Money Marketing
24 June 2010
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£13Bn from VAT rise
24 June 2010
VAT will increase from 17.5 per cent to 20 per cent from January 4, 2011, which will bring in £13bn of revenue.
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1.2% Growth this year
24 June 2010
Chancellor George Osborne said growth this year is set to be 1.2 per cent, rising to 2.3 per cent next year, 2.8 per cent in 2012 and 2.9 per cent in 2013.
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10 MINUTES WITH...SHIGERU OSHITA
28 Jun 2010
James Smith spends 10 minutes talking to Japanese fund manager Shigeru Oshita.
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1st-The Exchange buys software firm
24 June 2010
1st-The Exchange has acquired financial services software firm N4 Solutions.
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3 weeks to the July exams - act now to boost your chances
28 Jun 2010
Get expert help with your revision through the Money Marketing Academy. FINAL CALL for classroom revision sessions.
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72% agree with multiple-choice exam format
24 Jun 2010
A recent Money Marketing poll asked readers: “do you agree with multiple choice exams to reach QCF level 4?”.
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A fine balance for property
25 Jun 2010
Sally Laker believes the property market is precariously balanced.
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A matter of trust
24 June 2010
The Chartered Insurance Institute offers exam tips on the J02 trusts unit, highlighting the areas that pose the most frequent challenges, including the role of trustees, taxation and the legal aspects
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A new map of risk
24 June 2010
There has been a remarkable turn-round in sovereign debt, with emerging nations safer than some developed countries
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Advisers back bank move but fear fee increases
24 June 2010
Advisers welcome the Government’s plans to move prudential regulation to the Bank of England but want the new Consumer Protection and Markets Authority to levy fairer fees.
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Advisers fear wider protection retreat
25 Jun 2010
Advisers are concerned that Aegon’s possible withdrawal from the UK protection market could signal a wider contraction of the protection industry.
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Aegon to pull back in the UK
24 June 2010
Aegon is dramatically scaling back its UK business by cutting 25 per cent of costs by 2011 and refocusing on at-retirement and workplace saving products.
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Bank of England warns against Lehman style accounting ‘gimmicks’
28 Jun 2010
The Bank of England has warned UK banks that it is essential that their balance sheets are not fudged to concentrate on end-period figures.
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Base instincts
24 June 2010
The way that advice is delivered will change with RDR and firms must alter their whole outlook on technology by adopting a segmented approach and ensuring staff know the system and understand their customer base
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Basic-rate payers get £170 extra
24 June 2010
The personal allowance increase from £6,475 to £7,475 next April will mean 23 million basic-rate taxpayers will get an additional £170 a year.
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BoE must recognise the size of its task
25 Jun 2010
Brian Tora says that the Bank of England must recognise that the financial services industry is made of businesses of all shapes and sizes.
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Bonds fail to get back in balance
24 Jun 2010
Insurance bonds are unlikely to see a huge bounce back after the CGT rise was smaller than many expected.
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Borrowers could be hit by £2bn bank levy
25 Jun 2010
Experts have warned that customers may bear the brunt of the new £2bn annual bank levy.
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Borrowers face testing time
24 June 2010
First Action Finance’s Jonathan Cornell says landlords and borrowers alike may suffer in the wake of the emergency Budget.
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Borrowing to plunge
24 June 2010
Government borrowing will fall from 10.1 per cent of GDP in 2010 to 1.1 per cent by 2015/16, from £149bn this year to £20bn in 2015/16.
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Brought to book
24 June 2010
Doesn’t time fly. I wrote my last article the day before my AF4 investment planning exam which I sat on April 21 in Edinburgh and the results are available online from June 18. Did anyone else sit this exam? What were your thoughts on it? It would be great to hear your feedback.
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Cann claims Cummings quit due to lack of Aifa direction
24 June 2010
Institute of Financial Planning chief executive Nick Cann says he believes Chris Cummings quit Aifa due to frustrations over the direction of the trade body.
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Capital pain relief for BTL
24 Jun 2010
Lenders say the lower than anticipated increase in capital gains tax in the emergency Budget is not the disaster that had been feared by the buy-to-let sector.
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Caution is key for multi-asset mix
24 June 2010
LV= Asset Management has launched its most cautious risk-graded multi-manager portfolio due to investor demand.
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CGT move brings stealth tax for trustees
24 June 2010
The emergency Budget has introduced a new stealth tax on trustees which industry experts suggest could present a great financial planning opportunity for advisers.
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CGT rise could see admin problems
24 Jun 2010
Financial services companies warn that the immeadiate CGT rise may create admin problems for taxpayers.
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CPMA will be a 'strong champion for consumers'
24 June 2010
The new Consumer Protection and Markets Authority will take on responsibility for the Financial Ombudsman Service and e Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
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Cummings wins praise for his contribution to IFA cause
24 June 2010
Aifa director general Chris Cummings has won wide-ranging praise for his role in lobbying on IFAs’ behalf.
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Dear Rob&Roderic...
24 June 2010
Our resident agony uncles and The Ideas Lab directors Rob Reid and Roderic Rennison answer adviser queries
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Dewar and Pain tipped for CPMA job
24 Jun 2010
Sally Dewar and Jon Pain are two of the names being touted for the top job at the CPMA.
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Earlier start for state pension at 66
24 June 2010
The increase in state pension age to 66 is to be accelerated and the default retirement age will be phased out from April next year. The previous Government planned to increase state pension age to 66 from 2034.
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Europe needs €2 trillion bail out, says Buiter
24 Jun 2010
Citigroup economist and former MPC member says €860bn bailout is too small.
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Feeding the Piigs
24 Jun 2010
John Greenwood says the EU has plans for the UK to pay for other states’ pension failures
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Fitch optimistic on keeping AAA rating
24 June 2010
Fitch Ratings says the UK will retain its AAA status if the Government can deliver the debt reduction measures it promised in the Budget.
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Flipside of a housing recovery
24 Jun 2010
Mark Chilton says markets should react well to the emergency Budget.
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Four platforms ready to set up in IFA market
24 Jun 2010
Four new platforms are planning to launch to the IFA market over the next 12 months, according to Platforum.
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FREE - brand new J01 revision guide!
27 Jun 2010
Article provided by Technical Connection
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Gartmore buys to be in on bounce
24 June 2010
Gartmore’s multi-manager team has increased its US and Japan weighting as it warns there are still plenty to worry about in the global economy.
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General avoidance rule is attacked
24 June 2010
Plans for a general anti-avoidance rule to plug holes in the tax system have been criticised as unnecessary and causing uncertainty.
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Go away May
24 June 2010
FundQuest’s Paul Kim assess how investors can avoid the negatives in the markets.
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Google offers help for IFAs
24 June 2010
Google is offering free training and support to help IFAs boost their online presence and capitalise on the growing demand for financial advice on the internet.
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Half of advisers expect boost for Omo
24 June 2010
Adviser are split on whether there will be an increase in the open market option over the next couple of years, according to Sun Life Financial of Canada.
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Harman hammers stifling strategy
24 June 2010
Labour acting leader Harriet Harman slammed the emergency Budget, saying it will stifle growth and make it harder to cut the deficit.
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Hodge pulls back on equity release
24 June 2010
Hodge Lifetime is winding down new equity-release lending to focus on growing its annuity business.
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Hospitality feat
24 June 2010
The Business of Advice book and website looks at how to manage and grow advice businesses. In the latest article in the series, author David Shelton, head of IFA consultancy at Scottish Widows, looks at hospitality
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Hutton will head probe into future of public sector pensions
24 June 2010
Former Labour Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton is to lead an independent commission into the future for public sector pensions.Chancellor George Osborne announced Hutton’s appointment at the weekend to bring a “cross-party perspective” to a “national problem”.
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IFAs get tax cut but capital allowances slashed
24 Jun 2010
The reduction in the rate of corporation tax to 24 per cent by 2014 has been welcomed as a boost for IFA firms.
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Ignis picks Japan over China
24 June 2010
The Ignis multi-manager team favours Japan over emerging markets such as China as it believes the risks to equity markets in emerging regions have been underestimated.
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Keeping up with the Joneses
24 June 2010
Last month, the ifs School of Finance provided guidance on how to approach the coursework assignment in its DipFA programme. This month, it will look at a past coursework question and a sample answer. Given that coursework assignments can run up to and beyond 2,500 words, the answer will be serialised over two articles
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Keydata chief slams the regulator's role
24 June 2010
Keydata founder Stewart Ford hit back last week at the FSA over its statements on the Keydata/ Lifemark saga.
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Lawyers say FSA restructure will just be a costly rerun
23 Jun 2010
Legal experts warn the Government’s new regulatory framework will create immense costs and many of its perceived benefits are largely illusory.
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Leader: Cherry Reynard
24 June 2010
This month’s issue is unashamedly technologyfocused.
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Life offices bypass advisers on FIB claims
24 Jun 2010
Lifesearch has warned that insurers are contacting beneficiaries eligible for family income benefit and offering to commute their plans to lump-sum payments without consulting the adviser who originally sold the policy.
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Life plans escape IPT as PMI is hit
25 Jun 2010
Insurers expressed relief that the Chancellor did not decide to apply insurance premium tax to life insurance products but concerns remain as the tax rate increases will affect private medical insurance.
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Lifetime annuities to keep top spot for income
24 June 2010
Lifetime annuities look set to remain by far the most popular retirement income product over the next five years despite innovation in the market.
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Line of vision
24 June 2010
Devesh Ambasna, principal of Devesh Ambasna Associates, believes his skills lie in motivation and curing clients’ ’vision leakage’.
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Look to law grads for recruits
24 June 2010
IFAs should look to law graduates as a source of new recruits, according to Sifa.
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Make allowances for future change
24 Jun 2010
Rob Reid says advisers must prepare for the aftermath of the emergency Budget.
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MEP wants power back to Parliament
24 June 2010
Hannan: ‘Elected shift’
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MM Leader: Cummings will be a tough act to follow for Aifa
24 Jun 2010
The next director general of Aifa will have to lobby for IFAs in a hostile political and regulatory environment.
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Money Marketing Competition
28 Sep 2011
Terms & Conditions 1. The prize draw is open to anyone aged 18 years or over provided they are not employees of any of the Centaur Media group of companies. Entries will be limited to one per household. 2. No purchase is necessary for entry to the prize draw. 3. The closing date for all entries is midnight on 5th October 2011. The prize draw will take place in the presence of an independent witness within 7 ...
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New regime to apply to all
24 June 2010
The FSA says it would be “naive” not to apply the new mortgage market approved persons’ regime to tied advisers.
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Non-dom review
24 June 2010
The Government has promised a review of the taxation of non-domiciled individuals to see if they can make a fair contribution to reducing the deficit.
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OBR forecast too optimistic
24 June 2010
Ignis Asset Management chief economist Stuart Thomson bel-ieves the Office for Budget Res-ponsibility has been too optimistic on its forecasts for growth.
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On the level
24 June 2010
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Opportunity for Aifa to take a new path
28 Jun 2010
Nic Cicutti says that Aifa must become synonomous with quality, professionalism, dedication and total commitment to customers.
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Osborne rips up the pension complexity
24 June 2010
The coalition Government has torn up the previous administration’s proposed complex restrictions to higher-rate pension tax relief in favour of a reduced annual allowance of between £30,000 and £45,000.
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Peak practice
24 Jun 2010
Kim North
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Pension reprieve for high-earners
24 June 2010
The repeal of the high-earner tax rules will be welcome to advisers and providers.
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Philippa Gee
28 Jun 2010
The RDR has provided the spark for a well known IFA to return to the sector and set up her own business, encouraged by the FSA’s insistence on advisers moving away from commission.
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Pick out a niche and double your profits
25 Jun 2010
FP Advance chief executive Brett Davidson says IFA firms that segment their clients and identify a niche within their client base can more than double their profits.
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Platform challenges
24 June 2010
Platforms must form closer relationships with IFAs to understand different business models and offer solutions that work for advisers, says Macquarie.
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Poor faith in child poverty claim
24 Jun 2010
In his maiden Budget, Chancellor George Osborne spoke speedily about how he has had to relearn financial prudence and, in his progressive coalition Government, he seemed happy to deliver what he believes is a progressive Budget. Labour leader Harriet Harman’s res-ponse focused on how unfair the Budget was on families.
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Positive Solutions hires KPMG to review pension switching business
23 Jun 2010
The network insists the review was not instigated by the FSA or prompted by unsuitable cases found.
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Press for interaction
24 June 2010
RDR has turned firms’ attention to focusing their business models around clients and technology plays a major part. Now new online service Moneyinfo drives interaction between client and adviser
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Product providers must make it easier to retain business
29 Jun 2010
Emma Prescott says product providers are making client retention difficult for protection advisers.
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Protection firms wary on innovation risks
24 June 2010
Edwards: ‘Claim innovation’
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Protection sector may follow the shift to escalation in line with CPI
24 Jun 2010
The move to increase state benefits in line with the consumer prices index may see the protection market follow suit on their policies.
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Qualifications help from Zurich
25 Jun 2010
On its dedicated exam support website, Zurich now hosts the CII audio for J01 (Tax), J02 (Trusts), J04 (Pension Funding Options) and J05 (Pension Income Options).
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RBS warns of global financial ‘cliff-edge’
28 Jun 2010
Investors should be preparing for a financial “cliff-edge” as the Eurozone and the US prepare for “monster” money printing exercises, according to RBS.
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Rdr will take a load off investors
24 June 2010
Peter Robertson, head of retail at Vanguard UK, welcomes the prospect of lower costs for clients
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Sants and King get the power
24 June 2010
Sweeping reforms to the regulatory system will see the FSA abolished and the creation of a Consumer Protection and Markets Authority to regulate all authorised firms.
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Sense and segmentation
24 June 2010
Iam with Forrest Gump: “Life is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you’re gonna get.”
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Sitting room
24 June 2010
Two months on from my last study diary and there is frustratingly little progress to report on.
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Solvency II to hit insurers' credit ratings
24 June 2010
Rating agency Fitch is predicting that Solvency II will hit insurers’ credit ratings from 2012 and lead to capital-raising, restructuring and consolidation.
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Take care of the margins in move to fee business
25 Jun 2010
Macquarie says advisers moving to a fee-based model must ensure they build a profit margin into their charges to make a successful transition.
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Target set for debt
24 June 2010
The Chancellor has pledged the structural deficit will be in balance and that debt will begin falling as a percentage of GDP by 2015/16.
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Technical advances
24 June 2010
Nick Eatock and Brett Davidson agree technology will be crucial in delivery of the RDR but differ on the most important systems to have in place.
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Technical Connection launch leading edge CPD platform
25 Jun 2010
Article provided by Technical Connection
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The app of my eye
6 Jul 2010
Two weeks ago, I looked at the fundamental changes being driven by the emergence of consumer-focused technology on the wider world and the potential impact for our industry.
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The fair way forward
24 June 2010
The coalition needs to simplify taxes and make them transparent
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The value of project management
24 June 2010
Roderic Rennison, Director, The Ideas Lab
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The weird and the marginal
25 Jun 2010
CGT had formed a central part of the build-up to the Budget and this week we got the detail. Before looking at the rates, crucially, the annual allowance has been maintained at£10,100 and will be index-linked.
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Tighter affordability will aid advisers
24 Jun 2010
The £2bn annual banking levy could push more consumers to seek mortgage advice as borrowers are increasingly turned away from high-street banks.
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Triple-lock rise
24 June 2010
Rises to the basic state pension will be triple-locked alongside risings in earnings, prices or a rise of 2.5 per cent, whichever is greater.
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Trusts hit by CGT changes
24 June 2010
Trustees and personal representatives of deceased persons will be liable for capital gains tax at 28 per cent whereas individuals will pay 18 per cent if their total taxable gains and income are less than the upper limit of the basic-rate income tax band.
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UK faces both inflation and deflation fears, says Pimco
28 Jun 2010
The UK faces “substantial” threats of both deflation and inflation, according to Pimco, the world’s biggest bond investor.
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Under construction
24 June 2010
Barry Fleming & Partners adviser Lisa Chantrey on the firm’s continuing journey as it prepares for RDR. Construction has been tough but the firm is confident it will be in the best shape when work is completed
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US lawyers finalise financial reform bill
25 Jun 2010
President Obama pushes bill to reform Wall Street.
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VAT rise will put IFAs more out of reach
24 June 2010
Experts warn that the Budget’s VAT rise could put independent financial advice further out of reach of the mass market as IFA clients will pay 20 per cent VAT on the fees for advice they receive.
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VCTs and EIS set for a surge
25 Jun 2010
Venture capital trust and enterprise investment scheme business could rise sharply after the rise in capital gains tax.
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Who will follow Cummings at Aifa?
23 Jun 2010
IFA Amanda Davidson and IFP chief executive and Nick Cann have ruled themselves out of the running to replace Chris Cummings as director general of Aifa.
