Money Marketing
25 February 2004

  • 'Expensive' fixed rates are losing popularity

    26 Feb 2004

    The proportion of fixed-rate lending has almost halved in the last six months. CML figures show that fixed rates accounted for just 26 per cent of new mortgages in January compared with a peak of 47 per cent last August. The CML says this reflects the fact that fixed rates have become more expensive. The average new fixed rate is now 4.68 per cent compared with an average new variable rate of 4.41 per cent. Last August, the average fixed rate was 0.35 per cent lower than ...

  • £30,000 plus incentive offered to deferred pensioners

    25 Feb 2004

    Work and Pensions Secretary Andrew Smith has announced plans to offer people who carry on working beyond retirement age an interest rate of at least 2 per cent above the case rate if they choose to defer state pension payments.The rate based on the retail prices index would allow people to receive a lump sum of more than £30,000.Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesman Steve Webb wanted further details on exactly how the sum would be taxed and whether it would ...

  • £4bn in surplus cash underpins solid solvency

    26 Feb 2004

    Standard Life has calmed fears over its solvency margin by revealing it has more than £4bn in surplus capital. The company has sold £750bn worth of equities since the start of the year, as shown in its annual results for 2003, released last week. They show the company has "realistic" surplus capital of more than £4bn, twice the risk capital margin, with available assets on a statutory basis up by 9.5 per cent to £4.6bn in 2003 from £4.2bn ...

  • A consumer's view

    26 Feb 2004

    It is not much fun being a mortgage lender. First, the BBC's Money Programme has a go at them over self-certification mortgages. The programme claimed that some intermediaries are encouraging borrowers to lie about their income and inflate their earnings, in order to borrow more. The implication was that the lenders had been conniving in the situation or simply did not know what was going on. More recently, the lenders have been hauled over the coals for advancing ...

  • Abbey axed from L&G mortgage club panel

    26 Feb 2004

    Legal & General's mortgage club has dropped Abbey from its panel of lenders. PR manager Peter Timberlake says L&G regularly reviews the lenders on its mortgage panel and reveals that part of the reason that Abbey was dropped was because it did not work extensively with Legal & General on exclusive products and other services and benefits for members. Abbey is disappointed but says it is keen to continue its relationship with the 1,670 appointed representative ...

  • Abbey says no WP bonuses from life arms

    1 Mar 2004

    No annual bonus will be paid for the with-profits policies of Abbey National Life, Scottish Mutual and Scottish Provident except where guaranteed rates of bonus apply, Abbey has admitted. Terminal bonus rates will also be reduced for unitised and traditional with-profits policies from March 2004. Abbey says the stockmarket recovery has been too short and insufficient in scale to make up the shortfall from the previous three years.

  • Another setback for MLIM as Corley leaves

    26 Feb 2004

    Merrill Lynch Investment Managers has been rocked by another major departure, with Elizabeth Corley, head of a number of regional retail desks, leaving the group to pursue other interests. Corley, head of retail for Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, is the second person to leave the company this month following the high-profile departure of head of UK retail Michael Jones. But while Jones' exit sparked a management reshuffle, MLIM says it has no immediate plans to retain ...

  • Axa chops with-profits bonuses

    2 Mar 2004

    Axa Sun Life has cut bonuses for its 1.65m with-profits policyholders, with bonuses on bonds cut to 2 per cent for the year to March 2004, from 2.5 per cent the previous year and personal pensions cut to 2.25 per cent from 3 per cent. Bonuses for mortgage endowments with a 3 per cent guarantee remain at that level. Sun Life Assurance Society bonuses fall to 2.25 per cent from 3 per cent on bonds, to 3 per cent from 3.75 per cent on personal pensions and to 2.25 per cent from 3 ...

  • B&B chief executive Rodrigues resigns

    2 Mar 2004

    Bradford & Bingley group chief executive Christopher Rodrigues has resigned to take up a position as president and chief executive of Visa International in San Fransisco.He will be replaced by Stephen Crawshaw, currently in charge of the group's core lending and savings business.Crawshaw says: "I am clear about our priorities in both the short and medium term and I am confident in our strategy. My immediate emphasis is to continue to achieve our growth objectives whilst ...

  • Baggers win the battle

    26 Feb 2004

    Carpetbaggers won a famous victory at Nationwide last Wednesday night, but mutual watchers need not fret - it was all in a good cause. The scene was a Nationwide quiz night for the press held at Madame Tussauds, where the winners were a team from The Independent called The Malevolent Carpetbaggers. The Diary hears that Nationwide took the assault of the pseudo-carpetbaggers in its stride, and CEO Philip Williamson revealed that there had been no word so far from real-life ...

  • Bamford describes Menu requirements as premature in advice process

    27 Feb 2004

    Informed Choice managing director Nick Bamford believes the Menu requirements announced yesterday fall "prematurely" in the advice process and believes it should come after an initial client consultation.He says Informed Choice includes commission or fees disclosure in its engagement letter and then again in the key features document, describing its commission disclosure as "very robust". Bamford says: "I really wonder if the FSA understands the process the IFA goes through ...

  • Bankhall forms partnership with Paymentshield

    25 Feb 2004

    Bankhall and Paymentshield have come together to offer mortgage advisers a one-stop product and compliance stop for upcoming FSA regulation of mortgages and general insurance.Paymentshield is a specialist provider of mortgage payment protection insurance and also offers life and critical illness cover.Bankhall says the move follows its recent alliance with Premier Mortgage Services and creates a combined agency network of more than 25,000 advisers. Paymentshield chairman Rick ...

  • Barclays ditches Woolwich IFA brand

    26 Feb 2004

    Barclays is scrapping the Woolwich IFA brand and restructuring all its advisers into three tiers which will see its 600 IFAs operating in different segments of the market. Around 350 of the IFAs will operate alongside Barclays' 400 tied advisers serving the mass market with 200 in the high-net worth market offering independent advice to the wealthy. This tier includes 130 former high-net-worth tied advisers who were retrained as IFAs last year. The 50 RIs ...

  • BBC looking for adviser for new show

    26 Feb 2004

    The BBC is launching a new TV programme aimed at providing financial advice to the public and is aiming to recruit a financial adviser for a regular slot on the show. The Bank of Mum & Dad is scheduled to start shooting in early March. Producer Ed Crick says he is looking for a charismatic, hard-nosed adviser as an expert. He says the show is not aimed at complex investment issues but aims to give the public help with general finance issues. Crick says: "The adviser ...

  • Bristol & West launches 2 year discount at 3.89 per cent

    2 Mar 2004

    Bristol & West Mortgages has launched a two year discounted product at 3.89 per cent. The mortgage is a variable product at 2.15 per cent off the lender's SVR, currently at 6.04 per cent. It is available until 31st March 2006 at up to 95 per cent loan to value.Senior product manager Neena Kithoray says: "Bristol & West Mortgages are delighted to offer this two year discount mortgage at such a competitive rate. It is among the lowest in the market and is particularly suitable ...

  • BTL borrowers invest to cover pension- Mortgage Trust

    2 Mar 2004

    More than a third of buy-to-let borrowers are investing in property to cover their retirement according to research from the Mortgage Trust. The quarterly study of buy to let investors has revealed that 35% consider the need to supplement their pension to be the primary trigger which initially led them to purchase residential investment property. In support of this 46% rank funding retirement as the most important objective in operating as a residential landlord.

  • Cazalet says Standard Life is a one-off case

    26 Feb 2004

    Standard Life's recent experiences meeting the FSA's new realistic solvency regime will be exceptional in the life sector, with other players only needing to finetune, according to independent insurance analyst Ned Cazalet. In a report on life company financial strength and new business, Cazalet says other firms are likely to be involved in only "tweaking and finetuning" asset-liability management rather than having to make changes on Standard's scale. Standard's ...

  • Chief justice

    26 Feb 2004

    We can certainly sympathise with Paul Smith writing about the catalogue of appalling shortcomings in the administration levels at Legal & General. He is not alone and L&G is not the only culprit in the declining administration standards of the insurance industry. We have seen all this before but have been unable to overcome the problems and difficulties in dealing with clearly understaffed, undertrained and inexperienced people who have little or no idea of how to deal ...

  • Christopher Rodrigues

    26 Feb 2004

    Interviewing Christopher Rodrigues in the week that Bradford & Bingley's preliminary results come out was always going to be a hectic affair but the man seems remarkably calm, despite having been in back-to-back meetings all day. The relaxed air is also impressive given that the results are something of a mixed bag, with good performances from Mortgage Express (gross new lending up by 70 per cent to £9.9bn) and Charcol (mortgage broking business revenues up by 25 ...

  • CII sets out framework for qualifications

    26 Feb 2004

    Industry sources believe the Chartered Insurance Institute could be positioning itself to step into the role of the Financial Services Skills Council if it fails to deliver. The FSSC is being criticised for what many see as an inability to bring qualifications and exams to financial services. Last week, the FSSC said there would be further delays to its exam review, saying it is now not scheduled to be completed until 2007. One source points out that the CII's ...

  • Citigroup - Enhanced Growth Plan

    27 Feb 2004

    Type: Capital-protected bondAim: Growth linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 index or Dow Jones Global Titans IndexMinimum-maximum investment: £5,000-no maximum, Isa £3,000-£7,000Term: Five yearsGuarantee: UK enhanced growth option one - original capital returned in full regardless of index performance. Global enhanced growth option two - original capital returned in full provided the Dow Jones Global ...

  • Claims against Aaron could hit £12

    25 Feb 2004

    The David Aaron Partnership could be facing a £12.6m bill for misselling claims, more than six times the £1.8m it had put aside for compensation before it went bust last December. Based on documentation from accountants KPMG, the troubled IFA firm had reportedly calculated its initial liability on the basis of 200 claims averaging £9,000 each. But another 1,200 clients have reportedly demanded compensation since its closure, causing DAP's potential bill to mushroom ...

  • Commission edge

    26 Feb 2004

    I have followed Intelligent Money's bid to claim back renewal commission with interest. In my view, this is likely to be the preserve of self-select investors who are happy to make their own financial planning decisions without guidance and who wish to minimise their costs. For such investors, the service will undoubtedly prove of great interest. But if Intelligent Money, which is taking the moral high ground regarding the way the industry structures its costs, is aiming to ...

  • Commission edge

    26 Feb 2004

    Let us set the record straight here. "The level of commission payable on financial service products far outweighs the work and service that brokers provide to their clients… this is absolutely true." These are not my words but those of Hargreaves Lansdown chief executive Peter Hargreaves. "Around 90 per cent of IFAs have no right to be paid ongoing commission when the vast majority of long-term contracts are neglected. They think they have a God-given right to it but they ...

  • Complaints to FOS double to 2,000 a week

    26 Feb 2004

    Complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service have soared to 2,000 a week from 1,000 this time last year. The FOS had expected 1,500 new cases last month, leaving it open to claims by the industry that it has grossly underestimated the amount of complaints it will get this year. FOS head of communications David Cresswell admits the industry has been telling the FOS it has been too optimistic about the number of complaints, saying trade bodies, life firms and IFAs all ...

  • Confidence is up but protection sales stall

    26 Feb 2004

    The ABI believes consumer confidence is on the way up, with its final-quarter figures for last year showing "definite and encouraging" signs of improvement. Total new individual regular business increased from £864m in the third quarter to £885m in the fourth quarter. Individual single-premium business rose from £10,912m to £11,658m and group single-premium business was up from £1,248m to £1,303m.Only group regular business was down, falling ...

  • Conmen jailed after IFA's detective work

    26 Feb 2004

    An IFA has stopped a notorious gang of conmen preying on the disabled and elderly after spotting a series of suspect payments leaving his client's bank account. David Rackham, a Havant adviser with Berry Birch& Noble Financial Planning, became suspicious when he saw thousands of pounds disappearing from his client Patrick Pitt's account. Rackham, who has been Mr Pitt's adviser for 10 years, tracked the payments to a bogus address in Guildford and immediately ...

  • Correspondent's week

    26 Feb 2004

    Life, some wit once said, is God's way of laughing at our plans. So, having registered with the Almighty's database that I never wanted to work on a newspaper relaunch again, I have effectively been through three since I joined The Independent less than three years ago. The latest, a compact version of the Save & Spend personal finance supplement, is an all-singing, all-dancing attempt to cajole the casual reader to take an interest in money. So far, it has been a raging ...

  • Coventry makes it better

    26 Feb 2004

    COVENTRY BUILDING SOCIETYAltogether Better Offset MortgageType: Discounted-rate offset mortgageDiscounted term: Until March 31, 2009Discount: 1.44%Payable rate: 4.6%Minimum loan: £1Maximum loan: Up to 95% of valuation subject to a maximum of £500,000Income multiples: Based on loan to valuation and salary bandRedemption fee: NoneArrangement fee: £199Flexible ...

  • CPG up for sale after cash crunch

    26 Feb 2004

    High-net-worth IFA Corporate Planning Group, the firm set up by former Inter-Alliance director David Tuson, has been placed into administration and put up for sale. The Fareham firm, which had 82 RIs at a number of offices across the South, closed to regulated business on Monday because of a cash shortage. The advisers were employed on a sub-contracted basis and remain on the books but all 65 staff have been made redundant. Tuson, who was a director of Inter-Alliance ...

  • Credit Suisse is runaway leader for multi-fund money

    26 Feb 2004

    Credit Suisse's multi-manager funds took in almost 20 times more money than Henderson's and close to four times those of Jupiter in the fourth quarter of 2003, according to a confidential report. The report, which for the first time shows fund groups' gross sales of multi-manager funds, reveals Credit Suisse attracted £117.8m in Q4, blazing ahead of rivals Jupiter and Henderson, with respective sales of £30.3m and £6.8m. Credit Suisse even outsold ...

  • Cruise control

    26 Feb 2004

    As you climb aboard the world's most luxurious liner for that trip of a lifetime, you turn round for one last wave before departing for the sunshine. Suddenly, something catches your eye. There are no lifeboats on this magnificent vessel. Do you stay on board and spend the whole journey praying that the ship will not hit an iceberg or do you disembark? Of course, you would take the latter option so why do so many clients build pension funds that have no lifeboats? Small ...

  • Destini buys up 17th firm

    26 Feb 2004

    Destini has bought its 17th IFA business, Bowerford Financial Management. Its latest deal increases the group's RIs to 94. Stockport-based Bowerford has three RIs and most of its £200,000 turn-over comes from life and pension business. The firm is ideally placed for Destini, which intends to expand its businesses around the Manchester region and is looking to bolster its female RI presence in the North. Destini funds acquisitions through a bank loan ...

  • Digest

    26 Feb 2004

    The Treasury and Inland Revenue could be accused of putting out fire with petrol in part of their latest attempt to address the savings ratio through the plan to make shareholders of the nation's babes in arms - the Child Trust Fund. Any product provider wanting a piece of the CTF action has to accept payments in a number of ways - cash, postal order and cheque all seem sensible, but by credit card? For longterm saving? Let's hope not.

  • Does the big cap fit the year ahead?

    26 Feb 2004

    Some commentators believe this will be the year of the large-cap fund. The argument goes that small and mid-caps have enjoyed a terrific run so large caps - which traditionally show little correlation with the rest of the market - should have a storming year. But few are recommending investors to plough into FTSE 100 trackers despite the 30 per cent rise in the index since last March. Recent research has done little to paint trackers in a favourable light. For ...

  • Downing Corporate Finance - Electra Kingsway VCT

    25 Feb 2004

    Type: Venture capital trustAim: Growth by investing initially in fixed-interest securities then in unquoted, Ofex and Aim-listed companiesMinimum investment: Lump sum £5,000Opening/closing date: February 10, 2004/April 5, 2004Charges:Initial 5.5%, annual 1.5 % in year one, 2% in year two, 2.5% thereafterCommission:Initial 2.5%, renewal 0.25%Tel: 020 7411 4700

  • DWP extends waiver on stakeholder charge calculations

    26 Feb 2004

    The 2001 rule waiver that relieved product providers of the obligation to provide daily calculations of stakeholder charges will be extended for a further year, the Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed. Providers say the fact that they had to ask for the waiver, which was granted after a request from the ABI, shows the risk of bringing in legislation which has not been clearly thought through. The original 2001 stakeholder legislation, brought in by the Department ...

  • Eagle is not only MVA offender

    26 Feb 2004

    Further to Julian Mumford's letter (Money Marketing, February 19), I can inform him and everyone else who may be interested that this problem with market value adjusters does not rest solely with Eagle Star. Having undertaken a review of with-profits bond holdings, we have discovered that this penalty ploy is being applied both by Norwich Union and Standard Life. The former has chosen to inform neither clients nor IFAs and the latter says it has mailed clients but not IFAs. I ...

  • Electra tops up

    26 Feb 2004

    Downing Corporate Finance is raising up to £1,98m to top up the Electra kingsway venture capital trust (VCT).Electra kingsway was established in September 2001 and is managed by Electra Partners. It invests in a portfolio of unquoted and developing companies that are listed on the alternative investment market (AIM).The top-up investment will allow the VCT to broaden its range of investments. The companies will need to have good business plans and show there is demand ...

  • Equity door slams shut on Standard

    26 Feb 2004

    It is almost as if Standard Life's with-profits fund is the worst kind of bandwagon-jumping, buy 'em high and sell 'em low naive investor. The life office bet big on equities and lost as the market fell and continued south. In the last two years many life offices, including Standard, were forced sellers of equities. The FSA then got embroiled in what were obviously bruising negotiations on new reporting requirements questioning Standard's accounting practices, ...

  • ERS offers outsourced equity-release products

    26 Feb 2004

    Equity Release Services, the UK's first equity-release outsourcing company, claims it can offer savings of up to £1.75m for providers looking to enter the market. ERS, which launched last week, says it can reduce the average time it takes providers to enter the market from two years to six months. Its outsourcing system, designed by CGI Group (Europe), is aimed at life insurers with an ageing client bank, financial services companies with lack of experience in ...

  • Ex-Ashley Law advisers in commission claim battle

    26 Feb 2004

    A former Ashley Law adviser has issued a statutory demand to the Essex company for £7,719 of earnings he says is owed a year after he left. Ned Naylor is one of a group of nine former advisers who are planning a group action for the recovery of around £500,000 which they claim is for lost earnings. Ashley Law says it has a counter-claim against Naylor which relates to outstanding fees which it says exceeds the value of his claim. Naylor says he paid £5,000 ...

  • Execution-only poses protection perils

    26 Feb 2004

    Lifesearch managing director Tom Baigrie says the FSA should crack down on execution-only protection sales as many people misbuy when they do not get advice. Baigrie believes regulation of protection from January next year will lead many advisers to withdraw from the sector with the result that the majority of sales will be execution-only. He says the FSA should ensure that people do not buy products without getting advice. In Lifesearch's latest protection report, ...

  • Final Menu rules due second half of year

    26 Feb 2004

    The FSA plans to publish its final rules in the second half of the year, when it will unveil its policy statement giving feedback on the consultation.The consultation finishes on June 1, after which the FSA will review the responses and amend its draft rules accordingly. As the Menu is key part of the depolarisation proposals, the regulator will devise the rules for both at the same time.There will then be a six-month transitional period at the end of which all firms ...

  • Forsyth Partners - Forsyth Asian Opportunities Fund

    2 Mar 2004

    Type: Oeic fund of fundsAim: Growth by investing in funds in the Asia Pacific region excluding JapanMinimum investment: Lump sum $10,000Investment split: 100% in Asia excluding JapanPlace of registration: DublinCharges: Initial 1%, annual 2%Commission: Subject to negotiationTel: 020 8649 9440

  • Fragmented UK market will attract consolidators, says UBS

    26 Feb 2004

    The fragmented nature of the UK advisory market makes it a key target for wealth managers looking to consolidate, says UBS after it buying London IFA Scott Goodman Harris. The Swiss investment banking and securities house says high-net-worth individuals will be attracted to the concept of advice from firms with global reach rather than the disparate firms currently operating in the UK. Last week's purchase of high-net-worth specialist Scott Goodman Harris, together ...

  • Friends sees menu at risk of failure

    1 Mar 2004

    Friends Provident believe the long-awaited Menu is attempting to achieve too much.It believes the Menu is an improvement on the Defined Payment Scheme originally proposed by the FSA but thinks expectations are unreasonably high.Friends Provident director of marketing Graham Harvey says: "Using the Menu as a tool to help address product and provider bias is a sensible approach. However, the Menu has limitations and its ability to get consumers to 'shop around' is ...

  • FSA releases long-awaited Menu

    27 Feb 2004

    The FSA has today released the long-awaited Menu for pricing financial services products.Under the FSA's new proposals, advisers will give all consumers buying retail investment products, such as pensions, life assurance and unit trusts, a guide entitled "A guide to the cost of our services" at the start of any advice-giving situation with a firm.Currently, advisers have to disclose to the consumer the amount they receive as commission for selling a product. But the ...

  • FSA says Menu will reduce overpaying risk

    26 Feb 2004

    Firms will be required to present clients' payment options and illustrative commission amounts for the firm and the market in a standardised format under the FSA's new pricing menu.The FSA says the move should mitigate the risks of consumers paying too much for financial advice, as it expects the Menu - which will show both the adviser's charges and the market average - to exert downward pressure on commission. The regulator believes the Menu will incentivise firms ...

  • FSA's property fears dispelled

    25 Feb 2004

    The FSA has stepped back from possible regulatory action against property investment schemes after its review dispelled fears that retail investors could suffer unexpected losses. The regulator was concerned IFAs and investors did not understand the inherent risks but its review has found most of the riskiest products were sold by specialist IFAs to a handful of wealthy investors.

  • Gartmore backs the Baabaas

    26 Feb 2004

    Gartmore is sponsoring the Barbarians rugby team for an initial two-year period. The deal puts the Gartmore name on the team's jerseys first game under the new sponsorship will be against Leicester Tigers at Leicester March 3 and highlights include Scotland at Murrayfield on May 22 and England at Twickenham on May 30.

  • Gartmore does balancing act

    1 Mar 2004

    GARTMOREGartmore Portfolio: Balanced StrategyType: Oeic fund of funds Aim: Growth by investing in a managed portfolio of investment fundsMinimum investment: Lump sum £1,000, monthly £50 Investment split: 55.6% UK equities, 12.4% bonds, 8.9% Europe ex UK, 9.3% US equities, 6% Asia ex Japan equities, 4.5% Japanese equitie, 1.5% emerging markets, 1.8% cash Isa link: Yes Pap transfers: Yes Charges: ...

  • GE Life research shows what life will be like for over-50s in 2030

    1 Mar 2004

    Pensions specialist GE Life's survey focuses on what life will be like for the over-50s to help IFAs advise their clients on planning for their retirement. The survey looks at lifestyle, financial stability, health and social attitudes. GE Life head of demographic studies Michael Stanley says: "THe number of people over 50 is increasing dramatically as the baby boomer generation reaches middle age. They are set to be healthier and more dynamic socially and commercially than any ...

  • Government may offer discretionary payments to victims of pension wind-ups

    25 Feb 2004

    Work and Pensions Secretary Andrew Smith has been forced to admit that the Government will consider offering discretionary assistance to the 60,000 victims of wind-ups.Speaking at an Opposition half day debate on crisis in pension scheme wind ups Smith said he would not raise 'false hopes' for the thousands of pensioners who have been left with little or no pension fund following the closure of their schemes. But Smith conceded that the Government is looking at offering discretionary ...

  • Growing season for Axa IM

    26 Feb 2004

    Axa Investment Managers' new retail chief Simon Ellis says the group's recent fund launches mark the start of a concerted effort to bring to market products and services to suit IFAs' needs. Ellis, who recently became head of UK retail and multi-manager after leaving Henderson Global Investors, says the corporate bond fund and two multi-manager funds are part of a two-year plan to bolster Axa IM's UK offerings. The plan, which on the multi-manager side includes ...

  • Hay stacks up Sipp details online

    26 Feb 2004

    Abbey for Intermediaries' self-invested personal pensions arm James Hay is relaunching its online Sipp management service. The site has been designed to let intermediaries carry out transactions faster. Advisers and their clients can monitor portfolio valuations, view breakdowns of asset holdings and values and look at personal and contact details and transfer details as well as contribution information. They will also be able to check cash benefits and income levels ...

  • Healthy future?

    26 Feb 2004

    The IBC Health Insurance Annual Conference, entitled What Does the Future Hold?, will take place on March 9 and 10 at the Crowne Plaza in London. It will look at issues such as critical-illness insurance, international health insurance and the future of the sector. Speakers will include Le Beau Visage managing director Peter Le Beau, ABI head of health Richard Walsh and Swiss Re Life and Health technical manager Ron Wheatcroft. Those interested in attending the conference should ...

  • House prices up by 3.1 per cent in February - Nationwide

    1 Mar 2004

    Nationwide's latest survey of the housing market shows that house prices increased by 3.1 per cent in February, up from a 0.7 per cent in January.Annual house price inflation was up to 17.1 per cent in February, up from 14.3 per cent in January, and the average house price was £138,730 up from £134,806.

  • How will service be paid for if trail is discontinued?

    26 Feb 2004

    I have been reading with great interest many attitudes towards renewal commission. I, for one, am for the continuation of renewal commission with one proviso. I believe that renewal commission for every life policy should be increased from 2.5 per cent to 5 per cent of the premiums paid. The exception to this would be trail commission on investments, which is usually 0.5 per cent of the fund value. That should always remain the same. My reason for the increase is as follows. We ...

  • IF hits break even

    27 Feb 2004

    Intelligent Finance says it has achieved its target of breaking even by the end of last year and had assets of £15.5bn at December 31, 2003.The bank says it would be the UK's 12th largest lender if viewed as a standalone business and now has 820,000 customers.IF chief executive Grenville Turner says: "IF set out to break the mould using new technology to help deliver innovative products at highly competitive prices. We have led the way in transforming the mortgage ...

  • IFA Care looks to advisers' retired clients

    26 Feb 2004

    Long-term care training and support specialist IFA Care is extending its brief to become an organisation for advisers focusing on retired clients. Chairman Graham Fidoe said at the firm's annual conference last week that its education programme has been looking at issues such as inheritance tax planning, legal issues, equity release as well as income in retirement and annuities, all of which it will now encompass in its brief. He says it will be the first organisation ...

  • IFA's concern over Menu

    26 Feb 2004

    Michael Philips proprietor Michael Both does not welcome the introduction of the menu. He believes the depolarisation proposal itself is flawed and will cause consumers more confusion over whether they are speaking to a tied, independent or partially tied adviser. He thinks the new recommendations will only add to the confusion.Both says: "If the idea of these menu proposals is to make things clearer for consumers I cannot see how these will make any significant improvement. I ...

  • Iimia - Iimia Investment Trust

    1 Mar 2004

    Type: Investment trustAim: Growth by investing in investment trustsMinimum investment: Lump sum £5,000Investment split: Up to 100% in investment trusts, remainder in cashTypes of shares: OrdinaryIsa link: YesPep transfers: YesCharges: Annual 0.5%, performance fee 15%Commission: NoneTel: 01202 766755

  • Iimia puts the trust in investment trusts

    2 Mar 2004

    Iimia has established an investment trust that adopts a similar investment strategy to its existing Oeic, the Iimia accelerated fund.The Iimia investment trust will have a concentrated portfolio of around 25 investment trusts that invest globally. This is a smaller number of holdings than contained in the existing Oeic.As well as sharing an investment strategy, the new trust and Oeic share the same fund manager. Nick Greenwood, Iimia's head of investment trusts, will ...

  • IMA says Menu will boost advice

    26 Feb 2004

    The IMA has welcomed the FSA's proposals for the menu, saying the move towards transparent costs will enable investors to make informed decisions when seeking advice.Chief executive Richard Saunders says: "Educating consumers about the service they are paying for will encourage people to take advice in order to purchase the most appropriate products for their needs."

  • Implementing new Menu will cost industry £39.75 million

    26 Feb 2004

    The FSA has estimated that the additional one-off cost to firms of implementing and complying with the new Menu rules will be £39.75m.This will include the costs of management time, training costs, the rewriting of compliance manuals, and the system costs of preparing and updating the menu, amongst other things.The ongoing compliance cost to firms will be £22m a year, mainly due to having to explain the menu to clients.

  • Independent view

    26 Feb 2004

    Around 7,000 people of 66 nationalities with seven simultaneous language translations all thrown together near to Disneyland sounds like a UN conference on weapons of mass destruction. In Anaheim, Los Angeles, there will be an event in June that will certainly change people's lives around the world. I am referring to the 77th annual meeting of the Million Dollar Round Table, the premier association for financial professionals. For four energetic days, the world's very best ...

  • Invesco funds make up 12% of Cofunds assets

    26 Feb 2004

    Invesco Perpetual funds account for more than 12 per cent of Cofunds' £2bn of assets under management, with the group's high-income fund responsible for 3.5 per cent. Invesco leads the field with 12.4 per cent of assets, with Jupiter on 9.7 per cent, Artemis 7.9 per cent and New Star 6.8 per cent. Fidelity, which owns Cofunds' rival FundsNetwork, accounts for 4.4 per cent, trailing behind Newton on 5.6 per cent and Credit Suisse on 4.7 per cent but ahead ...

  • Investment analysis

    26 Feb 2004

    World equity markets continued to push ahead last week on the back of further encouraging economic and corporate data before profit-taking set in towards the end of the week. By Friday's close, the FTSE World index had risen by 0.5 per cent. In the UK, blue chip stocks enjoyed a rare week of outperformance, with the main reason for the change in fortune being the news that Standard life had sold £7.5bn of shares over the previous few weeks to meet its solvency requirements. By ...

  • Investment funds sales double

    25 Feb 2004

    New retail sales of investment funds fell in January but were still double those at the same time last year, according to the IMA. Its monthly statistics show that sales slid to £505m last month from £844m in December 2003 although this was still far in excess of January 2003, when sales were just £249m. Net Isa sales also fell, to £184m from £209m, but were again up on last January's figure of £156m.

  • Investment Trust Isa sales down 35 per cent

    1 Mar 2004

    Purchases of investment trust Isas through investment trusts and their managers sunk 35 per cent in 2003 according to the latest statistics from the AITC.Isa sales fell to £61m in 2003 from £93.2m in 2002. The total purchases of Isas through investment trusts and their managers in Q4 2003 decreased 2 per cent to £10.8m from £11m in Q4 2002. The AITC's figures represent data from 205 investment trusts for saving schemes and 185 investment trusts ...

  • Investment view

    26 Feb 2004

    If there is one thing guaranteed to fire enthusiasm among investors, it is the resurgence of takeover activity. You might have thought that deals are more likely to be struck when share prices are flat on their back. The reality is that buoyant market conditions are necessary if corporate activity is to get off the ground. It is a sign that health has returned to the stockmarket, that merger and acquisition activity is well and truly on the up. Takeovers, of themselves, provide ...

  • Irish Perm offers self-cert at 90% LTV

    25 Feb 2004

    Irish Permanent is offering a self-certification mortgage at 90 per cent loan to value for self-employed second time buyers and remortgages. The mortgage is available as a two-year discounted tracker at 4.99 per cent, with 5 per cent redemption penalties in the first two years and the option to overpay up to 20 per cent per annum. It is also available as a tracker at base rate plus 1.25 per cent for the term of the mortgage - current rate 5.25 per cent - with no redemption penalties.

  • Isis moves to asset class avenue

    2 Mar 2004

    ISIS ASSET MANAGEMENTIsis Multi-Manager Distribution FundType: Oeic fund of fundsAim: Income and growth by investing in Oeics, unit trusts, investment trusts and propertyMinimum investment: Lump sum £1,000, monthly £50Investment split: 30% equity funds, 50% fixed interest funds, 20% property fundsIsa link: YesPep transfers:Yes:Charges: Initial 5%, annual 1.25%Commission:Initial ...

  • JLT appointed by Abbey for pensions outsourcing

    25 Feb 2004

    Abbey National Financial and Investment Services is appointing Jardine Lloyd Thompson for the outsourcing of the entire Scottish Provident defined benefit client portfolio. The contract runs for up to five years and is worth up to £2.5m.Another contract has been signed for JLT to administer Scottish Mutual's defined benefit portfolio. JLT head of corporate development Duncan Howorth says: "We are delighted to extend our relationship with Abbey's Scottish based ...

  • Julian Gibbs

    26 Feb 2004

    Investing in wine can be a tricky business. While most wine merchants are honest, some of them take much too big a profit. The answer is to subscribe to Liv-ex.co.uk, which produces a fine wine index based on live prices, which is rather more relevant than the existing historical indices. It also produces a price book which shows the current market price as well as the high and low market prices for the last year for the vast majority of fine wines. For example, the price of 2001 ...

  • Jupiter funds shake-up could see performance-related fees

    26 Feb 2004

    Jupiter is set to shake up the way groups develop funds by polling its key IFA partners about recent regulatory chan-ges in a move likely to prompt the group to introduce performance-related fees. In a radical departure from the way firms traditionally test funds, Jupiter is asking its distribution partners to comment on a range of options it is considering in the wake of the FSA's liberalisation of fund regulation. Paramount among these are its plans for more innovative charging ...

  • Kreis Consulting - Tomahawk Pubs

    2 Mar 2004

    Type: Enterprise investment schemeAim: Growth by investing in pubs within the M25 areaMinimum investment: Lump sum £3,300Closing date: April 5, 2004 for 2003/2004 tax year, June 30, 2004 for 2004/2005 tax yearCharges:Initial 6%Commission: Initial 3%Tel: 0141 564 1529

  • L&G bids to boost long-term Euro fixed-rate loans

    26 Feb 2004

    Legal & General supporting the development of long-term fixed-rate mortgage funding across Europe. Financial economist Andrew Clare says the implementation of such a system in the UK, being considered by Professor David Miles for the Treasury, makes sense but he is more concerned about Europe's mortgage market, which he says needs major attention. He is calling on the European Central Bank to identify ways to make its interest rate changes more effective and more ...

  • L&G cuts bonuses but posts positive results

    26 Feb 2004

    Legal & General has moved in line with many of its rivals to cut bonuses as part of its 2003 bonus declaration.Annual bonuses on life policies have dropped by 0.25 per cent to 0.75 per cent of the sum assured and by half a per cent of the existing bonus to 1.25 per cent. Normal annual and interim bonuses have been maintained for recent policies, with those who experienced the equity market drops of 2000 to 2002 generally seeing the cuts.Final bonuses have also dropped with a ...

  • Law firm to help mortgage brokers deal with increase in complaints

    27 Feb 2004

    Birmingham law firm Financial Services Legal is organising a series of seminars to help mortgage and general insurance brokers prepare for a potential rise in complaints post regulation. FSL Legal consultant Gareth Fatchett says the transfer of responsibility to the FSA of mortgages and general insurance will give greater rights to all consumers to a review and potential compensation.He says: "The new wave of complaints could see many companies close down without it being any ...

  • Let's expose worst companies with an award ceremony

    26 Feb 2004

    I have often remarked to my colleagues on the annual awards for good service that we read about. I believe that the industry should take up an award for the opposite and expose those who are not really giving us the service that we deserve. I believe it is known as name and shame. I believe that Scottish Widows would qualify for the record of the longest-standing continuous erroneous administration. I have been forwarding the same letter to Scottish Widows for 30 years. ...

  • LIA plans code of conduct and ethics

    26 Feb 2004

    The LIA is planning to restructure as a "true professional body" with a code of conduct and ethics and a disciplinary procedure for members which do not adhere to it. This week, the LIA will be balloting its members on the structural changes in a bid to develop the association's role as a professional body among financial and mortgage advisers. It is looking to strengthen its position as an upholder of professional practice in a similar way to Sofa. Contained in the ...

  • LIA's view

    26 Feb 2004

    The Financial Services Skills Council recently called us all in for yet another account of the progress of the examination review. The review kicked off at the end of the 1990s and everyone will have read CP157, the various interim documents and the latest document, CP194, on which the FSA will give its feedback next month. We were told in 1999 that a new exam framework for all those who fall under FSA regulation would provide a modular structure, career mobility and ...

  • Loan firm wants to strike up business referrals

    26 Feb 2004

    Broker Hamptons International Mortgages is looking to find IFAs outside London who are interested in starting a business referral relationship. Hamptons' agreement with London IFA Master Adviser means it passes regulated business to the firm while Master Adviser refers mortgage business to Hamptons. Outside London, Hamptons works with Bath IFA Caven-dish Grant and is interested in finding more firms outside London which are willing to refer mortgage business in return ...

  • Loan network offering interim AR contracts

    26 Feb 2004

    Mortgage network Networkone is offering an interim contract deal to sign up appointed representative firms ahead of mortgage regulation at the end of October. It has issued 70 interim contracts for appointed representative firms and is in negotiations with another 100 companies. The firm plans to offer free membership for ARs who meet sales targets, free PI cover and ongoing compliance support. Members will also get free computer and software packages including pre-installed ...

  • Mark Chilton on mortgages

    26 Feb 2004

    It is a pity Stephen Knight was in Barbados last week and missed GMAC-RFC's new 25-year product appearing in the Telegraph's City Comment column. I think this might be a first. Even when we launched the first fixed-rate deals from First Mortgage in 1987, we failed to attract anything beyond the personal finance pages. Neil Collins was ultimately dismissive of the product, recognising that although the rate is competitive and the product has clear and containable prepayment penalties, ...

  • Menu may reduce product choice FSA concedes

    26 Feb 2004

    IFAs could be dissuaded from giving advice on products which are expensive to sell as a result of the Menu the FSA has conceded.It says that because firms will be required to demonstrate how much they charge as compared to the market average, they may stay away from time consuming or complicated products which would cost more to sell.It also says there may be a knock-on effect, with providers reluctant to bring new or innovative products to market because of the time and ...

  • Menu of costs will let customers compare and value - IFAP

    26 Feb 2004

    IFA Promotion chief executive David Elms believes the FSA consultation paper on implementing up-front 'menu of costs' for financial advice will make not only the price, but also the value of advice clear and comparable across all advice channels. Elms says: "We believe over time this level of transparency will help consumers understand and appreciate the true value of independent financial advice as a service."

  • Menu presents 'signifcant challenge' to multi-ties - Bankhall

    26 Feb 2004

    Bankhall business development director Peter Mann believes the introduction of the Menu will put networks and support services providers in a stronger position, as customers will be able to see more clearly whether their adviser is choosing from a wide range of products or not. Mann says: "The equivalence of disclosure part of the Menu will mean advisers will have to show clients the rate of disclosure before they give them any advice which will include the cost of advice whether paid ...

  • Menu to be branded Key Facts

    26 Feb 2004

    The Menu will carry the Key Facts logo and is entitled 'Key Facts: A Guide to the Cost of Our Services', the FSA has revealed.Advisers will be obliged to hand it out to consumers at the beginning of the process alongside the Initial Disclosure Document explaining what time of advice they are permitted to give.It will have five main sections - telling the client the firm is regulated by the FSA, outlining what services it can provide, they payment options available ...

  • Menu will not acheive goal if 'over-engineered' - ABI

    27 Feb 2004

    ABI head of pensions and savings Chris Kenny says the reforms should allow the savings industry to operate within a more competitive and transparent market. But will make it easier for the consumer to shop around not only for the best product, but for a deal where they know and understand how much financial advice will cost them.He says: "We fully support the principles of disclosure. We are pleased to see that there will be further consultation on the details of the 'menu' ...

  • Menu will not compare fees to the market

    26 Feb 2004

    IFAs will not have to demonstrate how the fees they charge compare to the market average as they will have for commissions according to the Menu proposals published today.The FSA says that because firms charge fees in a variety of ways it would not be a meaningful comparison to compare their rates to the market average.Commissions are more directly related to the type of investment, its term and the amount invested, whereas fees can be worked out from any number of bases ...

  • MEP backs adviser against FOS

    26 Feb 2004

    Conservative MEP Giles Chichester has moved to highlight the plight of a constituent IFA whose business faces closure because of a Financial Ombudsman Services compensation award. He was contacted by the IFA who says he is unable to afford a judicial review. Chichester thinks that the FOS should never have been set up outside the remit of EU legislation and believes it is unfair that IFAs are left in a position where they have little or no recourse to Europe. The FOS ...

  • MEPS back second set of amendments to ISD

    25 Feb 2004

    MEPs are backing a package of compromise amendments in the second reading of the new Investment Services Directive. After the Council of Ministers opted for highly controversial amendments to the directive. MEP Conservative spokesperson in the European Parliament Theresa Villiers says: "The compromise provides the pre-trade transparency requirement that the continental markets want, without imposing such onerous and high risk obligations on investment firms that it would damage competition ...

  • Money Marketing's parent company to be floated

    1 Mar 2004

    Centaur Communications, the parent company of Money Marketing, has been sold and is to be floated on the Alternative Investment Market on March 10.A newly created company, Centaur Holdings, is to buy the privately owned publishing house, which has been valued at approximately £145m. The acquisition has been funded by around 40 City institutions including pension funds and life companies.The initial placing at 100p per share has been fully underwritten by stockbrokers ...

  • More marketing bumf for IFAs but it's better quality

    26 Feb 2004

    IFAs are being bombarded with more marketing material than ever but the quality of the information they get is improving, says research firm Market Watch. The firm says IFAs get an average of 2,094 items of marketing material a year comprising a total of around 20,000 pages. But Market Watch believes providers are respon-ding well to criticism from IFAs and are offering more information on topics of more interest to IFAs. The research shows there are fewer pages ...

  • Mortgage 2000 Design & Processing - Bristol & West Tracker H9D

    25 Feb 2004

    Type: Tracker mortgageTracker term: Until January 31, 2006Tracker rate: 0.1% above Bank of England base ratePayable rate: 4.1%Minimum loan: £15,000Maximum loan: Up to 95% of valuation subject to a maximum of £150,000Income multiples: Up to four times principal income plus second or 2.75 times jointConditions: £500 cashbackArrangement fee: £499Redemption ...

  • MPs back keeping call centres in UK

    25 Feb 2004

    Labour MP Michael Connarty has filed an Early Day Motion supported by 43 MPs backing providers like Alliance & Leicester, Royal Bank of Scotland, Nationwide, the Co-operative Bank and Halifax who have decided to keep their call centres in the UK. Connarty wants to see more providers make a commitment to keeping their customer services operations on shore.

  • Network looks for tech-friendly advisers

    26 Feb 2004

    Former In Partnership dir-ector Shin Yamada has lined up 20 IFAs to join his new network project called Keystone Advisers Partnership. Yamada says he wants to get around 50 RIs on board and is offering a flat fee service which he says will beat most other networks for IFAs with annual turnovers of more than £80,000. Yamada left In Partnership, the network he founded with barrister Julian Coles in 2000, last year after leading an unsuccessful takeover consortium ...

  • Noble branches into property

    26 Feb 2004

    Noble Fund Managers is starting a property investment arm that will offer a range of products to high-net-worth investors. Leading the team will be Steve Taylor and David Cunnington, who have moved to Noble from Close Brothers where they managed the syndicated and commercial property portfolios. The group will offer funds to retail and institutional investors but says it is trying to move towards targeting the man in the street and will be offering products with a minimum ...

  • NU group life plan for unapproved top-ups

    26 Feb 2004

    Norwich Union is offering a group life insurance scheme for unapproved top-up benefits to complement its existing exempt approved group life scheme. The firm says it is offering the product even though pension simplification proposals may remove many of the tax advantages for funded unapproved retirement benefits schemes and limit the need for unapproved schemes after April 2005. The scheme will offer top-up benefits where the employer has an existing exempt app-roved ...

  • NU's guarantee is not unfair

    26 Feb 2004

    Regarding the letter headlined, Norwich Union's with-profits guarantee is unfair to other investors (Money Marketing, February 19), it is not true to say that "any guarantee taken by an investor would be to the detriment of those investors remaining in the with-profits fund". The cost of the guarantee will be met out of the free assets of the fund and will therefore not affect any other investor in the fund. Using a tiny proportion of the free assets to provide a guarantee ...

  • Nvesta targets pensions

    27 Feb 2004

    Nvesta's secure pension tracker plan is a capital-protected bond that is aimed at the occupational pensions and self-invested personal pensions markets.The plan has a six-year term and is linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 index during that period. Pension trustees with a minimum of £20,000 to invest will get their original capital returned in full regardless of the performance of the index and will also get 110 per cent of any growth in the index during the term.To ...

  • Out of context

    26 Feb 2004

    •"You can trust us." - Barclays PR Emma Rees to Money Marketing news editor. •"I can't remember anyone's first name due to my booze-fuelled anti-Valentine's Day weekend." - Independent consultant Kim North. •"Breasts aren't purely decorative." - Hargreaves Lansdown's Tom McPhail has a moment of enlightenment following the birth of his son. •"It's all foreign to me." - Aifa director of policy Fay Goddard confuses Canadian ...

  • Pension Bill lacks depth due to Brown limit probe

    26 Feb 2004

    The Pensions Bill is lacking in detail because all references to the parallel Inland Revenue pensions simplification review have been removed since the Chancellor put the project on hold, Money Marketing has been told. Chancellor Gordon Brown's decision to ask the National Audit Office to assess the effect of the proposed £1.4m lifetime limit for individual pension funds means that the Department for Work and Pensions has been unable to include references to the Revenue's ...

  • Pink Home Loans - Royal Bank of Scotland Buy to Let: 1.5% Discount

    26 Feb 2004

    Type: Discounted-rate buy-to-let mortgageDiscounted term: Until April 1, 2006Discount: 1.5%Payable rate: 4.34%Minimum loan: £50,000Maximum loan: Up to 80% of valuation subject to a maximum of £500,000Income multiples: Annual rental income must be at least 10% of the mortgage amountArrangement fee: £295Redemption fee: NoneIntroducer's fee: Loans up to £75,000 ...

  • Polar bear market for The banks

    26 Feb 2004

    Depolarisation will see IFAs winning over banks, which will struggle to increase their market share in pensions and savings products. This is the news from analysts Datamonitor which believes that although banks are expecting to gain from depolarisation, product complexity and the banks' inherent inability to understand consumers' insurance needs will limit their infiltration of the market. Datamonitor financial analyst Miikka Metsanvirta says after depolarisation ...

  • Premier releases latest tranche of structured offering

    1 Mar 2004

    Premier Fund Managers this week released the latest tranche of its Premier limited editions structured product, a six-year growth plan based on the FTSE-100.The manager says the structured product is offering investors the potential of growth whether the market rises or falls and there will be 100 per cent redemption of capital whatever the market does.Investors will receive 75 per cent of any growth if the final value of the plan rises over the term. If the final value ...

  • Principal interest

    26 Feb 2004

    Anna is concerned about the capital gains tax position on her house when she sells it. She is currently living abroad, having left the UK to be with her husband. They married soon after leaving the UK. She has been letting her house since they went abroad. She intends to sell it in due course but is getting a good rental income and would rather sell it at her leisure when she returns to the UK. Anna has been told that she will not benefit from capital gains tax exemption ...

  • Property bubble to burst and expose misselling of self-cert

    26 Feb 2004

    House prices will fall by 30 per cent within two years, resulting in widespread allegations of misselling throughout the mortgage market, says investment bank Durlacher. The report's author, analyst David Pannell, believes that the predicted downturn in the housing market will result in mortgage lending falling by more than half and will bring a flood of allegations of misselling. Self-cert mortgages are tipped as highest risk as brokers will be unable to prove they ...

  • Pru profits down by 27 per cent

    25 Feb 2004

    The Prudential has announced a 27 per cent drop in group wide operating profit for 2003 to £794m from £1.1bn in 2002 at the same time as some UK with-profits policyholders see a drop in their regular bonuses. While annual bonus rates on the Prudence bond and with-profits endowments are unchanged, there has been a cut in personal pensions bonuses to 3.25 per cent from 3.5 per cent. The UK life fund free asset ratio rose to 10.5 per cent at the end of 2003 from 8.4 per cent ...

  • Public to become financial experts

    26 Feb 2004

    Consumers will quickly turn into astute financial services "connoisseurs" by 2008, forecasts a report from Mori Market Dynamics. Managing director Jon Francis says more education from sources such as media coverage, the internet, Government and product providers will substantially increase consumer knowledge in the next four years. Francis believes this will change the landscape of the financial services marketplace. He predicts protection and non-life savings will see ...

  • Realistic view

    26 Feb 2004

    The issue of realistic reporting has raised its head only in the last few weeks as far as most IFAs are concerned. The first reaction for many must have been: "So are you telling me that the financial strength figures I have been using are not realistic?" What changes are proposed and what will they mean for life companies, advisers and their clients? The FSA's forthcoming Integrated Prudential Sourcebook introduces new rules for reserving with the aim of creating greater consistency ...

  • Record results for Coventry Building Society

    25 Feb 2004

    Coventry Building Society's results for 2003 show a 32 per cent increase in gross lending compared to 2002, at almost £2.5bn. Net lending for 2003 was £863m, up 27 per cent on 2002, while total assets increased to almost £9bn.Chief executive Martin Ritchley says: "Our results for 2003 represent another success story for Coventry Building Society. For the eighth successive year, we have improved our cost ratio, maintaining our position as the most cost efficient ...

  • Regulation issue

    26 Feb 2004

    When new FSA regulation hits mortgage and general insurance providers later this year, the associated impact on brokers will be significant. Since the 19th century, banks, building societies and general insurance companies have been subject to regulation. But new conduct of business regulation from the FSA, due to come into effect this year, will shake up both industries - and will have an impact on brokers. Mortgage lenders should find regulation more familiar, and thus ...

  • Regulation to make it easier for employers to offer pensions advice

    27 Feb 2004

    The Treasury's two-year review of the Financial Services and Markets Act recommends changes to regulation that will provider greater certainty about the regulatory position of financial advice provided by advice centres, make it easier for employers to provide advice and information to employees on pensions and recie the regulation of occupational pension fund trustees when selecting certain asset classes.

  • Rising healthcare costs worry employers

    26 Feb 2004

    Employers are becoming increasingly concerned about the rising cost of private healthcare and looking for other areas where savings can be made, according to Mellon Financial's human resources and investor solutions group. The results of the firm's online survey carried out in January show that 70 per cent of the 300 employers which completed the survey were worried about increasing healthcare costs. Employers highlighted areas such as sickness and management leave ...

  • Rogue rage

    26 Feb 2004

    Mortgage brokers are angry over their reputation being tarnished by the BBC's Money Programme where secret filming caught brokers encouraging borrowers to exaggerate their income to get bigger loans. Some IFAs point out that the headline-grabbing revelations may be right but they are not the whole truth and it is wrong simply to spotlight the rogues without reassuring viewers that the majority of IFAs are trustworthy. "There are cowboys in every industry," says Elliot ...

  • Route of the problem

    26 Feb 2004

    Forthcoming mortgage regulation will no doubt result in a more cohesive and well respected industry but advisers will need to make careful business decisions to account for increasing costs. Regulation will provide peace of mind for many of thousands of homebuyers but it presents a challenge to all mortgage brokers, who are faced with the choice of being directly authorised by the FSA or being an appointed representative of a principal. Scandals such as pension misselling ...

  • Royal London issues message of reassurance

    1 Mar 2004

    Royal London chief executive Mike Yardley has written to IFAs to say on the basis of work already carried out he has no reason to believe any of the problems identified in respect of Standard Life will impact on Royal London.Subsidiary Scottish Life is also produced a detailed background guide to financial strength, itemising the individual factors on which mutuals and plcs are judged. Yardley says: "I am pleased to assure you that Royal London has had routine discussions ...

  • Ruffer aims to pick the Pacific opportunities

    26 Feb 2004

    Ruffer Investment Management is launching a Pacific fund to invest in the Asia Pacific region on an absolute-return basis. Ruffer says it is upbeat on the prospects for the Asia Pacific region because of significant improvement in the region's economies, financial systems and corporate sectors over the past few years, as well as the favourable demographics, skilled and competitive workforces and innovative technology sectors. The fund is starting with an initial total ...

  • Ruffer expands to Pacific

    25 Feb 2004

    Ruffer Investment Management has brought out a fifth fund, the CF Ruffer Pacific fund. This Oeic aims to deliver consistently positive returns by investing in companies in the Asia Pacific region, which includes countries such as Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.The fund contains around 28 holdings and is benchmarked against the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. It is managed by Andrew Ballingal who has 20 years' experience gained with BZW, Sloane Robinson, Schroders and TAL. ...

  • SEI brings in US chief as it bids to expand

    26 Feb 2004

    Multi-manager SEI Investments has drafted its US communications director Chris Hylen to the UK in a bid to boost outsource partnerships with selected IFA companies. As head of wealth solutions, Hylen, who worked for SEI's US adviser network, will identify potential adviser partners in addition to his role as a builder of business solutions for new and existing IFAs. Hylen was instrumental in developing a broader US outsource offering and will work with the UK's ...

  • Selestia hits out at FSA menu proposals

    1 Mar 2004

    Fund supermarket Selestia has criticised the FSA's menu and depolarisation proposals, saying they will serve only to confuse consumers.Selestia says the proposals do not offer any compelling evidence to support the FSA's claim that its alterations and menu will provide clarification. It also pours scorn on the lack of detail about how market averages on commission comparisons will be devised. Managing director Brett Williams says: "It is hard to see what benefit if ...

  • Self-certified endowment misselling

    26 Feb 2004

    I recently had a visit from a lady who used to work as a sales representative for Sun Life of Canada. In 1984, she sold herself an endowment policy to support her new 20-year interest-only morgtage of £15,000. Her endowment policy will mature next month with a maturity value of £16,000. As this policy maturity will only provide her with a cash surplus of £1,000, she came to see me wondering if she could possibly make a complaint for being missold ...

  • Shape of things to come

    26 Feb 2004

    Do you support the FSA's decision to abolish the least-worst rule for mortgage regulation, meaning that lenders and intermediaries will no longer be able to recommend a product that does not exactly match a customer's needs? Mountney: Yes, because this works in conjunction with the mortgage code on responsible lending. This applies just as much to the adviser as it does to the lender. In other words, while the interpretation of what product is right for the client's requirements ...

  • Skipton Building Society - Buy-to-Let Mortgage

    26 Feb 2004

    Type: Stepped discounted-rate buy-to-let mortgageDiscounted term: Three yearsDiscount:1.34% in year one, 0.75% in year two, 0.25% in year threePayable rate: 4.75%Minimum loan:£25,000Maximum loan: Up to 80% of valuation subject to a maximum of £450,000, up to 75% of valuation subject to a maximum of £1mIncome multiples: Rental income must be at least 150% of mortgage repaymentsFlexible features: ...

  • Small-cap funds lead way for performance

    26 Feb 2004

    Smaller company funds got off to a flying start in January, according to figures from Lipper. The best-performing fund category was UK smaller companies, which gained 6.37 per cent, with Japanese smaller companies on 3.96 per cent while European smaller companies gained 2.69 per cent. Technology and telecommunications was the third-best perfoming sector, with a 3.9 per cent gain after a fall of 0.98 per cent in December last year The best-performing fund overall was CF ...

  • Smee joining Practiv board as non-exec

    26 Feb 2004

    Aifa director general Paul Smee is joining IT consultancy Practiv's board as a non-executive director. Practiv specialises in product delivery and distribution and advises insurance companies on business solutions for IFAs, distributors and consumers. Its biggest clients inc-lude Friends Provident, general insurer Lumley and product provider Universal Direct. Smee will act in an adv-isory role to the board but says this is the only non-executive position he ...

  • Software firms link up to offer planning tool

    26 Feb 2004

    Software company Distribution Technology has signed a deal with Quay Software to supply up to 3,000 intermediaries with its latest financial planning tool. Distribution's financial planning tool Dynamic Planner, developed with Bloomsbury Financial Planning director Campbell Edgar, will be offered to Quay's clients from the start of March. The tool incorporates financial planning and investment advice and also helps advisers with asset allocation, stochastic forecasting ...

  • Special treatment

    26 Feb 2004

    The diversity and sophistication of the annuity market offers considerable opportunity for advisers who can provide a multifaceted level of research and admin. In practice, however, few firms have the time and resources to specialise in a market which is growing rapidly in complexity and range. The time has come to take stock and, where necessary, outsource. The implications of providing a poor annuity service are manifest. First, the FSA is hot on the heels of advisers who deliberately ...

  • Standard calls for drawdown deal

    26 Feb 2004

    Standard Life is calling for an amendment to the Pensions Bill to allow pension companies which do not offer income drawdown to pay tax-free cash and then hand the balance over to drawdown providers. The call reflects concern over the thousands of executive pension planholders with tax-free cash over 25 per cent whose contracts do not offer drawdown. Standard senior technical manager John Lawson says these people will have to transfer before A-Day if they later want to ...

  • Standard enhanced fund range branded as Sigma

    26 Feb 2004

    Standard Life is branding its new enhanced range of investment options for pensions and mutual funds as Sigma, with the strapline: "Investment choices that add up to more." The Sigma range includes funds within a pension wrapper such as the Jupiter distribution fund at 1.5 per cent, Fidelity special situations at 2 per cent and Invesco Perpetual high income at 1.72 per cent. Standard Life managing director (marketing) Simon Douglas says: "Sigma combines increased investment ...

  • Standard mistrust

    26 Feb 2004

    It is all very well for Standard Life to crow about their IFA salesforce being their jewel in the crown and how they have "invested heavily in it and our long-term relationship with IFAs" but what about what they have done to us on all the personal pensions of theirs that we sold back in the 1990s? As far as I am concerned, this is treachery of the worst kind. No changes should have been made to policies already on our books without our permission having been sought first. What ...

  • Standard slashes equity ratio

    26 Feb 2004

    Europe's biggest mutual insurer Standard Life has dumped £7.5 bn worth of equities since the start of the year as it moves to meet the requirements of the FSA's new solvency rules. In its 2003 full-year results released last week, Standard says it has now reduced its equity-backing ratio to around 50 per cent, slashed from 74 per cent in June last year, in a "strategic realignment" of the with-profits fund investment portfolio from equities into bonds. The ...

  • Standard slides from the top to bottom of tables

    26 Feb 2004

    Standard Life's with-profits pension products have plunged from the top to the bottom of pension analyst O&M Solutions' comparative tables following changes to projection assumptions. O&M has told its 2,000 IFA users to expect a downward move in the position of Standard in with-profits projection comparisons because of the cost of guarantees and loss of mutuality benefits. The fall comes as Standard admits a 2.25 per cent fall in projection rates on unitised ...

  • Suits you, settlor

    26 Feb 2004

    This week, I will continue my deliberations on the proposals for the reform of the taxation of trusts. During Technical Connection's many years in business, we have made trusts something of a speciality. If we were to open a retail store, the name Trusts-R-Us springs to mind, subject to ensuring that we were not exposed to any legal action for "passing off". But, seriously, we at Technical Connection believe that we have some authority for concluding that too many people in ...

  • Survey says savings gap is exaggerated

    26 Feb 2004

    Warnings of a savings and pension crisis may be greatly exaggerated, according to new research from the International Longevity Centre-UK. ILC-UK says the savings gap of £27bn is less than the amount passed on each year in inheritance. The research questions Government figures for unsecured debt, saying they may be too high as they include significant amounts of credit card debt which is paid off in full each month. The research, compiled by The Future ...

  • Switch deal wins support

    26 Feb 2004

    Standard Life is looking to offer with-profits policyholders the chance to switch between funds with high guarantees and charges to funds with lower guarantees and charges in a move welcomed by IFAs. Managing director of marketing Simon Douglas says the company is considering allowing policyholders to move into funds with higher equity exposure and lower guarantees but it is not yet in a position to make an offer. However, he says policyholders are not necessarily going ...

  • Talkback

    26 Feb 2004

    "When banks win business from the industry, it is through lethargy. If depolarisation breeds more lethargy, maybe they will." Malcolm Fletcher, Fletchers "I am not as positive as Paul Smee. Just because we have won the last few battles against bancassurance does not mean we will win this one. We will have to fight hard." Geoff Gardner, Geoff Gardner Executive Financial Management "Yes, the quality of advice provided by IFAs will always see us gain the market share." Aidan Burke, Michael ...

  • Teather & Greenwood - Childcare Corporation 7

    1 Mar 2004

    Type: Enterprise investment schemeAim: Growth by investing in children's day nurseries across the UKMinimum investment: Lump sum £5,000Closing date: April 5, 2004 for 2003/2004 tax year, May 28, 2004 for 2003/2004 tax yearCharges: Initial 6.5%,Commission: Initial 2.5%Tel: 020 7426 3204

  • Teathers in lucky seventh EIS offering

    1 Mar 2004

    Teather & Greenwood has introduced Childcare Corporation 7, an enterprise investment scheme that aims to raise money for the building and operation of three or four more purpose-built children's nurseries around the UK.This EIS takes up the objectives of the previous six Childcare Corporation schemes by providing private day-care facilities for children aged between three months and five years. Each nursery is expected to have places for 100 children.The directors of ...

  • The Co-operative Bank pulls out of self-cert

    27 Feb 2004

    The Co-operative Bank has made the decision to pull out of the self-certification market. The bank says the decision has not been taken lightly, but will allow it to review business received so far and monitor its performance against other product offerings. It says the results of the review will determine whether or not it will re-enter the market for self-cert in the future.

  • Thomson's set for name change in Euro push

    26 Feb 2004

    IFA Thomson's Group may adopt the name of its German parent AWD Holding as part of its bid to become the UK's leading European IFA. The group is believed to be considering the name change which would not necessarily see the Thomson's name disappear entirely but would give a better indication of its attachment to the German financial services group. 300-RI group Thomson's was bought by AWD in 2001, which has 4,846 advisers in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and ...

  • Those were the daze

    26 Feb 2004

    It was a slow Valentine's Day for the Diary. There was the odd rose sent in by admiring readers but unfortunately the Diary was desperate and dateless. So desperate, that reading back issues of Money Marketing was as exciting as it got. And back in the very first issue of MM in September of 1985 the Diary came across a letter from a bright young technical manager from Equitable Life called MC Daniel. After wishing us luck on our inaugural issue, he commented that most of the ...

  • Tied agents must disclose commission equivalence

    26 Feb 2004

    Banks and tied agents will have to disclose commission equivalence according to the FSA's menu proposals released today.The FSA has identified two types of tied agents and is determined to make the tied sector disclose commission equivalence. Product providers' representatives will have to disclose commission equivalence. This category contains most of the bancassurance sector.However a firm owned (to at least 50 per cent) by a product provider, or a firm with the ...

  • Time is right for caution

    26 Feb 2004

    "Great men wait for the right moment to abandon caution. The rest of us abandon it when impatience becomes too much for us." - Cooley Mason, 1985. With growth on the FTSE 100 of over 17 per cent in 2003, it would be easy to throw caution to the wind and jump straight back on the equities rollercoaster. However, it is key that everyone should, as part of a balanced approach to investing, hold cautious lower-risk investments as a core part of their portfolio. The ...

  • Tread cautiously

    26 Feb 2004

    In my next few articles, I want to look at some ways in which IFAs can learn from the various regulatory reviews and legal judgments affecting financial services. Although some of the examples I will be discussing have resulted in penalties or reprimands to the advisers involved, an understanding of the issues can greatly assist other IFAs in giving appropriate advice to their clients. The Financial Ombudsman Service deals with complaints against authorised firms on almost the ...

  • Treasury issues results of two-year FSMA review

    27 Feb 2004

    The Treasury has published its two- year review of the Financial Services and Markets Act and proposed changes to secondary legislation. The report is divided into three between an assessment of the FSMA on competition in financial services, secondly the possible changes to the Financial Ombudsman Service and thirdly changes to the boundaries of regulation.

  • Treasury to amend financial promotion rules

    27 Feb 2004

    The regulation of financial promotions is set to be brought under one set of rules as part of the Treasury review of the FSA.The consultation paper has outlined concerns that the way in which promotions are regulated depends more on what regime the products fell under in the past rather than the amount of risk to consumers.The move comes in the wake of problems over the marketing of split capital investment trusts and structured products.The document says: "It would ...

  • Value of advice must be spelt out alongside cost - Aifa

    26 Feb 2004

    Aifa director general Paul Smee believes today's publication of the Menu will enable the value of advice to be spelt out alongside its cost.He says: "Although this is probably over engineered, with too many products, we broadly have the core now, and we can now use this to demonstrate the value of advice."He also feels that the principal of equivalence is strongly put by the FSA in the document, and so it will apply across all channels.He says: "There is no impression ...

  • Webb slams Government over failure to provide accurate pension wind-up figures

    25 Feb 2004

    Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesman Steve Webb has slammed the Government for failing to produce accurate figures to assess the scale of the problem of pension scheme wind-ups.Speaking at the Opposition half day debate on pensions Webb used estimates from independent consultant Ros Altmann and the Pensions Action Group that indicate there are around 60,000 victims of pension wind-ups and that compensating them would cost around £100m a year until the Pension Protection ...

  • Win a top PC package plus a digital camera

    26 Feb 2004

    Brush up on your technology with a chance of winning a top of the range PC package and digital camera To mark the launch of Winterthur Life's new online Portfolio Balancer, Money Marketing is joining forces with the pension and investments provider to offer one lucky IFA the chance of winning a top of the range Compaq PC package. But we want you to have some fun so we have also thrown in a Sony digital camera complete with software for downloading your favourite photos including ...

  • Win a trip to Monte Carlo

    26 Feb 2004

    In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary was the first person to officially climb Mount Everest and reach the summit. Almost 50 years later, in February 2003, Sterling also broke new ground by launching the pioneering Protected Profits Funds, the first open-ended funds to combine performance and protection in this way. One year on and the Protected Profits Funds have reached new heights. The fact that the funds have grown to over £330m in the first 12 months shows just how attractive ...

  • Woolwich Plan Managers - Capital Plus Plan

    27 Feb 2004

    Type: Guaranteed equity bondAim: Growth linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 indexMinimum-maximum investment:£3,000-£500.000. Isa £7,000Term: Six yearsReturn: 25% growth on initial investment or 50% growth in the FTSE 100 index Guarantee: Original capital returned in full regardless of performance of indexClosing date: April 16, 2004, April 2, 2004 for Isa/Pep transfersCommission: ...

  • X-ray marks the Star spot

    26 Feb 2004

    It's the Pru, Jim, but not as we know it. Diary hears that a model of the Starship Enterprise caused Prudential's IT division to run for cover a few weeks ago when it sparked off an over-sensitive X-ray machine. The Diary knows that unsolicited marketing material can get a bit annoying but calling in the bomb squad to sort out the problem could be described as a step too far. Still, the story has a happy ending - after the police deemed the toy to be safe Pru Tech, ...

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