Money Marketing
4 February 2010
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£300bn funding gap for mortgage firms
4 February 2010
’Very unlikely’ that lenders can repay cash on time
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Aberdeen merging UK and Euro funds
4 February 2010
Aberdeen is merging some of its UK and European funds in a bid to improve efficiency.
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Advice is back in fashion
5 Feb 2010
“With cheap SVRs under threat, a huge potential remortgage opportunity is starting to emerge. But to be fair, it has been there a while only many consumers have not realised it.”
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Advisers face switch problems
4 Feb 2010
The closure of Axa’s deferred Sipp means advisers will have to generate a new application for clients who want to take their tax-free lump sum.
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Advisers spurred by hands-on training
7 Feb 2010
The IFP’s view
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Aifa wants review of intermediaries' regulation costs
4 February 2010
Cummings: ‘Lost opportunity’
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Auto cue
4 February 2010
Scottish Widows head of pensions market development Ian Naismith says advisers have an important role to sort through the group requirements for auto-enrolment.
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Aviva cuts stakeholder commission
4 Feb 2010
Aviva has cut initial commission on its stakeholder pensions by nearly a quarter from a maximum 3.36 per cent to 2.52 per cent.
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Aviva cutting premiums for critical cover with exclusions
4 February 2010
Aviva is reducing premiums for its critical-illness plan when policy exclusions apply.
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Aviva’s wrap is back after a long delay
4 February 2010
Aviva reopened its wrap for new business last week - seven months later than expected.
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Barclays failed to warn of risk
4 February 2010
Clients not told of classification changes
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Barclays' Kitson wants structured tools for IFAs
4 February 2010
Barclays Wealth Intermediaries third-party distribution director Roland Kitson has called for IFA portfolio planning tools to incorporate structured products more in their models.
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Brief encounter
9 Feb 2010
Three points that need addressing to revive UK protection.
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Cheque fraud hit Cheshire BS in 45 minutes
5 Feb 2010
A Cheshire Building Society employee who was at the heart of a conspiracy to cash forged cheques worth more than £160,000 has been jailed for two years.
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CML warns FSA must not become a price regulator
4 February 2010
The Council of Mortgage Lenders has warned the FSA against regulating charging practices such as arrears fees.
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Dampier concern over investment trust choice for Bolton China fund
4 Feb 2010
Bolton: Gearing ability
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Driven Caracas
4 February 2010
Julian Marr wonders how much China and Venezuela have in common.
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European Commission brands bundled products "anti-competitive"
3 Feb 2010
Bundled products could be banned after the European Commission branded them “anti-competitive” and “unfair”.
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Ex-Personal Touch chief Wilson backs lead generator
4 February 2010
Former Personal Touch Financial Services chairman Martin Wilson is backing a new protection lead-generation company with his wife Amanda.
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Face saver
4 February 2010
“Automating as many parts of the advice process as possible is going to be crucial to working profitably in the new environment.”
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Firms hit back at Hargreaves
5 Feb 2010
Providers and advisers have rebutted recent comments made by Hargreaves Lansdown chief executive Peter Hargreaves that structured products should be outlawed.
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FOS drops timeline question
4 Feb 2010
The Financial Ombudsman Service complaint form no longer asks consumers when they first became aware of a problem, raising fears that advisers could be hit with charges for cases falling outside FOS jurisdiction.
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Fraud spectrum
4 February 2010
’Fraud has happened although not often. The good news is that it has been put right in every instance - and quickly. The system works from an investor’s perspective’
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Friends scraps MVRs on all policies except pensions
4 February 2010
Friends Provident has scrapped market value reductions on nearly all of its with-profits policies.
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'FSA loan rules will crack in a crunch'
4 February 2010
The FSA’s proposals for a new regulatory structure in the mortgage market are “timid” and unlikely to withstand future housing crises, according to thinktank Long Finance.
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FSA quizzed Standard on cash fund marketing
4 Feb 2010
The FSA quizzed Standard Life about its marketing of “cash” funds over a year before the outcry which followed the revaluation of the firm’s pension sterling fund.
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Gilt edgy
8 Feb 2010
Claims that UK Government bonds are ’on a bed of nitroglycerine’ may be overblown but the market has certainly lost its lustre.
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Google moves into mortgages with US lenders
5 Feb 2010
Google has launched a mortgage lead-generation facility in the US, prompting speculation that it may make a similar move in the UK.
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Greater scope
8 Feb 2010
Neptune’s new Greater China income fund is taking an interesting angle in covering companies in Taiwan as well as China
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Henderson is leaning towards tilted trackers
5 Feb 2010
Henderson New Star director of retail business development Stewart Cazier has revealed the firm is considering launching tilted trackers and he expects other fund firms to follow suit.
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Judges get let-off from huge pension tax bill
4 Feb 2010
Judges will be exempt from massive tax charges incurred as a result of pre-Budget report changes to how final-salary pension benefits are calculated.
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Lawyer claims A2O is being packaged to sell with reps
4 Feb 2010
A law firm representing members of Alpha 2 Omega has raised concerns that administrators are trying to “pre-pack” A2O advisers and their client assets to sell on to another IFA firm.
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Leave group pensions out of the RDR
4 Feb 2010
John Greenwood says the FSA needs to take group pensions out of the scope of the RDR.
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LibDems say Labour fails the basic test
4 February 2010
Webb: ‘Labour’s changes to the pension system have not protected many older people from the indignities of poverty’
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Lifemark clients wait for bond decision
4 February 2010
Over 20,000 clients with Keydata plans invested in Lifemark have been left in limbo after news that Lifemark is seeking to change its bond terms and conditions to avoid paying interest.
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Lowes in plea for structured training
5 Feb 2010
Lowes Financial Management managing director Ian Lowes has called for a more formal assessment of structured products to help raise understanding among IFAs.
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Lukas van der walt
7 Feb 2010
Sanlam UK’s chief executive is building up the South African company’s presence in UK financial services with selective partnerships and acquisitions and he considers the RDR to be a bonus as it is likely to lead to a shift in value to the client and the distributor
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Macquarie global plan fails to launch
4 Feb 2010
Macquarie Funds Group has failed to raise sufficient funds for the launch of its first structured product in the UK market.
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Margin for error
5 Feb 2010
Regulatory Legal partner Gareth Fatchett says the network model is a busted flush.
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Meteor makes move to buy Keydata investment book
4 Feb 2010
Meteor is understood to be the front runner to acquire the investment book of Keydata’s own structured products and associated admin.
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Minor characters
8 Feb 2010
Rounding off my series on intestacy with a look at trusts holding assets for spouses and children.
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MM Leader: Advisers need clear direction on wraps
5 Feb 2010
The FSA appears to have woken up to the pivotal role that platforms will play in the retail distribution review and the clarity needed over their position.
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Mortgage networks under the spotlight
4 February 2010
With the demise of several high-profile mortgage networks in 2009, Paul Thomas puts the balance sheets of some of the remaining distributors under scrutiny.
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Myners admits 50% tax will flop
4 February 2010
Myners: ‘Behavioural changes’
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Neale joins FSCS as chief exec from Treasury
4 February 2010
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has appointed Treasury director general Mark Neale as chief executive.
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New firm Keystone aims for 20 advisers
4 February 2010
Former Pi Financial compliance director Harriet MacKenzie-Williams has set up a new IFA firm and hopes to recruit up to 20 advisers.
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Olympic claim
8 Feb 2010
Alan Lakey warns of the Olympic-style costs of the RDR.
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Origen's £50,000 annuity move 'takes Omo back 15 years'
4 Feb 2010
Origen is to pass corporate annuity clients with pension funds worth under £50,000 to Legal & General and Partnership Assurance.
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Out of context
4 February 2010
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Partners and firm fined after TCF visit
4 February 2010
The FSA has levied fines totalling £49,000 on Derbyshire financial advice firm Sett Valley Insurance Services and its two partners for failures in its sales and advice processes.
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Pension intentions
4 Feb 2010
A client wants to start saving for retirement
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Pension savers still losing by not shopping around
4 February 2010
People retiring at 65 will need to live at least 17 years to get back the money they have saved in their pension fund at today’s historically low annuity rates, according to Rockingham Retirement.
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Perpetuity in motion
4 February 2010
John Woolley, director of Technical Connection, sets out in detail the effect that the forthcoming changes contained in the Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 2009 will have on by-pass trusts and pension schemes.
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Pitman to head Virgin Bank
4 February 2010
Pitman: Chairman
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Platform tickets
4 February 2010
Tracey Scott reports on why some advisers either use a variety of platforms or are reluctant to use any.
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Platforum turns to Capita to boost analysis service
4 February 2010
The Platforum is teaming up with Capita Financial Software to relaunch its platform analysis tool.
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Politics poses the biggest risk to banks
4 February 2010
Political interference is the greatest risk facing the banking ind-ustry, according to the latest Banking Banana Skins survey.
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Portfolio tools could leave IFAs exposed to UK gilt risk
5 Feb 2010
JP Morgan Asset Management head of UK retail sales Mike Parsons has warned that IFA portfolio tools could leave clients overly exposed to UK gilts.
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Private equity firm looks to take advantage of SFO blunder
4 Feb 2010
A private equity firm has used a Serious Fraud Office database of email contacts to drum up prospective business after the SFO revealed the email details in a bulk mailout.
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Product comparison websites spark rise of the DIY researcher
4 February 2010
Fair Investment Company investment administration manager Julie Smith believes structured product providers may become less dependent on sales through the intermediary channel.
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Providers call for FSA to clear up RDR issues over deposits
4 February 2010
Product providers have urged the FSA to address issues relating to structured deposits which have fallen outside the remit of the retail distribution review.
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Quarter of over-55s planning to work after 65
4 February 2010
Almost a quarter of people over 55 have resolved to work beyond the state retirement age of 65, according to MGM Advantage.
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Regulator rethinks adviser-charging for platforms
4 February 2010
The FSA is to review its approach to platforms following concerns from the asset management industry about the implementation of adviser-charging.
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Riding the wrap
4 Feb 2010
Nic Cicutti says wraps may be the final battleground in which up-front commission is likely to play a major role.
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Rush to beat duty rise boosts homeloans
4 February 2010
The Council of Mortgage Lenders says borrowers rushed to buy property in December to make the most of the last month of the higher stamp duty threshold.
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Sense of value
4 Feb 2010
Sheriar Bradbury says service must come before sales for new IFA business models.
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'Shed light on credit risk'
4 February 2010
Investec head of intermediary sales for derivatives and structured products Gary Dale says the FSA needs to make a clearer distinction between counterparty and investment risk in its review of structured products.
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Shift in power
4 Feb 2010
“If we step back for a minute, will we not be better served by helping the regulator do their job by assisting where we can?”
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SimplyBiz in Verbatim link-up with multi-managers
5 Feb 2010
SimplyBiz is partnering with multi-managers at five investment firms, including Henderson New Star, Ignis, Architas and Schroders, to run funds for its new investment firm Verbatim.
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Skandia says providers could be jilted
4 February 2010
Skandia is warning that some product providers look set to be “left at the altar” as they are failing to let go of commission-based models in line with the retail distribution review.
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Skandia tool aims to shed light on opaque with-profits
4 February 2010
Skandia has launched a withprofits bond analysis tool to help identify penalty-free exit opportunities and compare performance against alternative tax wrappers.
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Skipton blunder on client data
4 February 2010
Skipton Building Society has made a data blunder which saw over 3,000 customers’ account details sent to other customers.
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Split over outlook for Difs after the RDR
4 Feb 2010
Skandia UK chief development officer Peter Mann has warned it is difficult to see how distrib-utor-influenced funds will be able to operate following the retail distribution review.
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The best offence is a good defence
4 February 2010
Even income stalwarts are erring on the side of caution after a troubled time in 2009.
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The global approach to income
4 February 2010
Chelsea Financial Services managing director Darius McDermott says UK equity income remains central to his strategy but diversification is important as the sector risks becoming over-concentrated
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The young ones
4 February 2010
This week James Smith interviews Aberdeen’s equity head Hugh Young.
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Transparent Elevate is our clear winner
4 February 2010
Milestone’s Neil Mumford says his firm’s gamble with Axa’s Elevate platform has paid off.
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Turner calls for new watchdog to block credit during bubble
4 February 2010
FSA chairman Adair Turner has called for the creation of a new official body with powers to force banks to curb lending during financial bubbles.
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Where to go for income
4 February 2010
Fund managers give their tips for finding income outside of the usual suspects.
