Money Marketing
4 October 2006

  • Lomax quits Misys after failed MBO

    5 Oct 2006

    Misys chief executive and director Kevin Lomax has quit ahead of the AGM this week. There has been strong criticism from shareholders after Lomax led a failed MBO bid, with reports that several institutional shareholders were going to vote against his reappointment to the board. Chairman Sir Dominic Cadbury will take on his responsibilities until a successor is appointed.

  • 3bn review for contracting out

    5 Oct 2006

    Pension firms battling against full-scale probe

  • A blurring of styles

    5 Oct 2006

    The US equity arena has been the graveyard of many an aspiring fund manager. It is notoriously difficult to outperform the US equity market consistently - a fact to which many UK-based US equity managers can testify. The resulting shortage of supply often tempts US-based houses to come over to the UK to try and fill the gap.

  • Aifa backs the FSA focus on providers' responsibilities

    5 Oct 2006

    Aifa has praised the FSA's paper on provider/distributor responsibilities, saying providers can no longer stand by in "splendid isolation" allowing advisers to be blamed when things outside their control go wrong.Director general Chris Cummings says advisers have been unfairly blamed for too long for problems with marketing and product design.He says that the paper's focus on product providers considering client needs when discussing distribution highlights potential problems ...

  • Allianz launches pan-European fund range for UK market

    9 Oct 2006

    Allianz Global Investors has made five funds designed for the pan-European market available to the UK retail market.

  • AMPs accuses the Government of enforcing discrimination through back door on ASPs

    4 Oct 2006

    The Committee of the Association of Member-Directed Pension Schemes says it is gravely concerned at the FSA's new requirement for IFAs to carry out research into a client’s religious background when advising clients on ASPs.

  • Auction for mortgage leads

    5 Oct 2006

    Mortgage brokers can bid for leads under a scheme developed by Paaleads.com.

  • Auction for mortgage leads

    5 Oct 2006

    Mortgage brokers can bid for leads under a scheme developed by Paaleads.com.

  • Auto acceptance with L&G system

    5 Oct 2006

    Legal & General has set up an interactive underwriting service on its protection products range which is an addition to the existing online processing system.The system is designed to be used by advisers when they are in contact with clients either via phone or face to face. It was rolled out to the whole of market on September 10 following a pilot launched in July,Questions are specifically tailored depending on the respondent's initial anwers and the system asks fewer questions ...

  • Bankhall axes commission staff

    5 Oct 2006

    Bankhall is cutting up to 35 staff from its commission department as its members increasingly move to a fixed-fee model.The firm says member demand for its fixed-fee model has driven the decision. Advisers pay monthly for support services on fees rather than by giving up 3 per cent of their commission.Bankhall says the cuts will apply primarily across its commission department and numbers have not been finalised but will be between eight and 35 staff, depending on how many members ...

  • BlackRock merges with Merrill Lynch

    5 Oct 2006

    BlackRock completed its merger with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers last week. The company, which has $1tn of assets, will be called BlackRock MLIM. Changes to MLIM's UK fund range are expected to be announced shortly.

  • BM aims for one-hour remortgage completion

    5 Oct 2006

    BM Solutions has pledged to provide instant completions on remortgages next year, as the technology battle in the specialist market hots-up.The HBOS lender says it will offer a completion on a further advance within an hour, where it already holds the customers' details.Edeus and GMAC launched point-of-sale decisions this month, with BM likely to follow before Christmas.BM director Tim Hague says: "I want to get to a point when a customer rings up for a further advance in ...

  • Bolton says another downturn looming

    5 Oct 2006

    Fidelity UK special situations fund manager Anthony Bolton believes that another stockmarket correction is on the way because global markets may have recovered too quickly from the last downturn.Speaking at the Fidelity Investment Forum in London last week, Bolton said he did not know when the correction would come but said his outlook was not as strong as in March before the last correction.Bolton said global energy company BG Group had been the biggest single contributor to ...

  • 'Bonds at risk under Ucits III'

    5 Oct 2006

    Some bond fund managers using new investment flexibility available under Ucits III are putting money at risk because they do not have the necessary skills, says Credit Suisse multi-manager co-head Gary Potter.He is concerned that many managers do not have the knowledge to use the new tools, such as credit derivatives and stock-shorting and are inadvertently raising the risk profiles of funds. Potter said the issue is more of a problem in the bond sector where take-up of Ucits III ...

  • Bonds beat the budget

    5 Oct 2006

    Offshore business Simon Hildrey says sales are booming after overcoming concerns about a new tax regime

  • Brogue trading

    5 Oct 2006

    The Positive Solutions directors have a bit of a North-South divide going on, it seems.Executive chairman David Harrison recently had a pop at fellow director Mike Edwards for "being southern and a bit posh".He explained how on a visit to Newcastle, Edwards was staying at "one of the nicer hotels in the area" and decided to put his shoes outside the door overnight to have them polished.Much to Edwards' horror, when he called reception to have them sent back up, they had ...

  • Broker severs BNP link

    5 Oct 2006

    Welsh broker Financial Solutions Unlimited is no longer acting as the broker to British National Party financial services arm Albion Life after it emerged that two of the firm's three partners were unaware of the tie-up.Partners Brian Howcroft and Craig Francis initially denied any link with Albion until they saw a letter accompanying an Albion quote on FSU headed paper and signed by their colleague David Boulton.Albion is unregulated and was acting as an introducer. Its life ...

  • Broker Talkback

    5 Oct 2006

    Do you support Prudential's crackdown on churners? Yes: 43%No: 57%

  • BSA's amazing attack on the Woolwich

    5 Oct 2006

    Woolwich has been slammed for poor service and labelled as a declining brand in an astonishing outburst from the normally reticent Building Societies Association.The BSA says Woolwich, which demutualised in 1997, has been outshone by smaller building societies as it has not demonstrated suitable "management, promotion, care and understanding".But the Barclays-owned lender, which is to become a mortgage-only brand once all its branches are rebranded as Barclays next year, has ...

  • Burgess leads £20bn claim chase in PPI sector

    5 Oct 2006

    The payment protection insurance market is braced for a surge of compensation claims after the long-expected emergence of claim firms specifically targeting the sector.Mortgage lenders in the sub-prime market are set to be the main focus for claim firms although loan providers, brokers and insurers will also be in line for attention in what could be a £20bn hit on the market.British Insurance managing director Simon Burgess is setting up British Compensation early next year ...

  • Capita appoints Bill Grimsey as new NED

    6 Oct 2006

    Capita has appointed Bill Grimsey as a non-executive director, effective from 9Non Executive Director, with effect from October 9.

  • Carr joins Cordea Savills

    9 Oct 2006

    Cordea Savills has appointed former manager of the ING UK residential property fund Patrick Carr as director of UK Residential.Carr joins the residential team managing the diversified residential opportunities fund, the Cordea Savills student hall fund and the accommodation investment fund for charities.Carr worked for ING Real Estate for seven years spending the last two managing the residential fund.Carr says: “Cordea Savills understands the opportunities within a residential ...

  • Cash change could hit the reinsurers

    5 Oct 2006

    Protection premiums to fall if FSA frees cash reserves for life offices

  • CII unveils Advanced Diploma

    5 Oct 2006

    The Chartered Insurance Institute has unveiled its Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning which forms the final part of its new financial planning exam framework.

  • Claim jumpers

    5 Oct 2006

    Now is the time to fight back and stop claim firms walking all over us

  • Client types will be gradually merged

    5 Oct 2006

    Multi-manager round table: reports by Matt Goodburn

  • Competitiveness could become FSA objective to deter gold-plating

    5 Oct 2006

    The Conservatives are considering proposals to make competitiveness of financial services a statutory objective of the FSA to guard against the gold-plating of EU regulations and stick up for the industry's interests internationally.Speaking at a Reform and City of London fringe event on Monday, Shadow Chancellor George Osborne said he was in discussions with a number of groups about adding competitiveness to the four current statutory objectives of the regulator.He was addressing ...

  • Competitiveness could become FSA objective to deter gold-plating

    5 Oct 2006

    The Conservatives are considering proposals to make competitiveness of financial services a statutory objective of the FSA to guard against the gold-plating of EU regulations and stick up for the industry's interests internationally.Speaking at a Reform and City of London fringe event on Monday, Shadow Chancellor George Osborne said he was in discussions with a number of groups about adding competitiveness to the four current statutory objectives of the regulator.He was addressing ...

  • Consumers are failing to pick suitable protection

    5 Oct 2006

    Seventy-one per cent of consumers do not choose the protection insurance most suitable for their circumstances and only 13 per cent select the product offering the best level of cover.Research from Lifesearch, which surveyed 1,001 people, found that in the 18-29 age group, only 12 per cent of respondents buy the product which best suits them.But nearly half of people aged 65 and over are most influenced by the suitability of the product for their needs.One in four who bought ...

  • Contracting-out conundrum

    5 Oct 2006

    It is with no pleasure that Money Marketing this week warns of a 2.8bn contracting-out problem which could hit the industry.

  • Cooper urges lenders to join Homebuy plan

    5 Oct 2006

    Housing minister Yvette Cooper has urged more lenders to join the Openmarket Homebuy scheme to help to reduce rates.The scheme to help key workers and first-time buyers launched this week but without one of the expected quartet of lenders. Advantage, Nationwide and Yorkshire Building Society are all on board but Bank of Scotland says it will not be ready to launch until later this year. The rates available range from 5.59 per cent to 6.59 per cent.Cooper confirms that the Government ...

  • Correspondent's Week

    5 Oct 2006

    One of the supposed pleasures of being self-employed is that you can organise your own time, rather than stick to office hours. This week, I have plans to change my working week radically. I am going to start at 6.30am with the aim of clocking off at 2pm. This should allow me to power through my work first thing and log off after lunch when my brain slows like a computer with clogged-up memory.

  • Debt damage

    5 Oct 2006

    The steep rise in unsecured debt has implications for lenders, especially banks

  • Defaqto deal for Find

    5 Oct 2006

    Personal finance portal Find has bought Defaqto parent company The Independent Research Group in a move that has surprised the IT sector.A management buyout had been widely expected before the acquisition, which is believed to have cost Find £5m.Intelliflo chief executive Nick Eatock says: "If Find reuses Defaqto's data in a consumer-facing channel it makes sense, although I would have thought it could purchase that elsewhere."Find says it plans to use Defaqto's data capture ...

  • Did you stay up?

    5 Oct 2006

    Well done, Michael Portillo, for his self-deprecating manner.The former Conservative MP recently told a forum of IFAs how the moment of his demise - when he lost his Parliamentary seat, followed his home and his career in politics - was voted the third best moment of the 20th Century by Observer readers and Channel 4 viewers.He says Tony Blair even used a clip of that moment as part of the montage of highlights as he gave his parting speech last week.Portillo says: "If that ...

  • Ehrmann's Jupiter China fund to target growth in domestic demand.

    10 Oct 2006

    Jupiter China fund manager Philip Ehrmann believes the key to successful capital growth for the fund will come through China successfully developing domestic demand.

  • Ex-police squad offers to solve IFA cold cases

    5 Oct 2006

    A firm of 300 ex-police officers is offering its services to IFAs to increase lead conversion rates and chase up paperwork from providers and clients.BNH Associates, which has specialised in the personal injury sector, says the IFA market is a key area of expansion.Director Paul Bedwell says the firm's field team of 300 is made up 95 per cent of police officers who can help troubleshoot problems such as paperwork going cold.He says BNHA staff will help explain paperwork ...

  • F&C shutting Aim fund

    5 Oct 2006

    F&C is closing its Aim growth fund on October 30 due to low demand. The £7m fund is run by Catherine Stanley and was launched in September 2001.

  • F&C shutting Aim fund

    5 Oct 2006

    F&C is closing its Aim growth fund on October 30 due to low demand. The £7m fund is run by Catherine Stanley and was launched in September 2001.

  • Fidelity International appoints chief administrative officer

    4 Oct 2006

    Fidelity International Limited has appointed Simon Jeffreys as chief administrative officer, responsible for finance, operations and product development.

  • Fidelity seeks distributor status for funds

    5 Oct 2006

    Fidelity is looking to secure UK distributor status for its 12 Luxemburg-listed multi-manager funds.The three multi-asset portfolios and nine specialist funds focusing on a single region or sector are registered for sale across Europe, including the UK. The firm says they will appeal only to UK investors who gain access through offshore bonds but lack distributor status.Fidelity says it is important to build a global multi-manager business as a natural extension of its UK business, ...

  • Focus on Protection

    5 Oct 2006

    Royal London's profits from new business grew by £22m in the first six months of this year compared to £37m for the full year in 2005. The provider is now the UK’s largest mutual life and pensions company since Standard Life's demutualisation was completed in July.

  • Focus on Protection

    10 Oct 2006

    How do you solve a problem like IPI asks Defaqto's report on income protection which made for gloomy reading last week.

  • Focus points

    5 Oct 2006

    How advisers can use customer-focused marketing techniques to strengthen client relationships

  • FOS says it's flavour of the month for legal challenges

    5 Oct 2006

    Merricks says onset of legal claims and judicial reviews 'will not rock the foundations' for the watchdog

  • Friends Provident appoints new finance chief

    10 Oct 2006

    Friends Provident has appointed a new group finance director to take over from Philip Moore on November 13.

  • FSA allows flexibility in unit pricing

    4 Oct 2006

    The FSA has announced it will allow fund managers to adopt single or dual pricing of units in authorised Collective Investment Schemes in order to better fit with principles-based regulation.

  • FSA urges firms to read its guidance to prepare for change

    10 Oct 2006

    The FSA says reading its guidance will save firms time and effort when preparing for regulatory changes.

  • Gartmore MBO completed

    5 Oct 2006

    Private equity firm Hellman and Friedman and Gartmore's senior managers have completed their acquisition of Gartmore from Nationwide. The acquisition includes all Gartmore's UK, European, Japanese and Latin American businesses and is one of the biggest-ever management buyouts of an asset management company.

  • GE could ditch loan portfolio

    5 Oct 2006

    GE Money Home Lending is considering dumping a portfolio of loans it services after Which? found discrepancies that could cost customers hundreds of thousands of pounds each.Which? found that a £269 legal fee on one mortgage sold in 1991 by Redfern Financial Services could turn into a £162,672 debt on top of the homeloan because of compound interest at a 29.2 per cent rate over the 25-year term.GE has written off that debt but it does not know how many similar loans there are. ...

  • GE Life adds to annuities website

    6 Oct 2006

    GE Life has introduced real-time quotes and pre-filled applications into its online enhanced annuities offering.

  • Go to work on an ego

    5 Oct 2006

    The line-up of fund managers for Skandia's UK best ideas fund is now unveiled and it is time to see whether this galaxy of stars can shine as brightly as their awesome reputations suggest

  • Greater focus on fund performance

    5 Oct 2006

    The investment world is more focused on performance than ever due to rising standards in competition, according to round table panellists.Credit Suisse co-head of multi-manager Gary Potter said: "Performance is a key area of focus but there is almost too much focus on it. People are now looking at how we are doing on almost a weekly basis."Despite this, Potter said multi-managers are better placed to outperform the market than intermediaries because of their depth of resources ...

  • Hard acts to follow

    5 Oct 2006

    Canada Life technical manager Peter Carter says three Finance Acts have failed to provide true simplification of the pension tax regime and many IFAs and consumers are still confused over its workings

  • House prices on the up again in August

    9 Oct 2006

    Average house prices rose by over £3,000 in August, according to Government figures.

  • Hutton says tax relief not his territory

    5 Oct 2006

    Labour conference: Paul McMillan reports from Manchester

  • IFAs demand more best ideas launches

    5 Oct 2006

    Skandia Investment Management launches its UK best ideas fund next week and has already received requests from advisers to devise similar funds in other areas of the market.The new fund is a response to IFA demand for a UK version of the global best ideas fund launched in June. SIM says this fund has grown to almost £150m and is up by over 10 per cent in its first three months.It has no immediate plans to add to the range but says it may roll out more funds in future if IFA ...

  • IHT hit for homeowners in eight years

    9 Oct 2006

    The average UK homeowner could be liable for inheritance tax in eight years if house prices continue to grow at the present rate according to Stroud & Swindon Building Society.

  • ING enters mortgage market with direct offering

    9 Oct 2006

    ING Direct has entered the mortgage market this week with a fixed rate and a flexible rate offering.

  • Interest rates held at 4.75 per cent

    5 Oct 2006

    The Bank of England has decided to hold interest rates at 4.75 per cent for the second month in a row.

  • International markets shrug off North Korea nuclear test while local markets suffer

    10 Oct 2006

    International stock markets have shrugged off news of North Korea's successful nuclear test despite local markets falling on hearing the news.

  • Is property starting to get shaky?

    5 Oct 2006

    Property has become the increasingly favoured asset class for many investors over the last few years and money has been pouring into UK property funds.

  • IT could drive your business forward

    5 Oct 2006

    Find out how the latest technology can help your business and be in with a chance of winning a car

  • It pays to be persistent

    5 Oct 2006

    Helen Pow says educating clients is vitally important for retaining and growing business for advisers

  • Japan set for a quick recovery

    5 Oct 2006

    Of all the world's major stockmarkets the only one to fall in real terms from the beginning of this year to September 13 has been Japan which, in terms of the Topix Index, fell by 4 per cent but is now recovering.

  • John Lewis and Friends link for life deal

    5 Oct 2006

    John Lewis Partnership is linking up with Friends Provident to sell term insurance direct to consumers over the phone and internet.Direct services company Greenbee was unveiled this week and will initially sell home, travel and events insurance but will be moving into the life sector next spring.This is the first major retail partner for Friends Provident and it says it expects Greenbee's protection range to expand.Greenbee managing director James Furse says: "Customers ...

  • Jorma Korhonen

    5 Oct 2006

    Fidelity's new global special situations fund manager has the toughest act in the fund business to follow in taking over from Anthony Bolton but he says he wants to get the message across to investors and advisers that the fund is all about absolute returns and he is not averse to taking substantial risk. Interview by Philip Scott

  • Jupiter boosts UK sales team

    5 Oct 2006

    Jupiter Asset Management has appointed Alison Treharne and David Brown as sales managers on its UK team.

  • Keydata says criticism of its US property bond 'missed point'

    5 Oct 2006

    Keydata sales director Mark Owen has dismissed research by IFA AWD Chase De Vere which criticised the group's income property bond.AWD research manager Justine Fearns said Keydata's six-year residential bond might struggle to find suitable investments to renovate in time to establish sufficient stable revenue streams from the US residential properties it is targeting.The research suggested that general property returns are likely to reduce in future and investors should treat ...

  • Lawson blames actuaries for DB 'bungs'

    5 Oct 2006

    Standard Life head of pensions policy John Lawson says the actuarial profession is to blame for firms offering "bungs" to employees to opt out of final-salary schemes.In Money Marketing last week, president of the Faculty of Actuaries Stewart Ritchie said IFAs will be made the scapegoats if staff complain they lost out by accepting inducements to transfer out of schemes.Lawson says the reason that "bungs" are being offered is because transfer values are inadequate due to actuarial ...

  • Legal plan for payouts despite non-disclosure

    5 Oct 2006

    Law Commission proposals would introduce non-contestability after three years

  • Lenders look abroad for a green example

    5 Oct 2006

    Housing minister Yvette Cooper's call for the mortgage industry to adopt environmentally-friendly homeloans has been met with a cool reception.Most lenders say they have little experience of what a green mortgage is and need further guidance.The Government failed to consult the industry before making the request, just as it failed to consult the sector before the July U-turn that saw home condition reports made voluntary in home information packs.The Council of Mortgage ...

  • Loansome traveller

    5 Oct 2006

    Offshore mortgages: RBS International chief executive Ian Henderson explains to Philip Scott how he targets potential markets and why borrowers should be careful of speculating in foreign markets despite the lucrative deals often portrayed in TV property programmes

  • Lomax quits Misys after failed MBO

    5 Oct 2006

    Misys chief executive and director Kevin Lomax has quit ahead of the AGM this week. There has been strong criticism from shareholders after Lomax led a failed MBO bid, with reports that several institutional shareholders were going to vote against his reappointment to the board. Chairman Sir Dominic Cadbury will take on his responsibilities until a successor is appointed.

  • Look for the unloved

    5 Oct 2006

    The unloved, the unglamorous and the misunderstood can all be great buying opportunities

  • Lutine in mass move with indemnity PTA

    5 Oct 2006

    Lutine is offering a pension term assurance product with full indemnity commission to IFAs which it claims is an industry first.The move is part of Lutine's move away from niche protection towards the mainstream market. The Lloyd's of London syndicate offers PTA as a switch option for customers on an ordinary term life product brokered through Hargreaves Lansdown.The new PTA product is being launched on October 9 and will be available through The Exchange portal. Maximum sum ...

  • Motivation behind exams for chasers

    5 Oct 2006

    Since being forced out of being an IFA by my ethics, I have found solace in championing the consumer cause against poor financial services advice. Now what do we get? Money-motivated companies creating exams for complaint-handling staff (MM Professional Brief, September 21). Isn't everyone aware of the existing financial services qualifications - FPC, AFPC, Cemap, G60, etc? If they are trying to cut out the cowboys in this side of the business, they are certainly not setting a ...

  • Multi-manager is now in the mainstream

    5 Oct 2006

    Multi-manager investing has moved from being a satellite investment product to becoming part of the mainstream over the last few years, according to multi-manager round table delegates.Gartmore multi-manager fund manager Marcus Brookes said funds under management in funds of funds have soared to £26bn - an increase of 48 per cent from a year ago.He said: "A lot of funds of funds we see now have come from the private client environment in the form of institutional pension funds. ...

  • Multi-managers split over meeting fund individuals

    5 Oct 2006

    Multi-manager round table

  • Network Data looking at move into lending

    5 Oct 2006

    Network Data Holdings is gearing up to set up a lending operation in early 2007.The parent company of Network Data, which floated on Aim last month, is considering whether to launch a dormant firm it owns, Homeowners Mortgages, on to the lending scene.HM was set up in November 2005. It is not clear what sectors of the market it would operate in. It will look at funding options, including equity investment from other parties.A launch could mirror Close Brothers, which runs ...

  • Network Data may set up lending company

    5 Oct 2006

    Network Data Holdings is considering setting up a lending operation in the early part of next year.The parent company of Network Data, which floated on Aim last month, is looking at launching a dormant firm it owns, Homeowners Mortgages. HM was set up in November 2005. It is not clear where it would operate in the market but is likely to seek niche business. It will look at all funding options, including equity investment from other parties.A launch could mirror Close Brothers ...

  • Network Data triples profits

    5 Oct 2006

    Network Data has more than tripled profits for the first half of this year to 880,000 from 268,000 in the same period last year.

  • Network Data triples profits

    5 Oct 2006

    Network Data has more than tripled profits for the first half of this year to £880,000 from £268,000 in the same period last year.

  • New pension rules could drive out small Sipp firms

    5 Oct 2006

    New regulation for personal pensions may drive smaller Sipp providers out of the market due to stringent capital adequacy requirements, according to market commentators.The FSA's new rules are set to come into force next April after the regulator got feedback on its consultation paper earlier this year.The rules require Sipp providers holding client money or assets to set aside the equivalent of 13 weeks' expenditure.Standard Life marketing technical manager Andy Tully says ...

  • New ScotProv form aims to cut non-disclosure

    5 Oct 2006

    Scottish Provident has repriced premium rates on its death and critical-illness insurance plans and redesigned its application form to reduce non-disclosure.It has cut the majority of its rates but some have increased. Intermediaries will get an extra 10 per cent commission if they submit business online.The application form has been redesigned to reduce non-disclosure, with changes which include more thorough questions in the medicalsection and encouraging applicants to weigh ...

  • New Star loses £10m as online gambling sinks

    5 Oct 2006

    New Star UK fund managers Stephen Whittaker and James Ridgewell saw almost £10m wiped off the combined value of their funds after online gambling shares plummeted on Monday.Whittaker's £390m UK growth fund held a 5.2 per cent weighting in the sector which has since dropped to 2.9 per cent. Ridgewell's £51m UK special situations fund held a 4.4 per cent stake which sank to 2.3 per cent.Fidelity, Schroders and Merrill Lynch all have significant holdings in the sector, with Fidelity ...

  • Newcob on block

    5 Oct 2006

    This month sees a key milestone in the FSAs much discussed move towards more principle-based regulation, when we consult on proposals for a radically revised conduct of business sourcebook (Newcob), to come into effect from November 2007.

  • Old Mutual makes UK equity, bonds and US fund manager changes

    10 Oct 2006

    Old Mutual Asset Managers has axed five fund managers in an overhaul that will see the group’s quants team take on a greater investment role.

  • Only churn if it means better value

    5 Oct 2006

    You report some of my comments from the Labour Party Conference following Sir Callum McCarthy's recent speech but the headline suggesting that I favour churn is misleading. If customers are advised to shift between long-term investment products of equal suitability purely to gain commission, then there is clearly no gain to individual customers or to the reputation and financial health of the savings market itself. So we agree with Sir Callum's warning about this kind of unproductive ...

  • Openwork moves into motor, pet and travel insurance

    4 Oct 2006

    Multi-tie network Openwork has today announced it is broadening its product range to offer motor, pet, and travel insurance, through a deal with broker Endsleigh.

  • Osborne rejects calls for tax-cutting plans

    5 Oct 2006

    George Osborne has rejected calls to cut taxes from the right of the party, claiming that there is "no such thing as a tax-cutting Shadow Chancellor".Speaking at a Cicero Consulting and Policy Exchange fringe event on Sunday, Osborne said it would not make any sense to propose tax cuts three years before the party could get into power.He said some in the party believed that a "juicy tax prop-osal" such as cuts to IHT or income tax would be the "silver bullet" to election success ...

  • Osborne rejects calls for tax-cutting plans

    5 Oct 2006

    George Osborne has rejected calls to cut taxes from the right of the party, claiming that there is "no such thing as a tax-cutting Shadow Chancellor".Speaking at a Cicero Consulting and Policy Exchange fringe event on Sunday, Osborne said it would not make any sense to propose tax cuts three years before the party could get into power.He said some in the party believed that a "juicy tax prop-osal" such as cuts to IHT or income tax would be the "silver bullet" to election success ...

  • Out of context

    5 Oct 2006

    "I might not sound upmarket but I do have a silk hanky."Positive Solutions executive chairman David Harrison

  • Out of our debt

    5 Oct 2006

    It is difficult to remember the world that existed before the introduction of credit cards in the UK. Barclays was the first and that was over 40 years ago.

  • P/e lessons

    5 Oct 2006

    Dividend yields are not the only value that an investor might hope for in holding equities as the vast majority of companies earn profits significantly higher than that required to maintain or even increase their dividend payments

  • Pensioners in danger of "burn-out", warns new Fidelity research

    4 Oct 2006

    Nine tenths of workers approaching retirement are in danger of burning through they savings well before they die, according to new pensions research from Fidelity International.

  • Pole position

    5 Oct 2006

    The Lansons Public Affairs party at the Labour conference almost provided Treasury Chief Secretary Stephen Timms (left) with a sore head but, strangely for an encounter with Lansons, it had nothing to do with too many glasses of champagne.As Timms was leaving, he was so busy saying his goodbyes to the great and good of financial services that he almost smacked into a 10ft pole.The Diary speculates over who would have come off worse in the collision but it probably would not have ...

  • Poll shows brokers want Widows on board Ship

    5 Oct 2006

    Two-thirds of Money Marketing readers believe that Scottish Widows should join Safe Home Income Plans.Pressure is mounting on Widows to take part in the equity-release trade body after it was ordered by the FSA last month to alter its key facts illustration. The KFI was criticised for stating it is up to the lender rather than the customer to decide where any claim money from a buildings insurance policy goes.After it changed the KFI to state it is up to the customer, brokers ...

  • Portillo says IFAs have a duty to avert crisis

    5 Oct 2006

    Former Tory Treasury minister Michael Portillo says IFAs have a moral obligation to help stave off a pension crisis.He told the Positive Solutions' annual partner forum in Birmingham last week that advisers must improve their reputation and give honest, sound advice or take part of the blame for a future generation of impoverished pensioners.Portillo said IFAs must work to improve the savings rate. Households in Spain and Germany save twice as much as the UK and Italians three ...

  • Positive Solutions points to £80m float bonus deal

    5 Oct 2006

    Positive Solutions' partners could share an £80m cash pot if the company meets its targets for a 2010 flotation.The company is aiming for a flotation value of £660m backed by a total of 2,500 advisers and an annual turnover of £150m with adjusted operating profit of £25m.Parent company Aegon has agreed to make £80m available to be shared between advisers who are eligible for the partnership share scheme.The incentive was announced at the company's annual partner forum at ...

  • Premium rate

    5 Oct 2006

    It now appears that valuing a life policy placed in trust will need to have regard to the premiums paid

  • Prime Professions in PI deal for IFAs

    5 Oct 2006

    A group of former Alexander Forbes directors has set up a professional indemnity brokerage for IFAs.

  • Prime Professions in PI deal for IFAs

    5 Oct 2006

    A group of former Alexander Forbes directors has set up a professional indemnity brokerage for IFAs.

  • Product matters: Royal approval

    5 Oct 2006

    Not long ago, many feared that the end was nigh for guaranteed-rate critical-illness insurance. However, in a dramatic turn of events, we now have very healthy provider support for this valuable product and Royal Liver is set to join this A list on October 23.This addition to its Progress product sees not only the introduction of guaranteed premiums for CI but, interestingly, it will also remove reviewable premiums altogether.Importantly, Royal Liver is also adopting the new ...

  • RBS picks new mortgages chief

    5 Oct 2006

    Royal Bank of Scotland Intermediary Partners has made Caroline Marsh head of intermediary mortgages. She replaces David Jones, who has left the group. Head of business partnerships Louis Kaszczak has also quit the group, with Jayne-Anne Gadhia becoming MD for mortgages.

  • Record results for Helm Godfrey

    5 Oct 2006

    National IFA Helm Godfrey reported record results for the first half of this year. Profit nearly tripled to 343,823 compared with 125,939 for the same period last year. Turnover increased by 53 per cent to 2.76m from 1.8m.

  • Relative values

    5 Oct 2006

    You will have read about the treating customers fairly initiative, the regulator's big theme of 2006. In September, the FSA published a discussion paper called, The Responsibilities of Providers and Distributors for the Fair Treatment of Customers.

  • Release failing to reach owners' children

    5 Oct 2006

    Equity-release advisers admit it will be difficult to target elderly people forced to sell their home to fund care.Key Retirement Solutions business development director Dean Mirfin says the problem is that when someone is about to go into care, it is his or her children who make the financial arrangements and it is hard for the market to aim at such individuals at it is the homeowners who are normally the recipients of advice.Equity release is seen as a means to allow people ...

  • Resolution appoints McAleese to UK equities desk

    4 Oct 2006

    Resolution Asset Management has appointed Gary McAleese as investment manager on its UK equities desk.

  • Rising demand for flexible homeloans

    5 Oct 2006

    Research conducted among 1,400 intermediaries has revealed increasing demand for mortgages with flexible features. The survey by specialist lender UCB Home Loans found that 69 per cent of advisers reported an increase in the number of applicants requesting flexible features on their tracker mortgages last year.

  • Rising demand for flexible homeloans

    5 Oct 2006

    Research conducted among 1,400 intermediaries has revealed increasing demand for mortgages with flexible features. The survey by specialist lender UCB Home Loans found that 69 per cent of advisers reported an increase in the number of applicants requesting flexible features on their tracker mortgages last year.

  • Royal Liver's guaranteed CI cover follows ABI guidelines

    5 Oct 2006

    Royal Liver has released details of its guaranteed critical-illness insurance plan which will comply with new definitions to be introduced by the Association of British Insurers.It will be one of the first providers to introduce the ABI's new definitions on critical-illness cover, which all providers have to implement by April 2007.The guaranteed critical-illness insurance product will replace Royal Liver's protection arm Progress's existing reviewable critical-illness cover ...

  • Senior management reshuffle at HBOS

    5 Oct 2006

    HBOS has reshuffled its senior management, with mortgages director David Nicholson taking over as retail distribution director. A replacement is expected to be announced shortly. Nicholson replaces Rob Devey, who is moving to HBOS's insurance and investment unit.A group of former Alexander Forbes directors has set up a professional indemnity brokerage for IFAs.Prime Professions has been servicing the legal, accounting, construction and insurance professions for a year and is ...

  • Ship shape

    5 Oct 2006

    The pressure is being piled on Scottish Widows to join equity- release trade body Safe Home Income Plans. A Money Marketing poll reveals that over two-thirds of our readers think Widows should join. Last month, Widows was ordered to change its Key Facts Illustration by the FSA after faults were uncovered.

  • Shop talk

    5 Oct 2006

    About 15 years ago, shortly after becoming a journalist on this newspaper, I had an interview with a life office senior executive.

  • Short circuit

    5 Oct 2006

    The sub-prime mortgage market was always expected to be the source of most problems after regulation but the FSA also has misgivings about the prime sector.

  • SimplyBiz member meetings see record bookings

    10 Oct 2006

    SimplyBiz says it has seen a record number of bookings for its autumn round of member meetings.

  • Sipp warning on halls of residence

    5 Oct 2006

    I was interested to read the recent article in Money Marketing on Sipps being able to invest in for student halls of residence. The Revenue has said that the property must be identified by an educational establishment as one of its halls of residence. It must also be demonstrated that the educational establishment in question must be involved in placing students in the building and that students must be limited to one residence. The first consideration must be given to whether ...

  • Size up the situation

    5 Oct 2006

    Key Retirement Solutions business development director Dean Mirfin says downsizing does not have to be the only route for equity-release clients and he tries to assess the FSA's compliance view on the matter

  • Sour grapes over Poso charges

    5 Oct 2006

    I was surprised to read Tim Hague's suggestion headlined, Poso probe is needed to check fees (Money Marketing, September 21), that either the FSA or OFT will become interested in the profit margin made by lenders on their up-front fees. If they did, they might query the 1,499 arrangement fee that BM has charged on some of its products. But they won't because fees and interest rates clearly quoted by lenders on their pre-sale KFIs are already subject to intensive competitive pressure ...

  • Standard Life teams up with UBS for Sipp offering

    5 Oct 2006

    Standard Life is to offer its Sipp through life and pensions business written by UBS.

  • Standard plea over net business figures

    5 Oct 2006

    Standard Life chief executive Trevor Matthews has called on pension providers to publish net business figures in their company results.The rallying cry comes as the industry faces criticism about churning and a misleading focus on new business figures.Matthews says he has been lobbying for insurers to publish the amount of business they lose on an annualised premium equivalent basis alongside new business figures.Matthews says: "Providers need to make the level of funds ...

  • Standard sets aside £100m to pay for post-float exodus

    5 Oct 2006

    Standard Life has set aside £100m to plug losses caused by falling persistency rates and people cashing their policies after netting demutualisation windfalls.Standard Life says its demutualisation has delayed the impact of A-Day on its pension business and it expects increased pension lapses caused by A-Day to continue until April 2007.The firm is putting aside a pre-tax provision of £100m to cover expected lapses, with £79m of the amount for A-Day-related lapses and the remaining ...

  • Standard wants protection cover for NPSS

    5 Oct 2006

    Standard Life has suggested auto-enrolling people into a life insurance policy as they enter the NPSS to address the "criminal" lack of protection for many low-paid employees.Speaking at a fringe event at the Labour Party conference in Manchester last week, chief executive Trevor Matthews said a similar scheme worked in Australia when pension compulsion was introduced, with a contribution added for protection cover.Matthews said the protection industry in the UK was fiercely ...

  • Summit set for pensions minister to explain reforms

    5 Oct 2006

    Money Marketing and Cicero Consulting are holding a summit at Westminster with pensions minister James Purnell as the Government prepares to launch its second White Paper.Purnell will talk about the effects of the reforms to an invited audience, who will then be able to question him. Other panellists include IMA chief executive Richard Saunders and a leading IFA.The event will be held on October 12 at the Foreign Press Association in Carlton House Terrace, London.The Government's ...

  • Super-mutual has rivals in a sweat

    5 Oct 2006

    The merger of Nationwide and Portman has left rivals sweating about their ability to compete with the super-mutual in terms of costs and consumer care, says MP Andy Love.Speaking at a Labour fringe event at the party conference last week, the MP for Edmonton says the merger will introduce a massive competitive edge into the market and leave non-mutual rivals worried about its impact on their long-term business.Love, a member of the Treasury select committee, said the main reason ...

  • Sweetener and sour

    5 Oct 2006

    Transfer incentive business is risky and could come back to haunt advisers

  • Switch way is the next churn?

    5 Oct 2006

    McCarthy surprised many in the industry by seeming to morph into industry analyst Ned Cazalet while making a speech to pension industry leaders at Gleneagles. He called for urgent changes to the financial services distribution model, which he says is failing consumers, providers and advisers.

  • Takeover will cut competition

    5 Oct 2006

    In last week's column, Mark Harris concluded that the "merger" of Nationwide and Portman would be positive for consumers in the short term but negative in the long term. It is worth returning to the subject as I think it will also be negative for consumers in the short term.

  • TCF tool to record complaint rates

    5 Oct 2006

    Threesixty is offering a treating customers fairly tool to help advisers record customer complaint and persistency rates.

  • TCF tool to record complaint rates

    5 Oct 2006

    Threesixty is offering a treating customers fairly tool to help advisers record customer complaint and persistency rates.

  • Tech battle hots up as Kensington offers free AVMs and e-IDs

    4 Oct 2006

    Kensington has launched automated valuations and electronic identification as part of its K-net eCommerce platform.

  • Tenet chairman Kayes retires

    5 Oct 2006

    Tenet Group chairman Barry Kayes has announced his retirement after more than 10 years with the firm.

  • The churning tide

    5 Oct 2006

    The FSA wants action taken to stem churning but is it always gratuitous?

  • The fastest marketing man in the west?

    5 Oct 2006

    Pink Home Loans managing director Tony Jones (pictured below) has an alternative career in the entertainment industry if it does not work out for him in the mortgage market. He almost upstaged the excellent after-dinner speaker - Match of the Day 2 host Adrian Chiles - at his network's service awards last week.Not one to drag out dry industry chat in front of an already booze-fuelled audience, Jones instead went on a mission to find famous look-alikes for some of the mortgage industry's ...

  • The IVA league

    5 Oct 2006

    Going bust is booming, says chm:ping joint managing director Rupert Pybus, and aggressive marketing of individual voluntary agreements is one of the main reasons for hundreds of thousands seeking a way out of debt problems

  • The mist clears

    5 Oct 2006

    Here we are in October - that most unpredictable of months. Big stockmarket shakeouts happen in October. The Great Wall Street Crash of 1929, the Yom Kippur war in 1973, Black Monday in 1987 - all happened this month. This is meant to be the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. It is also the month when seasoned investors are on the lookout for banana skins and the fact that, at the end of September, Wall Street reached its highest levels since 2000 will probably heighten investors' ...

  • The name aim

    5 Oct 2006

    On October 1 the Association of Investment Trust Companies is becoming the Association of Investment Companies.

  • This week in Mortgages

    6 Oct 2006

    Poor old Woolwich got a good kicking this week from the Building Societies Association.

  • This week in Politics

    9 Oct 2006

    The stormy shores of Dorset were not the most inviting of places last week for anyone trying to wring financial services policy details out of David Cameron's cuddly sunshine Tories.

  • Threadneedle picks UK equities chief

    5 Oct 2006

    Leigh Harrison will take over as head of UK equities at Threadneedle next January when current head Michael Taylor steps down.Harrison will also take over the management of Taylor's UK growth fund, running it alongside his existing two retail equity income mandates.Taylor has been at the group for 12 years and will stay on in a consultancy role next year before considering his options.From this week, Mark Westwood will take over the running of Taylor's UK select fund.Steve ...

  • Tories claim IFAs are being scared off Asps

    5 Oct 2006

    The Tories say that Government threats of a U-turn on alternatively secured pensions are a ploy to bully IFAs into not selling the products and save Labour from having to scrap Asps.Speaking at a British Ban-kers' Association and Cicero Consulting fringe event at the Conservative party conference in Bournemouth on Monday, Shadow Treasury Financial Secretary Mark Hoban said the Government had made "a huge mistake" over the issue.He said the Government had two years to think through ...

  • Tories claim IFAs are being scared off Asps

    5 Oct 2006

    Conservative conference: Paul McMillan reports from Bournemouth

  • Tread carefully on Ucits III

    5 Oct 2006

    Multi-manager round table: reports by Matt Goodburn

  • Treasure islands

    5 Oct 2006

    Our panel discuss the range of incentives offered to investment businesses based in Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man

  • Treasury takes an interest in offset

    5 Oct 2006

    Lenders are being warned to go for steady growth in the offset mortgage or risk the market being shut down.The Treasury is keeping a close eye on the market as savings used to offset interest on a mortgage do not have to be taxed at present, although the Government may close the loophole if the market is used primarily for tax avoidance.As the offset market is still in its infancy, it is understood the Treasury is prepared to allow the present rate of growth but will change ...

  • Under the influence of providers

    5 Oct 2006

    I disagree completely with Tenet Group's Simon Hudson's article (MM September 21). First, Mr Hudson's ideas are based on the fact that no advisers are biased by commission. If this truly were the case, then life offices would not raise or reduce pension commission payments depending on whether they wanted to increase or decrease market share. There would be no "special offers" and 6 per cent commission on investment bonds and the like. The fact that these situations do exist ...

  • Value is lurking in Japanese smaller companies

    5 Oct 2006

    The lack of Japanese smaller companies specialists makes the sector ripe for finding undervalued growth, according to Axa Framlington fund manager Chisako Hardie.Axa Framlington's Japanese smaller companies fund launched last week and Edinburgh-based Hardie believes the Japanese economy is in a strong position.She says 3,000 of the 3,500 stocks listed on the Japanese stock exchange are small caps and the lack of sector specialists means many are under-researched and deliver ...

  • Value of ongoing advice

    5 Oct 2006

    It's in both your interests to bully clients, in the nicest possible way, into having regular financial reviews

  • Volatility drives choice of ETFs for iFunds global Fof

    5 Oct 2006

    iFunds, a franchise of Raymond James Investment Services, has introduced a global growth fund of funds investing in exchange-traded funds.The MFM iFunds ETF global growth fund provides exposure to single-country or regional ETFs that are weighted according to volatility rather than market cap.The fund, administered by Marlborough Fund Managers, has a £1,000 minimum investment. Selection of ETFs will be based on a software system developed over 16 years by iFunds investment director ...

  • Whitechurch aims at bigger IFA firms

    5 Oct 2006

    Whitechurch Direct is looking for business from bigger IFA firms and says it can undercut SimplyBiz by 40 per cent for firms with a turnover of more than £210,000The firm says both of the support services companies' fees are similar for IFA firms with an annual turnover below £210,000 but for claims that for companies with bigger turnovers, the difference is significant.Managing director Ian McIver says Whitechurch's fees for companies with a turnover in excess of £210,000 are capped ...

  • Widows highlights plight of graduate FTBs

    6 Oct 2006

    Over half of graduates are unable to get on the property ladder, according to research out today.

  • Widows is slashing 200 jobs in customer services division

    5 Oct 2006

    Scottish Widows is to cut 200 jobs after a review of its customer services division.The cuts are being made because Widows wants to consolidate back-office processing at its Chatham operation which employs 450 staff. All customer-facing services will operate from Edinburgh and 200 staff will be axed, with 75 of these roles being considered for offshoring to India.A further 175 roles in the Lloyds TSB closed book back-office will be transferred to LTSB Group Operations at the ...

  • Winterthur upgrades portfolio projections

    5 Oct 2006

    Winterthur Life is offering an upgraded version of its online adviser service which is designed to provide product and portfolio analysis.The service is added on to Winterthur's adviser toolkit and gives advisers access to investment analysis and research of all UK unit trusts, Oeics, life and pension funds.It includes the option to scan client portfolios to display information on asset allocation and portfolio construction and allows the adviser to see third-party products ...

  • Woolwich launches City Bonus mortgage

    10 Oct 2006

    Woolwich has launched what it is calling the ‘City Bonus’ mortgage to target bankers, brokers, consultants and entrepreneurs who expect large bonuses this winter.

  • Zurich launches discretionary discounted gift trust

    6 Oct 2006

    Zurich's investment arm Sterling has launched a new trust giving investors more choice and flexibility on inheritance tax planning.

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