Money Marketing
28 September 2005

  • Debenhams eyes finance arena

    29 Sep 2005

    Debenhams is set to enter the retail financial services arena, offering travel insurance from next month, and the high-street chain is looking at offering home and motor insurance and a child trust fund by the end of the year. Products will be sold directly through in-bound phone and internet leads.

  • Large role for Little at Assureweb

    29 Sep 2005

    Assureweb has appointed ex- Woolwich managing director John Little as non-executive chairman.

  • 15% Of firms fail to hit electronic reporting deadline

    29 Sep 2005

    Fifteen per cent of firms have failed to meet the FSA's rescheduled mandatory electronic reporting deadline and could face enforcement action.The regulator says it will try to help firms comply with MER but warns that it will cancel the permission of firms that have failed to meet the deadline and refuse to co-operate with its late return process.The regulator was forced to put back the original deadline for electronic reporting from August 11 to September 9 for firms with a ...

  • 36M to fight loan sharks

    29 Sep 2005

    Work and Pensions Secretary David Blunkett is giving 36m to a growth fund supporting credit unions aimed at eradicating black market lending.The move is part of the Government's financial inclusion strategy, with the growth fund supporting credit unions, aiming to provide the opportu- nity for people who would otherwise be driven into the hands of loan sharks to have loans at affordable rates.Credit unions will be able to bid for money from the growth fund to increase their ...

  • A and B shares in Close Aim VCT deal

    29 Sep 2005

    Close is offering an Aim VCT aiming to get round liquidity issues and the lack of a secondary market by offering a range of exit strategiesThe Close IHT Aim VCT launches on October 3 with two asset share classes. The A-share class, effectively a standard VCT, offers 40 per cent income tax relief on investments from 5,000 to 200,000 and regular tax-free dividends to shareholders. Investors in the B-share class, which has a minimum investment of 50,000, can three years convert the shares ...

  • A high price to pay for retention

    29 Sep 2005

    Over the past month, the great industry debate has been retention. Most of the lending industry would love to do without intermediaries.

  • A passage to India

    29 Sep 2005

    Assessing the market suitability of the fund, Michael Philips proprietor Michael Both says: "If the case for investing in China is good, India's prospects on several measures may be better. It is a giant democracy able to undercut most of the world, with a well-educated, export-minded population."On the positive side, Both feels there is undoubtedly the prospect of long-term growth at rates well above the UK and other developed economies. He says: "There is a risk premium for investing ...

  • A tale of country folk

    29 Sep 2005

    FundsNetwork executive director David Dalton-Brown has discovered a controversial technique for ridding his Norfolk acreage of an invasion of travelling folk.Dalton-Brown, having sought the advice of a local farmer, decided that his unwanted visitors might move on a bit more urgently if he borrowed the farmer's manure sprayer and used it on the field."He particularly likes the title because it is abbreviated to GOD."Thinc Destini's Simon Chamberlain on group operations director ...

  • Adviser Office adds portal integration

    29 Sep 2005

    1st has unveiled its new Adviser Office system for intermediaries which will be launched later this year.The firm says Adviser Office 4 has been designed to provide increased simplicity, cutting down compliance and admin and allowing advisers to spend more time with clients.New features include streamlined commission accounting, enhanced fee and time recording, a financial planning wizard with automated asset allocation, intelligent workflow and a defaqto product library.1st ...

  • Agency could assess regulatory impact

    29 Sep 2005

    The Lib Dems are considering setting up a separate government agency to assess independently the burden on industry caused by the FSA and other regulators.Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Chris Huhne told Money Marketing in Blackpool he has been in discussions with the Dutch government about a model it uses to make an independent report to parliament detailing the impact of regulation. Huhne says the leader of the Dutch Liberal Party has told him the agency has managed to ...

  • Ahead of the pack

    29 Sep 2005

    Three companies have managed to achieve our highest triple e rating for income drawdown products. Scottish Equitable, Scottish Widows and Skandia all scored significantly ahead of the competition when it came to delivering the services that our adviser panel indicated were most important.Having said this, it became apparent in the course of the research that income drawdown is an area where many major firms feel there is considerable scope for providers to extend the e-services ...

  • Aifa embraces whole of market but rejects multi-ties

    3 Oct 2005

  • Aifa marketing role to boost members

    29 Sep 2005

    Aifa has created a new head of marketing role as it waits on the results of its "scope of membership" consultation.Rebecca Pratley is taking on the new position which will involve working to retain existing members and ensure that they receive regular updates on events and activities from both Aifa and the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries.Pratley has spent 14 years' experience in financial services marketing and for the past two years she has ran her own company providing ...

  • Alliance & Leicester - Five Year Fixed Rate

    29 Sep 2005

    Alliance & LeicesterFive Year Fixed Rate

  • Angela's ashes

    29 Sep 2005

    Angela Merkel's failure to win a mandate in the German general election has sent ripples through the investment community.

  • Axa appoints Hazel Hodge as strategic partnership manager

    29 Sep 2005

    Axa appoints Hazel Hodge as strategic partnership manager with direct responsibility for establishing and developing relationships with key strategic partners.

  • B&B loses its group finance director

    30 Sep 2005

    Bradford & Bingley loses its group finance director and appoints two new executive directors.

  • Back on target

    29 Sep 2005

    One of the key roles of financial planners - if not their only role - is to enable their clients to move as close as possible to a position of financial security as quickly as possible. For those of their clients who are already financially secure, the financial planner's role is to help them stay in that position.

  • Bankhall unveils multi-tie panel

    29 Sep 2005

    Bankhall has unveiled its multi-tie proposition which will be branded Bankhall Connect.The six-strong panel of providers comprises Axa, Clerical Medical, Norwich Union, Prudential, Skandia and Standard Life.Bankhall says Bankhall Connect will be optional for its advisers to sign up to.

  • Bell for leather

    29 Sep 2005

    The BSA put in place its usual 5 fine, donated to Shelter, for any mobile phone going off during its fringe event at the LibDem conference in Blackpool.Unfortunately, the BSA's Rachel Le Brocq, who was guarding the door, was unable to apprehend a fleeing transgressor of the rule despite her best attempts to tackle him.Obviously, the thought of donating to a reputable charity was too much for this particular LibDem delegate.

  • Bestinvest profits boosted by 39%

    29 Sep 2005

    Bestinvest's profits have leapt by 39 per cent to 3.6m this year and the firm says it plans to remain independent without investment from product providers.Turnover rose sharply by 53 per cent from 6.6m to 10.1m, in part boosted by Bestinvest's acquisition of SMA group last November.The SMA companies were incorporated for only six months in this set of accounts, with the name now dropped and the 40 staff fully integ-rated within Bestinvest.Bestinvest's net tangible assets ...

  • 'Biggest climbdown in legal history' costs Equitable Life 30m

    29 Sep 2005

    Equitable Life has dropped its 700m High Court claim against its former auditor Ernst & Young and faces a 30m legal bill.In what E&Y barrister Mark Hapgood called "the biggest climbdown in English legal history", Equitable dropped its claim - originally for 2.6bn - after the evidence of former directors blew the society's case out of the water.Equitable chairman Vanni Treves says he offered to resign but neither he nor any the board executives' heads will roll and Treves insists ...

  • Block tactics

    29 Sep 2005

    As someone who has endured the lack of technical expertise from many product providers, the latest rantings which will ultimately damage the position of our clients are to be deplored.

  • Blood on the trackers

    29 Sep 2005

    Trackers with initial charges have been responding to Fidelity's suggestion that investors are overpaying for their funds.Fidelity listed seven tracker funds with initial charges in its announcement last week that it is to drop the annual management charge on its Moneybuilder tracker to 0.1 per cent, dropping its total expense ratio to 0.3 per cent.The Eagle Star UK index tracker, with an initial charge of 5.5 per cent, was a unit trust and part of Eagle Star Unit and Isa Managers, ...

  • Bluster to buster

    29 Sep 2005

    I imagine that IFAs are going to have to handle a number of embarrassing phone calls from clients invested in the much hyped DWS Ratebuster fund. Barely six months after it opened for business, investors have received letters telling them that Ratebuster is to close.

  • Bristol & West - Income & Growth 20

    4 Oct 2005

    Bristol & WestIncome & Growth 20

  • British Gas offers insurance service

    29 Sep 2005

    British Gas will be providing a life insurance service for its customers supported by Direct Life & Pension's express underwriting service. The new service hopes to tap into the homemoving and online market.

  • Broker

    29 Sep 2005

    Should product providers have more rigorous testing processes in place to ensure they do not blow up down the line?

  • Brokers told to ditch lenders if they cannot get client details

    29 Sep 2005

    Mortgage experts have urged brokers to ditch lenders from their panels if they refuse to give details about clients by using data protection as a reason.Intermediaries and panellists at Money Marketing Live expressed anger that the mortgage industry has failed to catch up with the insurance industry and allow enquiries to be made on clients in the interests of best advice and client management.Savills Private Finance managing director Mark Harris said brokers may have to make ...

  • Cable to probe McCarthy v Blair clash

    29 Sep 2005

    LibDem Shadow Chancellor Vincent Cable is to table a Parliamentary question asking why the FSA will not publish the full text of the correspondence between FSA chairman Callum McCarthy and Prime Minister Tony Blair.Cable says when Parlia- ment returns in October he will be looking to address this "deeply shocking" issue.Cable says it is in the public interest for the letter from Tony Blair to McCarthy to be published, and the non-disclosure shows 'extraordinary arrogance'. He ...

  • Capita poised for Quay bid

    29 Sep 2005

    Capita is believed to have bid for leading IFA software provider Quay software as part of its continued push into the IFA market.Quay supplies back-office technology for over 3,000 IFAs and has partnerships with major networks and product providers, including The Falcon Group, The Exchange, Selestia, Intelligent Finance, Prudential and Standard Life. Its latest product is the client care desktop product which is claimed to save advisers 81 per cent of admin time.Capita bought ...

  • Capitalise on large caps

    29 Sep 2005

    Big may be beautiful once again. During the 1980s and 1990s, average annual returns of around 12 per cent above the rate of inflation were commonplace for blue chips.

  • Cavanagh announces smaller loss

    29 Sep 2005

    Cavanagh has announced a pre-tax loss of 0.2m for the six months ending June 30, compared to a 1.5m loss in 2004.It also announced an operating cash flow profit of 133,000, compared to a loss of 702,000 in 2004. Turnover for the period was 6.3m, unchanged from 2004.Cavanagh chief executive Andrew Fay says: "I am very pleased to report such a turnaround in the business. We anticipated that 2005 would be a year of consolidation and stability following the acquisition and integration ...

  • 'Citizen's pension to take 10 million out of testing'

    29 Sep 2005

    A simple, fair citizen's pension would remove 10 million future pensioners from means-testing, says the National Association of Pension Funds.It claims it would reduce poverty by providing a simple state pension system on which to build additional savings and would be fairer to women, carers and others who miss out in the current system.The NAPF says Mori research shows four out of five people support the idea of equal payments for men and women, even where women have taken ...

  • City bonuses set to boom

    29 Sep 2005

    Three-quarters of City staff expect their 2005/06 bonus to be higher than in 2004, according to financial services recruitment specialists Morgan McKinley.Seventy-one per cent of those surveyed expect their bonus to be higher and almost a quarter expect their bonus to be more than double the previous year's, with 24 per cent of respondents expecting an increase of 100 per cent or higher, says the firm's employment survey.Only 22 per cent expect bonuses to be on a par with the ...

  • Clerical bolsters pension range

    29 Sep 2005

    Clerical Medical has increased the number of funds available on its group pension range by over a third, adding portfolios from Fidelity and Invesco Perpetual for the first time.

  • Combination cover from PYV

    29 Sep 2005

    PYV has introduced a combined insurance package for IFAs and bolstered its directors and officers' liability and employment practice liability policies.PYV has teamed up with high-net-worth insurer Hiscox to launch a continuous office insurance package, covering damage or loss to premises, theft, automatic cover for employee dishonesty and computer breakdown cover.The policy provides worldwide cover for portable equipment and D&O and full EPL can be arranged through a range ...

  • Completions rise by 8% for Leeds

    29 Sep 2005

    Leeds Building Society posted profits of 24m in the first half after an 8 per cent rise in mortgage completions to 881m.

  • Compliance takeover

    29 Sep 2005

    Compliance.co.uk has bought Compliance Consultants.

  • Concerns over PTA tax relief

    29 Sep 2005

    The FSA's move to launch a consultation paper on pension term assurance tax relief has been praised by a Money Marketing round-table protectionpanel but there are misgivings over how far-reaching any regulatory changes could be.Scottish Widows market director (protection) Nick Kirwan warned of over-regulation as he understands that the FSA may be looking at "Icob-plus" rules, adding an extra layer of requirements for advisers wanting to sell PTA.But Lifesearch managing director ...

  • Co-op advisers back a strike

    29 Sep 2005

    Advisers at Co-op Insurance Agency have voted 2-1 to strike over employment contracts which they say could lead to pay cuts of up to 30 per cent.

  • Correspondent's

    29 Sep 2005

    This week by Tom Wainwright, personal finance reporter at the Daily and Sunday ExpressWhen does a freebie become a bribe? I was pondering this with some friends the other night over a game of Monopoly on a posh wooden set sent down a few days ago by an internet company to celebrate the launch of a new product. As we skipped around the board, munching giant chocolate coins (given out by a bank last week), we swapped stories of the most outrageous promotional presents we had heard about.I ...

  • Coventry caps up

    4 Oct 2005

    Coventry Building Society5.25% Flexx Capped Rate Mortgage

  • Cracknell gets development role and joins Origen board

    29 Sep 2005

    Michelle Cracknell has joined the Origen board as business development director.Cracknell has been head of pensions since Origen was formed last year and was previously at Advisory & Brokerage Services.She will now take overall responsibility for all client propositions, leading major new business tenders, marketing and managing the relationships with Origen's strategic partners, which include Resolution Life and the Telegraph Group.Cracknell is a Fellow of the Institute ...

  • Defaqto says Sipp firms are set to rise by a third

    29 Sep 2005

    The number of providers in the Sipp market could increase by a third in the coming year, independent rating firm Defaqto told Money Marketing Live delegates on Tuesday.In the past year to March alone, the number of providers active in the Sipp market rose by 33 per cent from 40 to 60 and Defaqto expects similar growth this year. Underpinning this growth in providers is increased intermediary interest in the Sipp market.The rating agency's latest research reveals that the ...

  • Disciplinary scheme takes E&Y action

    29 Sep 2005

    The Joint Disciplinary Scheme has relaunched its complaint against Ernst & Young after Equitable Life dropped its E&Y case.

  • 'Domestic demand will drive South African growth'

    29 Sep 2005

    South Africa is entering a sustainable low-interest and low-volatility environment, making it ripe for investment, says Old Mutual South Africa trust manager Richard Hasson.He has increased the exposure of the fund to stocks capitalising on growing dom- estic demand, such as retailers, with a 12 per cent weighting in the sector.He has given a positive tilt to Nasionale Pers, a domestic pay-TV firm with a growing and loyal customer base. He also says car sales are returning to ...

  • Driving forces behind choice of top-up vehicle

    29 Sep 2005

    Should people be making additional voluntary contributions after the start of the simplified pension tax regime on April 6, 2006? There are some interesting and important issues to consider.

  • Dumbed-down finance

    29 Sep 2005

    The future of financial advice for protection is hanging in a precarious balance. Never before have we seen such a threat to the value of professional advice.

  • Elena Shaftan

    29 Sep 2005

    Hearing someone declare their love for the English weather is not something one hears every day. But, given that Elena Shaftan, manager of the Jupiter emerging European opportunities fund grew up in Siberia, her passion for the climate here seems understandable.

  • Enough to drive you Caracas

    29 Sep 2005

    I have come across a few individuals with this problem and also financial advisers who are not sure what to do when asked for a certificate of non-domiciled status by banks.

  • Equitable drops claims against two former directors

    3 Oct 2005

    Equitable Life has dropped its 1.7bn negligence claims against two former directors.The move follows the Society abandoning its 750m claim against former auditors Ernst & Young last month.Equitable has dropped its claims, in a move that will see all parties pay their own legal costs, against former non-executive director Peter Martin and former sales director Shaun Kinnis.The case continues against the other 13 former directors. The action, including the failed claim against ...

  • Eurolife offers investors 50% to get out early

    29 Sep 2005

    Eurolife Assurance is offering investors in its secured bond structured product half their original investment back if they want to walk away from the company now.The alternative is to stick with the group's five-year restructuring plan which aims to repay 88 per cent of the original investment by 2009.The bond was marketed in 1999 and raised around 17m by offering 6.5 per cent income for five and a half years or 40 per cent growth with capital protection but it defaulted, failing ...

  • Exchange in conveyancing online deal

    29 Sep 2005

    The Exchange is teaming up with solicitor eConveyancer to add a free online conveyancing referral service to brokers and intermediaries subscribing to its Exweb software.Exweb eConveyancer will offer real-time access to individual conveyancing illustrations of its network of solicitors, enabling IFAs to complete business transactions through the portal.Advisers can earn up to 100 for each remortgage or purchase and up to 200 for a combined sale and purchase transacted through ...

  • F&C opens up citrine fund in hedge bid

    29 Sep 2005

    F&C Alternative Investment is positioning itself as a provider of hedge funds to multi-managers with the opening of the F&C citrine fund to new business.

  • Fairclough quits as Ailo chief exec

    29 Sep 2005

    Association of International Life Offices chief executive Stuart Fairclough has resigned after two years to pursue other interests. A meeting is taking place at Ailo next week to decide if a replacement needs to be found.

  • Fairs IFA in link-up with Selectapension

    29 Sep 2005

    Fairs IFA Software has signed a partnership with online pension calculation provider Selectapension.The deal aims to provide advisers with a full set of retirement planning calculation tools from within the Fairs IFA Manager product. Fairs says it is the first back-office IFA product to offer extensive retirement planning calculations. It says the Selectapension tool allows advisers to perform all major pension calculations in preparation for A-Day, including checking annuity ...

  • Flexibility is advantage for trusts

    29 Sep 2005

    I was pleased to see that my letter, Trusts are the perfect solution, generated such interesting debate on the Money Marketing Letters to the Editor page. A Letter to the Editor obviously cannot cover the many intricate complexities of inheritance tax planning. However, I felt that it was worth responding to the letters from Julian Stevens and Gerry Brown. They both essentially pick up on the assertion that trusts cannot be easily broken. Perhaps I was imprecise in my choice ...

  • Foreign fields

    29 Sep 2005

    There are two types of person who buy property overseas - those who want a holiday home, chiefly for their own use and perhaps to rent it out to friends and family to help with financing, and the property investors looking to buy for commercial reasons to expand their property portfolio.

  • From here to fraternity

    29 Sep 2005

    Earlier this year, extracts from taped conversations between FSA staff investigating an IFA were published in Money Marketing.

  • FSA calls for urgency on preparation for A-Day

    29 Sep 2005

    The FSA has issued an urgent reminder to IFAs and providers to start planning for A-Day.In a keynote speech to advisers, FSA director Sarah Wilson said although many firms are working hard to get ready for A-Day, those which have not started preparations need to do so now.She said advisers needed to discuss relevant issues with their clients and complete training to help them provide suitable advice. Pensions providers should ensure their systems and controls, including IT and ...

  • FSA puts focus on variation clauses

    29 Sep 2005

    The FSA is stressing the need for firms to check their consumer contracts are fair and that any variation clauses are clearly explained to clients.Speaking to the British Bankers' Association last week, Katherine Webster, from the FSA's retail themes division, outlined the position on contract terms following the publication of its statement of good practice in May.The statement, which is positioned closely alongside the FSA's treating customers fairly initiative, outlined the ...

  • FSA reopens self-cert case

    29 Sep 2005

    The FSA is going back to investigate the self-certification mortgage market clearing the sector just two years ago after a probe by the BBC's Money Programme claimed to uncover malpractice.

  • Gartmore is on call for IFAs

    29 Sep 2005

    Gartmore is introducing two new facilities to put across its investment views to IFAs.Gartmore On Call is a conference call facility that gives advisers direct access to its fund managers. Each quarter, IFAs will receive a list of fund managers and investment professionals taking part. They can then register to join in the forums, which are expected to discuss market conditions and future outlooks.Gartmore TV is a feature on its website - www.gartmore. com - where IFAs can see ...

  • Gauging the Sipp impact

    29 Sep 2005

    John Charcol managing director Ray Boulger says the buy-to-let market will, undoubtedly be boosted after A-Day but the real question is by how much.

  • GE Consumer Finance Home Lending rebranding to GE Money Home Lending

    3 Oct 2005

    GE Consumer Finance Home Lending is rebranding to GE Money Home Lending as part of the GE global initiative to align the businesses to one brand.

  • Get set for sales boom

    29 Sep 2005

    There can be few sectors of the market that can expect as dramatic an increase in potential business over the coming decade as annuities.The ABI predicts that the demand for annuities from defined-contribution schemes will rise from 7.2bn in 2002 to 18.1bn by 2012 and demand from closed defined-benefits schemes could explode from 1.4bn to 35.4bn in the same period.With such a potentially massive rise in the size of the market, it is hardly surprising that many advisers are gearing ...

  • Gilt manager recommends option strategy to limit risk

    29 Sep 2005

    Investors who are bearish on the outlook for gilts and bonds should consider using a fund that writes covered call options to limit risk, says Close Finsbury enhanced gilt fund manager Ian Williams.Williams' 110m fund writes covered call options on its gilt stock to enhance returns in a neutral market and protect against downside volatility in a bear market.It is the only gilt product doing this although the technique is common among equity fund managers.Williams says investors ...

  • GMAC widens finance division

    29 Sep 2005

    GMAC commercial finance is broadening its cross-border finance division with a team in the UK led by Bill Hall, one of the founders of the structured finance division of GMAC in North America.

  • Going Dutch could be a fair deal with FSA

    29 Sep 2005

    Perhaps the industry needs a little bit of Dutch courage in its dealings with the regulator.Liberal Democrat shadow chief secretary Chris Huhne has floated an idea adopted in the Netherlands for an independent agency to scrutinise the regulators and report to Parliament on their impact.Huhne, a former MEP, says he has been told the system which also involves the use of sunset clauses to reapprove legislation periodically, is working well.Many in the UK have misgivings about ...

  • Going Dutch could be a fair deal with FSA

    29 Sep 2005

    Perhaps the industry needs a little bit of Dutch courage in its dealings with the regulator.

  • Grandfather clock stops

    29 Sep 2005

    Your very welcome leader article in Money Marketing of September 22 suggested that Fellows of the Personal Finance Society will be "grandfathered" as Chartered Financial Planners. It is important to make it very clear that there will be no grandfathering in the awarding of the Chartered Financial Planner title. All those who receive it will need to be qualified to degree level. It just happens that Fellows of the Personal Finance Society and some hundreds more members of the ...

  • Gulf growing in markets

    29 Sep 2005

    By the middle of last week, it was beginning to look as though stockmarkets around the world were prepared to hand back the gains made earlier during the year due to hurricane Rita.

  • Heaven sent

    29 Sep 2005

    Fortunately, e-commerce does exist in the area of annuities now, with virtually all the leading annuity providers now offering live annuity quotes via XML technology, either via their own website or that of a third party.This means that with the correct system in place, an adviser can enter the annuity basis required and within 30 seconds have guaranteed annuity quotations and the associated documentation from the leading annuity providers.The details are then available to print ...

  • How to make a continental quilt

    29 Sep 2005

    European smaller companies are an attractive asset class to own because of the much higher growth rates achieved by some smaller companies compared with their bigger rivals. This is my biased view as a fund manager in this asset class but a view which I am happy to back with my own savings. The marketing messages you keep hearing about undiscovered smaller companies offering higher rewards to stockpickers are true.

  • Identity crisis

    29 Sep 2005

    Identity theft is the major new crime of the decade. In just a few years, it has gone from being virtually unheard of to being a big issue which is seriously undermining many consumers' attitude towards more efficient methods of working.

  • IMS in corporate pensions move

    29 Sep 2005

    Multi-manager Investment Manager Selection is entering the corporate pension market through its acquisition of MM Asset Management from Threadneedle.

  • It all adds up to nothing

    29 Sep 2005

    Sorry, I know what I am about to comment on happened a couple of weeks ago but I really had to come back to this topic, if only because of the utterly mendacious way in which the Government has chosen to treat the issue.

  • JO Hambro sets up US fund for Roe-Ely

    29 Sep 2005

    JO Hambro Capital Management is setting up an American growth fund to be run by former Tilney fund manager Nick Roe-Ely.The fund launches on October 31 and will have a concentrated portfolio of 30-50 stocks and will be capped at 500m to give Roe-Ely the flexibility needed for his high-conviction, growth-orientated investment style.The fund will focus mainly on US mid caps but can include Canadian stocks and smaller companies. Roe-Ely will look for companies with a market cap ...

  • Jupiter changes environment fund

    29 Sep 2005

    Jupiter is relaunching its environmental opportunities fund as the environ-mental income fund.

  • Keep your clients warm for winter

    29 Sep 2005

    My local newspaper has again been running pieces this week on the usual autumn topics with headlines such as, Rising prices could leave old folk in the cold, etc. I do wonder how many of our older clients are still not aware of a great gas and electricity scheme called StayWarm. This letter does not really relate to financial services as such but I do think as advisers we should certainly be bringing this to our clients' attention as a matter of good financial planning. I ...

  • Laws looks at pension costs

    29 Sep 2005

    The LibDems will be scrutinising the economics of all their pension policies, including the citizen's pension, in the coming months as they look to challenge the Government.Shadow Work and Pensions secretary David Laws told Money Marketing at the conference in Blackpool that he would be taking a break to formulate future policy.Laws says the difficulty is not just costing the party's policies but benchmarking them against other proposals, especially when the Government has made ...

  • Lead generator paaleads.com strikes deal with Tenet

    29 Sep 2005

    Lead generator paaleads.com strikes a deal with The Tenet Group, the independently owned IFA grop.

  • Leeds to launch new two and three year fixed rates

    4 Oct 2005

    Leeds Building Society is launching a new two-year fixed rate mortgage from 4.75 per cent and a three-year fixed rate from 4.79 per cent.

  • Lewis lashes plan for free advice

    29 Sep 2005

    Treasury Economic Secretary Ivan Lewis has attacked LibDem proposals for a free financial advice network as bureaucratic and unjustifiable.Lewis told a PIMA and IMA conference fringe event at the Labour conference in Blackpool that more needed to be done to help people on low incomes but this was not the way forward. He suggested that schemes such as giving free advice in the workplace would be better ways of getting advice to a wider low-paid audience rather than creating a bureaucratic ...

  • Lifesearch claims Paymentcare is mislabelling ASU and MPPI

    29 Sep 2005

    Lifesearch has lashed out at Paymentcare, claiming it is mislabelling ASU and MPPI as income protection.The firm says many general insurance firms are not following FSA treating customers fairly principles because they are promoting ASU and MPPI products as income protection.Paymentcare has been pinpointed as one of many prov-iders which Lifesearch says may not be embracing TCF by clearly making distinctions between the products.Senior technical adviser Kevin Carr says customers ...

  • Lighthouse moves into profit for first time

    29 Sep 2005

    Lighthouse has crept into profit for the first time.The group posted a pro- fit before amortisation of 71,000 in the six months to June 30 compared with a loss of 992,000 last year.Losses before tax were cut to 131,000, from 1,440,000 in 2004 as the group had significant tax losses brought forward.Turnover increased by 17 per cent to 15.1m as a result of increasing turnover per adviser. Mortgage business was also up by 55 per cent following M-Day and costs were down by 12 ...

  • Make A-Day while the sun shines

    29 Sep 2005

    Origen technical manager Bob Perkins says: "In common with other providers who are looking to secure business ahead of and after April 6, 2006, Winterthur has updated its s32 offering. As we would expect, it has designed a very flexible product with a wide range of options, including self-investment."Perkins feels the charging structure is modern, flexible and transparent, while the option to take in specie transfers may be of particu- lar interest. "Also of interest is the facility ...

  • Material facts

    29 Sep 2005

    Those villified for selling the plans may feel aggrieved. They might suggest that morally the FSA shares some of the blame and argue that to assess the marketing material requires an understanding of how the plans worked. However this is probably academic. The FSA did not have the power to strike out this sort of plan at the time.

  • Material witnesses

    29 Sep 2005

    If an IFA uses a provider's marketing material to endorse and promote a product and it is later found to be flawed, who should pay compensation if a client makes a claim for poor advice?

  • Matrix Money Management - Income & Growth VCT

    29 Sep 2005

    Matrix Money ManagementIncome & Growth VCT

  • Maximum effort

    29 Sep 2005

    It should come as no surpriseâ?¦.The words "award winning service" are synonymous with Standard Life. Therefore, it's no surprise that Standard Life's online Group Pensions offering is recognised as one of the industry's leading solutions, earning the maximum 'eee' rating for Group Pensions e-commerce excellence. In a fast changing, compet-itive marketplace, Standard Life continually raises the bar through the adoption of new technology, teamed with the highest standards ...

  • M-Day brings shift in mortgage ads

    29 Sep 2005

    Lenders are switching the focus of mortgage advertising from headline rates to promoting aspirational lifestyles to comply with stringent M-Day marketing rules.Companies say the rules for customers to receive clear and fair marketing messages have been a challenge.Bradford & Bingley spokeswoman Jessica Bigus says the need for details of each product to be included in the body of advertising material has made the marketing message to the consumer increasingly difficult as an ...

  • Measure for Measure

    29 Sep 2005

    Accountability is a funny thing. Everyone recognises it is a good thing, yet few people rush toward it with open arms.

  • Members rage at 'cursed company'

    29 Sep 2005

    The Equitable Members' Action Group has made a scathing attack on chairman Vanni Treves, saying he has misled policyholders and wasted tens of millions in law suits that are nothing more than "grandstanding flimflam".Emag chairman Paul Braithwaite says Equitable is a "cursed company" and he slams Treves for "stabbing policyholders in the chest" by trying to scupper attempts to get compensation from the Government.Equitable is continuing with its claim for 1.7bn from 15 ex-directors, ...

  • MGM takes different WP angle

    29 Sep 2005

    MGM Assurance believes a multi-manager approach could help restore confidence in the with-profits market.

  • Michael Bolton and HBOS senior executives join Oakwood Group

    4 Oct 2005

    Michael Bolton, Alan Cleary and three other senior executives join Oakwood Group in a sudden move from HBOS Group.

  • Middle England is done for, says Bee

    29 Sep 2005

    Middle England will be left to fend for itself and will be worst hit by the pension saving crisis, pension guru Steve Bee warned delegates at Money Marketing Live in Manchester.Scottish Life's head of pensions strategy said people on wages close to the national average will be the worst hit because they do not have enough income or assets to really benefit from the lifting of maximum pension contribution limits after A-Day but will earn too much to be eligible for means-tested benefits.The ...

  • Missed opportunity

    29 Sep 2005

    IFAs who steer clear of healthcare cover are missing a decent chance to strengthen their offering and increase the lifetime value of their clients.

  • Mortgage 2000 appoints Lloyd as head of marketing

    4 Oct 2005

    Mortgage 2000 has appointed Stephen Lloyd as head of marketing. Lloyd will now be responsible for all group marketing issues including campaign management, brand recognition and team co-ordination. He will report directly to managing director Sean Hornsby.Hornsby says: "Stephen brings with him a wealth of knowledge and fresh ideas acquired through years of marketing experience within the financial sector. He will be an asset to the team and I wish him well."

  • Mortgage Express delivery

    29 Sep 2005

    Mortgage Express managing director Tim Dawson has been celebrating the 10th birthday (of sorts) of the specialist lending arm of Bradford & Bingley.

  • MPs will probe depolarisation

    29 Sep 2005

    The Treasury select committee will have to take a close look at the critical issue of the effect of depolarisation, if industry or consumer concerns are raised, according to committee member Andy Love, MPSpeaking to Money Marketing at the Labour conference in Brighton, the Labour MP for Edmonton says there are currently no specific plans to investigate the new regime but he is aware of concerns over true independence and whether multi tie give consumers proper choice.Love says the ...

  • Multiple personality

    29 Sep 2005

    House price inflation has far outstripped the rate of increase in wages and borrowers have been looking to step outside the traditional income multiples.

  • Naismith poses tough questions

    29 Sep 2005

    The Government has to ask itself serious questions about its pension plans, such as whether the target of 60 per cent private provision is right, says Scottish Widows head of pensions market development Ian Naismith.Speaking at a fringe event at the LibDem conference, Naismith said that the Government's response to the Turner report must be to provide a better balance including radical reform of the state second pension and possibly scrapping it.He believes that the recent announcement ...

  • New dawn for Japan funds

    29 Sep 2005

    Prime minister Koisumi's landslide victory in the Japanese general election means there should be a continuing period of stability. Corporate restructuring, deregulation and the growing strength of the underlying economy, along with a pick-up in domestic demand, are indications of positive returns on Japanese shares. Furthermore, the Japanese stockmarket looks cheaper than most other markets and its prospects are still not fully factored into stockmarket valuations.

  • New Star - Cautious Portfolio

    3 Oct 2005

    New StarCautious Portfolio

  • New Star's Harris sets up global cautious Fof

    29 Sep 2005

    New Star head of fund of funds Mark Harris is to launch a global cautious portfolio in October in response to growing demand.

  • Now Katrina set to raise PI rates

    29 Sep 2005

    IFAs could be hit by the after-effects of Hurricane Katrina in the form of spiralling professional indemnity insurance costs, warns PYV chief executive Neil Pointon.Pointon believes Katrina which devastated New Orleans and surrounding regions is the single biggest threat to the PI market since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.With analysts' Fox-Pitt Kelton billing Katrina as the biggest-ever insured loss and risk-modelling firm RMS estimating insured losses worldwide at $60bn, Pointon ...

  • Old Mutual gets hostile

    29 Sep 2005

    Old Mutual says it will launch a hostile takeover bid for Skandia Life.

  • 'Pack disaster will hit the FTB market hard'

    29 Sep 2005

    Home information packs will be an unavoidable disaster and hit the first-time buyer market hard, according to a panel of mortgage industry experts at a panel debate on the future of mortgages. Association of Mortgage Intermediaries director Chris Cummings said a working group set up by the association is "extremely worried about Hips" and is talking with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister about its concerns.Bradford & Bingley head of retail mortgages David Bitner warned ...

  • Park life

    29 Sep 2005

    A team of 11 Lansonettes were out in force again last Sunday, tearing around Hyde Park one very hot September morning to raise money for charidee.The 5k Hydro Active Women's Challenge saw the team of PRs pictured on the right here raise 2,900 for Bart's and the London Cancer Care appeal which is hoping to buy vital equipment for the breast pathology unit at Bart's Hospital specialist

  • Pension rift between Blair and Standard

    29 Sep 2005

    Standard Life life and pensions chief executive Trevor Matthews has dismissed Adair Turner's suggestion of a Swedish pension model, saying the plan would take the UK back 50 years.He says Turner is "mesmerised" by charges when other factors are more important.But Prime Minister Tony Blair made a speech to the Labour conference on Tuesday widely interpreted as support for scrapping the state second pension and promoting Turner's ideas for a centrally administered funded second-tier ...

  • Playing fast and loose in US

    29 Sep 2005

    Travel is meant to broaden the mind and, as I near the end of my annual pilgrimage to the US for the Financial Planning Association's annual conference, I thought I should share my reflections.

  • Policy probe would have seen collapses

    29 Sep 2005

    The FSA did not carry out a full pension-review-style investi- gation into endowment misselling because it could have forced the collapse of life insurers, former chairman of the FSA Sir Howard Davies has admitted.Davies, making a speech in Washington in the US on financial stability, said the regulator faced a conflict between its statutory duties to protect consumers and promote financial stability after admitting it avoided an aggressive approach to combat endowment misselling ...

  • Premier Fund Managers - UK Growth Plan - Limited Editions No 28

    30 Sep 2005

    Premier Fund ManagersUK Growth Plan - Limited Editions No 28

  • Product providers back campaign for protection

    29 Sep 2005

    Protection product providers need to get together for an impartial campaign to promote the need for protection in UK society, according to a group of industry experts.A Money Marketing protection round table last week found overwhelming support for a consolidated campaign but the logistics of competitors coming together will be difficult to overcome.Association of British Insurers policy adviser (health and protection) Vicki Bolton said the success of the Government and Milk ...

  • Red tape rolls out in Lazard move

    29 Sep 2005

    As you are probably aware,Lazard have now become part of the Fidelity Funds Network which, you might reasonably think, requires no action on the part of either us or our clients other than to consider the vastly wider range of funds now available. Not so. Crazy though it may seem in respect of investments made many years ago, perhaps more than a decade ago, Fidelityare insisting that, as far as they are concerned, all existingLazard clients arenew clients and therefore subject to ...

  • Regulator urged to clamp down on rogue advisers

    29 Sep 2005

    The FSA must clamp down on small mortgage advisers which continue to flout rules and regulations or lose the industry's belief in its enforcement abilities, mortgage experts have warned.Society of Mortgage Professionals director Richard Fox said he has seen evidence that suggests the FSA is not pulling its weight in this area.Savills Private Finance managing director Mark Harris said there is a danger that small firms are delving into unregulated areas such as buy to let and ...

  • Ringing the changes

    29 Sep 2005

    One of the most important parts of the e-Excellence process is the capacity for product providers to have their services re-rated when they release enhancements.With the various surveys being carried out throughout the year, clearly, the timing of our studies will not always coincide with the release of new services and upgrades by insurers.The e-Excellence process is about recognising those providers which have made a significant effort to deliver services to advisers, thus ...

  • Schroder income maximiser - enhancing client income in a low return world

    29 Sep 2005

    Trying to generate a high income from investments during times oflow inflation, low bond yields and low interest rates can be very difficult. To try and achieve this in the current environment, many funds are investing in very high-yielding stocks, or higher-yielding bonds - which may mean greater risk to investors' portfolios. Equity income funds, on the other hand, have the advantage of giving investors the opportunity to receive a high level of income, generated from stock dividends ...

  • ScotEq Intl setting up property portfolio with four fund firms

    29 Sep 2005

    Scottish Equitable International is setting up a property portfolio with four fund firms and is offering 6 per cent commission on the scheme.New Star property unit trust, M&G property fund, Brandeaux and Norwich Union property trust have signed up to Scottish Equitable International's portfolio which will give IFAs the opportunity to pick an investment mix spreading the risk over product providers and property assets.SEI says UK property is outperforming equities and bonds over ...

  • Scottish network teams up with IFA alliance

    29 Sep 2005

    Financial Services Advice & Support is the latest network to join IFA Consortium, the network alliance formed in June by Falcon, Financial Synergies and pi Financial.Dunfermline-based FSAS was established in 2001 and has 50 appointed representative firms in Scotland and across the UK but is the only adviser network with its head office north of the border.It expects that its turnover for this year will be around 7.5m and its number of individual members will rise to around 200 ...

  • Selestia wins battle to be picked as Simply Biz supermart

    29 Sep 2005

    Selestia has beaten competition from bigger rivals Cofunds and FundsNetwork to be chosen as the preferred fund supermarket for Simplybiz.Simplybiz is recommending that its 2,400 advisers use the Old Mutual-backed fund platform after a review of its IT systems and the wrappers available on the website. The two will stage joint roadshows later in the year to showcase the proposition. Selestia has also signed up manager of managers specialists SEI to its platform, which will enable ...

  • Shaun Godfrey to leave Bankhall

    30 Sep 2005

    Banhall commercial director Shaun Godfrey will leave the company in October to pursue other business interests.

  • Shopping mad?

    29 Sep 2005

    Brokers are concerned by research showing that 35 per cent of borrowers on short- or medium-term mortgage rates are not planning to remortgage when their current deal expires.

  • Sirius appoints Swift director

    29 Sep 2005

    Paul Donohoe has been appointed Swift solutions director at Sirius Financial Systems, with a brief to market the product to financial advisers. Donohoe was managing director at Modevo, a specialist web software business.

  • Skipton Guernsey launches new three year bond

    4 Oct 2005

    Skipton Guernsey is offering issue six of its three-year step up bond to new and existing clients on a first come, first served basis.

  • Soccer Sipp gets the yellow card

    29 Sep 2005

    The scheme is being offered through local IFA Burgess & Lee. It wants around 40 supporters to transfer 50,000 of their pensions into the scheme, raising 2m to take a further 3.6m mortgage secured on the stadium and land. Thirty fans have expressed interest.The scheme will pay 4.25m to the club immediately to buy the stadium and 100,000 a year for the next 10 years. It will invest the initial 1m in a commercial property fund.The scheme will get rental payments from the club expected ...

  • Special delivery

    29 Sep 2005

    At first sight, you may think it is madness to offer a house-price-linked plan at this stage in the housing market cycle. However, once you have got to grips with the concept and its potential uses, the new Abbey plan stacks up well.It has an investment term of 10 years and on maturity aims to deliver a full repayment of capital (even if house prices fall) together with double any growth in the Halifax house price index, so double the upside with none of the downside. The minimum ...

  • Spoilt for choice

    29 Sep 2005

    The fact that we have such an array of multi-managers to choose from should be seen as an advantage for advisers but is it?

  • Standard bearer

    29 Sep 2005

    This is the sixth e-commerce supplement produced by Money Marketing in association with the Financial Technology Research Centre and we believe it is beginning to demonstrate some very important results.This month's ratings feature e-commerce excellence ratings in retirement income products.To date, we have awar-ded 37 triple e ratings, 32 double ratings and 54 single e-commerce ratings, conducting research across a wide range of product areas from protection to wraps, group ...

  • Standard sets up pension portal

    29 Sep 2005

    Standard Life has launched grouppensionzone, an online portal to service employer pension schemes. Advisers can change client payment amounts, sign up new members and administer changes to existing members' details.

  • Standard starts legal move over attempted 40k theft

    29 Sep 2005

    Standard Life is set to start legal proceedings against a former employee, with the firm alleging that there was an attempt to steal thousands of pounds from the firm.The company is alleging that the unnamed ex-staff member tried to move around 40,000 worth of commission into a personal account.It is understood that the alleged attempt was picked up by Standard's compliance team. Closed court proceedings are about to start.A spokesman for Standard Life says: "It is not Standard ...

  • Sub standards

    29 Sep 2005

    The FSA found a mixed picture on sub-prime mortgage compliance. What more needs to be done by providers, advisers and the regulator to ensure a fair and safe playing field?

  • SVM pair open second boutique for Britannic

    29 Sep 2005

    Britannic Asset Management is setting up an Edinburgh-based UK boutique in a joint venture with former SVM managers David Stevenson and Andrew Kelly.Stevenson and Kelly, who ran SVM's UK opportunities fund and Saltire hedge fund respectively, approached Britannic sales and marketing director Jonathan Polin following the firm's deal with former Neptune managers Barry Norris and Oliver Russ, who now run its Argonaut European boutique.The venture will be a 50-50 partnership between ...

  • Take your partners

    29 Sep 2005

    E-commerce is increasingly causing significant changes in the ways that many financial advisers run their businesses. More and more services are now being launched that actually deliver on the promised potential of technology for our industry. Consequently, it is becoming increasingly important for advisers to understand those providers which are delivering the best technology solutions in different product areas.The e-Excellence ratings process is specifically designed to meet ...

  • 'Tele-underwriting will take over from GP reports'

    29 Sep 2005

    Legal & General senior operations manager Stuart Johnson believes that general practitioner reports could become a thing of the past as tele-underwriting becomes more widespread in the protection industry.Protection experts at a Money Marketing round table last week agreed that 70 per cent of GPRs do not change underwriting dec- isions and that advances in tele-underwriting could make them unnecessary in most cases.Johnson suggested that a separate declaration from a GP could ...

  • Terminal decline of with-profits

    29 Sep 2005

    On September 1, we requested a fund value on a client's Standard Life pension plan. On September 16, we phoned to check another detail on the same plan and found that the fund had gone down by 9 per cent. The reason, we were told, was terminal bonuses had been reduced and so our client's fund was 9 per cent lower than a fortnight previously. I do understand the general reasons for this and the fact that, as each year goes by, we lose the benefit of a good investment year from ...

  • The missing linctus

    29 Sep 2005

    As many column inches have been written about sickness absence in UK businesses as solutions have been offered to the problem. As many companies offer bonuses for good attendance as deduct pay for the first few days of absence.

  • The Mortgage Works - Three Year Fixed Buy-To-Let

    28 Sep 2005

    The Mortgage WorksThree Year Fixed Buy-To-Let

  • The need for knowledge

    29 Sep 2005

    In today's age of technology, there is a vast amount of information available to clients on the worldwide web. If the general consumer needs to get information on any financial product or service, they can do so at the touch of a button.This has in turn meant that access to financial products and information has expanded at a rapid pace, giving investors the opportunity to lay their hands on a wealth of information as well as enabling them to buy the majority of products online.For ...

  • The onset of offset

    29 Sep 2005

    Offset mortgage business is growing but there is uncertainty among many people in the industry over who these products are suitable for.

  • Trustees could be liable for lost compensation

    29 Sep 2005

    Pension trustees could be held personally liable for hundreds of millions of pounds in lost compensation payouts if they fail to sign up to shareholder class actions, legal experts warn.Irwin Mitchell partner Alan Owens says around $5bn in compensation was paid out from shareholder actions against firms found guilty of fraud last year in the US but UK investors regularly miss out on their share because of a lack of trustee knowledge.The US authorities regularly publish notices ...

  • Vanity fair

    29 Sep 2005

    Treating Customers Fairly - is it a catchphrase or a reality with providers? IFAs have no choice but to treat customers fairly if we want any sort of long-term relationship. The client has to believe we are treating them fairly and operating in their best interests. But I do not get the same feeling from providers over whether they care about long-term relationships with their customers and certainly it looks as if some pay lip-service to treating customers fairly while in reality doing ...

  • VCT to buy into buyouts

    29 Sep 2005

    Arch Financial Planning managing director Arthur Childs predicts this will be a bumper year for VCTs as 40 per cent income tax relief is expected to end in April 2006."This is one of a number of offers that I would expect to see oversubscribed. Matrix has a team of eight experienced managers specialising in private equity investment, which is one of the largest teams in this field," he says.Looking at the useful features, Childs highlights the structuring of up to 70 per cent ...

  • Where there's a will, there's business potential

    29 Sep 2005

    Just Wills is setting up a new business development scheme for advisers looking to integrate will-writing and estate planning.For wills with a recommended retail price of 565, the firm claims that IFAs could potentially earn an extra 102,000 a year by writing 20 wills a month.Just Wills says minimum gross profits of 75 per cent can be earned for each will written, which it says can serve as a door-opener, a business consolidator, a lead generator or a straight revenue generator.Managing ...

  • Woolwich Plan Managers - Accelerated Growth Plan - Issue 8

    3 Oct 2005

    Woolwich Plan ManagersAccelerated Growth Plan - Issue 8

  • Woolwich Plan Managers - Capital Plus Plan 9

    30 Sep 2005

    Woolwich Plan ManagersCapital Plus Plan 9

  • Woolworths boss joins Royal London board

    29 Sep 2005

    Woolworths chief executive Trevor Bish-Jones has joined the board of Royal London as a non-executive director.Bish-Jones has been in charge at Woolworths since 2002 and was formerly a director at retail group Dixons.

  • Yule tide

    29 Sep 2005

    Those Lanson girls really are eager.Ex-Money Marketing hack now at the Daily Mail James Coney got a pleasant call from a Lansonette with a press release which she described as being "really relevant at the moment".Was it on the subject of the party political conferences taking place over the next few weeks, the first anniversary of mortgage regulation or even Halloween?No, it was about Christmas finances. Oh, well, it is Christmas every day at Lansons, the Diary would guess.

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