Money Marketing
29 August 2007

  • Lutine now accepts applications online

    30 Aug 2007

    Lutine is now able to accept life insurance applications online at www.lutine.com or through the Exchange quotation platform.

  • 41 per cent of borrowers feel 'extremely worried' about rate rises says IF

    29 Aug 2007

    New ICM research commissioned by Intelligent Finance has found that 41 per cent of borrowers feel ‘extremely worried’ in anticipation of the Bank of England’s decision.

  • 7Ci launches "high yield, no risk" investment vehicles

    29 Aug 2007

    Seven Continent Investment has launched three property investment vehicles that it claims are high yield with no risk.

  • A law unto itself

    30 Aug 2007

    I would like to pose a question or two for the regulator and for the regulated. How far should a regulator be able to change things simply to make its life easier?

  • A Shaw thing

    30 Aug 2007

    Sam Shaw is a reporter on Money MarketingI was recently invited to share the green (?) carpet with the likes of Julia Stiles, Paul Greengrass and, yep, you guessed it, Matt Damon (insert Team America gag here, if you like), at the Leicester Square premiere of The Bourne Ultimatum. My colleague Nicola and I were wondering why we looked slightly less glam than those around us, having been told in advance that the dress code was 'smart casual'. It was only when we had ...

  • A small question

    30 Aug 2007

    Having just caught up with my backlog of issues of Money Marketing, something worries me. Aifa's taskforce seems to have a membership with a preponderance of network bosses and similar.

  • A switch in time

    30 Aug 2007

    From my point of view, wraps are a necessity, both for me as an IFA and also as a consumer. Quite simply, they allow complete control.

  • Aberdeen buys Glasgow Investment Managers

    30 Aug 2007

    Aberdeen Asset Management has bought Glasgow Investment Managers for £8.95m, with the investment team led by Iain Lynn joining the Aberdeen Group.

  • ABI proposes abolishing exemption allowing insurers to differentiate based on sexual orientation

    30 Aug 2007

    The Association of British Insurers has proposed abolishing the existing exemption which allows insurers to differentiate based on sexual orientation.

  • ABI publishes new guidelines for online and telephone protection sales

    29 Aug 2007

    The Association of British Insurers has published new guidelines to improve clarity for consumers buying protection insurance online or over the telephone.

  • Advisers rate fund prices top online tool

    30 Aug 2007

    Fund prices and performance statistics are the online tools which are most valued by advisers who use financial websites, according to a Trustnet survey.

  • Africa is lion king for investment prospects

    30 Aug 2007

    StanLib is setting up South African equity and regional African funds and claims that the investment outlook for the continent has never been stronger.

  • Aifa highlights gap between chartered and certified status

    30 Aug 2007

    Aifa has criticised the retail distribution review for failing to recognise the gap in standards between certified financial planner and chartered financial planner status.

  • Aifa questions if mandatory qualifications will pass EU test

    30 Aug 2007

    Aifa is questioning whether retail distribution review proposals for mandatory higher qualifications will get past the European Commission and is warning they could create an anti-competitive market.

  • AIFA says FSA is right to press on with FSCS reform

    30 Aug 2007

    The Association of Independent Financial Advisers has welcomed the FSA's decision to press ahead with the proposed reform of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

  • Alcohol-induced obesity inflates protection rates

    30 Aug 2007

    People who drink their way to obesity face increases of up to 75 per cent in protection premiums, warns Standard Life.

  • Alliance & Leicester 'open' over US sub-prime exposure

    4 Sep 2007

    Alliance & Leicester has made an update on the London Stock Exchange in a bid to calm investors’ fears over its exposure to the US sub-prime crisis.

  • Altmann says trustees need to diversify from equities

    30 Aug 2007

    Pension consultant Ros Altmann says pension scheme trustees do not have enough experience of investing and have not received the right advice on where to invest.

  • And then there were four

    3 Sep 2007

    Ernst & Young's insurance sector leader Shaun Crawford looks at how the RDR could fragment the IFA business.

  • Arc Fund Management holdings buys Throgmorton

    4 Sep 2007

    Arc Fund Management has purchased independent financial advisory firm Throgmorton Asset Management in a potential £1.605m deal.

  • ASA challenges Churchill over renewal claim

    30 Aug 2007

    Churchill Insurance has been rapped by the Advertising Standards Authority for making misleading claims in its Challenge Churchill campaign.

  • Asset managers to host UK-wide seminar

    31 Aug 2007

    Threadneedle, Thames River Capital, UBS Global Asset Management, Old Mutual Asset Managers and BlackRock Merrill Lynch Investment Managers are hosting Fund Solutions Seminars around the UK in September.

  • Atkins to leave Premier Mortgage

    30 Aug 2007

    Premier Mortgage service head Steve Atkins has resigned. He joined PMS a year ago as part of a succession plan for managing director John Malone and says he plans to take some time out to rethink his career.

  • August sees house prices at standstill

    30 Aug 2007

    House price growth has slowed to the lowest rate since November 2005, according to Hometrack.

  • B&CE appoints head of sales and marketing

    29 Aug 2007

    B&CE Benefit Schemes has appointed former Unum Provident marketing director Eugene McCormack as its first head of sales and marketing.

  • Barbarians retreat

    30 Aug 2007

    As the unfortunate populations of Jamaica and Belize will attest, weather storms cause far more immediate physical damage than financial ones. However, as we will identify over the next few weeks, financial storms do also cause considerable losses but their effect and impact may not be so obvious. Rumour, hearsay and tittle-tattle is flying around about which banks and hedge funds have been hit hardest.

  • Barclays receives second emergency loan from Bank of England

    31 Aug 2007

    Barclays has had to get an emergency loan from the Bank of England for the second time this month. The bank confirmed that it had borrowed £1.6bn from the BoE this week due to a ‘technical breakdown’ in its UK clearing system.

  • Barclays revamping its protected investments

    30 Aug 2007

    Barclays is revamping its range of protected investment plans and will next month launch a suite of core products designed to maximise returns in flat or low-return market conditions.

  • BDMs could be unsettled in securitisation crisis

    30 Aug 2007

    Top business development managers at mortgage securitisation lenders will be "sitting targets" for balance-sheet lenders if the current market conditions continue, says John Charcol senior technical manager Ray Boulger.

  • 'Be transparent on sub-prime exposure'

    30 Aug 2007

    Alliance & Leicester head of specialist lending Jeremy Claridge says lenders must be more open about their exposure to the US sub-prime crisis.

  • Bolton rides out the storm

    30 Aug 2007

    Fidelity's flagship UK special situations fund has weathered the market storm well and is in third position in its sector since the volatility began.

  • Boost for holiday homeowners as France triples IHT threshold

    30 Aug 2007

    British citizens who own holiday homes in France are set to benefit from legislation that raises the inheritance tax threshold by 300 per cent.

  • Borrowers back banks over IFAs

    30 Aug 2007

    The majority of sub-prime borrowers would rather approach their bank than go to a mortgage adviser, according to research by Edeus.

  • Broker talkback

    30 Aug 2007

    Is the Conservatives' economic competitiveness report right to call for the scrapping of inheritance tax?

  • Buckles may track Snowdonia

    30 Aug 2007

    Buckles is considering launching a range of structured products to track the same benchmarks as its multi-manager Snowdonia Oeic range.

  • 'Carer was told to misstate pay'

    30 Aug 2007

    A court spared a low-income worker from jail last week after accepting evidence that mortgage brokers had advised her to misstate her income on her homeloan application.

  • Cheltenham & Gloucester ups sub-prime rates by 1 per cent

    30 Aug 2007

    C&G has announced that it will be increasing rates on all of its Assist and Access fixed and tracker products by 1 per cent from today.Current products were withdrawn from close of business yesterday.The lender says it is still paying a 0.65 per cent proc fee on assist cases.A spokeswoman says that it is business as usual for C&G. "Other lenders have made the changes so we're following suit."

  • Close adds to property team

    30 Aug 2007

    Close Investments has bolstered its property team with Maria Grubmeuller joining as head of research.

  • Cofunds not trying to put new guise on commission

    30 Aug 2007

    I am writing in response to Peter Hargreaves' article recently about our intention to offer a choice of commission and/or fees.

  • Colin Snowdon

    30 Aug 2007

    On the crest of a Wave, having successfully steered his third lender start-up out of the docks, this captain of the mortgage industry is confident that he can chart the choppy waters ahead and ride out a possible credit storm. By Will Henley

  • Commerce Centre signs up two more partners

    30 Aug 2007

    The Commerce Centre has set up strategic partnerships with Affirmative Finance and Crystal Software.

  • Complex policies blamed for slump in IP sales

    30 Aug 2007

    Income protection needs a complete overhaul to reverse falling sales, says Defaqto.

  • 'Consumerism will boost EMEA region'

    30 Aug 2007

    Investment opportunities in emerging Europe, the Middle East and Africa will increase as the region develops, says Fidelity International.

  • Critical danger in non-disclosure cash cases

    30 Aug 2007

    Insurers paying a proportion of a critical-illness insurance claim in a case where a policyholder has not disclosed information could risk exposing themselves to compensation cases, warns Standard Life protection marketing manager Mick James.

  • Deals point new way for pension buyouts

    30 Aug 2007

    Watson Wyatt believes many companies will be able to remove their pension liabilities from their balance sheets at a lower cost than would be required by a fully authorised insurance company.

  • Death of former Standard Life chief Scott Bell

    30 Aug 2007

    Former Standard Life managing director Scott Bell died last week, aged 65.

  • Defaqto expands Aequos as whole service goes online

    30 Aug 2007

    Defaqto has enhanced its Aequos database products and made them completely accessible online.

  • Ecology Building Society to pay introducer fees

    3 Sep 2007

    Ecology Building Society has announced that it will pay introducer fees on all introduced new residential mortgage business with immediate effect.

  • EConveyancer adds West Brom Building Society to online system

    4 Sep 2007

    eConveyancer has added West Brom Building Society to its online system.

  • Education role for Police Mutual

    30 Aug 2007

    Police Mutual Assurance Society has teamed up with the FSA to offer its own financial capability education and material to the police force rather than using the FSA's pool of volunteer presenters.

  • Emerging winners

    30 Aug 2007

    Funds such as Jupiter emerging Europe have held up well amid the chaos

  • Ethical funds outperform non ethical counterparts

    30 Aug 2007

    The average ethical fund has posted growth of 18.3 per cent compared with 13.7 per cent growth from the average non-ethical fund, according to Investment, Life & Pensions Moneyfacts.

  • ExCo replaces cash deposits with exchange bonds

    4 Sep 2007

    Investors in on- and offshore property are now able to replace cash deposits with an exchange bond, through the London-based Exchange Insurance Company.

  • F&C launches a diversified growth fund

    30 Aug 2007

    F&C is launching a diversified growth fund which it says aims to address the lack of portfolio diversification across pension schemes.

  • Fair comment

    30 Aug 2007

    96% of IFAs say the Government should abide by TCF on personal accounts

  • Fed needs to act quickly to avoid recession, says Global Strategy

    30 Aug 2007

    The longer the Federal Reserve waits to act decisively on interest rate levels, the greater the risk that the economy will enter a policy-induced recession, warns Global Strategy.

  • Fed unlikely to cut interest rate, according to Blue Planet

    3 Sep 2007

    Blue Planet Investment Management is warning that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to cut interest rates in September, leading to a sharp fall in the markets this month.

  • First Actuarial wants transfer value rethink

    30 Aug 2007

    First Actuarial has called for the Government to look again at its draft regulations on the calculation of transfer values from final-salary pension schemes.

  • First State ups fees on two of its funds

    30 Aug 2007

    First State has been criticised over plans to raise charges on two high profile funs.

  • Ford quits Royal Liver for Zurich

    30 Aug 2007

    Royal Liver chief actuary David Ford is leaving to become senior life actuary at Zurich. Ford, who has been at Royal Liver for 12 years, will continue in his current role until the end of the year.

  • Former Northern Rock FD joins JO Hambro

    31 Aug 2007

    Former Northern Rock finance director Bob Bennett has joined JO Hambro Capital Management Group as its first independent non-executive director.

  • FSA bans Liverpool IFA

    30 Aug 2007

    The Financial Services Authority has stopped Michael Sheron from carrying out regulated activities after finding that he was not fit and proper to oversee or manage a business.

  • FSA fines Select Mortgage Services

    3 Sep 2007

    The FSA has fined Select Mortgage Services £10,500 for poor financial promotions, inadequate sales processes and inappropriate systems and controls to manage its business.

  • FSA introduces industry guidance

    4 Sep 2007

    The FSA’s new framework for recognising industry guidance came into effect today in a further step towards principles-based regulation.

  • FSA sticks the boot in

    30 Aug 2007

    Like Ned Cazalet and doubtless many others, I have been concerned about the possible return of MVRs on with-profits funds in the wake of the recent turbulence in world stock-markets, not to mention the untoward effects on bond valuations of a series of increases in the Bank of England base rate.

  • Get into third gear

    30 Aug 2007

    Douglas Grant, head of business, actuarial, at Aegon Scottish Equitable, details the attractions of a third way for funding retirement income

  • Give and take

    30 Aug 2007

    One of the changes under the new Chancellor has been to announce the bringing forward of the pre-Budget report to October. In the last few years, it has been in early December.

  • GMAC-RFC confirms it is not changing sub-prime lending criteria

    30 Aug 2007

    GMAC-RFC says it will not be reducing its maximum LTV to 75 per cent for packagers and will not be putting up its rates imminently.

  • GMAC-RFC loses Barry Searle as it makes new senior appointments

    4 Sep 2007

    GMAC-RFC has confirmed that its managing director of operations Barry Searle has left the lender.

  • GMAC-RFC sells £1.1bn portfolio to Bradford and Bingley

    31 Aug 2007

    GMAC-RFC has made its fifth transaction in 2007 with the sale of a £1.1bn portfolio to Bradford and Bingley.

  • Half of advisers want more innovative solutions, says Lincoln Financial Group

    3 Sep 2007

    A poll by Lincoln Financial Group shows 50 per cent of financial advisers want to see more innovative solutions launched into the retirement income market.

  • Healthy lifestyle?

    30 Aug 2007

    Longer working lives and greater awarness of the need to use equities to boost returns on pension funds may mean that time is running out for lifestyling options, reports Will Henley

  • Helpline widens internet links for specialist cover

    30 Aug 2007

    The Insurance Helpline, a specialist broker which finds life cover for clients with medical conditions, has added links on its website to PMI and travel insurance brokers which also specialise in this area.

  • Herbert in benefit move to Origen

    30 Aug 2007

    Steve Herbert is joining Origen's corporate pensions team as a senior benefits education consultant from Truestone Employee Benefits.

  • HL reveals revenue hike

    3 Sep 2007

    Hargreaves Lansdown has announced a 34 per cent revenue increase over the past 12 months as the group revealed its first annual results as a listed company.

  • Identity parade

    30 Aug 2007

    Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing forms of crime. Most IFAs probably think of it as a risk that big financial institutions rather than advice firms need to address but advisers have a wealth of personal and financial information about clients.

  • IMLA members predict easing of high risk business volumes

    29 Aug 2007

    IMLA has found that intermediary lenders expect to see an easing of business volumes in the higher risk categories of lending, while lower risk mortgage business will continue to grow.

  • Increase in female resignations in pensions sector

    4 Sep 2007

    More women resigned from the pension sector in 2006 than the previous year according to the Chartered Management Institute and Remuneration Economics.

  • 'Inform savers when high headline rates end'

    30 Aug 2007

    Nationwide is calling for changes to the banking code to ensure that savers are informed when introductory deals come to an end.

  • Initial charge discount from Credit Suisse

    4 Sep 2007

    Credit Suisse has announced a full initial charge discount on investments into its new multi asset distribution fund, launched on Monday this week.

  • Insight receives ‘A’ rating for European small-cap portfolio

    31 Aug 2007

    The Insight Investment European small cap fund has received an ‘A’ rating by Standard & Poor’s Fund Services.

  • Investec to continue providing funding to Unity Homeloans

    4 Sep 2007

    Unity Homeloans will continue to be funded by Investec when it relaunches it sub-prime product range.

  • Is real-time pricing around the corner?

    4 Sep 2007

    Association of British Insurers head of protection Nick Kirwan believes it is. He says the protection industry, which has recently been repricing at a feverish rate, will skip daily pricing moving straight to real-time, interactive pricing.

  • Isa business hit by market gyrations

    30 Aug 2007

    UK all companies was the top-selling retail fund sector in July. Market volatility hit inflows, with Isa sales dropping to £90m, 17 per cent down on than June and down by 28 per cent from July 2006.

  • James Hay warns of inappropriate Sipp investments

    4 Sep 2007

    James Hay is warning of the rise of “off the page” Sipps, expressing fears that people who don’t need Sipps are taking them out as a result of aggressive marketing.

  • Jim Reeve appointed as new Positive Solutions chief executive

    4 Sep 2007

    Positive Solutions has confirmed that former Barclays Financial Planning managing director Jim Reeve has been appointed the company’s new chief executive.

  • July's house price growth lowest since June 2006

    29 Aug 2007

    House prices in England and Wales increased by 0.1 per cent in July, the lowest rate of growth since June 2006 according to the Land Registry's monthly House Price Index.

  • Kensington and Chelsea through 100k level

    30 Aug 2007

    The London borough of Kensington and Chelsea is the first area in the UK to break through the 100,000 level for average household earnings, according to Barclays' latest wealth survey.

  • Kensington to re-price and tighten criteria on adverse range next week

    31 Aug 2007

    Kensington has confirmed it will be re-pricing and changing its criteria for its adverse range but will announce the exact details next week.

  • Keydata boosts structured plan terms

    30 Aug 2007

    Keydata has revamped its dynamic growth plan and the product now offers 12 times the return of the FTSE 100 capped at 72 per cent.

  • Kirwan backs real-time move

    30 Aug 2007

    Life companies will bypass daily pricing in favour of real-time pricing, says Association of British Insurers head of protection Nick Kirwan.

  • L&G and Hargreaves Lansdown team up for postcode pilot

    31 Aug 2007

    Pensioners' income in retirement could be calculated according to where they live if a pilot study launched by Legal & General and Hargreaves Lansdown proves successful.

  • L'Anson heads for Beacon

    30 Aug 2007

    Acting head of sales Shaun l'Anson has left Preferred Mortgages to join Beacon Group as head of lending.

  • Lightening the load

    30 Aug 2007

    Raising the threshold on chargeable lifetime transfers significantly reduces advisers' IHT compliance burden

  • Market volatility no threat to short term house prices, says Nationwide

    30 Aug 2007

    Nationwide claims it’s not market volatility that is likely to affect UK house prices in the short term, but rather weaker affordability, higher interest rates and inflation and lower house price expectations.

  • Market weakness hits securitisation deals

    30 Aug 2007

    Lehman Brothers has had to massively reprice its latest securitisation deal after failing to find buyers for the offering at its original price, Money Marketing understands.

  • McGrath waits on global mega-cap move

    30 Aug 2007

    Miton Optimal's plans to gain exposure to a global mega-cap fund in its multi-asset portfolio have been put on ice as manager Tom McGrath is waiting to see an upward trend in the markets.

  • Mispricing landed IFAs with bigger bill

    30 Aug 2007

    The "Lautro 12" endowment mispricing debacle has resulted in many IFAs paying out too much compensation for mortgage endowment complaints, raising the possibility of financial redress for advisers, according to legal experts.

  • Money Marketing editor John Lappin on the pensions campaign that wasn’t.

    4 Sep 2007

    Four or five years ago Money Marketing had, frankly, got rather tired of being in permanent opposition.

  • Mortgages PLC announces further lending criteria changes

    31 Aug 2007

    Mortgages PLC has made further changes to its criteria after announcing initial changes earlier this week.

  • Murphy takes reins as Lis quits retail sector

    30 Aug 2007

    Morley fund manager Chris Murphy has taken over the Norwich Union UK growth fund from David Lis, who is giving up running retail money.

  • Naked again at conference

    30 Aug 2007

    The Pensions Action Group is organising a "Stripped of our Pensions" demonstration for the fifth consecutive year at the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth on September 25. Pensioners who lost money following the collapse of their company pension schemes will demonstrate naked outside the conference.

  • New Star fund tops 300m in a quarter

    30 Aug 2007

    The New Star international property fund has now exceeded 300m in assets under management in under three months. The company says the fund, which raised 206m at launch, is the first fund of its kind to offer UK retail investors access to international direct commercial property.

  • No guarantees of US interest rate cuts, says JPMorgan

    4 Sep 2007

    The US Federal Reserve’s actions to inject liquidity and cut the discount rate were intended to alleviate the money market, but it does not necessarily mean that the Fed will cut interest rates, according to JPMorgan Asset Management.

  • One month is target to get new lines to marketplace

    30 Aug 2007

    Software supplier Exaxe has warned pension providers they could lose the edge over their competitors if they do not bring new products to market within the timeframe of a month.

  • One-fifth of adults face future with no long-term savings

    29 Aug 2007

    Aegon says millions of adults have a rose-tinted view of their financial future, with nearly one-fifth claiming not to have any long-term savings or a pension.

  • Open up on market

    30 Aug 2007

    The fallout from the US sub-prime market is still causing jitters across stockmarkets but mortgage IFAs and brokers want to know what it means for them and their clients.

  • Out of context

    30 Aug 2007

    "Fatboy Slim is the tracker fund of superstar DJs."

  • Over the hedge

    30 Aug 2007

    The apparent catalyst for the current turmoil in the capital markets was the announcement on July 8 by BNP Paribas that it was suspending redemptions on three hedge funds with a combined value of about £1.1bn because it could not properly value their holdings of mortgage-backed securities.

  • Pension deficits improve despite market falls

    3 Sep 2007

    Pension scheme deficits have improved during August despite the market volatility over recent weeks according to Aon Consulting.

  • Pension peril

    30 Aug 2007

    Nicola York reports on fears about the RDR's effect on pensions

  • Platform hikes sub-prime rates by 1 per cent and tightens criteria

    30 Aug 2007

    Platform has confirmed it will be increasing its non-conforming range by 1 per cent with maximum loan to values lowered to 90 per cent from 95 per cent.

  • Platforms unite to allow bulk reregistration of assets

    3 Sep 2007

    Leading platform providers will allow advisers to bulk reregister in specie transfers between platforms from as early as 2008.

  • Police swoop in mortgage fraud

    30 Aug 2007

    Eleven arrests have been made as part of an investigation into mortgage fraud involving 84 newbuild properties in Thamesmead. Alliance & Leicester, Platform and Rooftop have been affected by the case and are helping the police with the investigation.

  • Premier MBO goes ahead

    30 Aug 2007

    Senior managers at Premier Asset Management have pushed through their proposed management buyout at the second attempt.

  • President Bush offers measures to help US sub-prime homeowners

    3 Sep 2007

    US president George Bush announced a range of measures last week in a bid to help American homeowners meet mortgage payments following the recent US sub-prime crash.

  • Price divas in with business website for women

    30 Aug 2007

    Fiona Price is returning to the market with the launch of Diva-Biz, a mentoring and leadership forum for professional women.

  • Private Health Partnership acquires Home Countries Healthcare

    4 Sep 2007

    The Private Health Partnership has acquired the medical insurance portfolio of Home Counties Healthcare.

  • Protection plateau

    30 Aug 2007

    The Association of British Insurers' first-half sales figures show protection sales at a standstill.

  • PruHealth ties-up with Sainsbury's to give Vitality points to healthy eaters

    3 Sep 2007

    PruHealth will now reward its PMI customers for buying fresh fruit and vegetables at Sainsbury’s under a new deal with the supermarket chain.Policyholders who give PruHealth their Nectar card number can now earn PruHealth Vitality points from Sainsbury’s stores or online.

  • PSigma looks to Abate to widen boutique expertise

    30 Aug 2007

    PSigma is to launch a US large-cap growth fund after announcing the appointment of former Credit Suisse stalwart James Abate.

  • Pursuit of happiness

    30 Aug 2007

    India's economy is growing but it must follow a genuinely sustainable path that other countries can follow

  • Quality street

    30 Aug 2007

    Last week, I returned to the airwaves for the first time in some months. The subject matter seemed particularly apposite, given the state of markets. How should investors go about buying shares was the question posed to me. Inevitably, it led into whether private individuals ought to buy shares direct and what was my opinion of the wild gyrations in the market at present.

  • RBSIP appoints new head of sales for The One Account

    31 Aug 2007

    Royal Bank of Scotland Intermediary Partners has recruited Melanie Buckingham to head up sales for The One Account from September 3.

  • 'RDR could wipe out workplace pensions'

    30 Aug 2007

    The current retail distribution review proposals would leave no advisers left to service workplace pensions, warn leading pension commentators.

  • RDR feedback statement to be published middle of next year

    4 Sep 2007

    The Retail Distribution Review feedback statement will not be published until the second quarter of next year, the FSA said today.

  • Reid to be PFS president

    30 Aug 2007

    Robert Reid is to take over from Carole Nicholls as president of the Personal Finance Society in November.

  • Remortgaging bolsters lending

    30 Aug 2007

    July's gross mortgage lending reached £21.3bn, 12 per cent higher than the same time last year according to the British Bankers' Association. The BBA says the strength of lending figure reflects higher levels of remortgaging activity.

  • Richard Farr appointed director of AMI

    31 Aug 2007

    The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries has appointed former Portman head of marketing communications Richard Farr as its new director.

  • Royal Liver hits out at ABI online and telephone protection guidance

    30 Aug 2007

    Progress from Royal Liver has hit out at the Association of British Insurers' guidance for online and telephone protection business, particularly for not addressing the issue of wet signatures.

  • Royal Liver to launch multi-manager range

    3 Sep 2007

    Royal Liver has announced it will launch a range of multi-manager investment funds in early 2008 as part of its modernisation strategy.

  • Sectors' house needs clean-up

    30 Aug 2007

    With talk of the Investment Management Association creating new sectors to house the latest trend of total return funds comes the inevitable criticism of existing sectors and the funds listed within them.

  • Sesame wants FSA to help small firms with compliance

    30 Aug 2007

    Sesame believes small firms need more guidance about what the FSA requires as scrutiny of their compliance standards increases.

  • Sidestepping the point

    30 Aug 2007

    Robert Reid has simply tried to sidestep the point that Malcolm Murray was making.

  • Sir Anthony Holland reappointed as complaints commissioner

    3 Sep 2007

    Sir Anthony Holland has been reappointed as the independent complaints commissioner for the FSA for a second term, beginning on 3 September.

  • Skandia sticks by emerging launch

    30 Aug 2007

    Skandia Investment Management says the timing of the launch of its global emerging markets fund of funds is right despite the recent market volatility caused by the credit crunch.

  • Stakeholder provider calls for wider auto-enrolment

    30 Aug 2007

    B&CE is lobbying the Department for Work and Pensions to widen the scope of auto-enrolment following the introduction of personal accounts in 2012 to ensure a level playing field for existing workplace schemes.

  • Standard & Poor's president quits amid criticism over sub-prime crisis

    3 Sep 2007

    Standard & Poor's president Kathleen Corbet has quit with immediate effect “to pursue other opportunities” following the recent criticism of ratings agencies for failing to see the sub-prime mortgage crisis coming.

  • Standard Life to restructure private equity business

    29 Aug 2007

    Standard Life has announced its private equity investment management business will be restructured as a limited liability partnership, SL Capital Partners LLP.

  • Standard Life UK ups gross EEV operating profit by 70%

    4 Sep 2007

    Standard Life's life and pensions EEV gross operating profit in the UK increased by 70 per cent to £252m in the first half of 2007, up from £148m in the same period in 2006.

  • Star treatment

    30 Aug 2007

    David "Martin Clunes" Stewart from the Abbey press team (no, not from Eurythmics and, no, I never tire of that joke) got more than he bargained for when his esteemed colleagues in the press office mocked up a birthday card for him from the Dark Side no less. And a birthday belated happy we wish you (in my best Yoda voice).

  • STOXX launches Dow Jones Private Equity 20 Index

    4 Sep 2007

    STOXX Limited has launched the Dow Jones STOXX Private Equity 20 Index, which tracks the performance of the 20 largest private equity companies in Europe.

  • Strategic withdrawal

    30 Aug 2007

    Is it good tactics for a client to make an early exit from a pension fund?

  • Strong sales growth for Q2 business

    30 Aug 2007

    Life and pension business rose by 10 per cent in the second quarter of this year, according to figures from the Association of British Insurers.

  • Sub-prime shutters are coming down

    30 Aug 2007

    Tanya Powley looks at the sub-prime crisis unravelling in the US, with more firms joining the fallout and asks how UK firms will be affected

  • 'Suitability could be sticking point with primary advice'

    30 Aug 2007

    Aifa has questioned whether the Financial Ombudsman Service will be able to endorse primary advice when there is no clarity over who is responsible for product suitability.

  • SVM says bull market may not be over

    29 Aug 2007

    SVM claims that the recent market volatility may not signal the end of the bull market, saying that the crisis so far is a question of liquidity not solvency.

  • Take stock

    30 Aug 2007

    The FTSE 100 index fell by over 200 points on July 26, its biggest fall in five years, and with the stockmarket highly volatile ever since, the cautious and the elderly should consider guaranteed equity bonds.

  • Tech-based loan broker Citri offers a network alternative

    30 Aug 2007

    A technology-based mortgage broking firm has been set up in partnership with The Mortgage Times.

  • Terms of confustion

    30 Aug 2007

    Aifa's RDR paper on adviser segmentation raises many important questions over the FSA's plans that the regulator needs to provide full answers to before going ahead.

  • Thames reach

    30 Aug 2007

    Robert Burdett and Gary Potter began as co-heads of multi-manager at Thames River last week. The former Credit Suisse pair will soft-launch five funds in September before the portfolios go fully live in October. Here, joined by investment director Mike Warren, they talk to Chris Salih about why they joined Thames River and what their plans are

  • The best intentions

    30 Aug 2007

    Tinkering with distribution will not remove the need for public education

  • The fortune cookie

    30 Aug 2007

    Melchior is beginning to make a real name for itself but for many investors it will already be too late as it is limiting the amount of money going into its funds. This is an increasingly common practice so intermediaries really need to do their homework and assess funds like this in the early days. If you wait for a threeyear track record, you can easily get frozen out.

  • The GMAC-RFC dilemma: to tighten or not to tighten

    31 Aug 2007

    I am considering taking bets on how many times I will be writing my blog on the current liquidity crisis following the continued fallout from the US sub-prime crash.

  • The good, the bad and the Police

    3 Sep 2007

    It was a mixed bag last week in the world of regulation. Aifa welcomed the FSA's decision to press ahead with the proposed reform of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

  • The heir apparent

    30 Aug 2007

    What new inheritance tax proposals could mean for financial services

  • The lives of others

    30 Aug 2007

    A consultation on life insurance law has revealed concerns over restrictions on taking out cover

  • The trend is nigh

    30 Aug 2007

    As a teenager, I found myself working in an upmarket men's boutique to earn an income. Many of the lessons learned there in terms of treating customers fairly still hold good in my present role. Working in the boutique created an interest in clothes and being up to date but stopped at me becoming a slave to the latest fashion.

  • The wide reach of the RDR

    30 Aug 2007

    The Retail Distribution Review is far reaching as we all know but I did not expect it to be so far reaching as to infringe on my journey into work the other day.

  • Two new S&P indices for US and Europe

    30 Aug 2007

    Standard & Poor's Index Services has launched two new indices composed of the top stock picks of S&P's equity research analysts in America and Europe.

  • Two year-fixed rates drop below Bank of England base rate

    4 Sep 2007

    Up to one in ten of the most competitive two-year fixed rate deals are now below the Bank of England base rate with the return of 4.99 per cent mortgage offers, says mform.co.uk.

  • Two-thirds of consumers have never heard of wrap

    30 Aug 2007

    Almost two-thirds of consumers have never heard of wrap and many who believe that they do understand the term think it relates to tax or a folder for holding investments in, according to research by Hargreaves Lansdown

  • Upping the ante

    30 Aug 2007

    First State Investments has reignited the on-going debate over charges this week after the fund house announced proposals to raise the annual management charge on its £877m Asia Pacific and £183m Greater China growth portfolios from 1.5 to 1.75 per cent.

  • Warning over SSAS rent tax charges

    30 Aug 2007

    Rowanmoor Pensions is warning clients of potential tax charges on unpaid rent on properties held within SSASs where the property is let back to the company.

  • Webline pledges to spend £250,000 to boost service

    30 Aug 2007

    Webline has vowed to invest £250,000 to upgrade its service after holding a user forum to get feedback on how it can improve its offering.

  • Williams for HSBC professional role

    30 Aug 2007

    Piyali Williams has joined HSBC as head of professional business banking to lead the bank's development of its specialist offering for solicitors, barristers and accountants.

  • Zurich launches new mortgage protection products which combine life cover, critical illness and income protection

    3 Sep 2007

    Zurich has launched two new mortgage protection products designed to pay out in the event of death, critical illness or if the policyholder cannot carry out their own occupation.

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