Money Marketing
25 June 2003

  • 'Failed flotation could lead to mega-merger'

    26 Jun 2003

    A leading market analyst says Inter-Alliance could face a "left-field" bid from Misys if the mega-network fails in its flotation plan. Speaking at the PIMS conference last week, stockbroker Durlacher analyst David Pannell predicted that 1,000-RI network Inter-Alliance will eventually be taken over and suggested that Misys, with 6,373 RIs, might make a bid for it. Durlacher produced the Independent Financial Anxiety Report in February, which analysed ...

  • 'FSA failed PI tests on communicating'

    26 Jun 2003

    IFAs have slammed the FSA for lack of communication in its handling of the PI crisis. Delegates at the PIMS conference acknowledged that provisions and allowances have helped IFAs but complained that the FSA has failed to inform the industry. FSA director of investment firms division David Kenmir said getting 380 staff to march to the same drum was a difficult task but he is committed to it. Many IFAs said they still do not know they can apply for a ...

  • 'Lenders face losses on sub-4% five-year fixed rates'

    26 Jun 2003

    Lenders offering five-year fixed-rate mortgages at under 4 per cent will lose money over the term of the mortgage, according to HML. Halifax has just cut its five-year fixed rate to 3.99 per cent while Bristol & West has a five-year fix at 3.95 per cent and Lambeth Building Society recently launched a five-year fix at 3.89 per cent. But the products have been questioned by some who believe that fixing at such a low rate for five years, with the cost involved ...

  • 'London is still the leading indicator of housing market'

    26 Jun 2003

    London is still in the driving seat for the UK housing market looking ahead over the next six months, according to The Mortgage Lender's property pulse index. Sixty-eight per cent of the 2,000 consumers surveyed believe the London housing market is a prime indicator of how the property market will develop across the UK. The survey says this is despite talk that the market in the North is more buoyant and an increase in prices there is most likely. TML ...

  • 'Raising cap would hit less well-off'

    25 Jun 2003

    Raising the stakeholder price cap to 2 per cent or allowing up front charges would mean consumers would have to increase their monthly contributions by between 20 and 30 per cent each month to deliver the same level of pension says the Consumers' Association. In a report out this week the CA says raising the price cap on stakeholder pensions will disproportionately affect those on low incomes. 

  • 'Single Euro regulator has been vetoed'

    26 Jun 2003

    Attempts to establish a single European financial services regulator have already been vetoed by a number of EU member states according to a leading industry figure. European Federation of Financial Intermediaries and Advisers secretary general Vincent Derudder said although the European directive on insurance mediation is a step in the right direction, real progress towards harmonisation will not be made until a single regulatory authority is established. The ...

  • 'Wrap providers must not ignore IFAs' needs'

    26 Jun 2003

    Wrap accounts could fail to live up to their potential unless providers fundamentally alter the way they are developing them, warns Financial Technology Research Centre director Ian McKenna. Writing in this week's Money Marketing, McKenna argues that providers are concentrating too hard on developing services which will help them process new business applications while ignoring the areas of most importance to IFAs. He suggests that many providers want ...

  • A hint of realism on pension policy

    26 Jun 2003

    Compulsion is off the agenda unless a formidable argument can be made for its imposition according to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Andrew Smith chooses a time when Labour is very sensitive about tax to liken compulsion to a tax, despite the fact that a commission is working on the subject. It would seem that compulsion is not on the cards for quite some time, unless the LibDems win the next election. Smith is looking at ways - 401(k)-style ...

  • Abbey increases savings rates

    30 Jun 2003

    Abbey National is increasing the interest rates on two of its savings accounts. Savers with the branch saver account who have more than £500 saved and make three or four withdrawals in a year will now get 2.25 per cent gross p.a. Interest rates on the postal account have also increased by between 0.10 per cent and 0.35 per cent.

  • AITC split-cap fund offering £10k awards to investors

    26 Jun 2003

    The AITC's foundation fund, created to provide financial support to victims of collapsed split-capital investment trusts, opens this week, promising up to £10,000 to the hardest-hit investors. Payouts will be available to investors who have suffered severe financial hardship as a direct result of losses and who have £16,000 or less in savings or investments, excluding property. Claims will be assessed by a panel of three, headed by Consumers' ...

  • AMP nutcracker as NPI is shut to new business

    26 Jun 2003

    AMP's specialist UK pension provider NPI is closing to new business with the loss of 900 jobs and leaving 14,000 clients facing a choice of an exit charge of up to 33 per cent or staying with the closed book. The move follows the AMP group's plans in May that it plans to demerge its Australian and UK businesses. It means that all of AMP's UK-based life companies are now closed although they will continue to accept contractual increments from existing ...

  • Arc brings EISs together in new fund

    1 Jul 2003

    Arc Fund Management has established the Arc EIS growth fund 1, a fund that invests in a portfolio of between four and seven enterprise investment schemes. Catalyst Investment Management will act as corporate adviser to the fund, a role which involves looking for suitable investment opportunities. Its focus will be on small companies, mainly start ups and those at an early stage of development, because the growth potential is greater than those that are listed on the Alternative ...

  • B&B backs architects' promotion

    26 Jun 2003

    The MarketPlace at Bradford & Bingley is sponsoring the Royal Institute of British Architects' annual Architect in the House Week, which takes place until June 29. The event aims to raise money for charity Shelter while showing homeowners the benefits of employing an architect for structural work on their property. Homeowners will be able to consult an architect in their own home for up to an hour, in return for which they are asked to make a minimum ...

  • BCWA pitches low-cost PMI

    26 Jun 2003

    BCWA Healthcare has established a budget private medical insurance (PMI) plan for individuals and groups of at least three members. Accessible private health cover has two scales of cover that relate to the type of hospital chosen for treatment. The capital scale covers the most expensive hospitals while the national scale covers the less expensive. Premiums depend on factors such as whether the policy is for an individual or a group of people, age, the hospital scales chosen ...

  • Behaviour is way for risk profile

    26 Jun 2003

    The future of risk profiling lies in automated behavioural tools. The Silent Partner director Tom Williams said traditional tests need to be challenged by measures of client behaviour to draw out underlying attitudes to risk. Williams said paper-based fact-finding was time-consuming, inaccurate and inconsistent. Behavioural analysis has been used heavily in the US but has not been widely used in the UK. He said: "Investors are cautiously greedy. With stochastic ...

  • Best of both worlds

    26 Jun 2003

    Pension advisers and, indeed, anyone advising private businesses on tax planning, should be aware not only of how the system of capital allowances works but also how capital allowances - especially first-year allowances - can interact with pensions. At the most obvious and not particularly technical level, expenditure on capital equipment competes with potential expenditure on pensions. What you get for your money when you buy capital equipment is, of course, ...

  • Bond backs the euro

    26 Jun 2003

    Merrill Lynch Investment Managers is launching an internat-ional bond fund investing in a variety of euro-dominated investment-grade corporate bonds. Merrill Lynch says euro-denominated corporate bonds offer higher yields than government bonds and provide an alternative to dollar bonds, which have dominated the market but have weaker credit ratings on average. The Luxemburg-domiciled Sicav can invest up to 30 per cent in bonds denominated in other ...

  • Buy equities says Isis income manager

    1 Jul 2003

    One of the UK's most vocal advocates of avoiding equity investments has come out in favour of the stockmarket, saying now is the time to buy equities.Isis Asset Management director of credit James Foster has decided to reverse his long-held position that he would not include equities in the funds he runs. He said recently: "I never thought I'd be saying this, but now's the time to be buying equities."

  • Carnaby Pictures - The Drop

    26 Jun 2003

    Wednesday, 25 June 2003 Aim: Growth by investing in a new film called The DropMinimum investment: Lump sum £2,000Opening/closing dates: April 7, 2003/until further noticeCharges: ImplicitCommission: Initial 3% Tel: 020 8758 8537

  • Chase de Vere sends refund letter after talks with FSA

    26 Jun 2003

    Chase de Vere is offering refunds to investors in its guaranteed bond after the FSA suggested that the warnings in the marketing literature failed to spell out the dangers clearly enough. Despite arguing that it has done nothing wrong, the IFA has written to investors in the 7+7 double guarantee bond offering them a refund plus interest following talks between Chase, the FSA and the Woolwich, which helped put the bond together. Chase, which offered the ...

  • Clerical cuts commission

    26 Jun 2003

    PIMS 2003 made a big impression, with TV's Rory Bremner giving the opening address on board the Oriana last Thursday. The annual four-day event attracted around 100 exhibitors. Delegates were offered a wide range of business seminars plus one-to-one personal development sessions, including life coaching and stress management. •PIMS report, p8 Clerical Medical is cutting commission on investment bonds and individual regular-premium pensions as ...

  • CML warns on costs of seller packs

    26 Jun 2003

    The Council of Mortgage Lenders is warning that the introduction of home information packs will do more harm than good if the Government does not address a number of industry concerns. It says the cost of preparing the packs and the fact that it will take 10 to 15 days to prepare them could deter speculative sellers from entering the market. It is keen to know what measures the Government will put in place to monitor the number of properties coming on ...

  • David Sachon

    26 Jun 2003

    N ot every businessman ranks fun as an important element of business. Then again, not every businessman lists breeding pedigree sheep and surfing as extra-curricular activities. But the description is a perfect fit for Threadneedle managing director David Sachon, who has just seen the company that he launched on to the UK retail scene in 1997 sold by Zurich Financial Services to Amex for £340m. Sachon, 53, says being owned by a global institution ...

  • Derbyshire stretches out end of term

    27 Jun 2003

    The Derbyshire Building Society has established a guaranteed equity bond that is linked to the FTSE 100 index for eithe 0r five or seven years. The bond guarantees the return of investors' original capital regardless of the performance of the index, but the level of growth depends on the length of the term investors choose. A five-year term provides 70 per cent of any growth in the index, while a seven-year term provides an 80 per cent return. Looking at the seven-year ...

  • Effective complaint strategies

    26 Jun 2003

    PYV Compliance Solutions is running an effective complaints handling workshop in Coventry on July 16, Manchester on July 23 and London on July 27. The workshops are geared towards IFA firms of all sizes which want to improve their complaint handling and reduce the likelihood of having to pay out to those without valid claims. They will include information on how to identify genuine complainants and distinguish them from whingers, structuring responses to ...

  • Equitable disputes ombudsman ruling

    25 Jun 2003

  • Failures in customer care

    26 Jun 2003

    Some of you will remember those films that were used in sales training so long ago that the fashions are now back in vogue. One that sticks in my mind was imaginatively called Who Killed the Sale? The story was designed to underline that, without an understanding of exactly who your client is, your proposition can be aimed at entirely the wrong target. Those of you who read this column on a regular basis will know of my distrust for all things with-profits. ...

  • Falconer rejects pension

    26 Jun 2003

    Lord Falconer has chosen to forgo the lucrative pension arrangement enjoyed by his predecessors as he takes on the role of Lord Chancellor, the position he has been appointed to abolish. The 1,400-year-old office of Lord Chancellor had been one of three "great offices of state" that receive a pension of half of final salary for life, regardless of the length of service. Lord Falconer's decision to forgo the perk means that only Prime Minister Tony Blair ...

  • Field is thwarted in bid to protect DB members

    26 Jun 2003

    Renegade Labour MP and former welfare reform minister Frank Field's pension bill was blocked by the Government on Friday. The private member's bill proposed a swift change to the priority order on wind-up of underfunded final-salary pension schemes that would give greater protection to those who were approaching retirement but had not yet retired. The pensions (winding-up) bill, which will come before the House of Commons again on July 11, also calls ...

  • Fixes take half of the market

    26 Jun 2003

    Fixed-rate mortgages are at their most popular since the end of 1998. Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that 50 per cent of mortgages in May were fixed rates compared with 40 per cent in April this year and 27 per cent in May 2002. The CML attributes this rise to a fall in fixed rates. Average fixed rates fell to 4.21 per cent in May from 4.52 per cent in April and down from 5.25 per cent in May last year. Variable interest rates only fell ...

  • FSA advises lower projections for WP

    26 Jun 2003

    The FSA says it is not changing projection rates for investment products despite widespread speculation that it would downgrade them this summer. But it will continue to review rates and is writing to life offices to advise those which have shifted the bulk of with-profits funds into bonds to use lower projections to reflect potential returns more accurately. The decision to keep projection rates at 5, 7 and 9 per cent for pensions and Isas and 4, ...

  • Future hit by third departure

    26 Jun 2003

    Future Mortgages general manager in charge of sales Clive Willson has left the company - the third departure at Future in three months. Former chief executive Mark Abbot quit in March, with industry sources citing frustration at having to report to Citigroup's American headquarters. Sales & marketing director Brian Pitt left in April after six years with the company. The atmosphere at Future is thought to be gloomy, with some predicting an imminent ...

  • GE Life marshals support for Special Olympics

    26 Jun 2003

    GE Life employees came out in force to support the final leg of the Special Olympics World Summer Games torch run, which came to London on route to the games in Dublin. The London leg was run over a 2.5km route which passed landmarks such as the London Eye,Tate Modern and the Globe Theatre. GE mustered 300 participants, including chief executive Scott Dolfi, who took part as marshals and runners alongside minister for sport Richard Caborn and Olympic gold ...

  • Gerrard appoints new MD to financial advice arm

    30 Jun 2003

    Private wealth manager Gerrard has appointed Jamie Simmonds as managing director of Gerrard Financial Services.

  • Govett Investment Management - UK Equity Bear Fund

    27 Jun 2003

    Friday, 27 June 2003 Type: Unit trustAim: To provide performance broadly opposite to that of the FTSE 100 indexMinimum investment: Lump sum £3,000Investment split: 100% in FTSE 100 index derivatives and cashIsa link: NoPep transfers: NoCharges: Initial 3.5%, annual 1.5%Commission: Initial 3%Tel: 0800 0151646

  • Henderson calms concerns over NPI

    26 Jun 2003

    Henderson Global Investors has moved to reassure investors about their future following this week's decision by Australian giant AMP to close NPI to new business. Henderson has managed NPI's assets since its acquisition by AMP in 1999. It has sent a note to leading IFAs and panel members to calm fears that the move could hit the mandates and investment processes of NPI funds. The note, sent by head of UK retail Simon Ellis, reveals Henderson is planning ...

  • High costs come as part of the package

    26 Jun 2003

    "Atom is very aware of impending regulation and embraces it whole-heartedly. Some pure packagers - those that have no direct dealings with the public - have indicated they should not be regulated. But I feel it is impossible to regulate only part of the market and leave administration-only packagers out of the loop. When consultation paper 98 was published, there were more than 80,000 people operating in the mortgage market, yet only 25 or so made responses. ...

  • Home guard

    26 Jun 2003

    In over 30 years working in the life industry I have never seenanything as unusual as a battle which was started by BritannicRetirement Solutions last September.First, we have a Labour Government resisting calls for moreregulation. Second, the industry is demanding more regulation and issupported by an unholy alliance between consumer and trade bodies insupport of more regulation.What is it I am referring to? It is the issue of regulation of

  • IFA stays ahead of game

    26 Jun 2003

    "With a team of 32 brokers, it is vital that we keep them constantly informed about regulation. Reeves has a dedicated compliance team which does this via team meetings, memos and email bulletins and is able to interpret regulation to a level that is appropriate for a business of our size. Since July 2000, we have been directly regulated for those areas of our business where we needed to be. Prior to this, we were members of a network. We have therefore ...

  • IFAs angry as BGI fund closure threatens Isas

    26 Jun 2003

    IFAs have slammed BGI for threatening to remove the Isa wrappers from remove investors in its moribund multinational fund if they fail to make an investment decision within a three-week deadline. In a letter sent last week, BGI told shareholders it is closing the fund on July 10 because it has shrunk to an inefficient size, around £7m. Investors can cash in their shares or switch to another BGI fund, incurring a small dilution levy. But it has infuriated ...

  • Independent view

    26 Jun 2003

    Deciding to sell your business can be something that you plan strategically or something that evolves. For us, it was the latter. There are big changes afoot in our industry. Every IFA has had to re-examine their business model and judge what the future holds. Having doubled the size and profits of our firm every three years until two years ago, to hit a plateau was quite frustrating. This was caused in part by market uncertainty but principally because of the ...

  • Independent views

    26 Jun 2003

    What do you think of CP186's decision to apply the same whole-of-market conditions that apply to investment businesses to mortgage businesses, meaning that a firm can call itself independent even if it has a relatively small panel of len-ders, providing this panel is "representative" of the whole of the market? Jenks: We supported the definition of independence in relation to whole of market in CP146 and therefore are pleased that this is the FSA's ...

  • Inside edge: MIKE WEBB

    26 Jun 2003

    It strikes me that, over recent months, there has been an inordinate amount of time wasted diagnosing a surfeit of funds in the industry. Have people nothing better to do? Just as everyone complains about the weather and no one ever does anything about it, just what, pray, is their proposed solution? You don't need to possess the sharpest intellect to realise that it is the market that decides how many funds make for a viable industry and it is for ...

  • Insight runs IFA seminars

    26 Jun 2003

    Insight Investment is hosting a series of IFA seminars across the UK until the end of July. The seminars are designed to introduce the fund company to IFAs and highlight the work it believes it has done to help rebuild investor confidence in the market. Insight will explain why it launched at a time of market volatility and will reveal its outlook for markets in the rest of 2003 and beyond. It will also explain the tools and services it offers to IFAs. Business ...

  • Investment view

    26 Jun 2003

    Despite growing investor confidence - according to recent surveys, at any rate - and an increasing number of fund managers saying the bear market has ended, the FTSE 100 index is struggling to make progress. It appears to be waiting confirmation that there really has been a change for the better. Top of the wish list is undoubtedly a more robust economic recovery but a lessening of the structural problems created by pension funds and insurance companies ...

  • Is the industry ready for M-Day?

    26 Jun 2003

    Everyone who works in the mortgage industry is well aware that regulation is on the way. Unfortunately, not everyone has the same level of knowledge of what the proposed regulations will mean for them and their businesses. A recent survey commissioned by the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries highlighted some of the issues. For example, 60 per cent of brokers surveyed were unaware that capital adequacy standards will be introduced and 65 per cent knew ...

  • Julian Gibbs

    26 Jun 2003

    JO Hambro Capital Management, headed by James Hambro and Nichola Pease, is one of the most exciting boutique investment management companies in the industry. It has just launched a couple of Dublin-based Ucits, one of which is run by Rod Marsden, the manager of its continental European unit trust. Marsden has an extraordinary record. He is the top performer over one, two and three years in the Europe including UK sector and has managed to achieve being ...

  • Keydata Investment Services - FTSE Growthbuilder Plan

    26 Jun 2003

    Thursday, 26 June 2003 Type: Capital protected bondAim: Growth linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 indexMinimum-maximum investment: £3,000-£1m, Isa £3,000-£7,000Term: Six years Guarantee: Maximum growth option - original capital returned in full providing index does not fall by more than 50% and returns to at least its starting level, cautious growth option - original capital returned in full regardless of performance ...

  • Legal & General - Distribution (Growth) Fund

    30 Jun 2003

    Monday, 30 June 2003 Type: Unit-linked fundAim: Growth by investing in Legal & General's investment bondMinimum investment: Lump sum £5,000Investment split: Equities 55%, investment-grade bonds 22%, property 13%, high yield bonds 8%, cash 2%Charges: Initial under age 75 - 0.5% a year for first five years, age 75 and over - £5,000-£24,999 2.5%, £25,000-£49,999 2%, £50,000-£99,999 1.5%, £100,000 ...

  • Legal & General - Distribution (Rising Income) Fund

    1 Jul 2003

    Monday, 30 June 2003 Type: Unit-linked fundAim: Income and growth by investing in Legal & General's investment bondMinimum investment: Lump sum £5,000Investment split: Equities 55%, investment-grade bonds 25%, property 13%, high yield bonds 5%, cash 2%Charges: Initial under age 75 - 0.5% a year for first five years, age 75 and over - £5,000-£24,999 2.5%, £25,000-£49,999 2%, £50,000-£99,999 1.5%, ...

  • Lighthouse shows the way on consolidation

    26 Jun 2003

    After drawn-out negotiations with at least two other bidders, the acquisition of RJ Temple's advisers by Aim-listed Lighthouse for the rock-bottom price of £1m took many in the industry by surprise. But, with Tenet Group tipped to buy Burns Anderson, the Bristol-based network with 550 RIs, the RJT deal looks set to kick off a new season of consolidation in the industry. Last summer, RJT set up a share scheme for its employees in preparation for ...

  • Liverpool Victoria - Capital Protected Growth Plan

    27 Jun 2003

    Friday, 27 June 2003 Type: Capital protected bondAim: Growth linked to performance of FTSE 100 indexMinimum-maximum investment: £2,500-£1mTerm: Five years six monthsGuarantee: Original capital returned in full regardless of performance of indexReturn: 80% growth at end of termClosing date: August 8, 2003 Commission: Initial 3%Tel: 0845 6020690

  • Liverpool Victoria takes place in the crowd

    25 Jun 2003

    Liverpool Victoria has added to the crowd of guaranteed equity bonds with its FTSE 100 linked capital protected growth plan. The bond has a term of five years six months and provides investors with 80 per cent of the average growth in the index plus the return of their original capital. To calculate the returns, the closing level of the FTSE 100 index is taken on August 29 and compared with an average taken during the last 12 months of the term. Investors get 80 per cent of any ...

  • Lowest ever fixed rates from Nationwide

    1 Jul 2003

    Nationwide Building Society has launched its lowest ever fixed rate mortgages, with a two year fixed rate available from 3.59%, a three year fixed rate available from 3.89% and a five year fixed rate available from 4.09%.

  • Magian Mutual announces non-exec board

    30 Jun 2003

  • Mortgage in a minute from Nationwide

    26 Jun 2003

    Nationwide has promised its online customers that it can make a decision on a mortgage in just 60 seconds. Once customers have had their application approved, they can choose how they want to complete the process, either in the branch, over the phone or by post. Money Marketing discovered that the process more than lives up to its claims, twice taking only 24 seconds to come back with a decision when tested by reporters. Nationwide is keen to stress ...

  • Multi-tie misselling warning

    26 Jun 2003

    IFA firms are being warned that the move to multi-ties could leave them open to claims of misselling. Defaqto group commercial director Mark Hayes-Newington told Pims delegates that multi-ties could end up being seen as "self-serving and profiteering" if care was not taken in learning from the mistakes made by IFA firms already using panels. He described multi-ties as "a formal regulatory recognition of the benefits of panels". He warned against "prejudice" ...

  • NatWest's towering brand

    26 Jun 2003

    With 20 years' experience in the mortgage market and 1,400 business managers, NatWest's mortgage arm is hoping that the power of its name will bring positive associations to its new focus on the IFA market. At present, the bank gets only 30 per cent of its mortgage business from IFAs, the rest coming through estate agents. It hopes that with its new initiative to target the profitable IFA market in place, this figure will increase to at least 50 per cent. Director ...

  • NDF offers protection pick and mix

    25 Jun 2003

    NDF ADMINISTRATION HOME PROTECT Type: Cafeteria-style protection policy covering critical illness cover, term assurance, mortgage payment protection insurance CRITICAL ILLNESS Minimum premium/cover: £2/no minimum Maximum cover: No maximum Illnesses covered: Angioplasty, aorta graft surgery, aplastic anaemia, bacterial meningitis, benign brain tumour, blindness, cancer, coma coronary artery bypass surgery, deafness, degenerative ...

  • Network confirms Tenet talks

    26 Jun 2003

    IFA network Burns Anderson has confirmed it is in talks with rival network Tenet Group, as revealed exclusively in Money Marketing last week. In a statement to staff this week, BA says recent press coverage means it has been forced to release a statement about the takeover talks earlier than it would have done otherwise. The IFA has rejected industry speculation that the reason it is looking for a buyer is its weak financial position or that the £500,000 ...

  • Northern Rock - Fifty:Fifty Issue 22

    25 Jun 2003

    Wednesday, 25 June 2003 Type: Guaranteed equity bond and high interest accountGUARANTEED EQUITY BONDAim: Growth linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 indexMinimum investment: Lump sum £2,500 Term: Five years Guarantee: Capital returned in full at end of term regardless of performance in indexReturn: Up to 70% growth at end of termClosing date: July 15, 2003 HIGH INTEREST ACCOUNT Minimum-maximum investment: ...

  • NU holds bonus rates and reduces MVR

    25 Jun 2003

  • Only 37 per cent opt for fixed rates - L&G

    30 Jun 2003

    Only 37 per cent of homeowners have a fixed or capped rate mortgage, with 49 per cent paying a variable rate and a further 9 per cent having their mortgages adjusted on an annual basis where there has been a rate change, according to Legal & General's latest Moving Intentions survey.

  • Opus guarantees commission

    25 Jun 2003

  • Out of context

    26 Jun 2003

    •"Are you Alistair Campbell? I hate you." - Mugging victim to Government spin supremo Alistair Campbell after he offered to act as a witness. •"You should have punched him." - Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to Campbell (as reported by Campbell)on how he should have dealt with the situation. •"I will lash myself with a whip." - Lansons PR John Atkins apologises for confusing the accents of MM hacks from the Aussie Outback ...

  • Paragon confirms purchase of Britannic Money

    30 Jun 2003

    Paragon has acquired Britannic Money for £18.7 million from Britannic Group.

  • Phoenix rises after lead firm collapses

    26 Jun 2003

    Mortgage lead company Steel City Telecom has gone into liquidation, owing money to mortgage brokers and other businesses. The company provided mortgage brokers and advisers with new busin-ess leads. The Steel City Group is now operating a company with a very similar remit, Steel City Data, which promises brokers "well qualified appointments with customers who want to talk to you". SCD has been part of the Steel City Group for about a year but previously only ...

  • PI cover is to protect IFAs, not the public, admits FSA

    26 Jun 2003

    The FSA has admitted for the first time that the primary purpose of professional indemnity insurance is to protect IFA firms and not to protect the consumer. The admission was made this week in a policy statement that attempts to clarify the FSA's position on the PI crisis. But the document then qualifies this stance, saying PI indirectly supports the FSA's consumer protection objective. "We accept that PII primarily provides protection for firms ...

  • Product matters

    26 Jun 2003

    Absence from work cost British industry £11.6bn last year - £476 per employee - estimates the CBI. With unemployment at a 30-year low, employers must provide a competitive benefits package to attract and retain key staff. State benefits offer no meaningful support. Income protection is an obvious solution but the dilemma is between what is desirable and what is affordable. Until now, most plans have only provided flexibility in relation to ...

  • Public back mutuals but don't understand issues

    26 Jun 2003

    Consumers are broadly in favour of mutuals but are confused by the demutualisation issue, says financial consultancy NMG. Fifty per cent of the 772 active UK investors surveyed by NMG in April and May said they thought building societies give members more benefits than they would if they became a plc. For insurers, this figure rose to 52 per cent. Only 13 per cent could see no benefit for companies retaining their mutuality. But 55 per cent could not offer ...

  • Revenue shuts IHT trust loophole

    26 Jun 2003

    The Inland Revenue has closed a loophole that allowed married couples to avoid inheritance tax by putting assets in trust. The inheritance tax trust allowed married parents to make a gift to their children through a trust for the benefit of a spouse. But from last Friday, Paymaster General Dawn Primarolo has ordered that any such trusts will now be liable to inheritance tax. The change blocks the loophole generally understood to exist following the Court ...

  • Saviour for a rainy day

    26 Jun 2003

    Debate on savings policy always seems to gravitate in one way or another back to the "savings gap" or the "pension crisis". Should they be our sole focus of attention? The Government, especially one of the centre left, needs to realise that an often neglected part of the savings debate is the "rainy-day savings gap" or "precautionary savings crisis". For many families and individuals, their first worry is not their pension. It is what happens when they ...

  • ScotEq Protect set to switch reinsurer

    25 Jun 2003

    Scottish Equitable Protect is in talks to switch reinsurers from its current backer RGA to Swiss Re. The move, which is expected to be formalised in the next few weeks, could see a number of changes to ScotEq's protection range including speculation it could establish an upper limit of £500,000 on critical illness cover

  • Small brokers lacking support

    26 Jun 2003

    "We do not have the luxury of relying on a compliance officer or any other person to gather information about regulation. Information comes through the trade publications, lenders and network seminars. I have had a brief look through consultation paper 174 on the FSA website but have not had the time to go into huge amounts of detail. What has been interesting to note is the things that have been left out - buy to let, equity release, minimum loan values and ...

  • Societies set for shake-up after Portman and Staffordshire merger

    26 Jun 2003

    The Portman and Staffordshire building societies are joining forces in the biggest merger between societies for eight years. The merger will give the Portman assets of over £13bn and make it the fourth-biggest society in the UK, just behind Yorkshire Building Society. Industry experts are predicting that the move will set off a flurry of consolidation in the building society sector. The combined society will be known as Portman Building Society but ...

  • Standard hits back at Axa's contract-out claim

    26 Jun 2003

    Axa's claim that nobody should contract out of the state second pension has provoked a row, with Standard Life branding it a heavy-handed attempt to move the Government. Standard, which says there a number of soft issues surrounding the opt-out debate, believes Axa is being naive if it thinks it can change Government policy. HSBC wrote to its 47,000 pension clients last March, telling them it will contract them back in unless they tell it not to. It ...

  • Standard Life joins Raising Standards

    1 Jul 2003

  • Standard moving into equity release

    26 Jun 2003

    Standard Life Bank is the next big name to move into the equity-release market, with plans to launch a product later this year. It is following in the footsteps of Prudential, which announced last week that it will be white-labelling a Northern Rock product. SLB says it is working on an equity-release product for the end of the year, with some reports putting the date as early as October. The bank is taking steps to ensure its sales process will fully explain ...

  • Standard strengthens board ahead of possible demutualisation battle

    26 Jun 2003

    Standard Life has made two new appointments to its board as it prepares to fight a potential demutualisation bid. Norman Blackwell, a former special adviser to Margaret Thatcher's policy unit and head of John Major's policy unit, is to join the board along with Gerry Grimstone, a special adviser to KPMG Corporate Finance. Both have been appointed non-executive directors. Lord Blackwell is currently chairman of the Centre for Policy Studies, a member ...

  • Swiss Life bids to boost IP sector

    26 Jun 2003

    Swiss Life is developing the group income protection market with its Matrix product. It says the product presents an affordable way to extend IP beyond the traditional white-collar package to previously uninsurable occupations. Employers can choose between six options - standard, limited payment term, reducing benefit, total and permanent disability, switch definition and severe definition. Within each option, there is further choice in the definitions ...

  • Swiss Life creates matrix

    30 Jun 2003

    Swiss Life has established the matrix income protection product, a menu-style group income protection plan that enables employers to tailor benefits to all levels of employees through six options. Option one provides standard protection with a choice of deferred periods between 13 and 104 weeks. It is available on an own-occupation, suited occupation or activities of daily working definition of incapacity, although the own-occupation definition is unavailable to manual workers. Option ...

  • Swiss Life offers matrix to employers

    30 Jun 2003

    Swiss Life has established the matrix income protection product, a menu-style group income protection plan that enables employers to tailor benefits to all levels of employees through six options. Option one provides standard protection with a choice of deferred periods between 13 and 104 weeks. It is available on an own-occupation, suited occupation or activities of daily working definition of incapacity, although the own-occupation definition is unavailable to manual workers. Option ...

  • Take action to reduce risk

    26 Jun 2003

    In among the debate about the current PI issues facing IFAs, it seems to me that something is being missed. While IFAs are naturally concerned about the massive increase in PI premiums, I am concerned that the implications of much higher excesses are not being given full attention. Let me explain. A firm with six RIs, turning over £500,000 a year, may have seen its excess rise over the last few years from £2,500 per claim to perhaps £15,000 ...

  • Talkback

    26 Jun 2003

    "Yes. It is appropriate for the regulator to keep an eye on IFAs." John Sidwell, Lupton Fawcett "Yes, I have no problem with that. They can come and have a look at my books."Bryan Lynn, Bryan Lynn Financial Services "No. If you are trading effectively, then what is the problem? IFA firms are no different from any other type of company." Grahame Sharp, Grahame Sharp Financial Services "I don't see a problem with that at all." Lori Daniels, ...

  • Tenet to offer PI cover

    26 Jun 2003

    IFA group Tenet is to launch a captive professional indemnity insurance scheme to cover its 2,250 members. Leeds-based Tenet will initially offer PI to existing members of its M&E and Inter- dependence networks as well as its own IFA Capital Plan-ning and its directly regulated members. The firm has completed risk profiles of its members and is now profiling other firms which want to join the group. It will maintain its insurance facility with Lloyd's ...

  • The rebate debate

    26 Jun 2003

    I am a member of my employer's group personal pension scheme but I am struggling to get an answer from the scheme adviser about whether or not I should opt out of the state pension scheme. The scheme insurer has written to all the members saying they should not opt out but I do not understand why. Contracting out - or opting out as you call it - is an investment decision. It involves giving up your entitlement to a state second pension for this ...

  • The time machine

    26 Jun 2003

    We frequently receive questions relating to issues that have to be defended against the Financial Ombudsman Service. There are often themes that can be developed from the types of cases that are being referred to the FOS that are useful to draw upon to highlight warnings. One of these themes is that of the time limits that apply to clients making complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The first FOS originally said that it cannot normally consider ...

  • There's a hole in the whole rules

    26 Jun 2003

    Lack of clarity from the FSA has many industry pundits fearing that mortgage regulation could blur the lines between independent and tied intermediaries. As the August deadline for responses to mortgage regulation document CP186 approaches, some of the top mortgage commentators are urging the industry to make its views known to the FSA. The major area of concern is the lack of definition over what the FSA means by whole of market service for mortgage intermediaries ...

  • Top 100 IFAs survey reveals a cottage industry

    26 Jun 2003

    I thought the way you did your Top 100 IFAs 2003 had merit (Money Marketing, June 12). It gave an indication of how many people are out there in the field flogging financial products. It also showed how little is understood of the industry and how fragmented it is. Even at the top 100 level, a significant proportion is nothing more than cottage industry. I am sure it threw up a few misnomers, most notably, ourselves. If that was our true position, we would ...

  • Trust considers action against Aberdeen

    25 Jun 2003

  • US pension incentives planned for firms but compulsion is ruled out

    26 Jun 2003

    The Government has indicated for the first time that it is considering implement-ing a US 401(k)-style pension model, which would directly link employers' ability to receive pension tax relief to employee take-up of occupational schemes. In an exclusive interview with Money Marketing, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Andrew Smith says the new pension regime could include incentives to reward good employers but rules out a net increase in tax ...

  • VERITY's view

    26 Jun 2003

    Axa may be a big, unwieldy French corporation but last week it took an unusually daring step. Nailing its colours to the mast, it made it clear to the Government and anyone else who wants to listen that contracting out simply is not working. As IFAs know, this is a hideously complex area which shows more clearly than any other issue exactly why financial advice is needed. At one time, a conscientious IFA could spend hours working out whether clients should ...

  • Walter chestnut

    26 Jun 2003

    The first (and presumably last) in an occasional series, Everything You Always Wanted To Know About The Ombudsman And Were Too Afraid To Ask, sees us reveal (sort of) that chief ombudsman Walter Merricks is a former comedy partner of John Sergeant, political editor of ITN, from the days when they were in revue at Oxford in the 1960s. To quote Sergeant's autobiography, Give Me Ten Seconds: "With an upper-class drawl and an accomplished double-take, he could ...

  • When you wish upon a star rating...

    26 Jun 2003

    Standard & Poor's relaxed its classification rules two months ago to allow investment houses to choose which funds they put forward for rating. It had been under increasing pressure to reform its business model, under which asset managers were effectively compelled to have all their funds rated. But now S&P is facing more overt criticism over its fund stars, which seek to give investors a "graphical representation" of a fund's risk-return ...

  • Wrap speed ahead

    26 Jun 2003

    There seems to be a widely held view in the marketplace that wrap products will be the next big thing in personal finance. However, looking at the increasing number of wrap offerings that are emerging, I am beginning to believe there is a real risk that, unless there is a fundamental change of approach from providers, these new products may not live up to their potential. More and more providers are announcing such services. It has got to the stage where ...

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