Ucits that will invest in global emerging markets, including Russia, China, Korea, Mexico and Brazil.The fund aims to produce a higher level of capital growth than is possible by investing in developed countries around Europe and the US. Thames River Capital believes many emerging market stocks are currently undervalued and under-researched. This could provide investment opportunities where the ...

  • The final straw for pension credibility

    3 Apr 2003

    The Government's pension reforms will lose all credibility if Cabinet ministers escape the planned £1.4m limit where a pension pot becomes liable for 60 per cent tax. Any idea that ministers' and Whitehall mandarins' pensions should be exempt simply because there are no funds set aside and their pensions come straight from taxpayers' pockets is spurious. The Government would lose any moral authority to question the pay and the pensions of fat cat directors of ...

  • The spouse trap

    3 Apr 2003

    This week, I am going to take a look at an absolutely fundamental part of the UK inheritance tax regime, namely, the fact that all transfers to UK-domiciled spouses are exempt from the tax. A recent case heard before the Special Commissioners sought to effectively extend this beneficial tax treatment to cover the situation where the two parties involved are not legally married. The case in point was Holland (executor of Holland deceased) • IRC and the facts were very ...

  • There's gold in those Yorkshire Hotspots

    3 Apr 2003

    Bradford & Bingley says common sense is creeping back into the housing market. Its latest statistics show that house prices have slowed, growing by 2.2 per cent over the last six months. B&B says the market has levelled off, with the average home priced at £144, 838 - up from £141,607 in October. The statistics show that while the market is cooling in the South and South-east it remains buoyant in the North-east, the West and Midlands. It describes Yorkshire ...

  • UK equity income funds to remain strong says CSAM

    7 Apr 2003

    Credit Suisse Asset Management is predicting UK equity income funds will be the best UK equity asset class for the foreseeable future after recording a strong performance over the last 10 years. Its managing director Ian Chimes says its Monthly Income Fund has outperformed the safer average building society account over this period providing more than double the average monthly income and capital growth of almost 110 percent.  

  • Verity's view

    3 Apr 2003

    Four years ago, I received a telephone call from one of that small but powerful clique of people who really run the life insurance industry. He asked me to meet him at one of his favourite pubs to talk off the record about something he felt was dramatically wrong. The company where he had worked for most of his adult life was being forced to the wall unnecessarily, he said, by the regulator's solvency rules. It was Bernard Brindley, until 1999 the appointed actuary of NPI, which ...

  • Virgin wants Govt to restore opt-out rule on pensions

    3 Apr 2003

    Workers in small companies would be almost £3bn better off if the Government reintroduced the opt-out rule on workplace pensions, according to Virgin Money. It found that up to 2.4 million employees could be missing out on pension contributions because they have not chosen to join a company scheme. In response to the Pensions Green Paper, Virgin is calling on the Government to reinstate the rules, abolished in 1988, which forced employers to include staff in a pension scheme ...

  • War forces C&G to raise rates on fixed and capped homeloans

    3 Apr 2003

    Cheltenham & Gloucester is raising the rates on its range of fixed and capped mortgages due to changes in world money markets resulting from the Iraq war. The one-year offer has been withdrawn and each of the two, three, five and seven-year offers have been repriced. Borrowers choice of fixed rates is now: two years at 4.59 per cent up to 90 per cent loan to value - up from the previous rate of 3.99 per cent; three years at 4.89 per cent up to 90 per cent LTV - previously 4.29 ...

  • Watchdog's tough line on bonds

    3 Apr 2003

    The Financial Ombudsman Service says it now expects to receive 3,500 complaints next year from disgruntled investors who have lost cash through investing in index-linked income bonds. The FOS has budgeted for 1,000 more complaints than it expects to receive this year after being surprised by the numbers of investors who claim to have been led to believe that the bonds were lower risk than they actually were. The FOS believes that investors' real attitude to risk often differs ...

  • Waxing lyrical

    3 Apr 2003

    IFAs are known for their smooth tongues but the smoothest back in financial services has to be that of Dunstan Thomas chairman Christopher Read. In a bid for Big Brother-style glory, Read and his wife came up from Portsmouth to offer their services in The Salon, the Channel 4/E4 docu-soap. Unfortunately Chris's skills with the scissors went untested but he was used as a model - having his back waxed on the very first show. Chris says it is not as bad as it's made out to be ...

  • Zurich plan offering 100% of FTSE's rise

    3 Apr 2003

    Zurich is rolling out a structured product linked to the FTSE 100 which guarantees a 100 per cent capital return regardless of the movement of the index. Backed by Dunbar Bank, the guaranteed account has a term of five-and-a-half years but will close on its third anniversary if the FTSE has risen by at least 30 per cent. Investors will get their money back plus 30 per cent gross interest. If the index has not grown by this level within three years, the plan will continue to the ...

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