Money Marketing
28 August 2002

  • 'Go North to boost buy-to-let yield'

    29 Aug 2002

    National mortgage broker Park Row is recommending buy-to-let clients to spread their investment from the South-east to the North to boost returns. It says landlords are buying properties in the North to reduce the focus on the South-east, where yields have fallen from 10 per cent to 4 per cent over the past year. The firm claims yields in the North are as high as 20 per cent. Yorkshire-based Park Row adviser Paul Singleton, who processes around 25 BTL mortgages a week, ...

  • 'Investors set to stay in stockmarket'

    28 Aug 2002

    Just 1 per cent of investors plan to decrease their exposure to the stockmarket despite consistent falls, according to the Association of Investment Trust Companies. Its research found that 90 per cent of investors intend to leave their money where it is, 4 per cent have not yet decided what to do and only 1 per cent want to pull out either partially or wholly from the markets.  

  • 20/20 revision

    29 Aug 2002

    As the countdown continues to my exam date, I feel the preparation has gone well. Having conscientiously waded through the dreaded black Cemap file and attended a Scottish Widows Bank training session, I am now fairly confident. I have addressed the areas I was not 100 per cent sure of, in particular the legal and post-completion aspects, producing some impressive and thorough notes and now feel my knowledge is up to scratch. What I was not so sure about is my exam technique and readiness ...

  • A consumer's view

    29 Aug 2002

    With mortgages becoming regulated by the Financial Services Authority, probably by 2004, one of the areas to which the FSA should pay special attention is transferability. The ability to move a mortgage from one property to another without penalty is a big selling point - particularly now that such a large proportion of new mortgages and remortgages are signed up on special offers like discounted, fixed or capped rates. These mortgages almost always have hefty penalties ...

  • A standing innovation

    29 Aug 2002

    Henry Ford is reported to have said that "you can't build a reputation on what you are going to do". This rings true in the intermediary mortgage market where competition is fierce and reputation rules. The advent of the centralised mortgage lender in the mid-1980s was a real catalyst for growth in intermediary lending in the UK. Indeed, companies such as The Mortgage Trust, The Mortgage Corporation, National Home Loans and Household Mortgage Corporation really changed ...

  • Aberdeen launches risk appetite model

    30 Aug 2002

    Aberdeen Asset Managers is launching a risk appetite model which gauges extremities of risk in both bond and equity markets.

  • Alexander Crombie

    29 Aug 2002

    Alexander "Sandy" Crombie does not so much toe the Standard Life corporate line as exude it from every pore. The deputy group chief executive ran straight from school into the arms of the Edinburgh-based mutual at the tender age of 17. Last week marked his 36th anniversary there. To the outsider, it is a marriage that looks rock solid and Crombie has the air of a man who is comfortable in his relationship. It would take more than carpetbagger Fred Woollard to put this ...

  • Alexander Forbes expands Irish operation

    30 Aug 2002

    Alexander Forbes is expanding its Irish operations with the acquisition of the insurance broking business of K&H Insurance Management Services.

  • Alpha a good bet

    29 Aug 2002

    Schroders has introduced its Schroder UK alpha plus fund, a unit trust investing in 20 to 40 UK companies. Looking at how the fund fits into the market, Dampier says: "It fits in with the newer breed of focus funds, funds looking to achieve absolute returns rather than looking for returns against the benchmark." Holian thinks that with the markets moving down and the uncertainty of future direction, a more active approach is required. He says: "A fund independent of the ...

  • AMP slashes payouts by 15% as profits rise

    29 Aug 2002

    AMP Pearl is cutting payouts on with-profits life policies by 12.5 per cent and by 15 per cent on with-profits pensions. AMP UK Financial Services managing director Tom Fraser says the move is in line with what other companies are doing but accepts that the cuts could be seen as the introduction of market value reductions through the back door. The Pearl fund does not permit MVRs. AMP intends to transfer all its with-profits business to Sandler-friendly ringfenced with-profits ...

  • Arla draws up new model tenancy agreement

    28 Aug 2002

  • Benefit without reservation

    29 Aug 2002

    The Inland Revenue (Capital Taxes) has recently been looking closely at many of the inheritance tax planning arrangements that IFAs are promoting, including those using the "spouse alienation trust". Indeed, a case involving this approach to inheritance tax planning has just been heard in the High Court. What is a "spouse alienation trust"? This arrangement involves your client declaring a trust for the immediate benefit of their spouse and giving the trustees a power to appoint ...

  • Big rise in single people buying homes

    29 Aug 2002

    A dramatic increase in the number of single people buying houses is leading to a fundamental shift in UK housing demand, according to res-earch from Halifax. The UK's biggest lender says in 2001, single buyers accounted for more than four in 10 buyers compared with only a quarter in 1983. In the medium to short term, however, the changes are not nearly as significant, with the 17 per cent fig-ure for single women remaining largely static for the last nine years and ...

  • Big winners and losers in the private-client investment market

    29 Aug 2002

    Some of the biggest private-client investment managers lost more than a quarter of their assets under management last year as market volatility hit investor confidence. According to the PAM dir-ectory of UK private asset managers, companies including Lazard, Baring and Cazenove haemorrhaged huge chunks of their assets under management as instability prompted mass desertions from their books. Baring saw a 27.4 per cent plunge, Lazard lost 23.8 per cent and Cazenove suffered ...

  • Birmingham Midshires - Guaranteed 5 Year Investment Isa

    29 Aug 2002

    Thursday, 29 August, 2002Type: Capital protected IsaAim: Growth linked to the FTSE 100 indexMinimum-maximum investment: £3,000-£9,000 if maturing TessaTerm: Five yearsGuarantee: Capital returned in full at end of term regardless of movement of indexReturn: Up to 100% of growth of FTSE 100 index Closing date: October 31, 2002Charges: Initial 2%Commission: NoneTel: 01902 302832

  • Birmingham Midshires - Guaranteed Five-Year Tracker Account (Issue 9)

    28 Aug 2002

    Wednesday, 28 August 2002Type: Guaranteed equity bondAim: Growth linked to the FTSE 100Minimum-maximum investment: £1,000-£500,000Term: Five yearsGuarantee: Capital returned in full at end of term regardless of movement in indexReturn: 100% growth of FTSE 100Closing date: October 31, 2002Commission: NoneTel: 01902 302832

  • Borrowers opting for variable rates as interest rise fear fades

    29 Aug 2002

    The Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Building Societies' Association have both seen big increases in lending in July compared with last year. The CML reported a record £21.8bn last month compared with £15.5bn in July 2001 and £17.1bn in June this year. The total number of loans in July to 147,000, the highest since records began in mid-1998, and up significantly from 120,000 in July last year. The CML says that with fears of interest rate ...

  • Britannia International issues bond

    29 Aug 2002

    Britannia International has established the 10th edition of its guaranteed capital equity bond.

  • Britannic focus on the Cam era

    29 Aug 2002

    Britannic Money, best known as one of the pioneers of current account mortgages, has been in the news recently as the first lender to launch a sub-prime product with Cam features. At the start of this month, the Britannic Money Restart homeloan, with the brand name Fresh, was unveiled, offering overpayments, underpayments, payment holidays, daily interest, tracker rates and, after a year, a current account option for borrowers with impaired credit. Although many intermediaries ...

  • Britannic Group appoints new MD

    3 Sep 2002

    Britannic Group has promoted Bryan Portman to group managing director from his current role as group finance director.Portman, 53, joined the group on June 28 2001 from Old Mutual Life where he was chief executive.Harold Cottam will continue as executive chairman of Britannic Group.

  • Britannic profit-sharing and trail deals for intermediaries

    29 Aug 2002

    Specialist lender Britannic Money is to launch profit-sharing joint ventures with intermediaries and start paying trail commission in a bid to build customer and broker loyalty. The current account mortgage lender, which last month entered the sub-prime market, says joint ventures and trail are two ideas being considered in a bid to discourage churning in what it describes as a relatively fickle market. Britannic says it is in discussions with a number of intermediaries ...

  • Calculating PI

    29 Aug 2002

    Professional indemnity insurance is a necessary evil for all people engaged in advice. The complicated nature in which PI works leads to disputes and problems. The pension review has given a large number of headaches to advisers as the definition of a "notifiable event" is not always clear. What constitutes a notifiable event? A compliance assessment? A claim from a client? The fine print of PI policies mean that unless notification is done promptly and within the PI ...

  • Call for independent pensions forecasts

    28 Aug 2002

    Financial services e-business software provider Aqera is calling on the Department for Work and Pensions to set up an independent body to provide composite pension forecasts to the public. Aqera says a centrally funded system could be providing composite statements within a year, ahead of the DWP's forecast of 2005. 

  • Champion deal for Zurich

    29 Aug 2002

    Manchester United's financial services arm MU Finance is kicking off the Premiership season by offering customers a cashback incentive based on the team's performance. Under the deal, MU Finance home insurance policyholders will get a £10 refund on premiums if United's players score 47 goals against Premiership rivals this season. The home insurance package designed for United supporters offers buildings and contents insurance and is underwritten by Zurich ...

  • Changes at Axa Rosenberg

    3 Sep 2002

    Global equity manager Axa Rosenberg is splitting its top European job into two, with Simon Vanstone taking the newly created position of head of marketing for the UK and Europe, while Will Jump becomes the new chief executive for Europe.

  • Child's play

    29 Aug 2002

    Last week I made the (fairly obvious) point that the vast majority of investment strategies for the benefit of children are funded by adults, often parents, so the legal niceties of contracting with children are rarely relevant. Almost every financial product available could be used to provide for the financial future of children. In most cases, the easiest and most flexible way to do this is for the "provider" (for example, the parent or grandparent) to effect the plan or plans ...

  • CIS announces new rate for CAT mortgage

    28 Aug 2002

    CIS has set a new rate of 4.89 per cent fixed until September 2004 for its CAT standard mortgage.

  • CMI and Axa list Opal London Property Fund

    30 Aug 2002

    The Opal London Town Property Fund has been put on the elegible lists for offshore portfolio bonds from Axa and Clerical Medical. The fund was launched in April 2002 and invests in residential property developments in London and the South East. All the properties are exclusively sourced and managed by London Town Plc.Tilney Investment Management is the fund's investment adviser.

  • Commission is the only way forward

    29 Aug 2002

    Lorna Bourke's article about an IHT loophole (Money Marketing, August 15) made a point which was somewhat hidden. Apparently, only the rich can afford to pay for complex legal advice that would save a fortune in IHT for the vast majority of the homeowning populace. This is rather strange because the complex legal work is actually rather simple to achieve - and at very little cost in most cases. Perhaps it is the mere fact of having to pay for advice which puts off ...

  • Correspondent's week

    29 Aug 2002

    Back at work after five days away in South Africa and the depression is just starting to subside. I was a guest of Deutsche Asset Management, which arranged the trip for journalists and IFAs to mark the launch of two funds and its forthcoming rebrand as DWS Investments. Hard life, I know. Arriving at Heathrow, I was met by Victor Ubogu, the ex-England international rugby player who was organising the jaunt through his new company. After blinking back the tears following ...

  • Dancing to a different tune

    29 Aug 2002

    Image is everything, as a brand consultant once told me and as he was from the consultancy that gave the world Hobnobs he must be right. For most IFA firms, the closest they have got to being a brand is using the IFAP logo. The logo has the pound symbol as its centrepiece and, given the oft-made accusation that we IFAs are only interested in commission, this is at best unfortunate. As we strive to promote the concept of advice as having intrinsic value, perhaps we need ...

  • Derbyshire cuts rates on fixed mortgages

    29 Aug 2002

    Derbyshire Building Society is cutting the rates on its three-year and five-year fixed mortgages. It believes the reductions will attract borrowers wanting to know that their monthly outgoings will be manageable, whatever happens to interest rates. The lowest rate is 4.89 per cent for three years, down from 5.49 per cent, with a loan to value of 80 per cent. On a threeyear fix with an LTV of 90-95 per cent, the rate has been cut from 6.09 per cent to 5.59 per cent . Derbyshire ...

  • Deutsche rebrand focuses on UK

    28 Aug 2002

    Deutsche Asset Management, which will be known as DWS Investments from September 2002, has created the DWS UK opportunities fund.

  • Drop in operating profits and job losses at Britannic Group

    3 Sep 2002

    Britannic Group has announced a dip in operating profits and a further 200 job losses at its life arm Britannic Assurance. In its half-year results, the company says Britannic Money and Britannic Retirement Solutions are on course to break even next year. Britannic Asset Management saw new business soar to £157m from £80m last year. The group's operating profit was down to £52m compared to £80m last year. It says its new focus will be on growing its asset ...

  • EIS fails to get green light for Red Light

    29 Aug 2002

    The team behind heist movie Red Light Runners has been forced to ditch the enterprise investment scheme financing the project after raising barely half its £8m budget. Investors in the scheme had their cheques returned last week after the film's producers decided not to extend the period in which to raise the full budget and instead signed a financing agreement with European firm Fierce Entertainment. Producer Clark Westerman says he is disappointed by the failure ...

  • Ernst & Young resists Equitable claim

    28 Aug 2002

    Ernst & Young is applying to the high court for Equitable Life's £2.9bn claim against it to be struck out because the accountancy firm says there is no basis for the case.

  • Estate of affairs

    29 Aug 2002

    Mr B has an enduring power of attorney for his elderly aunt, Mrs K, whose property has been sold, realising a capital sum of £120,000. Mrs K is 88 and she is permanently resident in a nursing home. She has no other assets and Mr B wishes to maximise the capital sum available to provide income for his aunt covering care costs that currently stand at £10,500 a year after state benefits and allowances. He also wishes, if possible, to minimise erosion of the value of the estate. ...

  • Fidelity stars come out for roadshows

    28 Aug 2002

    Fidelity is running a series of IFA roadshows at seven venues across the UK during October. Speakers include star manager and managing director Anthony Bolton, senior portfolio strategist John Ross and newly appointed American fund manager Fergus Shiel. They will address questions on themes including how much confidence IFAs should have in prospects for world economies and markets and whether the nature of investment has fundamentally changed.  

  • Field of dreams

    29 Aug 2002

    After the industry, with a few notable exceptions, initially welcomed the Sandler and Pickering reports with the warning that the devil's in the detail, the wheels of financial services reform seem to have stopped turning, with everyone awaiting the Government's Green Paper on pensions, due in the autumn. However, as we all rushed off on our holidays with a copy of Sandler's report under one arm and Pickering's report under the other, determined to consider that devilish ...

  • Final straw as the FSA makes pension U-turn

    29 Aug 2002

    The FSA is waking up to the fact that final-salary schemes are not the safe haven they were and has made an about-turn on its pension policy. The combined effects of pension fund accounting standard FRS17, increased longevity and poor equity returns have prompted a steady flow of closures of defined-benefit schemes by employers, changing the pension transfer environment. The extent of the problem was highlighted this month when a report from actuaries Watson Wyatt estimated ...

  • First State sells private-client arm

    28 Aug 2002

    First State Investments is selling its private client division Stewart Ivory Wealth Management to banking services firm Adam & Company for an undisclosed sum.

  • Fof firms go on the road

    29 Aug 2002

    Two of the UK's leading fund of fund managers - Credit Suisse Asset Management and ABN Amro's premier funds - are hitting the road this autumn to sell their message to IFAs. Credit Suisse is holding 17 events from October 14 to October 24 in venues across England and Wales, hosted by joint heads of the multi-manager team Gary Potter and Rob Burdett. ABN is running 20 roadshows, starting this week in Glamorgan and ending in Farnham, Surrey on December 10. It ...

  • Friends wins sole rights for Countrywide protection sales

    29 Aug 2002

    Friends Provident has signed an exclusive distribution agreement for £25m with estateagency chain Countrywide in a bid to double its protection business. Countrywide has bought the 104 estate agencies in Southern England from Friends Provident for £21m. Under the terms of the deal, Countrywide, the UK's biggest estate-agency chain, expects to get a further £250m in commission over the 15 years of the tie-up. In return, Friends will be the ...

  • FSA asks if hedge fund rules should be eased

    29 Aug 2002

    Hedge funds may soon be marketed direct to retail investors after an FSA consultation paper asking the industry to comment on plans to make them more accessible. The paper, Hedge Funds and the FSA, asks the industry for feedback on whether it should be easier to invest in hedge funds to reflect the expansion in the market over the past few years. Under the current rules, retail investors can only buy into long/short funds through IFAs, who must ensure that clients understand ...

  • Fund sales higher than last summer

    29 Aug 2002

    Net retail sales of investment funds and Isas dropped in July to under £600m from £614.8m in June but were higher than in July 2001, according to IMA figures. Net retail sales fell by more than 3 per cent to £594.4m but were 13 per cent higher than last July when they stood at £526.5m. Net Isa sales fell slightly in July to £283.8m from £300.3m in June but were down substantially on July last year when they reached £437.9m. The ...

  • Funds feeling the heat in July falls

    29 Aug 2002

    The average equity fund fell by 9.42 per cent in July, with Latin America suffering the most, dropping 14.92 per cent, according to the latest Lipper monthly fund report. Only three of the 31 IMA unit trust and Oeic sectors produced positive returns last month and none was an equity sector. The index bear fund grew by 3.1 per cent, UK gilts were up by 0.23 per cent and money market was up by 0.18 per cent. Among equity sectors, European smaller companies was the second-worst ...

  • FundsNetwork expanding

    29 Aug 2002

    FundsNetwork is adding five new firms to its supermarket platform, bringing the total funds now available to 675 from 48 providers. JO Hambro Capital Management, Rathbone Unit Trust Managers, Lion Trust Investment Funds, Martin Currie Unit Trusts and UBS add 28 more funds to the range available on the platform. All five companies will have their entire range of funds available on FundsNetwork from September 4. Hambro brings three funds, Lion Trust adds four, Martin Currie ...

  • Future Mortgages wants Mig rethink

    28 Aug 2002

    Specialist lender Future Mortgages is calling on the industry to review the use and application of mortgage indemnity guarantees, used by lenders as insurance against customers who default, because they do not offer any benefits to borrowers

  • G E Life - Income Option Plan

    30 Aug 2002

    Friday, August 30, 2002 Type: Guaranteed equity bond Aim: Income and growth linked to the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 index Minimum-maximum investment: £7,000-£1m Term: Three years two months Guarantee: Capital returned in full provided index does not fall by more than 20% for option 1 and 30% for option 2 Return: Option 1 - 0.78% a month, 10% a year or 33% at end of term. Option 2 - 0.64% a month, 8% a year or 27% ...

  • Government and FSA are destroying financial services

    29 Aug 2002

    Open letter to Sir Howard Davies The Government wants the public to save and insure themselves more than they do at present - thus alleviating the pressures placed upon the Government's future finances. No one would disagree with the principle of that goal but let us look at how this objective is supposedly being achieved and consider the possibility that the Government and the FSA are getting it dreadfully wrong: The taxing of pension plans. The taxing ...

  • Govt must tackle contracting out

    29 Aug 2002

    Scottish Equitable is calling on the Government to improve contracting-out rebates to make it easier for IFAs to advise their clients. It argues that since the introduction of the state second pension in April, there is now no clear financial incentive to encourage individuals to contract out of S2P. The call for an increase follows a poll of 1,300 IFAs carried out by Scottish Equitable at a series of 15 roadshows around the UK in May. When questioned, 90 per cent said ...

  • Growing concern over FS transfer advice

    29 Aug 2002

    IFAs and pension specialists are becoming increasingly concerned about the pitfalls of advising on transfers from final-salary schemes as the number of schemes winding up increases. Advisers warn that the priority given to staff already retired at the time of a scheme's wind-up means that many people approaching retirement are being left with little more than the guaranteed minimum pension when a scheme is wound up. Alan Pickering's review into pension simplification ...

  • Half of all protection business done online says L&G

    2 Sep 2002

    Over half of Legal & General's life and protection business is now submitted online, the life office says.

  • Hargeaves warns on R&SA with-profits

    29 Aug 2002

    People still paying into Royal & Sun Alliance with-profits funds should stop doing so now and seriously consider pulling out altogether, says national IFA Hargreaves Lansdown.

  • HSBC Pan-European team gutted by Cazenove

    2 Sep 2002

    HSBC's five-strong Pan-European team - including star fund managers Tim Russell and Chris Rice - has resigned to join Cazenove.The five fund managers, also including Julie Dean, Steve Cordell and Wade Pollard, are expected to join Cazenove over the coming weeks, although Russell and Rice are believed to be locked-in for four months.Until now, Cazenove had been a small player in the market, concentrating principally on its fund of funds offering..

  • IFAs see red at big rise in Eagle Star endowment alerts

    29 Aug 2002

    IFAs are blaming Eagle Star's use of over-optimistic investment projections for 80 per cent of its mortgage endowment policyholders failing to be on target. Its projections for the second quarter of 2002 show 59.4 per cent of endowments are red, facing a likely shortfall, 20.3 per cent amber, facing a possible shortfall, while only 20.3 per cent are green and on target. The figures are a significant deterioration over the first quarter of 2001 which showed 48 per cent red, ...

  • IFP and CP121

    29 Aug 2002

    So the Institute of Financial Planning believes Sandler's review approach is much more sensible than the plan in the FSA's CP121. Nick Cann says that no product sale, no fee would put too much pressure on advisers to sell products. When is anybody going to realise that there are only two reasons that preference is being given to fee-charging: The ability to charge somebody for your time, regardless of your ability to explain products correctly to clients. The ...

  • Independent view

    29 Aug 2002

    Have we got more now than when we started? Products? Regulation? Guidance? Respect? Expertise? Opinion? Qualifications? There is today a sense of impending revolution about financial services. That is precisely the point - it is always "impending". We have had Sandler and Pickering and we have endured a ferocious bear market that suddenly turned very nasty after a long period of sideways movement for the major indices. Many investors are down 30 per cent or more. The ...

  • Inside Edge

    29 Aug 2002

    There is little doubt that the with-profits industry has entered a brave new world. The sharp downturn in stockmarkets earlier this year and increased market volatility have had a marked impact. This has brought about the application of increased market value reductions by virtually every provider because of the need to responsibly manage with-profit funds for the benefit of all investors, whether they are withdrawing or remaining invested. Some life insurers have closed ...

  • Insight pan-Euro fund goes retail

    29 Aug 2002

    Insight Investment's institutional pan-European growth fund is to be made available to retail investors before the HBOS subsidiary unveils its new product range later this year. Insight, previously Clerical Medical Investment Management, expects retail investors to be able to buy the £98m fund from October if the FSA permits the move. The fund will be renamed pan-European select opportunities. Richard Wiseman, who has 16 years experience of UK and pan-European ...

  • Investec adds US flavour to Oeic range

    30 Aug 2002

    Investec Fund Managers is filling a gap in its Oeic range with the introduction of the Investec American fund.

  • Investment

    29 Aug 2002

    Three strong sessions out of four saw the FTSE World index gain 2.9 per cent by Thursday's close last week. In the US, after a wealth of economic data during the previous two weeks, investors had little information to digest. Trading volumes were thin, with many on the sidelines waiting for the holiday season to end. A broad rally earlier in the week, with particular strength in the financials, retailers, healthcare and technology stocks, saw all the indices push firmly ...

  • Investment view

    29 Aug 2002

    As silly seasons go, this has been about as silly as you can get. Aside from new fund management companies with provocative names and four-legged, beer-swilling town mayors, I see that a lead story in the Financial Times last week concerned criticism of the ability of the chairman of Shell, one of Britain's biggest companies, to communicate with shareholders. I cannot make up my mind whether this is a reflection of the lack of real news or a rather more sinister development in the way ...

  • Jackman and FSA in clash over T&C

    29 Aug 2002

    The FSA board and its exam guru David Jackman are bel-ieved to be at loggerheads over the future of its training and competence regime. FSA head of industry training Jackman is believed to be extremely disenchanted with the regulator's board because his exam review appears to have been put on the back-burner because of CP121 and Sandler. Industry insiders indicate that Jackman apparently bel-ieves there is a move away from an exam-based regime, as proposed in discussion ...

  • Julian Gibbs

    29 Aug 2002

    Everyone I have spoken to recently has had their insurance premiums increased, in some cases by 300 per cent. Insurers are also refusing to cover bad risks such as flooding in some areas. This should mean that insurance companies' profits will rise and also their shares. Insurance brokers in particular should make much higher profits because they are mainly paid by commission. The best way for UK investors to take advantage of this is by investing in the S&F Hiscox ...

  • Just a Mortgage deal to become provider to online members club

    2 Sep 2002

  • Let it be?

    29 Aug 2002

    Is the Treasury wrong to leave buy to let out of FSA mortgage regulation? Davies No. Buy-to-let mortgages are quite clearly a commercial proposition and should be treated as such. What tends to muddy the thinking is the fact that a buy-to-let borrower is purchasing a home, albeit a property intended to be someone else's home to the profit of the landlord rather than, say, a small office building. Another factor here has been the recent tendency for small investors ...

  • Life offices must inform investors of TEP market from September

    28 Aug 2002

    Life offices will be forced to inform investors surrendering their endowment policies that they may be able to obtain a higher price by selling on the traded market from September 1.The move follows years of lobbying from market makers, which claimed investors were effectively being ripped off as most had little idea they could do anything other than redeem their policies with their providers.

  • Making tracks

    29 Aug 2002

    Homeowners Investment Fund Management, part of Homeowners Friendly Society, has created the Homeowners equity Isa to tempt investors back to the UK stockmarket. This Isa is a tax wrapper around the Homeowners investment growth fund - a tracker fund that invests in the shares which make up the FTSE 100 index. As the fund is not actively managed it has a low annual management charge of 1 per cent and investors have access to their money at any time. Homeowners IFM says ...

  • Manor Park - Guaranteed Global Growth Fund

    2 Sep 2002

    Monday, 2 September, 2002Type: Guaranteed growth bondAim: Growth linked to the global basket indexMinimum investment: $7,500Place of registration: GuernseyInvestment split: 100% linked to the global basket indexGuarantee: Client's choice of between 85 - 110% of capital returned in full at end of five-year term regardless of movement of the global basket indexIsa link: NoCharges: ImplicitCommission: Initial 3%Tel: ...

  • Manor Park - Guaranteed UK Capital Growth Fund

    2 Sep 2002

    Monday, 2 September 2002Type: Guaranteed growth bondAim: Growth linked to the FTSE 100 indexMinimum investment: Lump sum £5,000Place of registration: GuernseyInvestment split: 100% linked to the FTSE 100Guarantee: Choice of between 85 - 110% of capital returned in full at end of five year term regardless of movement of the FTSE 100 indexIsa link: NoCharges: ImplicitCommission: Initial 3%Tel: 0845 6030232

  • Manor Park - Guaranteed UK Selected Growth Fund

    2 Sep 2002

    Monday, September 2, 2002 Type: Guaranteed growth bond Aim: Growth linked to the FTSE 100 index Minimum investment: Lump sum £5,000 Place of registration: Guernsey Investment split: 100% linked to the FTSE 100 Guarantee: Client’s choice of between 85 - 100% of capital returned in full at end of five year term regardless of movement in index Isa link: No Charges: Implicit Commission: Initial ...

  • Matrix set for two hedge Fofs

    29 Aug 2002

    Venture capital trust specialist Matrix Money Management is to launch two funds of hedge funds as part of its bid to become a one-stop shop for long/short investments. The Citadel market-neutral fund of hedge funds will be offered next month to IFAs. It aims to generate after-charge annual returns of 8-10 per cent with a low-risk strategy designed to iron out volatility. It will be run by giant hedge fund manager Tremont Advi-sers in what Matrix describes as a highly ...

  • Mid-year cuts by R&SA as NU reduces its MVR

    29 Aug 2002

    Royal & Sun Alliance is slashing the bonuses of one million with-profits policyholders in mid-year with payouts on conventional with-profits reduced by 10 per cent and annual bonus rates on unitised with-profits cut by 1 per cent. But Norwich Union is reducing its MVR from 11 per cent to 7 per cent in response to the small upswing in stockmarkets. The 5 per cent payout cuts made in July remain. Life companies traditionally only review bonus policy annually but the ...

  • Mortgage points

    29 Aug 2002

    Julian Stevens usually makes a lot of sense but his letter (Money Marketing, August 15) seems to be way off beam but highlights more serious side issues. First, the position should be neutral if one compares capital and interest and interest-only, using his payment strategy where daily interest is charged on a variable rate. The advantage with annual interest using his system would be an increasing overpayment balance in interest only, because lenders generally treat ...

  • Namba in link with Aifa to help build loan trade body

    29 Aug 2002

    The National Association of Mortgage Brokers is forging a strategic alliance with Aifa to assist it as it bids to build an effective trade body representing mortgage intermediaries. Namba says it aims to be the main trade body in the sector and wants to draw on Aifa's direct experience of setting up a trade body which can put the industry's views to the regulator. The group, which claims to be endorsed by the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders' Association and the ...

  • NDF offers remedy to loss

    3 Sep 2002

    NDF Administration is aiming the NDF protected growth plan at investors who want to recoup losses made in the current environment of low equity returns.

  • New fixed loans from Chelsea Building Society

    2 Sep 2002

    Chelsea Building Society has announced the launch of two fixed rate mortgages available from August 31.

  • Newcastle launches bond deposit account

    3 Sep 2002

    Newcastle Building Society is launching a guaranteed bond deposit account which allows investors to participate in the growth achieved by five funds investing in world markets.

  • Northern Rock launches flexible rate tracker

    2 Sep 2002

    Northern Rock has introduced a five year discounted base rate tracker to complement its existing mortgage range.The new mortgage offers an initial variable discounted rate of 2.99 per cent for the first six months from the date of completion.At the end of the initial discount period, the rate is guaranteed to be no more than 0.99 per cent above the Bank of England Base Rate, currently 4 per cent, until January 1 2008.

  • Ombudsman upholds dual pricing complaint against Abbey

    30 Aug 2002

  • Only Brain for online deals with six

    29 Aug 2002

    Six major lenders will offer online application facilities only on the Mortgage Brain trading platform which they own. The six - HBOS, Alliance& Leicester, Northern Rock, Royal Bank of Scotland/NatWest, Woolwich/Barclays and Nationwide - account for 60 per cent of the market. They are piloting the service which will be rolled out to all brokers using the platform. Mortgage Brain denies this is a restrictive practice, saying brokers can choose what platform they use. It ...

  • Only current clients' ID needed to meet laundering rules

    29 Aug 2002

    IFAs will only have to get identification of current clients and not revisit their entire book as had been feared when the money-laundering regulations are extended this autumn. A compliance officer with a big national IFA says he has been assured by the FSA that it does not plan to force advisers to go through their whole client bank to ensure they have adequate identification on file. IFAs had feared that a more radical extension of the money-laundering obligations ...

  • Out of Africa

    29 Aug 2002

    With the stockmarket edging only tentatively towards a recovery, IFAs and investors are continuing to seek alternative areas in which to generate positive returns. One of the sectors is emerging markets. Many fund houses claim the area offers widespread opportunities, provided that precautions are taken to avoid the more precarious countries. First State global emerging markets senior analyst David Gait says: "Our view is that if investors are going to be in equities, ...

  • OUTSIDE EDGE

    29 Aug 2002

    What's so funny about peace, love and understanding? OK, those are the words of Nick Lowe rather than Ron Sandler but I cannot help feel that the sentiment is similar. When Elvis Costello was blasting out that impassioned lyric the feeling was strong. Likewise it is difficult to argue with the bulk of Sandler's assertions regarding the state of our industry. He is not being vindictive or spiteful, he is acting in the long-term interests of the consumer - and the industry. What ...

  • Pension policy

    29 Aug 2002

    Respected pension IFAs are concerned about the grim state of company pensions. They want FSA guidance on transfers to personal pensions. Take the case of someone not far from retirement and well down the scheme peck-ing order, who may face a scheme wind-up. Surely the FSA should devise a robust framework allowing advisers to advise. This is a sensitive area. Anything that could undermine the logic of the pension review is taboo. But the FSA cannot shirk responsibility ...

  • Plain packages

    29 Aug 2002

    Corporate clients of IFA firms tend to be of the small to med-ium-sized enterprise kind. In the competitive labour market of today with unemployment figures at the lowest levels seen for years, basic salary may not be enough to attract and retain the workforce that business needs to meet its targets for turnover and profitability. Big plcs often provide an extensive arrange of fringe benefits, including income protection cover and PMI as well as membership of a pension scheme. ...

  • Product matters

    29 Aug 2002

    Scottish Life International's select income and growth bond gives two options, one for the more aggressive investor and one for the more cautious. Both are linked to the FTSE 100, S&P 500 and Eurostoxx 50 indices. The aggressive option guarantees a 10 per cent gross annual income, 2.4 per cent quarterly income or 32 per cent growth over the term. It provides 30 per cent "soft" protection on the worst-performing index, a feature we do not like. For example, should the Eurostoxx ...

  • Pru bids to undercut rivals in loan protection sector before rebrand

    29 Aug 2002

    Prudential is cutting premiums on its Scottish Amicable mortgage protection products in a bid to improve its market share before its rebrand next year. It only entered the market 20 months ago, selling through IFAs and mortgage brokers. Market share in this sector is traditionally driven by price. The Scottish Amicable name is set to die in January 2003 as it rebrands completely under the Prudential name. The monthly premium for £75,000 life cover for a ...

  • Pru claims IFAs will be the winners in the new marketplace

    29 Aug 2002

    IFAs will be the winners in the market after CP121 and the Sandler review, according to Prudential. In a recent presentation to City analysts, the Pru predicted that by 2005, direct salesforces will practically vanish. It forecasts that the breakdown in distribution in 2005 will be 7 per cent direct, 1 per cent tied, 3 per cent direct salesforce, 22 per cent bancassurance, 17 per cent ex-direct salesforce multities, 15 per cent ex-IFA multi-ties and 35 per cent remaining ...

  • Prudential - Prudential Flexible Income Drawdown Plan

    3 Sep 2002

    Tuesday, 3 September 2002Type: Income drawdownMinimum investment: Lump sum £100,000Investment choice: Choice of three investment strategies - cautious, standard, adventurous or 25 funds from M&G, Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Newton, Invesco Perpetual, UBS and Schroder.Charges: Annual 0.8 - 1.5%Allocation rates: 96 - 99%Commission: Initial 3%, renewal 0.5%Tel: 0845 0757576

  • R&SA is hit with record £1.35m pension penalty

    29 Aug 2002

    Royal & Sun Alliance shareholders will be left to pick up the £1.35m fine imposed on the life office by the FSA for its second offence under the pension review. The penalty is the biggest ever for pension misselling, more than doubling the £650,000 fine on Prudential last October. R&SA allowed 13,500 cases with a potential £32m of redress to slip through the net even though it had been fined £225,000 by the PIA for pension review failings in 1997. The ...

  • R&SA raises funds to buy a Red Cross ambulance

    29 Aug 2002

    Royal & Sun Alliance staff based in Horsham, West Sussex have donated an ambulance to the British Red Cross after the company added £21,000 to £9,000 raised by staff throughout 2001. The ambulance, which will be based at the Red Cross centre in Horsham, will be used to take people to hospital, attend public events and respond to emergency incidents in the local area. Staff from across the company raised the money through a series of events held last year, ...

  • Regulation reunited

    29 Aug 2002

    At the start of a brand new term for the mortgage industry, the FSA is sending mortgage advisers back to school to sit or retake professional exams. The proposals are FSA chairman Howard Daviesྐth directive this year and form part of the Government's plan to regulate lenders and mortgage advice from mid-2004. As many as 70,000 people will have to pass a formal written test and even those who already have professional qualifications may be required to take top-up ...

  • Rises slow down but a crash is ruled out

    29 Aug 2002

    Property market analyst Hometrack is ruling out a 1990s-style housing crash, providing that bank base rate does not double to 8 per cent, but it warns that a smaller rise of 2 per cent could hurt borrowers. Its August survey shows price rises cooling off, with average growth of 0.7 per cent to £133,000 from £132,863 in July, down for the second consecutive month from peak growth of 2.6 per cent in May. The level of growth varied around the country, with central ...

  • Rugby stars get help to Kick Start new careers

    29 Aug 2002

    Glasgow-based IFA Park Caledonia is teaming up with the Professional Rugby Players' Association and the Buzz Recruitment Consultancy to help two international rugby players on to the IFA career ladder. Scottish international Scott Murray, who has played for the British Lions, and Saracens and Harlequins player Alex Codling will work at Park Caledonia's offices as part of the RPA's Kick Start scheme to help players start new careers when their playing days end. Codling, ...

  • Schroders - Schroders Alternative Strategies Fund Diversified Fund

    3 Sep 2002

    Tuesday, 3 September, 2002 Type: Offshore fund of hedge fundsAim: Growth by investing in fund of hedge fundsMinimum investment: £30,000Place of registration: BermudaInvestment split: 100% invested in fund of hedge fundsIsa link: NoCharges: Annual 1%Commission: Initial 3%, renewal 0.5%Tel: 020 7658 3714

  • Setting sale

    29 Aug 2002

    There are many reasons why an IFA might be interested in broadening their capital base or seeking a full change of ownership. Of specific and immediate concern is CP121 and Sandler's recent proposals. More broadly, issues such as the EU directive on disintermediation will affect organisations that have an insurance brokerage arm. The decision to sell may be the most difficult emotionally but the transaction itself will be no less demanding. Having made the decision ...

  • Share play

    29 Aug 2002

    So far in this series of articles covering the main stages in the process of introducing a share purchase arrangement to a limited company, we have looked at identifying the need for such an arrangement (if, indeed, a need exists in a particular company) and identifying the quantum of that need (that is, placing a value on the company as a whole and on the individual shareholdings). I will now look at a part of the process which will be much closer to the hearts of most IFAs - ...

  • Shroders profits fall in first half of year

    3 Sep 2002

  • Specialist subject

    29 Aug 2002

    The qualification deadline set by the Mortgage Code Compliance Board for advisers is just over four months away but over half of advisers have not yet sat the exams. The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders' Association, which released this statistic, says it shows ignorance and apathy on qualifications. But the MCCB claims that around 80,000 advisers have paid and registered for the exams and have therefore shown clear intention of qualifying. The MCCB set the qualification ...

  • Steady falls in prices over last four months

    29 Aug 2002

    The rate of growth of asking prices in the housing market has fallen nationally in each of the last four months, according to a report from property solutions website Rightmove. Its first Real-time Property Report, published this week, shows that London has seen two consecutive months of decline in asking prices while the South-east saw the first decline of the year during the four weeks to August 15. London asking prices went down by 1.2 per cent in July followed by ...

  • Strike threat over Corus final-salary plan

    28 Aug 2002

    The ISTC union, which represents workers at Britain's largest steelmaker Corus, is warning it will resort to strike action to defend final pension schemes for both existing and future employees. Corus's pension arrangements will be reviewed next month when the accounts of the £8bn fund are published.  

  • Swiss Life backs charity

    29 Aug 2002

    Swiss Life is teaming up with BackCare, the charity for healthy backs, to undertake a survey in to how companies are helping their employees look after their backs. The survey comes in the run-up to BackCare Awareness Week which takes place between October 14 and 18, when Swiss Life will sponsor a Parliamentary reception to promote awareness among political decision-makers on the impact of back problems on the UK. The charity says that each year 40 per cent of the population ...

  • Talkback

    29 Aug 2002

    Is buy to let still a good investment? "Yes, of course. Property is still rising, the stockmarket is volatile and by buying property you are always going to have an investment that won't fall." Shane Fox, Investment Management Services "It's a good investment now but I think the market has possibly reached its peak." Harry Russell, Investment Options (Scotland) "Maybe. I would say buy to let is a no go unless you have a deposit of at least 30 to ...

  • The future is Bright Grey for Royal London's protection business

    2 Sep 2002

    Royal London has finally announced the name of new protection business - Bright Grey. The company says research showed the name and logo as being modern and distinctive. It promises there will be no grey areas of small print or jargon. There will be a rolling launch beginning in early 2003. London brand consultancy Zalpha and Scottish design consultancy Deep Blue worked on the brand, corporate identity and logo.

  • The new world of with-profits

    29 Aug 2002

    If the FSA goes ahead with its proposals for disclosure to consumers, part of its wide-ranging with-profits review, changes will be required to the way that with-profits products are sold. The effect will be on two levels - first, changes to the information to be provided at point of sale; second, changes in the way that IFAs go about selecting a product provider. Information provision at point of sale The FSA is proposing that two tiers of information be made available ...

  • This is your life pundit

    29 Aug 2002

    Chartwell Investment Management associate director Patrick Connolly has topped the charts as the most quoted financial services pundit for July in Press Watch's monthly national media analysis. Connolly was called upon to comment on the crisis in the life industry as well as the Sandler and Pickering reports and a variety of savings and investment issues. In second place was London & Country Mortgages mortgage specialist David Hollingworth offering property advice. Hargre

  • Time to pull plug on stakeholder

    29 Aug 2002

    Some significant statements have recently been made regarding the future of "stakeholder" pensions. First, a number of providers, including Marks & Spencer and Abbey National have stated that they are to end the marketing of group stakeholder plans. In addition, Norwich Union have now more than doubled, from seven to 15, the number of years they expect to pass before they can make a profit out of the Government's idea of a pension plan. As NU's estimate ...

  • Treasury reviews cap and charges

    29 Aug 2002

    The 1 per cent price cap is officially under review, a Trea-sury spokesman has confirmed, and the Government is consulting on the future of product charges. Responding to arguments from IFAs and providers that 1 per cent is uneconomical and should not be extended, the spokesman says the cap is a good starting place for consultation. The industry has argued against extending the 1 per cent cap to Sandler's proposed "stakeholder" products, saying it would be unworkable ...

  • TrustNet and Jupiter offer Sipp guide

    28 Aug 2002

    Online fund information provider TrustNet and manager Jupiter are teaming up to launch an education guide for investors about self invested personal pensions.

  • Widows gets go ahead for second Oeic conversion

    2 Sep 2002

    Almost 100 per cent of Scottish Widows unitholders have voted in favour of the second stage of its proposal to convert its unit trust range to Oeics. More than 97 per cent voted for the conversion, which will see 24 unit trusts change to Oeics in September. Widows will shortly be writing to unitholders about the final stage, which is likely to see the remaining 20 unit trusts converted in November. Thirty were converted in the first stage in July.  

  • With-profits exodus is averted

    29 Aug 2002

    A mass stampede out of with-profits has been prevented after Hong Kong-based Towry Law International managed to stop NM Rothschild & Son (CI) calling in gearing loans on offshore investments. Guernsey-based bank Rothschild had lent large amounts of money through Credit Select, a product that allowed offshore investors to obtain loans to buy with-profits policies. But Rothschild took fright at the imposition of MVRs by life offices, which reduced the surrender value ...

  • Women's market has potential for IFAs

    29 Aug 2002

    Growing numbers of single working women across the country present IFAs with an untapped source of new business, according to financial marketing experts BRG Direct. The firm says despite this potentially lucrative market, marketing strategies in financial services firms target predominantly men and are unlikely to prompt responses from women. It says IFAs can take advantage of the gap in the market by matching the current 1,000 female RIs in the UK with the availability ...

  • Yorkshire fixes 10-year flexi at 5.44%

    29 Aug 2002

    Yorkshire Building Society is offering what it claims is the cheapest 10-year flexible fixed-rate mortgage with a rate of 5.44 per cent. The loan allows unlimited overpayments without penalty charges, payment holidays and underpayments. Interest is calculated on a daily basis. Maximum loan to value is 95 per cent. The average procuration fee available through Yorkshire's lending partnerships with a range of mortgage clubs and networks is 0.3 per cent of the loan although ...

Poll

Will Greece leave the euro?

Current Issue

Advanced search