Money Marketing
20 August 2008

  • A&L warns of risk in spurning deal

    21 Aug 2008

    Alliance & Leicester has warned shareholders that voting against a Santander buyout would put the lender at the mercy of “significant external risks”. A&L reveals in its voting information booklet that it sees no end to the current financial downturn.

  • 29% Aren't using a CMS

    21 Aug 2008

    Nearly a third of advisers do not use a client management system, says Bankhall.

  • 42% Of boomers have no clear view of retirement income

    21 Aug 2008

    Forty-two per cent of people aged 50 to 65 say they have no clear idea of what inc- ome they will have in retirement, according to research by Aegon.

  • 83% of final salary schemes closed to new members

    26 Aug 2008

    Aon Consulting has found that 83 per cent of final salary pension schemes are now closed to new members.

  • 90,000 more people set to be caught in CGT net

    21 Aug 2008

    Thirty-five per cent more people will pay capital gains tax this year compared with last year, predicts Skandia.

  • A blow for the good

    21 Aug 2008

    I was asked my views by a journalist regarding whether practitioners should blow the whistle when they become aware of individuals who are not behaving appropriately.

  • ABI presses on with care campaign

    21 Aug 2008

    The Association of British Insurers is to lobby the Government to share the risk of long-term care with providers ahead of the political conference season.

  • ABI says it is near to scrapping TPD

    21 Aug 2008

    The Association of British Insurers believes it is one step closer to eliminating total permanent disability as a critical condition as it reveals seven more conditions to be integrated into the CI definitions.

  • Adviser attacks Abbey Life in Omo row

    21 Aug 2008

    An IFA has hit out at Abbey Life for automatically vesting his client into its own annuity without the client's consent.

  • Aegon unveils plans to help push individual protection business

    22 Aug 2008

    Aegon Scottish Equitable has unveiled its plans to launch a review tool and pre-sale underwriting questionnaire to increase profitability for IFAs selling individual protection.

  • AJ Bell Pensions appoints Richard Taylor as MD

    26 Aug 2008

    Richard Taylor has been appointed as managing director of AJ Bell Pensions.

  • An age of uncertainty

    21 Aug 2008

    The age-old dilemma of how to properly fund retirement has been high on the political and industry agenda this week.

  • Axa launches estate planning account

    20 Aug 2008

    Axa Wealth Management has launched an estate planning account.

  • Axa looks to set up equity release product

    21 Aug 2008

    Axa has revealed it will be exploring opportunities in the equity-release market with a view to a potential product launch by 2011.

  • Back to basics

    21 Aug 2008

    I have recently come into a sum of money and need some advice but I am slightly nervous of approaching a financial adviser as I do not know very much about finance. Will an independent financial adviser be able to help me understand general financial principles, as well as my own situation?

  • Banks see £4.3bn rise in mortgage lending

    26 Aug 2008

    The UK’s high street banks enjoyed a £4.3 billion rise in mortgage lending in July 2008.

  • Birketts win battle to stay at Prestbury

    20 Aug 2008

    Prestbury chief executive Lee Birkett has won the EGM vote with 59 per cent in favour of allowing him and his mother, finance director Lynne Birkett, to retain their jobs.

  • BM in pledge to packagers as TMB closes

    21 Aug 2008

    BM Solutions managing director Nigel Payne has vowed to win packagers round to HBOS's remaining specialist lender.

  • Bond sales fall by a quarter

    21 Aug 2008

    The Association of British Insurers is blaming a combination of poor economic conditions and changes to capital gains tax for falling investment bond business in the second quarter of 2008.

  • Bond sales soar at Standard Life Intl

    21 Aug 2008

    Standard Life International says total sales of its international bond have reached 593m. Sales in the first six months of 2008 were 270m compared with 284m for the whole of 2007.

  • Boutique funds best placed to weather market storm, says Thames River

    21 Aug 2008

    Boutique funds are more likely to outperform the market in times of volatility, says Thames River Capital.

  • Braemar invests in solar parks

    21 Aug 2008

    Property investment firm Braemar Group is starting a pan-European solar fund. The Guernsey-listed €90m Oeic will invest in European solar parks.

  • Brain and Enterprise clash over sourcing

    21 Aug 2008

    Mortgage Brain has hit out at Enterprise's plans to set up whole-of-market broker and consumer sourcing systems, claiming that it could create conflicts of interest.

  • Bright Grey turns to tele-interviews

    21 Aug 2008

    Bright Grey plans to use tele-interviews rather than GP reports to gather medical evidence directly from its clients in partnership with Medicals Direct Group.

  • Broker Talkback

    21 Aug 2008

    Should IFAs be selling large quantities of with-profits bonds in the current market?

  • Bubbling along

    21 Aug 2008

    Commodity prices are again rallying after some sharp falls in recent weeks.

  • Business protection booms for L&G after rate reductions

    21 Aug 2008

    Legal & General says business protection applications made during July soared by 230 per cent compared with the same month last year.

  • Canada Life looks to new Welfare Act to boost IP

    21 Aug 2008

    There is too much dependency on rebroking existing group income protection schemes, says Canada Life head of group IP Colin Micklewright.

  • Caution is the new cool

    21 Aug 2008

    I overheard a conversation on a train last week which started along the lines of "So what are you doing for the credit crunch?"

  • Chinese checkers

    21 Aug 2008

    This month's Beijing Olympics are the culmination of the transformation of China from an authoritarian communist state reliant on collective farming into a key player in the global economy, a process that began with the initiation of economic reforms in 1979.

  • Cofunds launches Tactica multi-asset funds

    26 Aug 2008

    Tactica Fund Management is launching its three multi-asset funds on Cofunds.

  • Cofunds says NU faces integration challenge

    21 Aug 2008

    Cofunds claims Norwich Union faces a challenging time in integrating its wrap with Scottish Friendly's back-office systems.

  • Core and satellite for Omnis

    21 Aug 2008

    New multi-manager company Omnis Investments believes its core and satellite investment strategy is the answer to the potential problem of high charges on funds of funds.

  • Coventry takes a quarter of mutual mortgage market

    21 Aug 2008

    Coventry Building Society revealed decent profits amidst mortgage market turmoil, taking 25 per cent of overall mortgage market share for mutuals.

  • Disappointed day

    21 Aug 2008

    Over the last couple of weeks I have been looking at flexible interest in possession trusts and their role in the current inheritance tax regime.

  • Discount deals

    21 Aug 2008

    Investing in closed-ended funds over the past 20 years provides a good deal of perspective on the investment trust cycle and I find it inconceivable that discounts will remain as wide as they are at present.

  • Dismay for Mac and Mae as shares sag

    21 Aug 2008

    Shares in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae fell dramatically this week after speculation that the US government will have to use its new powers to bail out the mortgage backers.

  • Dual-pricing still widespread

    21 Aug 2008

    Home Buyer Systems says it calculates that a first- time buyer can save over 1,500 if they get a mortgage straight from the lender, illustrating that dual pricing is still prevalent among lenders.

  • European corporate bond market holds long-term value, says Invesco

    26 Aug 2008

    European corporate bonds hold significant long term value for investors able to look beyond current market problems, says Invesco Perpetual.

  • F&C hires head of product development

    21 Aug 2008

    F&C Investments has appointed Frank Henze as head of product development.

  • Felton steps down temporarily

    21 Aug 2008

    M&G UK select fund manager Mike Felton has stepped down temporarily after being diagnosed with leukaemia. His deputy Garfield Kiff will manage the fund in his absence and Felton hopes to return by the start of 2009.

  • Food for thought on the credit crisis

    21 Aug 2008

    I have been thinking about securitisation and how I can explain it to clients.

  • FreeTrawl.com relaunches

    22 Aug 2008

    A new version of endowment trading platform FreeTrawl.com has been launched this week.

  • FSA bans IFA from senior management position

    20 Aug 2008

    The FSA has banned sole trader Darrell Mark Eaden from being a senior manager for failing to effectively monitor his pension transfer specialist, exposing customers to the risk of receiving unsuitable advice.

  • FSA censures broker and warns more enforcement cases on the way

    22 Aug 2008

    Mortgage adviser Leybridge Ltd has become the first victim of the Financial Srvice Authority's thematic review of advice.

  • FSA directors scoop the rewards of failure

    21 Aug 2008

    The FSA has sought to make the principals of financial services companies personally liable for the financial consequences of regulatory failures on the part of those companies. By the same token, should not the directors of the FSA be held accountable for the financial consequences of the FSA's failure to regulate? Most right thinking people would consider that they certainly should be.

  • FSA fines five motor firms more than £175,000 for PPI failings

    21 Aug 2008

    The FSA has fined five motor retailers more than £175,000 for serious breaches of PPI regulation.

  • Garrett-Cox to head Alliance Trust

    21 Aug 2008

    Alliance Trust has appointed chief investment officer Katherine Garrett-Cox as chief executive. She will take over from Alan Harden on August 29 when he takes up an external appointment.

  • Green Shoots Pruned back

    21 Aug 2008

    Ethical funds must prove that last year's performance is sustainable over the long term, says Chris Salih Ethical funds enjoyed their most successful year in 2007 as a boom in sales showed the sector was starting to go mainstream but the credit crunch has seen performance and sales take a hit.

  • Growing against the gain

    21 Aug 2008

    Much has been written about the introduction of the flat rate of capital gains tax announced in the October 2007 pre-Budget report.

  • Guinness family office launches first retail fund

    26 Aug 2008

    Iveagh, the office created to manage the Guinness family's assets, has launched its first retail fund.

  • Hector Sants warns banks to improve mis-pricing checks

    22 Aug 2008

    The FSA has warned banks and investment firms to improve checks to prevent mis-pricing of trading positions and to stop cutting back on staff who work in valuation control functions.

  • Henderson has mixed fortunes

    21 Aug 2008

    Henderson says outperformance of its income & growth and distribution funds over the last three years is down to good stock selection while its cautious attitude to risk held back growth fund performance.

  • House deposits rise 43% in a year

    26 Aug 2008

    The average deposit needed top secure a property has risen 43 per cent to nearly £40,000.

  • HSBC names Guy Morrell as head of multimanager for UK and Mena

    20 Aug 2008

    HSBC Global Asset Management has appointed Guy Morrell as head of its multimanager business for the UK and Middle East North Africa.

  • I rest my case

    21 Aug 2008

    I had intended to write about trust, looking at Aifa's recent document on how to rebuild the public's trust in financial services institutions.

  • I was thanked by the lender that undercut me

    21 Aug 2008

    I recently received an email from Woolwich thanking me for some recent cases which I have submitted to them. I quote: "We wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your business over the last six months, an unprecedented period for all of us continuing to trade in the mortgage market."

  • IFAs keep their trust in bond benefits

    21 Aug 2008

    Almost three-quarters of advisers use both insurance bonds and collectives for investment planning, says Zurich.

  • ifs ProShare offers employee share plan course to IFAs

    20 Aug 2008

    Employee share plan organisation, ifs ProShare, is offering an introductory course about employee share plans for financial advisers.

  • ifs School of Finance calls on Government to drop PF from maths curriculum

    26 Aug 2008

    The ifs School of Finance has called on the Government to drop any reference to personal finance from the maths curriculum.

  • Ifs School sets diploma at £500

    21 Aug 2008

    The Ifs School of Finance says its new QCA level 4 equivalent diploma for financial advisers will cost £500. It believes advisers should be able to achieve the DipFA within a year.

  • IMA calls for harmonised supervision for cross-border funds

    26 Aug 2008

    The Investment Management Association has called for greater harmonisation on the supervision of cross-border fund management.

  • IMA urged to get tough on UK equity income

    21 Aug 2008

    Liontrust chief executive Nigel Legge has called on the IMA to be stricter in its UK equity income sector definitions or to split the sector.

  • Incoming B&B chief will review GMAC loan deal

    21 Aug 2008

    Newly appointed Bradford & Bingley chief executive Richard Pym has the task of stabilising the lender as it tries to regain ground in the wake of the credit crunch.

  • Industry fears at King stance

    21 Aug 2008

    Bank of England governor Mervyn King has sent a clear message to both the Government and industry that he is firmly against potential solutions to the current liquidity crisis floated last month by Sir James Crosby.

  • Investment matters Kira Nickerson

    21 Aug 2008

    Friends Provident is adding two planning tools which it describes as e-finance to its online group pension.

  • 'Isa re-registration block breaks TCF rules'

    21 Aug 2008

    Ascentric managing director Hugo Thorman has written to the FSA to argue that Cofunds, FundsNetwork and Skandia are breaking treating customers fairly rules by not allowing the re-registration of Isa-wrapped funds.

  • Julius Baer launches local emerging bond fund

    26 Aug 2008

    Swiss wealth manager Julius Baer is launching a local emerging bond fund to the UK market.

  • King rejects Crosby plan

    21 Aug 2008

    The Bank of England says it will not help the mortgage lending market with any sort of liquidity scheme.

  • L&G predicts demand for with-profits annuities

    21 Aug 2008

    Legal & General predicts there will be growing demand for with-profits annuities as longevity increases.

  • Landlords, landlords everywhere, but not a mortgage in sight

    22 Aug 2008

    This week the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors revealed there has been a record rise in the number of properties available for rent.

  • Le Beau hits out at ABI on IP sales

    21 Aug 2008

    Le Beau Visage managing director Peter Le Beau has hit out at the ABI, suggesting that the trade body is not doing enough to encourage the sale of income protection.

  • Longevity is biggest retirement savings threat, says MetLife

    20 Aug 2008

    Increasing longevity is the biggest threat to clients saving for retirement, ahead of concerns about stock market volatility and rising inflation, according to research from MetLife.

  • LV= creates mid-risk range for Lighthouse

    21 Aug 2008

    LV= Asset Management has brought out four Oeic sub-funds which will be distributed through Lighthouse Group.

  • McAteer says replace 60% of regulatory rules with principles

    21 Aug 2008

    Consumer champion Mick McAteer has called for 60 per cent of the financial services regulatory rulebook to be scrapped in favour of high- level principles.

  • Met Police deal for Affinity

    21 Aug 2008

    The Metropolitan Police Authority has appointed Affinity Connect to provide retirement and resettlement courses and independent advice to its staff for the next five years.

  • MetLife appoints chief executive of UK pension liability transfer business

    26 Aug 2008

    MetLife has appointed Dan DeKeizer as chief executive officer of its UK pension liability transfer business.

  • MetLife targets bulk annuity sector with new head for its UK buyout business

    26 Aug 2008

    MetLife Assurance is appointing Dan DeKeizer as chief executive officer of its UK pension liability transfer business, which includes bulk annuity buy-outs in a bid to ramp up its activity in the sector.

  • Money Portal subsidiary GP Noble in Serious Fraud Office investigation

    22 Aug 2008

    The Serious Fraud Office is investigating Money Portal's pension trustee subsidiary GP Noble.

  • Money Portal teams up with Barrie and Hibbert

    21 Aug 2008

    Money Portal is to use Barrie and Hibbert as an investment advice partner to provide risk-profiled asset allocations to its clients.

  • More pensioners than children for first time ever

    22 Aug 2008

    There are more pensioners than children for the first time ever, new data from the Office for National Statistics has revealed.

  • More people are turning to equity release to cover debts

    21 Aug 2008

    Equity-release advisers and product providers have warned of a worrying increase in elderly people using equity release as a primary debt solution.

  • Mortgage costs set to soar, says Impartial

    22 Aug 2008

    Figures released by adviser service Impartial reveal mortgage costs are to soar by more than £500m in the next six months.

  • Mortgage firms reach crunch point with King

    21 Aug 2008

    The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders' Association has hit out at Bank of England governor Mervyn King's rejection of plans to help the mortgage sector.

  • Mortgage market to shrink 20%

    20 Aug 2008

    The UK mortgage market could shrink by a fifth this year as the credit crunch continues to take its toll on lenders.

  • Nationwide to open in Ireland

    21 Aug 2008

    Nationwide has revealed that it is to open savings operations in Ireland which will allow it access to European Central Bank funds.

  • Naturally resourceful

    21 Aug 2008

    Phew, what a few weeks we have had in the markets. The sector rotation has been violent, with individual stocks either tanking or soaring.

  • Neptune and Templeton still bullish on Russia

    21 Aug 2008

    Neptune Investment Management and Templeton remain upbeat on investment in Russia despite the Georgia conflict while Aberdeen Asset Management says the military confrontation justifies its underweight position.

  • Network Data’s Hipstar goes into administration

    22 Aug 2008

    Hipstar, Network Data’s Home Information Pack provider, has announced that it has gone into administration.

  • New online tools for Friends group pension members

    26 Aug 2008

    Friends Provident has launched an online financial pension service to help members of group schemes keep track of their funds.

  • New Star fund goes back to offer price after bid move

    21 Aug 2008

    New Star's £684m international property fund has gone back to an offer price after it was placed on a bid price last week following an increased level of redemptions.

  • News Star International names Greg Jones as MD

    21 Aug 2008

    New Star has appointed Greg Jones as managing director of the company’s international fund business.

  • Newton global higher income fund awarded S&P AA rating

    26 Aug 2008

    Newton Investment Management’s global higher income fund has received an AA rating from Standard & Poor’s.

  • Non-dom changes will boost bespoke planning

    21 Aug 2008

    The recent reform of non-domiciliary legislation has created significant opportunities for bespoke financial planning, says Scottish Life International head of marketing Douglas Law.

  • Norwich Union looks at variable annuities for 2009

    21 Aug 2008

    Norwich Union has revealed that it could be ready to follow its competitors into the variable annuity market next year.

  • Paraplanners are key to success, says Bradbury Hamilton

    20 Aug 2008

    Bradbury Hamilton is calling for more firms to incorporate paraplanners into their business to keep the advice market healthy and businesses in profit.

  • Paul Hogarth

    21 Aug 2008

    A crisis in the mortgage market, falling house prices and a volatile stockmarket may not seem the ideal background against which to be building up a fledgling financial services company but market conditions have not put a damper on the spirits of Paradigm Partners chief executive Paul Hogarth.

  • Polar Capital replaces Threadneedle in Skandia’s UK strategic best ideas fund

    26 Aug 2008

    Skandia has awarded Polar Capital the £10 million mandate in its UK strategic best ideas fund that was previously run by Threadneedle.

  • Precision engineering

    21 Aug 2008

    In a few articles over the past year, I have tried to address how some modern investment solutions can help advisers and investors cope with today's extreme market conditions. I have focused on the power of investment solutions such as multi-manager products, multi-asset investing and financial engineering through structuring capabilities.

  • Product Matters

    21 Aug 2008

    A few weeks ago, this newspaper was very kind to publish some thoughts from us regarding the unintended effect of factory gate pricing and transparency.

  • Protection confidence remains steady, says L&G

    26 Aug 2008

    The confidence levels of advisers dealing in protection have dipped by just 1 per cent in Q3 2008, according to Legal & General’s Advisor Confidence Index.

  • Public platform access could pose problems

    21 Aug 2008

    Advisers who give clients access to platforms to carry out direct trades may be putting them at risk, warns Perception director Phil Billingham.

  • Quality is the key to turn round buy to let

    21 Aug 2008

    Paragon Mortgages predicts that buy to let will be the first sector to bounce back from the credit crunch.

  • Read the small print, warns Bupa

    26 Aug 2008

    People taking out an insurance policy to put their mind at rest should they be diagnosed with cancer must read the small print, warns Bupa.

  • Rossi joins Gartmore from Threadneedle

    21 Aug 2008

    Gartmore Investment Management has recruited Dominic Rossi as chief investment officer, joining from Threadneedle Asset Management where he was head of equities. He will be responsible for the £24bn investment division.

  • Shooting star

    21 Aug 2008

    Over the 10 years to the end of 2007, the Meteor protected equity fund would have outperformed the FTSE 100 index by 103 per cent and furthermore with lower risk.

  • Simply Biz adds F&C lifestyle funds to range

    21 Aug 2008

    IFA support services company Simply Biz has added F&C’s Lifestyle funds to its range.

  • Standard Life extends healthcare plan

    20 Aug 2008

    Standard Life Healthcare has unveiled its plans to extend its business healthcare plan for SMEs to include large corporate firms.

  • Structured failings cost Credit Suisse £5.6m fine

    21 Aug 2008

    The FSA has fined the UK operations of Credit Suisse £5.6m for failing to properly supervise a structured product group in its investment banking division.

  • Surprise element

    21 Aug 2008

    For those of you who believe it is only our Government which is on its way to becoming a nanny state, I would like to draw your attention to plans in Germany to ban the seemingly inoffensive Kinder Surprise chocolate egg.

  • SWIP multi manager diversity fund adds exposure to infrastructure

    20 Aug 2008

    Scottish Widows Investment Partnership’s multi manager diversity fund has added exposure to infrastructure by investing in the First State global infrastructure fund.

  • Telly Vision

    21 Aug 2008

    It is easy to follow the herd. After all, the dot.com boom was evidence of how hype can overcome reality. The internet has enabled much in the world of communication but it has also destroyed or held back the development of alternatives seen as no longer necessary.

  • Templeton opens representative office in Vietnam

    22 Aug 2008

    Templeton Asset Management has opened a representative office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

  • Thames River holds out for table-toppers

    21 Aug 2008

    Thames River investment director Michael Warren says the firm does not want to get involved in what he considers to be the current round of "average manager" recruitment.

  • The buck starts here

    21 Aug 2008

    I have never been a great fan of using charts to predict the future. They do provide an excellent means of seeing what has happened in the past, but such is the plethora of tools to interpret patterns that a confusingly wide range of potential outcomes can be argued.

  • The rules of the game

    20 Aug 2008

    Rules are made to be broken. Not so, says Liontrust chief executive Nigel Legge who this week hit out at the Investment Management Association calling on it to be stricter over qualifying criteria for its UK equity income sector.

  • Towry Law wins the lottery

    21 Aug 2008

    Towry Law has been appointed by Camelot to offer financial planning advice to National Lottery winners. It joins a panel of professional firms which offer advice to winners of more than £250,000.

  • Traditional stockbrokers still have profitable role

    21 Aug 2008

    Traditional private client stockbrokers are a dying breed but still hold a profitable market share, says GHC Capital Markets.

  • UK money numbers distorted by credit crisis, says New Star

    22 Aug 2008

    Broad money supply and credit numbers have been boosted by the financial crisis and the Bank of England's special liquidity scheme has increased distortion, claims New Star chief economist Simon Ward.

  • Unhelpful burden

    21 Aug 2008

    An increasing number of voices are calling for the tax treatment of workplace healthcare schemes to be changed and their arguments are looking increasingly compelling.

  • Unicorn gets AA accolade from hedge rater

    21 Aug 2008

    The Luxemburg-based Unicorn fund of hedge funds has been awarded a AA rating from hedge fund research firm Allenbridge HedgeInfo.

  • Watch out for recovery racket

    21 Aug 2008

    The FSA says at least 10 recovery firms are aiming a scam at investors who bought shares through Pacific Continental Securities Ltd, which went into administration in June 2007.

  • Yield to the rules

    21 Aug 2008

    When is a rule not a rule? It appears to be when it is applied to the UK equity income sector as more than half of the funds in the sector do not meet the required level of yield set by the Investment Management Association.

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