Money Marketing
21 January 2010
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£500m transferred to Qrops
21 Jan 2010
AJ Bell says penal ASP rates are driving people into overseas pension schemes.
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A20 is told to stop business on some funds
21 January 2010
The FSA has ordered IFA network Alpha to Omega to stop new business on certain funds, inc-luding Arch cru, as well as on structured products, pension transfers and drawdown.The FSA’s register reveals that A2O will stop, with immediate effect, all new business connected with Arch cru funds, Barclays capital jade elixir deposit account, Curzon fixed capital protected profit lock-in deposit account, Guildhall absolute ret-urn fund and Vinum Bordeaux first growth plus fine wine ...
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Aberdeen looks to switch fund back into UK equity income sector
22 Jan 2010
Aberdeen co-head of multi-manager Aidan Kearney says the firm is likely to ask the Investment Management Association to move its UK income fund back into the IMA UK equity income sector in March.
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Administrator takes 3% from Arc accounts
21 Jan 2010
Advisers are angry at administrator Carter Backer Winter’s move to deduct money from client accounts to cover admin costs for the insolvent structured product provider Arc Capital & Income.
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Advisers call for IMC to be made a degree
21 January 2010
Advisers are calling on the Chartered Insurance Institute to recognise the CFA Society of the UK’s investment management certificate as degree level rather than A level.
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Anger at move to raise Acuity directors' pay
21 Jan 2010
Advisers have hit out at the Acuity proposals to double director remuneration following the proposed merger of two venture capital trusts.
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Aviva academy signs 5,000 members
21 January 2010
The Aviva Financial Adviser Academy has signed up 5,000 members since its launch in March 2008.
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Aviva wants debate over orphan clients
21 January 2010
Aviva has called for an industrywide debate about how product providers should service orphan clients on their books.
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Back to the drawing board
21 Jan 2010
News that the DWP is reworking its draft legislation on auto-enrolment of DC pensions into the Nest scheme has been welcomed but, reports Lee Jones, the new solution will only be workable if the Government plays it simple this time
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'Banks are getting too big for their own country'
21 January 2010
Professor Charles Goodhart has warned MPs of the danger of international banks growing too large in comparison to the economy of their home country.At a Treasury select committee session on Tuesday, Goodhart, from the London School of Economics, said policymakers had two main options available to them to limit the impact of international banking collapses.He said: “The first answer is to try and get some kind of international agreement on burden sharing if you ...
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Bestinvest buys Haines Watts
21 January 2010
Bestinvest has acquired Haines Watts Financial Services in a deal that brings the group’s total client assets to over £4bn.The deal provides Bestinvest with a national network of advisers in more than 20 locations across the country. The combined firm has more than 150 staff members and 70,000 clients.Bestinvest chief executive officer John Spiers says: “HWFS has an excellent client base and a team of highly skilled and experienced consultants. We welcome the ...
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Brokers look for Natwest boost in rebranding move
22 Jan 2010
Mortgage advisers are hoping the launch of Natwest Intermediary Solutions will signal the start of better exclusive deals for brokers.
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Call to curb structured products
21 January 2010
Specialist provider Altus Financial Products believes the FSA should restrict sales of structured products to sophisticated investors.
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Cashier stole from dementia sufferer
21 Jan 2010
An HSBC bank employee in Hampshire has pleaded guilty to stealing £40,000 from an 90 year-old customer who suffered from dementia.
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Checks and balances
26 Jan 2010
Ringing tills in January spell trouble for IFAs as frivolous spending habits lessen client appetite for financial products
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Condemned structures
22 Jan 2010
Peter Hargreaves believes it may be time to outlaw derivative income products.
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Conway takes over sales in Cofunds' reshuffle
21 Jan 2010
Platform reshuffles senior management.
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Don't fear progress
22 Jan 2010
“After five years of mortgage regulation, what the regulator has not cleaned up has been largely seen off by the credit crunch.”
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Economists fear a lost decade for UK
21 January 2010
The UK could be facing a lost decade as the economy emerges from the recession.The Monetary Policy Roundtable, made up of economists from the Bank of England and the Centre for Economic Policy Research, says it may take as long as eight years for the economy to return to full health.Some members warn that consumers could be averse to borrowing and seek to reduce their debts.The minutes of the meeting held in December said: “Participants pointed to ...
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Euro head Hollis to leave Gartmore
21 January 2010
Baillie Gifford head of the European equity team and co-manager of the European fund Peter Hollis will leave the firm in April 2011.
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Feather the Nest
21 Jan 2010
The DWP needs to convince people to save
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Ferrans now in the chair at the IMA
21 January 2010
Douglas Ferrans has taken over as chairman of the Investment Management Association. Invesco CIO and senior MD Bob Yerbury becomes deputy chairman and Schroders CIO Alan Brown joins the board.
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Forum will mould future shape of ISO advice benchmark
21 January 2010
A development forum has been set up to define the future shape of international financial advice delivery benchmark ISO 22222.
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FOS to issue guidance on handling Barclays' fund complaints
20 Jan 2010
The Financial Ombudsman Service will issue guidance to adjudicators on how to handle complaints regarding the suitability of the Aviva global balanced income fund sold by Barclays.
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Fraudster gets suspended sentence
20 Jan 2010
A Halifax employee who tricked an elderly customer out of money by forging her signature has been spared jail by;a crown court judge.
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FSA revokes loan director approval
21 January 2010
The FSA has revoked the app-roval of a Durham-based director of a mortgage firm which prevents him from holding senior positions in the finance industry for at least two years.Roger Collins was the only director and approved person in his firm, Thoroughgood Harrison and Davies. The FSA says that Collins’ inadequate management and poor understanding of regulatory requirements put 300 customers at risk of getting unsuitable advice.Collins allowed an unqualified ...
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FSA staff broke handbook guidelines
21 January 2010
Senior FSA staff have broken the maximum cash limits set out for hotel stays in the regulator’s staff handbook.
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Fund managers picking Japan
21 January 2010
Global fund managers have increased their weightings to Japan, according to the latest Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey.
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Gamble joins Close to buy IFA books
21 January 2010
Close Asset Management has appointed Cazenove Capital Management fund director Jonathan Gamble as director of intermediary sales to drive plans to buy IFA client books.
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Gartmore set for pan-Europe fund
21 January 2010
Gartmore is to launch a long/short pan-European all-cap strategy fund for John Bennett and his team in May.
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Get a wider view on reviews
21 Jan 2010
My own experience tells me that many people do not necessarily know what they want - or that what they want is actually highly contradictory
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Global forum points to risk of £1tn crash
21 January 2010
There is a “strong risk” that the world could face a $1tn asset bubble crash, according to the World Economic Forum.In its 2009 Global Risk Report, the forum warns that there is a 20 per cent risk that the world faces a collapse in asset prices due to the “continuing uncertainty about the resilience of the global economy and the effectiveness of fiscal and monetary responses, governance and regulation”.The forum says there is also a risk of another fiscal crisis, ...
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Gold guru Birch quits BlackRock
21 January 2010
Gold specialist Graham Birch has decided to quit BlackRock after taking a sabbatical from the firm.Evy Hambro is to continue the management of the BlackRock gold and general fund.Birch went on sabbatical at the end of March 2009, having managed the fund since 1999. The £2.1bn fund has returned 62 per cent in the past three years.In addition to running both gold and general and world mining funds, Birch was also head of BlackRock’s natural resources ...
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Growing pains
25 Jan 2010
Chris Salih on why the IMA’s UK equity income & growth sector is failing to win new friends
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Heart of the matter
22 Jan 2010
A triple heart bypass has made me look at things differently
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Hornbuckle shuts London office in Sipp admin move
21 January 2010
Hornbuckle Mitchell is closing its London office and transferring its Sipp administration services to Leicester.The firm says no staff are being forced to take redund-ancy although there may be some who do not want to move from London.Managing director Dave White says that while the company is not reducing staff numbers, the relocation could result in a “small” number of staff leaving.He says: “We are not reducing staff, it is just a relocation issue. ...
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IMF chief wants cash stimulus to continue
21 January 2010
International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss- Kahn has urged countries not to end their fiscal stimulus packages amid concerns of a double-dip recession.
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Invesco focuses on yield initially for tactical bond fund
21 January 2010
Invesco Perpetual is developing its closed and open-ended fund ranges with a strategic bond fund and possible changes to its forthcoming split-capital trust.The company will launch a tactical bond fund for fixed-income co-heads Paul Causer and Paul Read on February 1.The fund will adopt an unconstrained strategy, allowing it to invest across the whole fixed-income spectrum.The managers will be able to make short-term asset allocation calls, which ...
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Keeping up with the pace of change
21 January 2010
What was your first job?My first job was as a sales support executive for the now defunct Mortgage Express. Back in the day, Mortgage Express was a great place to work, with a real entrepren-eurial feel to it. This role gave me my first taste of the online world - I registered the company URLs and briefed the design of their first website on the only PC with internet connection in the office at the time.
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Kelsall to replace Standard marketing chief Gillespie
21 January 2010
Standard Life marketing director Andrew Gillespie left the firm last week and will be replaced by Bruce Kelsall.Standard has also appointed Ronnie Taylor as director of intermediary partner propositions, taking over responsibility for its platform from Geoff Towers.Towers is focusing on his role as marketing director for Standard’s established affluent client base. He will also oversee the development of Standard’s digital infrastructures for the IFA marketplace.
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Last gasp
21 Jan 2010
Could it be curtains for the tax on Asps?
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Local councils facing £60bn shortfalls on pensions
21 January 2010
The Local Government Pension Scheme could face a deficit of more than £60bn next year, freedom of information requests by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.
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Mandelson wants sense of proportion from FSA
21 January 2010
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has called for “a sense of proportion” at the FSA and urged the regulator to take a step back and work with the EU to collectively define the regulatory system.
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Mark Jones
25 Jan 2010
LV=’s head of protection believes people need to be made aware of their need for protection but the industry also needs to shake up its attitude to make it easier for consumers to take out cover Interview by Gregor Watt
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Mind the reverse yield gap
25 Jan 2010
The flight to quality was followed by the dash for trash but the emphasis could well shift back to quality firms with overseas earnings
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MM leader: ABI shows way on pension policy
21 January 2010
With the general election looming, it is still difficult to predict how high up the political agenda pensions will appear.
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Model choice has can-do attitude
22 Jan 2010
Geoff Catterall says his firm is confident that wraps will feature strongly in a post-RDR world.
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Money Marketing/YouGov monthly 300-IFA benchmark survey: RDR attitudes
21 January 2010
Click here to download the PDF
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Mortgage Times' reps slam directors over new venture
22 Jan 2010
Former appointed representatives of Mortgage Times have hit out at company directors Chris May and Paul Carmody for setting up a new financial planning venture on the same premises as the defunct network.
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NDFA clients get the go-ahead to cash in Homemaker plans
21 January 2010
Opal has assured NDFA investors in the Homemaker mortgage plan they can now encash their investment after lengthy delays following NDFA’s administration in October.One investor who contacted Money Marketing, Simon Pawley, has been waiting for his plan to be surrendered since September.In a letter to investors, Opal client services manager Graham Rennie says requests to surrender plans are now being processed.The letter states: “Investments are sold ...
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New lease of life
22 Jan 2010
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New Paradigm site for Bee
21 January 2010
Paradigm Partners has launched JargonFree Pensions.co.uk which will feature comment from newly recruited pension guru Steve Bee.
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Newton defies gravity
25 Jan 2010
Diversity is important in uncertain times and Newton’s higher-income fund can bring an excellent defensive quality and yield
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No pay rises at FSA but bonuses will continue
21 January 2010
The vast majority of FSA staff will not get a pay rise this year but the regulator has confirmed that it will continue to pay bonuses.In an internal email to staff, FSA chief executive Hector Sants said the regulator had not put aside funds for pay increases this year.The email says: “There will be no pay rise for the vast majority of staff.”But he said the FSA’s bonus pot would be the same as last year at 15 per cent of the total salary pot.
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O'Connor quits Aegon role as platform researcher
21 January 2010
Tim O’Connor has left Aegon, where he researched platform opportunities.O’Connor joined Aegon last February on a contract basis to explore wrap potential for the firm. He joined from UBS Wealth Management, where he was exe-cutive director of the platform, which closed last February.An Aegon spokesman says it will continue exploring wrap opportunities despite O’Connor’s departure. He says: “Now the contract has come to an end, it does not mean that our work into ...
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Open door to professionalism
21 Jan 2010
“Will January mark the real beginning of a new profession for those prepared to walk through the door?”
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Out of context
21 January 2010
“I was driving down the M40 when I was stopped by two police cars, pulled out the car,handcuffed and arrested for the theft of my own motor vehicle.”
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Pension funds 'gamble' with stock loans
21 Jan 2010
Former pensions minister Frank Field has warned The Pension Regulator that pension fund custodians are “gambling” with assets by loaning stock without trustees’ knowledge or consent.
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People on the move: Distribution
21 January 2010
Mint Financial Services chief executive officer and co-founder Paul Gains is to leave the firm next year. Gains, who has been absent from the network since November 26, is currently on gardening leave and his employment will terminate in February 2011.
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People on the move: Investment
21 January 2010
Threadneedle has promoted Leigh Harrison to head of equities and bolstered the UK desk with the appointment of fund managers Simon Brazier, Richard Colwell and James Thorne.
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People on the move: Life and pensions
21 January 2010
Pension guru Steve Bee is leaving Scottish Life after 13 years to launch a new adviser-focused platform venture in partnership with Bankhall founder Paul Hogarth. Bee is leaving at the end of January to set up a new proposition which will include a corporate platform to launch in Q2 2010. The firm, as yet unnamed, will be part of the Paradigm Group, set up by Hogarth in 2007. Bee will become a partner at Paradigm.
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People on the move: Mortgages
21 January 2010
Aldermore has appointed former Wave chief executive Colin Snowdon to look at prospective business opportunities in the residential mortgage market.
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Platforms face cap-ad and tech from the RDR
21 January 2010
Hicks: Impact of failure
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Platforms urged to check on adviser charges
21 January 2010
Ascentric says platform providers should monitor adviser charges on their platform and question high fees to avoid misselling.Managing director Hugo Thorman said platform firms should have a duty to monitor charges levied on clients. He said: “I am a definite minority in this but I think by not monitoring adviser charges we could end up with a misselling scandal in the next few years.“I do not want the FSA to introduce regulation that makes us formally responsible ...
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Public reject paying fees for advice
21 Jan 2010
Only 3 per cent of consumers would pay over £100 per hour for independent advice.
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Quantum Money brokerage closes
21 January 2010
Central London mortgage brokerage Quantum Money has shut down.The firm is no longer authorised by the FSA and administrator Carter Clark has been appointed.Last summer, Quantum partner Fahim Antoniades left to join Mortgage Centre IFA as group director.Quantum managing director Jonathan Burridge says he expects to see a significant number of adviser businesses go under in 2010.He says: “I would imagine we are going to see the number of ...
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Quest for quality
21 January 2010
Make new entrants the financial planners of tomorrow
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Record monthly rise in inflation to 2.9%
21 January 2010
Inflation rose sharply last month to 2.9 per cent, up from 1.9 per cent in November, according to figures from the Office of National Statistics. The rise in the consumer price index is the biggest since records began in 1997.
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Rock backing Toon with £10m deal
21 January 2010
Northern Rock bank has renewed its sponsorship deal with Newcastle United which is worth up to £10m over four years.
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Scottish Life chief says the move to fees must start now
21 January 2010
Scottish Life has warned that advisers need to be charging fees for at least 30 per cent of their business by the end of this year in order to be prepared for the 2012 advisercharging deadline.Speaking at the Winchester White RDR conference at the Institute of Directors in London last week, chief executive John Deane told the delegates that firms need to start moving business from commission to fees immediately.He said that by the end of 2010, firms should have ...
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Securities certificate available to schools
21 January 2010
The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment’s certificate will be available to students at secondary schools and colleges from September.
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Simplest route to reform
26 Jan 2010
Tom Baigrie discusses the possible effect of a changing political climate.
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SimplyBiz extends fees refund deal
21 January 2010
SimplyBiz has extended its offer to refund examination fees to advisers who have successfully taken CII exams.
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Snowdon looks at loan move for Aldermore
21 January 2010
Aldermore has appointed Colin Snowdon, former chief executive of Merrill Lynch’s defunct lender Wave, to explore the potential for launching a UK residential mortgage lender focused on the intermediary market.Snowdon was also respon-sible for the launch of The Mortgage Business for Bank of Scotland and Verso for Britannia Building Society. He is joined at Aldermore by former Wave director of product development and credit Richard Spinks. Wave stopped lending in 2008 along ...
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Space invaders
21 January 2010
Smaller players are challenging the big life companies
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Stay in touch
22 Jan 2010
“The financial advice practices really set to grow over the next 10 years will be those that can find ways of best communicating with large numbers of consumers via the new technologies.”
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Succession plan
22 Jan 2010
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Survey shows FSA incentives would pay off on RDR exams
21 Jan 2010
YouGov/Money Marketing research shows Aifa’s proposals for regulatory incentives would drive up professionalism.
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Test your adviser
20 Jan 2010
How clients can check that their financial adviser is on track to meet the requirements of the RDR
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The chatteling classes
25 Jan 2010
Continuing the series on intestacy, here are some scenarios of what can happen with property when there is no will.
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The long wait goes on for Park Row advisers
21 Jan 2010
Eighty three former Park Row advisers still awaiting reauthorisation.
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The sting in the tail
25 Jan 2010
Alan Lakey discusses possible regulatory protection problems that still remain due to the RDR.
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The transition to adviser charging
21 January 2010
There has been much debate about adviser charging since the FSA issued its consultation paper last June. In fact, there has been a lot of debate about whether the RDR will happen, given a potential change of government and possibly regulator.
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Towry sees no conflict in bonus for in-house deals
21 Jan 2010
Firm says there is nothing wrong with offering incentives to recommend in-house investment service.
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Turning the tables
22 Jan 2010
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Ucits III is chance to redefine balanced managed
22 Jan 2010
Swip multi-manager head of distribution Bernard Henshall says the Ucits III rules should be an opportunity for fund managers to redefine the balanced managed sector.
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Value judgement
21 January 2010
AxiaMetrics LLP partner Martin Gilsenan on how the appliance of science can help firms attract the right recruits
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Virgin brings in staff for bank
21 January 2010
Virgin Money has appointed former senior staff of Royal Bank of Scotland, Bradford & Bingley and HBOS as it develops its banking proposition.Virgin has recruited former RBS executive Finlay William-son as finance director, former Bradford & Bingley director of savings Ian Cornelius as banking director and HBOS head of legal for retail Marcus Eze-kiel as commercial director.A Virgin Money spokesman says: “We are hiring people with the relevant skills and ...
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Virgin territory
22 Jan 2010
With Virgin’s Church House deal set to shake up retail banking, speculation is rife as to how this will play out in the intermediary channel.
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Widows academy backs IFP's paraplanner exam
21 January 2010
The Scottish Widows Academy will support the development of the Institute of Financial Planning’s new paraplanner qualification and will offer it to intermediaries from the middle of the year.
