Money Marketing
3 May 2006

  • 450 Firms breach pension rules

    4 May 2006

    The Pensions Regulator says the number of firms in breach of its rules reached 450 last year. In the medium term, it says it will continue to take a risk-based approach to regulating schemes.

  • Abbey gross lending reaches 7bn in Q1

    4 May 2006

    Abbey saw gross mortgage lending rise to 7bn for the first three months of 2006 from 4.9bn in the same period last year. It lent £8bn in the final quarter of 2005 and blames the fall on the seasonality of the market.

  • Aifa admits loan brokers

    4 May 2006

    Aifa's empire is set to expand further after it welcomed secured loan brokers into its fold.Aifa's sister organisation, the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries, has formed a strategic alliance with the Corporation of Finance Brokers that will see the latter dissolved and a new body, the Association of Finance Brokers, formed.Aifa has come under fire from some members for diluting its expertise and taking on what they say are "loan sharks".Aifa and AMI director general ...

  • Alternative thinking

    4 May 2006

    Increased life expectancy means that an annuity is not always the best policy

  • Andy Milburn

    4 May 2006

    Having started out as a DJ alongside Timmy Mallett and with the European Cup tattooed on his back, Royal Liver's IFA market manager is considered a maverick by some in the industry. But he is credited with transforming Royal Liver's image in the IFA market and building an online protection proposition, Progress, which is used by 10,000 advisers. Interview by Sam Shaw.

  • Arriva gets final-salary scheme back on the road

    4 May 2006

    Transport services operator Arriva has bucked pension trends by reopening its final-salary scheme for London-based employees.After almost a decade of campaigning by the Transport and General Workers Union, bus drivers working for Arriva London North & South can join the scheme.The NAPF says 57 per cent of all final-salary schemes have now been closed, up from 10 per cent in 1997.The Arriva scheme closed to new members in 1994 as London transport was transferred across to ...

  • Asda set for broker deal

    4 May 2006

    Mortgage brokers will be on alert after Asda revealed it could be on the lookout for a partner to sell homeloans.The news comes after the supermarket unveiled plans to set up an estate agency business, starting with a trial in the north-east later this year.It has yet to determine some of the finer details but insists it wants to provide the best possible housebuying service, which could include appointing a partner broker.The supermarket will also provide home information ...

  • ATS finalises Martin Currie transfer deal

    4 May 2006

    Alliance Trust Savings has finalised its transfer deal with investment manager Martin Currie. The deal will see 5,000 clients transferred as ATS takes over managing and administering Martin Currie investment trust plans, Isas and Peps.

  • B&W stays in middle of the road

    5 May 2006

    Bristol & WestIncome & Growth Guaranteed Equity Bond

  • Bamford fears tax-free cash could be scrapped

    4 May 2006

    The Government could scrap tax-free cash over concerns that people will rush to cash in their pensions to invest in second homes and other investments, warns Informed Choice managing director Nick Bamford.He says moves by the Government to rebrand tax-free cash as "pension commencement lump sums" could be a precursor to its abolition.Bamford says: "Why are they calling tax-free cash a pension commencement lump sum when taking the lump sum is not dependent on the pension commencing? ...

  • Betraying trust

    4 May 2006

    New rules governing inheritance tax for trusts are flawed and misleading

  • Boost to buy-to-let market from Bradford & Bingley

    9 May 2006

    Bradford & Bingley’s quarterly survey of UK landlords reveals a buoyant buy-to-let market.

  • Brown casts the heir net offshore

    4 May 2006

    Tax crackdown Simon Hildrey looks at how the Chancellor has extended his reach in the Budget

  • BSI to publish ISO guidance

    4 May 2006

    The British Standards Institute is expected to publish guidance later this week on how its international BS ISO 22222 personal financial planning standard is going to be implemented in the UK.

  • Budget surprise comes with gift rapping

    4 May 2006

    Over the last two weeks, I have been looking at the surprise attack on inheritance tax and trusts announced by the Chancellor in this year's Budget.

  • Call for equity-release deal to aid LTC funding

    4 May 2006

    A voluntary equity-release scheme for home-based care could help achieve fairer long-term care reform, says the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

  • Chelsea FC signs deal with Origen

    4 May 2006

    Origen has become Roman Abramovich's latest signing after league champions Chelsea Football Club agreed a deal with the IFA to offer its fans access to financial advice.Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon stressed independence was a key factor in its choice of adviser.Rivals Manchester United have a single-tie deal with Britannia Building Society for a mini cash Isa and balanced guaranteed bond while 10 football clubs also have link-ups with the mutual for "save and support" ...

  • Cheshire Building Society - Five Year Fixed Buy to Let

    5 May 2006

    Cheshire Building SocietyFive Year Fixed Buy to Let

  • 'Child trust funds at the heart of Govt strategy'

    4 May 2006

    Child trust funds have been a success and will form the heart of Government strategy for improving financial inclusion, says Treasury economic secretary Ivan Lewis.

  • Clerical Medical - Group Stakeholder, Group Personal Pension, Group AVC

    5 May 2006

    Clerical MedicalGroup Stakeholder, Group Personal Pension, Group AVC

  • Client relationships vital, says Crombie

    4 May 2006

    The life and pension industry faces real issues of credibility and trust, says Standard Life group chief executive Sandy Crombie.In a speech to City delegates outlining Standard's business model moving forward, Crombie said the industry must invest in long-term client relationships instead of spending so much time and money acquiring new customers.He referred to research by independent consultant Ned Cazalet which shows that the UK life and pension industry's earned premiums ...

  • Clients fail to get enhanced protection

    4 May 2006

    The Revenue confirms that it has had to reject nearly one-third of applications for enhanced protection. The main reasons have been because applicants have been an active member of a pension scheme after April 6 or are indicating that they have not surrendered their excess rights.

  • Correspondent's week

    4 May 2006

    This week by Metro UK personal finance editor Jayne Atherton

  • Coventry Building Society - 4.99% Flexx Capped Rate

    5 May 2006

    Coventry Building Society4.99% Flexx Capped Rate

  • Croque follies

    4 May 2006

    The old maxim goes: "You can the take the Brits out of Britain but you can't take the British out of the Brits," or something along those lines.At the Barings European fund managers' conference in France last week following an evening of not inexpensive dining at Ledoyen, one of the finest dining establish-ments in Paris, a throng of hacks, fund managers and Barings' finest retired to a local watering hole where the initial order was for 15 pints of lager and 15 croque monsieurs. ...

  • 'Cyber-underwriters' to give guidance on Royal Liver policies

    4 May 2006

    Royal Liver is developing a system that allows advisers to "speak" to a virtual underwriter through its extranet and pre-empt any secondary questions their clients are likely to face.The friendly society's underwriting team will be filmed giving explanations of questions that clients might have to answer when applying for life policies.The system is due to launch this summer and aims to give advisers a more comprehensive understanding of the application procedure.Royal Liver ...

  • Dampier brands Fidelity move 'a pig's ear of a mess'

    4 May 2006

    Hargreaves Lansdown head of research Mark Dampier has described Fidelity's proposals for the splitting of its £6.5bn special sits fund as a "pig's ear of a mess".Dampier has slammed Fid-elity for failing to name Bolton's eventual successor when he steps down at the end of 2007 and failing to reveal what the mandates of the two funds will be after the split.Fidelity has written to shareholders telling them they will get voter packs in mid-June providing a full timetable for the ...

  • Defaqto sets up search engine

    4 May 2006

    Defaqto is offering an IFA search engine which it claims will allow advisers real-time access to 5,300 products from more than 400 product providers.

  • 'EU proposals will let advisers escape FSA regulation'

    4 May 2006

    UK advisers could escape stringent FSA regulation by registering with other EU regulators under proposals being negotiated in Brussels.The European Commission and EU stakeholders are consulting on changes to a clause in the Insurance Mediation Directive designed to free up trade between member states.A firm currently has to be regulated in the state in which it conducts its business.Aifa director general Chris Cummings says the changes would allow firms to register with ...

  • Eureko set to halve stake in Friends

    4 May 2006

    Pan-European insurance group Eureko is looking to offload 77,365,754 of its ordinary shares in Friends Provident. Eureko and a wholly-owned subsidiary want to reduce their holding from around 5.5 to 2 per cent. Share holdings in asset manager F&C are unaffected.

  • F&C to rename prime funds

    4 May 2006

    F&C plans to change the name of its UK and European prime funds next month. F&C European prime will become F&C dynamic and F&C UK prime will be F&C UK dynamic.

  • Feeling Jaded

    4 May 2006

    Lansons PR and MM diary resident Lisa Folwell put all her PR skills to work while watching the London Marathon with two of her colleagues.The three stood in shock as they witnessed, only metres away from them, the demise of Big Brother veteran and Heat magazine favourite Jade Goody from the race.A concerned Folwell described to the Daily Mirror Goody's "crying" and "hyperventilating". While MM is pleased to see Folwell spreading the word to national newspapers, it was most dismayed ...

  • Fidelity will reveal fund manager ahead of split

    4 May 2006

    Shareholders will get voter packs in mid-June containing details of the new fund manager

  • Field say Blair 'open to reform proposals'

    4 May 2006

    Frank Field has scheduled further meetings with Chancellor Gordon Brown and pensions reform minister Stephen Timms to scrutinise the figures behind his pension proposals.Former welfare reform minister Field met Tony Blair last week and says the Prime Minister was open to his reform proposals and he did not see the compulsory element of the plans as a stumbling block.

  • Fitting tribute

    4 May 2006

    Halifax Estate Agency has gone to the trouble of finding out which household items are most likely to be removed from a house before moving-in day, discovering that garden plants are most likely to be taken by previous owners.Light fittings also featured, along with light bulbs, toilet roll holders, towel rails and even house number plaques.Managing director Colin Kemp tells us we must "know our rights" when it comes to fixtures and fittings.Wise words.

  • Focus on Offshore

    9 May 2006

    The offshore world was rocked this week after a landmark court ruling forced Barclays Bank to hand over details of customers' offshore bank accounts by June 24.

  • Focus on Offshore

    9 May 2006

    The offshore world was rocked this week after a landmark court ruling forced Barclays Bank to hand over details of customers' offshore bank accounts by June 24.

  • FOS apology over staff's jurisdiction

    4 May 2006

    Service has been forced to apologise after front-line staff failed to recognise that a retired firm was within its jurisdiction.

  • Friends Provident extend offer

    8 May 2006

    Friends Provident have extended the special offer on its Friends ISA, Investment Portfolio Bond and Income Distribution Bond until December 5 2006.The offer provides customers investing in the Friends ISA with an extra 0.5 per cent on the allocation rate, an extra allocation of 0.25 per cent on all investments between £20,000 and £99,999 in the Investment Portfolio Bond and an extra allocation of 0.25 per cent on all investments between £20,000 and £99,999 for investors aged between ...

  • Friends Provident International - FPIL Martin Currie GF Global Resources Fund

    5 May 2006

    Friends Provident InternationalFPIL Martin Currie GF Global Resources Fund

  • Friends urges providers to embrace technology

    4 May 2006

    Friends Provident says it is frustrated with the lack of technological innovation from other product providers and is calling on them to follow its lead with new business tracking.

  • FSA ban chairman

    9 May 2006

    The FSA has banned the former chairman of the London Adventist Credit Union from carrying out any regulated activity in respect of credit unions after an investigation.Dr Albert Alphonso Carlyle Waite was chairman of the union from 1993 to July 2004. In March 2001 he facilitated a £100,000 investment of credit union funds for the purchase and development of a property in East London. This contravened the requirements of the previous regulator, the Register of Friendly Societies.The ...

  • FSA removes firms' notification requirements

    3 May 2006

    The FSA has announced that firms will no longer have to notify the FSA each year of the roles and responsibilities of their FSA approved senior managers.

  • FTSE 250 CLOSES ABOVE 10,000 FOR FIRST TIME

    8 May 2006

    The FTSE 250 index hit an all time high on Friday, closing 1.5 per cent up at 10,107.9.

  • Global warming

    4 May 2006

    Ravneet Ahluwalia looks at the growth in global investment

  • Gmac-RFC secures portfolio deal worth 729m

    9 May 2006

    Gmac-RFC has secured a portfolio deal worth 729m with Bradford & Bingley.

  • Government has broken consensus promise say Tories

    9 May 2006

    The Government has made no effort to promote the cross-party consensus on pension reform it promised, according to the Tories.Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Philip Hammond says the Government has not arranged any meetings with opposition parties to discuss the situation and any hope of a solid or sustainable reform is ‘dwindling fast’.Hammond says: “It seems that all the Government’s energy has gone in to trying to get consensus within the Labour Party rather than between parties. ...

  • Hard to swallow

    4 May 2006

    If I was a member of Nationwide Building Society (re the Correspondent's Week offering from Clare Francis on April 20), I might feel a tad peeved to learn that she and the whole of her team had been entertained at Petrus.

  • Heart of the matter

    4 May 2006

    Textbooks will not give us the human qualities necessary for advising

  • Henderson Global Investors - Horizon American Equity Fund

    5 May 2006

    Henderson Global InvestorsHorizon American Equity Fund

  • Henderson Global Investors - Horizon Pan European Equities Dividend Fund

    5 May 2006

    Henderson Global InvestorsHorizon Pan European Equities Dividend Fund

  • Identity crisis

    4 May 2006

    Banks seem incapable of stopping bogus websites mimicking their sites

  • IFAs could get 10 free cases in FOS revamp

    4 May 2006

    Advisers could be allowed 10 free cases a year under proposals to restructure the way the Financial Ombudsman Service is funded.The FOS has tabled 10 options following persistent lobbying from Aifa and other industry groups to scrap the current system where firms have to pay a case fee if they receive more than two complaints, regardless of whether or not the complaints are upheld.The options include scrapping case fees and charging an annual fee of four times the current level ...

  • IMS aims to give greater clarity on fees

    4 May 2006

    Investment Management Selection is unbundling the fees on the corporate pension funds run by MM Asset Management, the multi-manager it bought from Threadneedle last year.

  • In the Pink

    4 May 2006

    Guy Anker on Pink's campaign success and other factors fuelling growth

  • Investec sails across Europe

    5 May 2006

    Invesco has established the Invesco Continental European absolute return fund, a Luxemburg-based Sicav that aims for growth above a cash benchmark.

  • Investment View: Closed season

    4 May 2006

    Last week saw the Association of Investment Trust Companies host its annual directors' conference in London. In the past, I have attended as a director, a speaker and, as on this occasion, an interested observer. I found myself trying to fathom where the organisation is going next.

  • 'Investors in Sipps do not favour self-investment'

    4 May 2006

    Sipp investors do not want to choose investments for themselves and would rather outsource their investment decisions to a fund manager according to Legal & General pensions strategy director Adr-ian Boulding.Boulding says that most clients do not subscribe to the idea of self-investing and instead want a fund manager to make choices for them.He believes "self-invested" means that clients are not limited to the investment range of just one pension provider. Nor are they limited ...

  • Jelley says Govt's position is still confused on IHT reform

    4 May 2006

    The Government's position on IHT reform remains incorrect, confused and arbitrary despite reassurances from the paymaster general, according to Skandia.Head of tax and financial planning Colin Jelley says remarks from Dawn Prim-arolo at last week's second reading of the Finance Bill do little to allay industry fears of the problems that the new rules could create.Jelly gives the example of a young parent taking out a policy to provide for their family on death. If they die just ...

  • JPMAM appoints new investment trusts marketing head

    9 May 2006

    JPMorgan Asset Management has appointed Pascale Moray as head of investment trusts marketing.

  • Jupiter publishes prospectus for new environmental investment trust

    5 May 2006

    Jupiter has published the prospectus for its new environmental investment trust.

  • Kohn urges advisers to reject proposals

    4 May 2006

    Kohn Cougar IFA principal Roddy Kohn has launched a campaign calling on IFAs to vote down Standard Life's demutualisation proposals.Kohn is gathering advisers' signatures in a move that has been branded a rearguard action to try and save Britain's biggest mutual.He questions the need for demutualisation when Standard's balance sheet is 27 per cent stronger than a year ago and profits have increased 11-fold.Kohn says: "I would question why Standard Life is choosing to demutualise ...

  • L&G creates Sipp for all seasons

    5 May 2006

    Legal & General has brought out the Portfolio Plus self-investde personal pension, which offers insured, fund supermarket and full self-invested investment options.

  • Learn the lingo

    4 May 2006

    The proposed changes to inheritance tax and trusts have introduced several new terms to the estate planner's dictionary

  • Loan brokers are looking overseas

    4 May 2006

    The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries says it has seen a jump in the number of brokers moving into the commercial and overseas mortgage markets.Director general Chris Cummings says more of his members are diversifying away from their core residential offering as brokers look for new areas to improve their margins.His views have been backed up by many intermediaries in the market.Overseas specialist Conti Financial Services managing director Simon Conn says: "There is ...

  • M&G revamps UK equity team

    4 May 2006

    M&G is reshuffling its UK equ-ity team in an effort to improve the performance of its 285m income fund.Manager Hak Salih has been replaced by Alex Odd following a period of underperformance, which saw the fund, which sits in the UK equity income sector, deliver fourth-quartile returns over both one and three years.Odd joined M&G last February from Jupiter, where he worked alongside star income manager Tony Nutt. Odd will continue running the M&G fund of investment trust shares, ...

  • Matter of principle

    4 May 2006

    FSA's TCF regime attacked for being too vague, says James Salmon

  • Midas offers income fund via AIG Life

    4 May 2006

    Midas Capital's balanced income fund is now available through the AIG Life active access fund range.

  • Mid-cap hit new highs

    4 May 2006

    Adviser Index

  • Millfield acquisition talks abandoned

    5 May 2006

    MIllfield has announced that discussions it had been having with a third party that made a preliminary offer to purchase the company, as announced to the London Stock Exchange on March 29, have been terminated.The IFA says it is currently in discussions with "other parties" with regard to an alternative strategy. Millfield's Board says it anticipates that a further announcement will be made within the next few days.

  • Mind games

    4 May 2006

    To call a big summit of adviser bosses a "meeting of minds" was surely asking for trouble. A debate is raging about the model IFAs should adopt - let's say, a little unkindly, fee zealots, trail blaizers and commission addicts.

  • Misguided views

    4 May 2006

    Nic Cicutti's article in the April 6 edition on "IFA paranoia" is typical of someone, yet again, who is accountable to no one and is totally misguided with his views. What he does not seem to understand is that IFAs can have their homes and possessions taken away from them if they are judged to have made a mistake or given bad advice. I don't have a problem with punishment where one is found to be culpable for wrongdoing but surely this must apply to anyone in any job or profession, including ..

  • Mortgage View: Put debt in perspective

    4 May 2006

    The CML has forecast that total mortgage debt in Britain is likely to pass the 1tn-mark this month. Chances are it will already have done so by the time you read this.

  • Multi-manager View: Choppy waters

    4 May 2006

    Unsurprisingly, most fund managers have a pretty decent track record in the three years since the end of the bear market.

  • Networks insist they are alive and kicking

    4 May 2006

    Chiefs say Ken Davy's reports of their death have been greatly exaggerated

  • No booze is good news

    4 May 2006

    Freelance journalist and protection consultant Edmund Tirbutt is launching a campaign to raise money for the Alcohol And Drug Abstinence Service, a charity helping addicts to rehabilitate. Tirbutt is launching the campaign as he celebrates 20 years of being teetotal. People can donate through his campaign website www.justgiving.com/tirbutt.

  • NU pension sales top 1bn

    4 May 2006

    UK chief executive Hodges increases the firm's growth outlook to low double figures

  • 'Nurs structure enables outperformance'

    4 May 2006

    Credit Suisse says the non-Ucits retail scheme structure of its multi-manager cautious managed fund has been a major driver of its outperformance by giving the managers greater flexibility.

  • Over half of lenders move to affordability models

    4 May 2006

    The way lenders underwrite mortgages has been revolutionised in the last six years, according to a report by the Council of Mortgage Lenders.Nearly half of lenders now use credit scoring while more than half use an affordability model compared with 10 per cent and less than 10 per cent respectively in 2000.Nearly all lenders which use an affordability model say they are responding to regulatory guidance. Two-thirds of lenders expect to be using an affordability model in the ...

  • Passive resistance

    4 May 2006

    I have a number of pension arrangements that I have accumulated as a result of changes in employment. I am currently a member of my employer's group stakeholder pension.

  • 'Pension for free' plan by Lawson

    4 May 2006

    Taking out a low-interest loan to fund a pension payment could provide a client with free money, says Standard Life head of pension policy John Lawson.A combination of higher-rate relief, tax-free cash and income drawdown means clients could pay off the debt while boosting their retirement funds, he says.For example, a 78,000 loan paid into a pension would be grossed up to 100,000 with basic-rate tax relief. Additional higher-rate relief at 18 per cent and tax-free cash of 25 ...

  • Pension white paper by end of month says Purnell

    8 May 2006

    New Pensions Minister James Purnell has announced the Government white paper on pension reform will be published by the end of the month.

  • Personal Touch ARs to share £3m windfall

    8 May 2006

    Personal Touch Financial Services has allocated about £3m in a share windfall as a result of its 2005 new business performance.

  • Platform non conforming tracker deal for PMPA members

    8 May 2006

    The Professional Mortgage Packagers Alliance is offering a non conforming tracker from Platform for its members.

  • 'Play fair and you have nothing to fear'

    4 May 2006

    In response to reports that suggested the FSA's Treating Customers Fairly principles are a 'threat' to advisers, the regulator's David Whitely says well-run, responsible and customer-focused advisers should not be worried about TCF

  • Prestbury in deal to sell Barclays plan

    4 May 2006

    Prestbury has signed an exclusive deal to distribute Barclays' five-year guaranteed FTSE account. Money invested will be returned at maturity plus 106 per cent gross of any rise in the FTSE 100 index over the term.

  • Product matters: High Hopes

    4 May 2006

    Rathbone's new high-income fund will attract a fair amount of attention for the simple reason that it is associated with Carl Stick. He will now have responsibility for three Rathbone funds - special situations, income and high income. Having met with the team, including Julian Chillingworth and Hugh Yarrow, we are reassured that Stick will not be spreading himself too thinly.The fund comes from a house with a strong track record for income performance and we feel it is a natural ...

  • Protected link from Kleinwort

    5 May 2006

    Kleinwort Benson has introduced the Protected linked deposit III, a guaranteed equity bond linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 index for a three-year term.

  • Purnell takes on pensions brief

    8 May 2006

    James Purnell has taken over from Stephen Timms as Pensions Minister after Timms’ promotion to the Cabinet in Friday’s dramatic reshuffle.Purnell was previously parliamentary secretary at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and is seen as an ally of Tony Blair.Other moves affecting financial services include Gordon Brown’s former adviser Ed Balls being promoted to Economic Secretary to the Treasury after entering Parliament at the last election.The post includes responsibility ...

  • Qif edge

    4 May 2006

    Sophisticated investment Simon Hildrey assesses offshore funds designed for experienced investors

  • River and Mercantile appoint two from SocGen

    8 May 2006

    River and Mercantile Asset Management (R&M) has recruited Hugh Sergeant, head of UK equities at SocGen Asset Management, to head up and develop its UK equity business.

  • Royal Liver online-only PTA speeds underwriting

    4 May 2006

    Royal Liver is launching its online-only pension term assurance product this week.

  • Saga launches free long term care advice service

    8 May 2006

    Saga has launched a free long term care specialist advice service.

  • ScotProv set for PTA launch

    4 May 2006

    Scottish Provident is set to launch a pension term assurance product through its menu plan next month.Abbey says it expects the policy details to be unveiled within the week.

  • Scottish Provident to enter PTA market

    9 May 2006

    Scottish Provident has confirmed it will launch its pension term assurance product on May 22.

  • Sesame wrning on equity-release growth

    4 May 2006

    The rise in popularity of equity release is reshaping inter-generational financial planning, warns Sesame.The firm says that as people release equity from their properties, their offspring need to be aware that they cannot depend on their parents estates.

  • Ship forecast

    4 May 2006

    Nicola York finds the industry split over Ship's future in a post-regulation environment, with some believing that it must evolve to survive and others saying that it still has an important role to play in the market

  • Ship reports equity release boost

    8 May 2006

    Safe Home Income Plans has revealed a sharp increase in equity release business for the first quarter of the 2006.

  • Simon Douglas becomes Munich Re head of health

    5 May 2006

    Munich Re has appointed Standard Life's Simon Douglas as head of health for the group's UK healthcare business.

  • Sits fund front-runners

    4 May 2006

    Tim McCarron and Sanjeev Shah are viewed as the front-runners to take on half of Fidelity's 6.5bn special situations fund from Anthony Bolton in January.Speculation over who the new fund manager will be has been rampant following Fid-elity's announcement that it intends to unveil its new fund manager when it sends out voter packs to shareholders.McCarron took over Fidelity European from Bolton in January 2003 while Shah moved across from the UK aggressive fund to manage the ...

  • Skandia hosts A-Day roadshow

    4 May 2006

    Skandia UK is hosting 11 events across the UK this month looking at post-ADay opportunities. Speakers from Skandia and its fund group partners will look at investment, e-business and tax planning opportunities.

  • Soft touch

    4 May 2006

    There are times when those of us who write about the financial services industry are left to feel as if we are watching a car crash in slow motion.

  • Spring in Europe's step

    4 May 2006

    The eurozone hardly broke its stride in April and the backdrop for equities remains supportive

  • Stage fright

    4 May 2006

    Continuing our delve into the tragic music tastes of Money Marketing readers, the Diary has uncovered Bupa product manager Steve Casey's penchant for jumping on stage to share the limelight with various dated and unlistenable performers.Casey brazenly admits to leaping up onstage to accompany 70s punk queen Hazel O'Connor in renditions of the classics Will You and Eighth Day.Unfortunately, when Casey tried the same thing at a OMD gig, the roadies were a little upset that he ...

  • Standard back with flexible trusts

    4 May 2006

    Standard Life is restoring flexible trusts to its loan and gift plan following the recent Budget confusion over trust planning. But it says the trust forms, required by HMRC if gifts are over 10,000, are still overly complicated and is calling for them to be simplified.

  • 'Standard sacrificing IFA service in favour of float'

    4 May 2006

    IFA Consortium claims firm has been neglecting advisers to concentrate on demutualisation

  • Strike force

    4 May 2006

    Sometimes you just need to get your retaliation in first. It is Aifa's role to protect members' business interests, and that can mean identifying issues before they arise. We recently had an occasion where I felt we had to go on the record to raise an issue today, in order to ensure problems do not arise tomorrow.

  • Stuck in a time warp

    4 May 2006

    I consider it irksome to have to return to what I consider to be the extremely irritating subject of the Personal Finance Society.

  • Surrendering to fate

    4 May 2006

    Independent consultant Adrian Sacco gives two examples of how IHT changes will affect estate planning decisions

  • Target practice with Investec

    5 May 2006

    Investec Asset ManagementTarget Return Fund

  • The best of everything from Eclectica

    5 May 2006

    Eclectica Asset ManagementCF Eclectica Continental European Fund

  • The magic of Merlin

    4 May 2006

    Most IFAs like to choose their own investments for clients rather than opting for a fund of funds portfolio. But a really well-run fund of funds vehicle where the fund manager has a good record may be a better answer for non-specialist IFAs.

  • The meaning of life expectancy

    4 May 2006

    I continue my update of key pension issues this week with an overview of trends in life expectancy. There have recently been significant developments of which I believe all financial advisers should be aware.

  • This week in Politics

    5 May 2006

    Select committee meetings dominated the agenda this week with the Treasury, Work and Pensions and Public Administration committees all knee deep in pension scrutiny.

  • This week in Politics

    5 May 2006

    Select committee meetings dominated the agenda this week with the Treasury, Work and Pensions and Public Administration committees all knee deep in pension scrutiny.

  • This week in Regulation

    8 May 2006

    Although the two free case rule protects the vast majority of advisers from ever having to pay a case fee to the FOS, the mere prospect of paying to prove their innocence has always stuck in advisers' throats.

  • Threadneedle to offer no initial charges on two emerging market funds

    9 May 2006

    Threadneedle Investments is offering investors on two emerging market funds a reduced initial rate of three per cent, or no initial charge, providing commission is waived, up to June 30.

  • Threesixty predicts rise of bare trusts

    4 May 2006

    Threesixty expects providers to launch new versions of discounted gift trusts and says absolute or bare trusts will overtake flexible trusts following the Budget changes to the IHT rules.

  • Timebar ruling could spark flood of claims

    4 May 2006

    Friends sued over insufficient warning on a red letter to an endowment policyholder

  • Timms moves out of pensions

    5 May 2006

    Stephen Timms has been promoted to Chief Secretary to the Treasury leaving his post as Minister for Pension Reform.Timms has been at the heart of formulating Government policy in the run-up to the Spring white paper but now moves to a position in the Treasury.Timms became Pensions Minister in 2005 and was previously Financial Secretary to the Treasury.Hargreaves Lansdown head of pensions research Tom McPhail says: It is very disappointing to be losing continuity at such an ...

  • Tories challenge Brown's IHT reforms

    4 May 2006

    The Tories have tabled several amendments to the Finance Bill to try to overturn the Chancellor's IHT reforms, which it warns risk undermining the Civil Partnership Act.The party says that in its current form, the Bill is retrospective as the rules will apply to current trusts and wills unless they are changed before 2008 and will affect a wider proportion of society than the "minority of a minority" the Treasury claims will be affected.Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury ...

  • Torquil Clark spreads its wings

    4 May 2006

    Torquil Clark has borrowed 2m to fund an acquisition spree that will see it build an office presence across the country.The Midlands-based IFA firm says it is targeting med-ium-sized regional IFAs to better service clients through providing face-to-face advice.It is looking at traditional firms specialising in investment and pension business with a loyal client base and turnover of at least 1m. Torquil Clark currently services about 125,000 clients.Last year, Torquil Clark ...

  • 'Transfers in danger of losing protection'

    4 May 2006

    Pension investors are unwittingly breaking rules, warns wealth manager

  • Trophy time

    4 May 2006

    In the fifth part of a series on the IFA Guide to Working With Accountants and Solicitors, Sifa managing director Ian Muirhead outlines how to market to professional prospects

  • UCB Home Loans - Self Cert Two Year Tracker

    5 May 2006

    UCB Home LoansSelf Cert Two Year Tracker

  • UCB Home Loans grows sales force

    3 May 2006

    UCB Home Loans is increasing its sales force of business development managers to 18 and plans to expand the team further.

  • Unnecessary upgrade?

    4 May 2006

    Keeping up with the latest pension fashion could prove an expensive mistake

  • UnumProvident in push for IP plan

    4 May 2006

    UnumProvident is promoting its Essential Ability Cover, which provides income protection for those who struggle to obtain cover, such as the self-employed. Cover starts at up to 15,000 a year, which can rise annually in line with inflation up to 30,000 a year.

  • Vantis acquires advice firm Rouse

    8 May 2006

    Tax, business and advisory group Vantis has acquired Beaconsfield-based IFA firm Rouse & Co.

  • What it all ads up to...

    4 May 2006

    On a foggy Monday morning, my first job for the week was to present a "master class" to a marketing agency, the topic being how to create effective, compliant financial services advertising.

  • Whole world in your hands

    4 May 2006

    Our panel of experts debate the advantages to offshore bonds of being able to offer extensive third-party fund links

  • Will strikes a balance

    4 May 2006

    Example two: wills for terminally ill or mentally incapable peopleImagine a married man was diagnosed five years ago as having early onset Alzheimer's disease at the young age of 62. He wanted to make provision for his wife and children and took advice from a STEP member specialising in will-writing.He made a will in which he intends to give his nil-rate band to trustees to hold on discretionary trusts. The balance of his estate is to be given to trustees to pay income to his ...

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