Money Marketing
2 May 2007
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Burns Anderson triples profits
3 May 2007
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IFAs told to emulate Hargreaves Lansdown by Ascentric
2 May 2007
Wrap provider Ascentric has told IFAs that the Hargreaves Lansdown model is effectively a wrap model and one that they should seek to emulate. It says the wrap market has the potential to reach £1800bn.
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Lords add to outcry against Hips
3 May 2007
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A Shaw thing
3 May 2007
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ABI appoints new director of life and savings
2 May 2007
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ABI goes over the top
3 May 2007
The insurers are shooting themselves in the foot with their cunning plan.
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ABI members slam commission paper's wording
4 May 2007
ABI members say they do not want a ban on commission and that the trade body’s submission paper to the FSA’s retail distribution review was poorly worded.
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ABI playing dangerous game with distribution
3 May 2007
Money Marketing has no particular information indicating that the FSA plans to ban commission for most brokers. We do, however, know that if the regulator wished to do so it has been given the excuse by the ABI.
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ABI position on commission - make up your own mind
2 May 2007
The Association of British Insurers says it has not called for a ban on commission in its final response to the FSA¹s retail distribution review but the final document suggests otherwise.
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ABI scores an own goal
3 May 2007
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ABI wants changes to clear up PMI
3 May 2007
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ABI’s proposals will repeat CP 121, says Reid
3 May 2007
The ABI’s final response proposals for the future of commission will repeat the controversial CP 121 where only fee based advisers can call themselves independent, says Robert Reid.
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Advice in question
3 May 2007
Regulation of personal pensions highlights the need for advisers to understand the advice boundaries.
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Adviser firms can now get chartered status
4 May 2007
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Advisers and Axa in legal fight
3 May 2007
A group of advisers is countersuing Axa Life for £6m after the insurer accused them of failing to pay back loans and commission.
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Aegon kicks off Celtic deal
3 May 2007
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Aegon seals distribution deal with Dunfermline Building Society
8 May 2007
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Aegon shuts down tech fund
3 May 2007
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Affordability worsens for first-time buyers, says CML
8 May 2007
Higher interest rates are causing first-time buyers to spend more of their income on mortgage interest payments, according to the CML.
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Aifa urges freedom of choice on payment
3 May 2007
Aifa has set out its retail distribution review proposals including no regulatory constraints on how consumers pay for advice, fairer interpretation of limitation rules and regulatory dividend incentives.
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American booty
3 May 2007
The economic backdrop in the US would dissuade most investors but it is still the land of opportunity.
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Amnesty international
3 May 2007
Offshore accounts Simon Hildrey says HM Revenue and Customs is offering offshore investors a chance to come forward and disclose undeclared assets but there could be complexities
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Annuity split poses threat to FAS boost
3 May 2007
The Government has rejected accusations that its review of compensation for people who have lost final-salary pensions has been undermined by pensions minister James Purnell.
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Asset approach boosts Midas
3 May 2007
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Axa Reim appoints chief exec
3 May 2007
Axa Investment Managers has appointed Pierre Vaquier as chief executive of Axa Real Estate Investment Managers.
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Balls to speak at Aifa dinner
4 May 2007
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Ban stand
3 May 2007
I read your headline, ABI calls for ban on commission (Money Marketing, April 26), with equal amounts of incredulity, astonishment and anger. Its reasoning defies belief.
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Bankhall puts out training guide
8 May 2007
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Barclays adds kick-out to structured products
3 May 2007
Barclays is to introduce a third option to its structured products with an annual kick-out on its three and fiveyear structured product.
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Between proc and hard place
3 May 2007
Northern Rock is trying to compete with the monolith of Halifax. It will not scratch the surface if it carries on with its lack of a retention policy.
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BM Solutions launches BTL capped rates
4 May 2007
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Bond funds shaken and stirred by income change
3 May 2007
Income distributions from bond funds are to be affected by an enforced change in the way fund managers must account for capital gains, with some funds to experience a change in yields. The longer-term impact of this rule change may lead to lower capital returns, which in turn will impact on income received from such investments.
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Bright Grey extends Helping Hand to families
2 May 2007
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Bright Grey reaches out with Helping Hand service
3 May 2007
Bright Grey is making the Helping Hand service on its critical-illness cover available to the policyholder's family in the first move of this kind in the individual protection market.
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Broker Talkback
3 May 2007
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Brought to account
3 May 2007
HMRC estimates its partial amnesty on offshore accounts could affect hundreds of thousands of UK residents.
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Bubble trouble?
3 May 2007
Well, here we are in May. I wonder what this most tricky of months will have in store for us.
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By the book
3 May 2007
How Chinese wisdom in The Art of War can teach us to defeat our 'enemies'
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Cash sweeteners could still turn sour for IFAs
3 May 2007
Cash "sweeteners" offered by firms to encourage staff to transfer out of final-salary pension schemes still pose a major threat to advisers, says pension guru Stewart Ritchie.
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Commission impossible
3 May 2007
The Association of British Insurers' draft response to the FSA's retail distribution review, obtained by Money Marketing last week, was distributed to its members last month for final feedback.
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Connect Mortgages to kick out unscrupulous brokers
3 May 2007
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Credit Suisse adds to UK equity team
3 May 2007
Credit Suisse is to add to its UK equity team with the appointment of Marcus Hankey as director and portfolio manager
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Dalton unveil pan Asian fund
8 May 2007
Dalton Strategic Partnership (DSP) has launched a new pan Asian portfolio under the management of Sally Macdonald.
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Declined claims halve at Standard
3 May 2007
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Deficit dispute after Aon says surpluses will
3 May 2007
Pension campaigner Altmann believes reducing employer contributions is 'crazy and irresponsible suggestion'.
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'Don't deal with rogue chasers'
3 May 2007
Advisers should refuse to deal with any claim management firm that is not registered on the Department for Constitutional Affairs' list of authorised firms, says Aifa.
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Duffy joining Robert Sterling as MD
3 May 2007
Kevin Duffy is to lead ambitious expansion plans at Robert Sterling in his new role as managing director.
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Egg sale boils down to 546m
3 May 2007
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Exeter Fund Managers in default
3 May 2007
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Exeter Fund Managers Ltd declared in default by FSCS
2 May 2007
Exeter Fund Managers Ltd has been declared in default by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), allowing customers the opportunity to make a claim against the firm for investing in split capital investment trusts (splits).
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Fair exchange?
3 May 2007
The importance of a press release from the actuarial industry a couple of months ago has gone largely unnoticed but its key message could have a huge impact on people retiring from final-salary pension schemes or those who might be considering transferring benefits from these schemes.
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Family firms look at Reit conversion
3 May 2007
Family-controlled property companies are considering converting into Reits despite early suggestions that companies would be forbidden from changing if they had shareholders with more than 10 per cent of the company.
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Fidelity is ready to name who will take over special sits from Bolton
3 May 2007
Fidelity is expected to name the replacement for Anthony Bolton on its flagship £3.1bn UK special situations fund within two weeks.
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Fidelity targeting retirement market
3 May 2007
Fidelity is making inroads into the preand post-retirement markets with the launch of seven multi-asset funds.
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Filling the void
2 May 2007
So Fidelity has pitched another tent into the retirement market.
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For fee's a jolly good fellow
3 May 2007
Marketing hype surrounding fee-free loans may hide less good value deals.
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FSA bans IFA over pension transfer
3 May 2007
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FSA visit was mutually rewarding
3 May 2007
Last year, at our invitation, a representative from the FSA came and spent a week with us. He saw all aspects of our operations, including client visits, back-office administration and management issues.
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FSA warning on cold calling
3 May 2007
The FSA has warned general insurance firms they must improve standards of cold calling over the phone.
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Gay adviser calls for insurance equality
2 May 2007
Compass, the gay financial adviser, has renewed its call for gay couples in Civil Partnerships to be treated equally with married heterosexual couples.
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'Generic advice is the key to boosting financial capability'
3 May 2007
The Resolution Foundation is calling on the Government to earmark funding for generic financial advice.
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GI cold calls fail the FSA test
3 May 2007
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'Giant funds can go on growing'
3 May 2007
Jupiter fund of funds guru John Chatfeild-Roberts says size is no constraint for funds as long as they keep up their performance.
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Going global
3 May 2007
SVM Asset Management is one of the most successful investment boutiques. It is headed by Colin McLean, formerly head of investment at Scottish Provident and later managing director at Templeton's European operations.
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'Golden ticket' for two top graduates
3 May 2007
Torquil Clark has started an IFA academy designed to give top graduates a "golden ticket" to financial services.
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Good Knight, and good luck
4 May 2007
News that sub-prime guru Stephen Knight is to quit GMAC-RFC after 20 years dominates the mortgage news this week.
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Government could face another pensions judicial review
4 May 2007
The Government is facing another occupational pensions judicial review by the Pensions Action Group over its recent decision to extend the Financial Assistance Scheme.
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Hair apparent
3 May 2007
The lank-haired Money Marketing news editor's spirits were buoyed on a trip to Paris with Barings last week. During a trip round the Louvre, he was pleased to discover that his hairstyle was actually in fashion in 1682.
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Hargreaves Lansdown float sets share price at 140-160p
3 May 2007
Hargreaves Lansdown has set its IPO price range valuing the firm at 711m.
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Hip of the iceberg
3 May 2007
Home information packs, 10 years in the making, all the way from Labour's 1997 manifesto, appear to be less than a month away from implementation.
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Home guard
3 May 2007
HSBC recently said it will offer face to face service at its Canford Cliffs branch in Dorset to customers who have at least £50,000 in savings, a mortgage of at least £200,000 or a minimum salary of £75,000. This prompted a former mayor of Poole, Ray Smith, to say that most people living in the area are property-rich but cash-poor.
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HSBC examines US floating rate notes
3 May 2007
HSBC's multi-manager team is exploring opportunities in US floating rate notes as rising interest rates make yields on these securities more attractive.
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IFA interest in Reits is growing, says Reita
3 May 2007
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IFAs reject with-profits despite rising returns
3 May 2007
Many IFAs say rising returns on with-profits bonds are irrelevant because they would still not recommend investors to put new money into the funds.
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Iimia experiments with hedge vehicle
3 May 2007
Iimia's income fund has made its first investment into a fund of hedge funds and will increase exposure to this asset class if its holding is a success.
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Iimia team sees the light
3 May 2007
Money Marketing would like to quash any rumours that the hardest job fund managers have is picking the correct stocks in their portfolios.
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In the driving seat
3 May 2007
How sensible retirement planning helps a lover of fast cars take control of her finances and her example aids another saver.
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Insurers reject higher claims more often, says Threesixty
3 May 2007
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Isa season sales up by 7%
3 May 2007
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Katz attacks scrapping of age 70 rule
3 May 2007
The FSA has been accused of dumbing down the rules by allowing Icob advisers to sell life insurance policies maturing beyond age 70.
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Knight steps down from GMAC-RFC
2 May 2007
The executive chair of GMAC-RFC UK Stephen Knight is to step down in September after twenty years with the firm.
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L&G looking to the US for pension progress
3 May 2007
Legal & General is looking to the US pension market for inspiration and plans to to use asset-allocation software to ensure that savers do not languish in underperforming default funds.
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Le Beau and Northover join Pioneer
3 May 2007
Pioneer Friendly Society has app-ointed protection consultant Peter Le Beau as a non-executive director and ex-LV= actuary Carl Northover as finance director.
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Less than half of small firms meet TCF deadline
8 May 2007
Less than half of small firms have met the FSA’s TCF deadline and the regulator has warned it will take tough action against the small minority of firms that have failed to engage.
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Lifetime's ambition
3 May 2007
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, they say. "Aha," you more experienced wrappers reply, "Here is a guy still persevering with Lifetime."
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Massow claims Zurich tried to ruin him
3 May 2007
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Match points
3 May 2007
Samantha Downes says some companies are offering the option of saving for a house deposit rather than a pension and will match an employee's savings.
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Merlin has the magic formula
3 May 2007
John Chatfeild Roberts is celebrating his 10th anniversary at the helm of the Merlin fund of funds range and has overseen growth from 50m to over 2bn.
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Metcalfe takes over Newton income fund
3 May 2007
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Meteoric rise for commodities
3 May 2007
Meteor Asset ManagementGalaxy Protected Commodities Plan
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Mint network reports 200% profit increase
8 May 2007
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MOD launches life insurance scheme
8 May 2007
The Ministry of Defence today announced the launch of a new life insurance scheme exclusively for the Armed Forces in association with Sterling Life.
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MPC Investors funds opened up to UK retail market
4 May 2007
MPC Investors has recieved regulatory approval from the FSA to bring its global convertibles and strategic reserve funds to the UK retail market.
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NAO criticises FSA's lack of focus
3 May 2007
Aifa has called on the National Audit Office to review the FSA's costs and spending every two years after its first report on the regulator was published this week.
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New Star fund puts cash in the banks
3 May 2007
Chris Salih analyses core holding New Star UK growth.
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Nil desperandum
3 May 2007
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Niznik focuses on UK small firms
3 May 2007
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Now ABI wants IFAs to give up their clients
3 May 2007
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NU says A-Day is waning as pension sales decline
3 May 2007
Aviva saw a drop in UK pension sales in the first quarter and says the A-Day effect is starting to wear off.
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Only one fifth of small mortgage advisers meet TCF deadline
8 May 2007
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Openwork to offer Aegon's 5 for Life product
4 May 2007
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Out of Context
3 May 2007
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Out of touch ABI will lose business for members
3 May 2007
Your recent reportage and comments, including on MMTV, on the proposals by the ABI seems to lose sight of some basic points:
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Park Row says Royal Liver DSF was major reason for heavy losses
3 May 2007
Park Row admits that bringing Royal Liver's direct salesforce into its fold has been counter-productive and was a major contributor to the group losing 4.2m last year.
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Pensions regulator publishes guidance for trustees on abandonment
3 May 2007
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Pensions Trust re-elects chair and reshuffles Board
4 May 2007
The Pensions Trust is has re-elected John Alleston as chair of its Board and Clive Unitt as deputy chair.
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Personal Touch and Burgess face legal fight over domain name
3 May 2007
Personal Touch Financial Services is set for a legal wrangle over the internet domain name of one its subsidiaries after visitors to The Insurance Supermarket's website were being diverted to a pornography site.
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Pima to rebrand as Tisa
4 May 2007
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Pos Sol is back in black at £332,000 after Prophitshare
8 May 2007
PS has reported an annual pre-tax operating profit of £332,000, recovering from a £27.2m pre-tax loss on ordinary activities in the previous year.
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Pressure points
3 May 2007
A concerted rise in inflation would be grounds for concern on a variety of fronts. Consumer activity would slow until the effects of punitively higher interest rates took hold.
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Private function
3 May 2007
The growth of private equity firms is not good news for pensioners.
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Resolution plans boutiques
3 May 2007
Resolution Asset Management is looking to launch up to seven more more boutique fund management businesses into the market within the next five years, bringing the total to about 10.
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Rising life expectancy costs firms £30bn
3 May 2007
Increased life expectancy has cost UK private sector pension firms a potential £30bn in just two years, according to new research from KPMG.
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Ritchie says PPF could be forced to cut payouts
3 May 2007
The Pension Protection Fund could be forced to cut benefits as more schemes collapse, warns Aegon Scottish Equitable director of pensions development Stewart Ritchie.
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Ritchie warned MPs on raiding pensions
3 May 2007
Pension guru Stewart Ritchie warned every MP of the catastrophic damage that Chancellor Gordon Brown's infamous tax raid would have on pension schemes.
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River runs free
3 May 2007
River and Mercantile Asset ManagementUK Unconstrained Fund
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Royal Liver and Standard slam 'gimmicky' CI proposals
3 May 2007
Royal Liver and Standard Life have criticised proposals to introduce additional conditions on critical-illness policies retrospectively, saying it is gimmicky and not in line with treating customers fairly.
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Royal marriage but what happens to the kids?
8 May 2007
The potential merger between Royal London and Royal Liver poses an interesting challenge.
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Royal wedding talks for London and Liver
3 May 2007
Royal London is in talks with Royal Liver over a possible merger which could lead to one of their protection businesses being split off and sold.
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Seasons of fruitfulness
3 May 2007
The Investment Management Association is compiling the next round of its monthly sales figures as I write and there is no end of speculation and comment in the press about what the level of Isa sales might be in these statistics.
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Shadow of suspicion on the adviser
3 May 2007
The article suggests the FSA person does not understand, or has little experience of, the sales process, so what value can they add? They will be silent at best and ask silly questions at worst.
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Singing from the same hymn sheet, finally?
4 May 2007
There seems to be a growing trend for the ‘us against them’ attitude of yesteryear softening of late, with product providers and advisers getting into bed with each other more often. Not literally, of course.
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Sipps and sweeteners
3 May 2007
Legal & General’s genial head of pensions Adrian Boulding was in particularly bullish mood this week - as befitting a man with a new group Sipp to promote.
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SJP sees 41 per cent new business growth in Q1
2 May 2007
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Skandia/Selestia platform 'will combine best from both firms'
3 May 2007
Skandia Multifunds and Selestia chief executive Brett Williams says the combined Skandia/Selestia platform will be better for IFAs.
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Soft landing
3 May 2007
I believe the momentum is still very much with Standard Life Investments, despite the recent loss of Mark Niznik to Artemis. This was its first fund manager departure in eight years.
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Standard Life hits back at critics over Sipp strategy
3 May 2007
Standard Life has hit back at critics of its Sipp strategy, arguing that customers would prefer superior investment returns and customer service to minimal reductions in charges.
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Standard Life UK sales rocket by 52 per cent
8 May 2007
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Stephen Lansdown
3 May 2007
Just over a quarter of a century ago, two men set up a business in a spare room and now the company is one of the most influential financial services firms with a total of 650 staff and set for a flotation which will take it into the FTSE 250. Helen Pow interviews one of the firm's co-founders and finds that the key to the glittering success story has been always to make the needs of the clients paramount.
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Storm warning
3 May 2007
One of the great things about my new job is that, given the nature of the business, you are much more likely to have fellow journalists calling up and asking for a comment on day-to-day personal finance topics.
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Taxman to launch July offshore offensive
8 May 2007
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Tenet targets orphans with advice unit
3 May 2007
Tenet Group is set to start up a specialist advice unit to give advice to orphan clients of product providers.
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That shrinking feeling
3 May 2007
Why settle for decreased market share rather than grow the market?
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The right fit
3 May 2007
Many of the heated conversations in my house begin with discussions about the provision of healthcare and financial advice to those who need them.
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The rough and the smoothing
3 May 2007
Nicola York reports on the realities of with-profits returns.
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Thinc plans multi-manager risk-rated range of funds
3 May 2007
Thinc Group is developing a range of up to seven funds covering a spectrum of risk profiles in the second half of this year.
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Threats and opportunities
3 May 2007
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Vote for who you think will take over from Anthony Bolton in our online poll
3 May 2007
Many top investment IFAs are remaining tight lipped on their views on the UK's best known retail fund manager Anthony Bolton's successor.
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Watchdog warns signature does not protect advisers
3 May 2007
IFAs are not automatically protected from complaints or fines by getting a customer signature on a protection insurance application, according to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
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Web's wonder
3 May 2007
The Money Marketing website has had a facelift, with more prominence given to the lead stories and a new layout and colour scheme designed to reflect the values, feel and energy of the newspaper with the immediacy of web publishing.
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Wider launch for Barings' emerging income fund
3 May 2007
Barings is planning a wider launch for its emerging markets income fund that blends equities, bonds and currencies.
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Written in the stars
3 May 2007
The prize for the second-most-talked-about rebranding exercise goes to, you guessed it, Tomorrow.
