Money Marketing
26 August 2009

17-Month high for mortgage approvals

27 Aug 2009

Mortgage approvals from the high-street banks rose again in July as figures hit a 17-month high. The British Bankers' Association says approvals stood at 38,181, up by 7.4 per cent from June and 77 per cent higher than a year ago.
2Plan posts £1.9m loss

27 Aug 2009

2Plan has posted losses of nearly £1.9m for 2008.
A new chapter is opening with e-books

27 Aug 2009
A third of over 55s putting off retirement, says MGM Advantage

26 Aug 2009

More than a third of people over 55 are putting off their retirement plans as a result of the recession, research from MGM Advantage reveals.
ABI sets up deposit and treasury fund sector

26 Aug 2009

The Association of British Insurers has created a new money market investment fund sector named the deposit and treasury sector.
ACA calls for career average regime for MPs

1 Sep 2009

ACA last month told the senior salaries review board's (SSRB) review of Parliamentary pensions that any significant revision of MPs pensions should await a wider review of public sector pensions that it says seems likely following the general election next year.
Advisers don't have confidence for Q4

27 Aug 2009

Less than half of mortgage advisers think business will improve in the last quarter of 2009. A survey by Legal & General found the majority of mortgage advisers feel less confident about the last three months of 2009 than they in previous quarters.
Alliance Trust poaches Swip fixed income quartet

27 Aug 2009

Alliance Trust has poached four senior member of the Swip fixed income team including global head of fixed income Rod Davidson.
Annuity showdown

1 Sep 2009

The way annuitants are being shortchanged is a scandal on a par with the collapse of final salary pensions says Dr Ros Altmann. John Greenwood finds out why Government and pensions professionals should beware
Another report but still no end to Equitable strife

27 Aug 2009

In January this year, former Appeal Court judge Sir John Chadwick accepted the Government's request to act as independent adviser in relation to the Equitable Life ex-gratia payment scheme.
Apollo appoints Crosby Asset Management CEO

1 Sep 2009

Apollo Multi-Asset Management has announced the appointment of Simon Fry as non executive chairman.
Aviva increases GIP limits

1 Sep 2009

Aviva is increasing its group income protection maximum income benefit limit and employer pension fund contributions (PFC), which it says means it now offers the most generous maximum benefit formula in the market.
Aviva offers rehab service to PMI customers

26 Aug 2009

Aviva UK Health has opened up its rehabilitation service Back-Up to individual and small group private health insurance customers.
Best Doctors is flexible

1 Sep 2009

Best Doctors, the medical information and second opinion specialist, is now available for offer as a flexible benefit to employers.
Big buy-to-let frauds still to be revealed

27 Aug 2009

Buy-to-let and self-cert mortgage fraud could be much more extensive than initial provision made by some lenders.
BlackRock fund manager says Europe will outperform US in recovery

26 Aug 2009

BlackRock global equity fund manager Andrew Williamson-Jones believes that Europe is more effective in recovery than the United States.
Britons ignoring pension investment

1 Sep 2009

Nearly a third of Britain's 8.8 million active occupational pension scheme members pay no attention to how their retirement savings are invested and 29 per cent - more than 2.5 million scheme members - have never reviewed how their chosen pension fund is performing.
Brown ignored warnings on toxic bank loans

26 Aug 2009

A leading US hedge fund chief has accused Prime Minister Gordon Brown of ignoring warnings that toxic bank loans could lead to a global financial collapse, according to reports in the Evening Standard.
Brown pledges bank bonus clampdown

1 Sep 2009

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has vowed to clamp down on excessive bank bonuses.
Building a business worth buying?

1 Sep 2009

Corporate advisers’ reaction to what Resolution does with Friends and any subsequent purchases is central to the project’s success says John Greenwood
Building society gross lending peaks

1 Sep 2009

Gross lending by building societies in July reached its highest monthly figure this year.
Burgesses to set up provider

27 Aug 2009

Simon and Sara Burgess are set to leave British Insurance to set up their own protection provider, Money Marketing has learnt.
CanLife offers protected gold fund from Julius Baer

28 Aug 2009

Canada Life International has teamed up with Julius Baer to provide its investors with a capital protected fund that is linked to the Julius Baer physical gold exchange traded fund.
Change is coming

1 Sep 2009

There's life in the group risk market but not as we knew it says Carlos Correia, senior consultant at Lane Clark & Peacock
CII warns offshore business suppliers may suffer in recession

28 Aug 2009

The Chartered Insurance Institute is warning that offshore business suppliers look set to suffer as companies cut investment and political pressure mounts to protect domestic jobs.
City police reveal huge upturn in mortgage fraud

1 Sep 2009

The City of London police force has revealed a massive upturn in cases of mortgage fraud being investigated.
Client Rapport buys Moores Warren

27 Aug 2009

IFA firm Client Rapport has acquired London-based adviser and accountancy business Moores Warren.
CML warns Europe against mortgage regulation

1 Sep 2009

The Council of Mortgage Lenders has warned the European Commission to concentrate on macro-economic policies rather than retail mortgage regulation.
Collection points

27 Aug 2009

I am convinced that the new duties that employers will have from 2012 following on from last year's Pensions Act will come as a shock to UK businesses when they finally understand the enormity of what is going on in pensions these days.
Commission challenge

1 Sep 2009
Confidence is starting to flow

27 Aug 2009

Last month, I mentioned the findings of the IMA's third Great British Investor Report - based on a survey of over 4,000 retail investors in May - which suggested that investor confidence may be on the up but it should be noted that this was against a background of the majority of investors thinking that the FTSE 100 would not recover to the 6,000 level for over two years, so, more of a case of cautious optimism.
Consumer demand for whole of market mortgage advice remains high

26 Aug 2009

Over a quarter of people say that they would not choose a new mortgage without advice, research by Unbiased.co.uk has revealed.
Coventry suspends new lending in equity release

27 Aug 2009

Coventry has suspended its equity release proposition after it removed all its equity release range from the market today.
Crosby withdraws from Apollo partnership

28 Aug 2009

Crosby Asset Management has terminated its joint venture with Apollo Multi-Asset Management.
Cullum may have lost £17m in Towergate IFA arm collapse

1 Sep 2009

Towergate executive chairman Peter Cullum may have personally lost £17m in the pre-pack administration of the group's financial services arm, according to reports.
Curtis Banks partners with Ascentric

26 Aug 2009

New Sipp and SSAS provider Curtis Banks has signed up to be a product partner of the Ascentric platform.
Day returns

1 Sep 2009
Decline in national average sickness days since 2004

1 Sep 2009

The average number of sick days has declined over the past five years, potentially due to the impact of the recession and employees being less inclined to be away from the office, according to Origen's seventh annual employee benefits survey.
Defaqto urges advisers to check seed capital in smaller funds

27 Aug 2009

Defaqto has advised IFAs who invest in smaller multi-manager funds to check how much of the funds under management is new money and how much is seed capital.
Director is fined for failing to disclose concerns on adviser

27 Aug 2009

The FSA has fined a director of a Cornish IFA for not disclosing information about the quality of one of his advisers.
Editor's comment

1 Sep 2009
Elevate looks to add non-Axa products

27 Aug 2009

Axa Distribution Services is to offer third-party product wrappers on its Elevate platform. Elevate is in talks with product providers to find a way of offering non-Axa wrappers on its platform, namely offshore bond and Sipp products.
Employees unaware of retirement age changes

1 Sep 2009

Employees over 50 who are planning to retire in the next few years will be in for a shock because most workers are not aware of the changes in retirement ages set to be implemented, according to new research released today from Aon Consulting.
FEIFA confident of membership surge

1 Sep 2009

The newly-formed Federation of European Independent Financial Advisers says it is likely to represent in excess of 100 advisers across Europe by the end of September.
Fidelity Fundsnetwork offers IFAs cash incentive to re-reg onto platform

26 Aug 2009

Fidelity Fundsnetwork has launched a re-registration campaign in a bid to attract more IFAs onto the platform.
Final salary pension liabilities top £1tn

1 Sep 2009

Final salary pension liabilities in the UK have topped £1tn, according to estimates by Aon Consulting.
Fitch retains negative outlook for UK life insurers

26 Aug 2009

Fitch Ratings has retained its negative credit ratings outlook for the UK life insurance sector adding that prospects for new business and earnings remain subdued.
Fixed deals can open up annuity choice

27 Aug 2009

After third-way annuities, the next new wave of products to launch into the decumulation market look set to be the fixed-term or temporary annuity.
Fortis to ramp up IFA distribution through networks and nationals

27 Aug 2009

Fortis Life has pledged to drive up distribution through networks and national IFAs as it posted its half year results.
Foster Denovo sees synergies in GI

1 Sep 2009

Foster Denovo has launched a new division, Foster Denovo General Insurance, in a bid to provide business and personal insurance policies directly to new and existing clients.
Foster to head Zurich Corporate Pensions

1 Sep 2009

Simon Foster has been appointed as head of Zurich Corporate Pensions, responsible for strategy and strengthening relationships with key intermediaries and corporate customers.
Friends Provident launches IP toolkit

26 Aug 2009

Friends Provident has launched an online income protection toolkit to help advisers promote the product.
Friends set for impaired deal

27 Aug 2009

Friends Provident is set to unveil a tie-up with an impaired annuity provider.
FSA bans mortgage network chief executive

1 Sep 2009

The FSA has withdrawn the approval for Premier Network Group chief executive Steven Moorley, ruling that he lacks competence and capability.
FSA chief looks to tax banks to cut bonuses

27 Aug 2009

FSA chairman Lord Turner has backed plans to introduce a new tax on banks as a way to curb the City’s bonus culture.
FSA considers basing adviser fees on income

26 Aug 2009

The FSA is considering a restructure of adviser fees that will see them based on income rather than number of approved persons.
FSA must start to crack down on the banks

27 Aug 2009

It is time for the FSA to get serious in its regulation of banking advice.
Gartmore plans fund merger

26 Aug 2009

Gartmore is proposing to merge its £46m safeguard fund intoits multi-manager absolute return fund.
Gartmore plans merger

27 Aug 2009

Gartmore is proposing to merge its £46m safeguard fund into its multi-manager absolute return fund.
Godiva Mortgages - +4.49% BBR Tracker

27 Aug 2009

Godiva Mortgages+4.49% BBR Tracker
Godiva Mortgages - 5.75% Fixed Buy To Let

26 Aug 2009

Godiva Mortgages5.75% Fixed Buy To Let
GP IFAs are what doctor ordered

27 Aug 2009

The RDR is almost entirely about the distribution of new products but advice on existing products is the crucial niche that the average general practitioner IFA fills so valuably.
Group risk - withstanding the test of legislation

1 Sep 2009

At the end of July, the Insurance Industry Working Group (IIWG) published its report into the medium and long-term challenges facing the insurance industry.
Halifax considers 300 agency closures

1 Sep 2009

Halifax is considering closing down its 300 third-party agencies after it revealed it will be closing down 26 counters across the UK.
Henderson Group announces 47% profit fall

27 Aug 2009

Henderson Group has posted a 47 per cent fall in pre-tax profits for the first half of 2009.
Henderson Group appoints Shirley Garrood as chief financial officer

26 Aug 2009

Henderson Group has announced the appointment of Shirley Garrood as chief financial officer.
Henderson New Star confirms fund mergers

28 Aug 2009

Henderson New Star has received shareholder and unitholder approval to merge three of the funds within the New Star range.
House price increase at five-year high, says Land Registry

28 Aug 2009

House prices in England and Wales rose to by their highest level in five years, according to the Land Registry.
House prices rise for fourth consecutive month

27 Aug 2009

Nationwide has revealed that the year-on-year house price fall has reduced to 2.7 per cent as UK homes rise in value for the fourth month in a row.
Hurdles to sipp success

1 Sep 2009

Changes in the Budget and regulatory concerns could threaten the explosive growth of group Sipps. James Phillipps reports
Icelandic parliament votes to repay £3bn to UK and Netherlands

28 Aug 2009

The Icelandic parliament has voted to repay more than £3bn to the UK and Dutch Governments for the money they spent compensating savers in the Icelandic banks.
Ignis multi-manager view – Escaping the gloom

27 Aug 2009

With market bulls winning current battles to test the recent rally, it is interesting to remember that nine months ago, the market was struggling to see beyond a banking crisis that some thought threatened the entire capitalist system.
IMA to close UK zeros sector

28 Aug 2009

The Investment Management Association is to close the UK zeros sector from September 30, 2009.
In search of the ultimate default fund?

1 Sep 2009

Every year Corporate Adviser run a thoughtful piece on the ultimate default fund within the DC market. We have been researching this area for several years, both from an investment design and employee behaviour perspectives. Mark Rowlands discusses the key findings.
Industry challenged to pick up personal accounts gauntlet

1 Sep 2009

The pensions industry will face its biggest challenge from personal accounts whenever contribution limits are removed, according to delegates at a Corporate Adviser/Aviva round table last month.
Infocomp rebrands as GBST

26 Aug 2009

GBST is rebranding its platform technology arm Infocomp to operate under the firm's global name.
Investec Structured Products - Capital Guaranteed 3 Year FTSE 100 Income Plan 21

27 Aug 2009
Investec Structured Products - FTSE 100 Accelerated Growth Plan 11

28 Aug 2009

Investec Structured ProductsFTSE 100 Accelerated Growth Plan 11
Investec Structured Products - FTSE 100 Bonus income Plan 1

26 Aug 2009

Investec Structured ProductsFTSE 100 Bonus income Plan 1
Investec Structured Products - FTSE 100 Geared Returns Plan 11

28 Aug 2009

Investec Structured ProductsFTSE 100 Geared Returns Plan 11
Investors continue to shun Europe, IMA stats

27 Aug 2009

The European ex-UK sector was the least popular for investors in July, according to the latest figures from the Investment Management Association.
It's all in the delivery

1 Sep 2009

The RDR presents an opportunity to harmonise the regulation of workplace pensions says Steve Folkard, head of pensions and savings policy at Axa
Joseph joins Keydata creditors committee

27 Aug 2009

PricewaterhouseCoopers has appointed IFA John Joseph as part of its Keydata creditors committee. Joseph is joined by fellow IFA Geoff Hartnell and Peter Magowan, founder of the Keydata Victims Support Group. HMRC and Credit Suisse complete the list of five.
JP Morgan consumer platform will offer its own Sipp

27 Aug 2009

JP Morgan Asset Management has revealed that its direct-to- consumer platform will be called Wealth Manager Plus and will feature its own Sipp when it launches in October.
JPMAM appoints head of emerging market debt team

28 Aug 2009

J.P. Morgan Asset Management has appointed Pierre-Yves Bareau as head of its emerging market debt team.
Julian Adams replaces Sheila Nicoll as FSA director of retail firms

27 Aug 2009

Julian Adams is to replace Sheila Nicoll as FSA director of retail firms.
Jupiter appoints Ben Surtees to Asian fund

1 Sep 2009

Jupiter has announced the appointment of Ben Surtees as manager of the Jupiter Asian unti trust.
Jupiter appoints Philip Johnson as chief financial officer

28 Aug 2009

Jupiter Investment Management has announced the appointment of Philip Johnson to the newly-created role of chief financial officer.
Jupiter’s Somerville says Japan is set for a redistribution of wealth

1 Sep 2009

Jupiter Japan income manager Simon Somerville says the decisive victory of the Democratic Party of Japan in Sunday’s general election is likely to result in a redistribtuion of wealth in the country.
Kevin Duffy - Tories shuffling the deckchairs of the tripartite

28 Aug 2009

Bold soundbites will shortly proliferate in the run-up to the autumn party conferences but it would be complacent of our industry to believe that a winning Conservative Government next June will possess either the conviction or indeed a lack of pragmatism to totally neuter the FSA as part of its likely 100 day change manifesto.
Keydata copout

27 Aug 2009

Keydata investors do not know whether they are coming or going. At first, they were told their money held in Keydata plans was as good as safe. Then it was suggested their money was not safe at all, leaving 85,000 investors wondering whether they had lost the lot.
L&G appoints chief finance officer

1 Sep 2009

Legal & General has appointed Dr Nigel Wilson as group chief financial officer with immediate effect.
Lehman UK arm set to sue for $100bn

1 Sep 2009

Administrators for Lehman Brothers London arm are preparing a $100bn law suit against its former US parent.
Lifesearch recruits team for business protection

28 Aug 2009

Lifesearch has recruited a team of four specialist advisers to offer business protection advice to clients.
Lifesearch recruits team for business protection

27 Aug 2009

Lifesearch has recruited a team of four specialist advisers to offer business protection advice to clients.
Lloyds buys 1st-The Exchange

27 Aug 2009

Lloyds TSB Development Capital has bought a majority stake in 1st-The Exchange in a £115m deal.
Lloyds buys 1st-The Exchange

26 Aug 2009

Lloyds TSB Development Capital has bought a majority stake in 1st-The Exchange in a £115m deal.
Lloyds may look at Scottish Widows IPO to ease losses

27 Aug 2009

Lloyds Banking Group may look to launch an initial public offering of Scottish Widows in a bid to raise cash after its bailout.
Lorica launches online benefits portal and web arm

1 Sep 2009

Lorica Consulting is launching a new subsidiary business called Lorica Online and an online flexible benefits portal.
LV= and Asda tie up to offer over 50s life cover

1 Sep 2009

LV= has developed a new over 50s life insurance product for Asda supermarkets.
Making a difference

1 Sep 2009
McCaig joins Unum

1 Sep 2009

Unum is appointing Malcolm McCaig as non-executive director. McCaig was part of Cigna's European management team in the 1990's, leading the reengineering of their UK business and IT systems. He also had a brief spell with Prudential UK, as the executive director responsible for risk and compliance. He was also lead partner in charge of Deloitte's enterprise risk management practice, and subsequently held a similar partner role with Ernst & Young.
Meteor Storm

1 Sep 2009
Money market outflows continuing at Cofunds

27 Aug 2009

Cofunds has seen outflows across money market funds in the past three months.
Mortgage fees falling, says moneysupermarket.com

26 Aug 2009

Arrangement fees across all fixed and tracker mortgages have fallen by around 25 per cent over the last year, reveals moneysupermarket.com.
Nine out of ten DB schemes closed to new members

1 Sep 2009

Nine out of ten defined benefit pension schemes, or 87 per cent, are closed to new members, the latest survey by the Association of Consulting Actuaries has found.
Nomura introduces emerging markets protected fund

26 Aug 2009

Nomura International has introduced the global emerging markets III 80% protected fund, an offshore Oeic that applies a constant proportion portfolio insurance strategy to six emerging market funds.
Nuclear option of pension scheme closure is becoming the norm

1 Sep 2009

Half the UK companies that still have defined benefit pension schemes expect to have closed them to all employees by 2012, according to new Watson Wyatt research.
Octopus multi-manager reaches £240m in assets under management

28 Aug 2009

Octopus Investments, which recently broke through the £1bn barrier in total funds under management, says it has £240m in assets within its multi-manager funds as at August 25th.
Openwork aims to boost support services

27 Aug 2009

Openwork is looking at developing a support services arm and does not rule out acquisitions as a means of achieving this.
Orphan vote deadline extended

27 Aug 2009

Aviva has extended the deadline for its ballot on the reattribution of its inherited estate by a month to September 21. In May, Aviva and policyholder advocate Clare Spottiswoode renegotiated a deal for the inherited estate which would see payments to policyholders slashed in half.
Oval lands Chrystal

1 Sep 2009

Oval Financial Services is appointing Simon Chrystal, formerly a director of CPRM Actuaries and Consultants to complete the structure of Oval's new defined benefit leadership team.
Overlapping interest

1 Sep 2009

Exploiting product synergies and combining different areas of expertise could benefit insurers, intermediaries and their customers says Edmund Tirbutt
Personal benchmark

1 Sep 2009
Platform plan calls for split charges

27 Aug 2009

Ascentric is calling for platform charges to be split into four elements to improve transparency in the retail distribution review.
Pressure is mounting for the FSA to investigate bank advice

27 Aug 2009

Advisers have backed Aifa's call for an FSA investigation into bank advice following an increase in complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service over unsuitable bank advice to elderly customers.
Private pensions or personal accounts - not just heads or tails

1 Sep 2009

Neil Davies, Head of Corporate Marketing at AEGON UK, talks about the differences between private pension schemes and the personal accounts scheme.
Proof of QE success may take years, says Bank deputy

26 Aug 2009

Bank of England deputy governor Charlie Bean has admitted that it might be years before the success of the £175bn quantitative easing project can be judged.
RBS caps final salary scheme

26 Aug 2009

Royal Bank of Scotland has announced plans to cap its final salary pension scheme for 62,000 workers in a bid to cut costs.
Repayments outweigh lending for first time

1 Sep 2009

Net repayments of debts outweighed the total amount lent to individuals for the very first time in July.
Retirees mortgage debt rises to £90bn

27 Aug 2009

Almost one in six retired homeowners still have a mortgage meaning those over 65 in the UK are burdened with £90bn of debt.
Retirement at issue

1 Sep 2009

DC pots are set to grow by 60 per cent in the next five years. John Lappin checks out the opportunities for advisers, and also looks where employees have fallen short
Reverse psychology

1 Sep 2009

Providers and advisers are ignoring the basics of behavioural finance when it comes to investment choice and tools says Ian McKenna, director of the Financial Technology Research Centre
Royal Liver chief executive steps down

28 Aug 2009

Royal Liver chief executive Steve Burnett has stepped down after seven years in the job.
Savills financial services arm reveals £2m loss

27 Aug 2009

Savills financial services arm, which includes Savills Private Finance, has revealed pre-tax losses of £2.1m for the first half of 2009.
Self-cert accounts for 2% of mortgage market

26 Aug 2009

Self-certification mortgages now account for less than 2 per cent of the UK mortgage market.
Simon and Sara Burgess to set up provider

26 Aug 2009

Simon and Sara Burgess are set to leave British Insurance to set up their own protection provider, Money Marketing has learnt.
Simon Foster to head Zurich Corporate Pensions

1 Sep 2009

Zurich Financial Services has appointed Simon Foster to the position of head of Zurich Corporate Pensions.
Skills Academy awarded official charitable status

26 Aug 2009

The National Skills Academy for Financial Services has been awarded official charitable status.
Society losses will mean more mergers

27 Aug 2009

Recent building society losses mean that further mergers in the sector are inevitable, according to KPMG.
Standard fears £135m opt-out bill

27 Aug 2009

The pension industry could be hit with a £135m admin bill if the auto-enrolment regulations go ahead, says Standard Life.
Steady growth at JLT despite downturn

1 Sep 2009

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group saw its turnover from fees and commission rise 16 per cent to £309m in the six months to June 30, up from £266m for the same period of the preceding year.
Strategic bonds set to beat return in corporate sector

27 Aug 2009

Henderson head of retail fixed income John Pattullo believes opportunities in the strategic bond sector currently outstrip those in the corporate bond sector.
Succession recruits marketing and relationship director

26 Aug 2009

Succession Advisory Services has appointed Charles Evans as marketing and relationship director.
Take a fine vintage view

27 Aug 2009

I recently made what some people have described as a rather foolish purchase. They might be right. Sitting on my driveway is a 1975 MGB GT, minus an engine and with enough rust to warrant extensive body repairs before it can ever be driven again.
Tenet Oeics opening up to the IFA market

27 Aug 2009

Tenet is planning to promote its Sinfonia Asset Management fund of fund Oeic range to the wider IFA market.
Term fees

27 Aug 2009

Just a short note to disgruntled IFA Julian Stevens, who complained bitterly his client would not pay him an admin fee of £50.
The FSA system has failed

27 Aug 2009

The FSA trots out it will address the concerns of the FOS under its "regular supervisory process". Is that the process that has failed to have any impact for the last 10 years?
The shape of things to come

1 Sep 2009
Time to deliver the difficult

1 Sep 2009

Mark Coleman is international sales director for CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits, the world’s largest provider of employer sponsored insurance plans for expatriate employees.
Tøraasen moves to Thames River

27 Aug 2009

Thames River Capital has appointed Trygve Tøraasen as a fund manager on its European equities team. He will manage the Thames River European fund alongside Carlos Moreno.
Tories could scrap Serious Fraud Office in financial crime shake-up

1 Sep 2009

The Tories could create a new agency to tackle financial crime which would lead the closure of the Serious Fraud Office if they win the next election, according to reports.
Transact says RDR will spark introducer move

27 Aug 2009

Transact says advisers who will struggle with higher qualifications may become client introducers in the wake of the retail distribution review.
Transfer deadline

1 Sep 2009

Enhanced transfer values look set to rise as bond yields fall. Paul Farrow looks at what is being offered and how it is being invested
Trevor Matthews

27 Aug 2009
Trevor Matthews blasts "ridiculous" Sesame Bankhall speculation

27 Aug 2009

Friends Provident chief executive Trevor Matthews has blasted "ridiculous" speculation that the Sesame/ Bankhall takeover could be thwarted by Friends' deal with Resolution.
UK prime RMBS mortgage arrears double

27 Aug 2009

Three-month arrears within prime UK Residential Mortgage Backed Securities doubled in Q2 2009 and are likely to increase, according to a report by Moody's.
Unwell annuitants missing out on 22 per cent more income

1 Sep 2009

Enhanced annuities are currently paying out on average 22 per cent more than standard annuities in annual retirement income, according to the newly launched MGM Advantage Annuity Index.
Vasilieff confident of Novia profit plan

27 Aug 2009

Novia Financial says it is still on track to break into profit next year despite posting a £2.8m net loss and its auditors raising concerns over its future.
Viral marketing

1 Sep 2009

Employers want to know what Swine Flu means for them. Sam Barrett investigates what advisers can and can't do to help
Vulture view

27 Aug 2009

We have seen much activity recently over vulture funds which pick up moribund or distressed life companies.
Welcome cut from Coventry

28 Aug 2009

Coventry Building SocietyOffset 4.65% Fixed
Which? blasts bank advisers

27 Aug 2009

Which? has warned of a sharp increase in elderly people complaining they have been missold investment products by bank advisers, echoing the concerns of the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Who's next?

1 Sep 2009

Resolution's consolidation project is just one factor that is going to make this autumn a compelling period in the workplace benefits sector
Why Aifa breaks out of the UK bubble to take role in Europe

27 Aug 2009

When explaining the work of Aifa, I am often asked about our European efforts. Our work with the FSA, Treasury, Department for Work and Pensions and the main political parties is largely self-explanatory but the reason for our European engagement seems to be a little less clear.
Workers defy recession by boosting pensions

26 Aug 2009

One in five workers has increased the amount they contribute to their defined contribution pension since last year while only 5 per cent of people have cut back their payments.
Xafinity offers trust-based pension

27 Aug 2009

Xafinity has launched a multi-employer trust-based pension scheme.
Young schemes and those with assets just above threshold to benefit from PPF changes

1 Sep 2009

Money Marketing26 August 2009

Money Marketing
26 August 2009