Money Marketing
5 March 2003

  • 'Buy-to-let investors should survive slump'

    6 Mar 2003

    Buy-to-let investors should be able to survive a property slump although they may struggle to match the profits achieved in the recent boom years, says analyst Mintel. Its survey of 1,969 adults carried out last month reveals that 46 per cent believe property is a safer investment than stocks and shares. Fifth-one per cent of men think that bricks and mortar are safer than equities compared with 41 per cent of women. Mintel says even in the event of a full-scale property crash, ...

  • 'Closet trackers costing £125m in excess fees'

    6 Mar 2003

    UK equity investors could be throwing away up to £125m a year in excess management fees by investing in closet tracker funds, according to Legal & General. L&G's research has found that UK retail investors have around £50bn in actively managed funds with annual management fees of at least 1 per cent. It claims many of these are closet trackers, which only aim to match an index while occasionally injecting an element of outperformance. L&G's tracker ...

  • 'Educate public on offset loans'

    6 Mar 2003

    Borrowers with expensive unsecured loans should use offset mortgages to reduce the cost of their borrowings, says market research firm NOP Financial. In the CML's Housing Finance journal, it argues that the marketing of offset has focused on the benefits of offsetting savings against the mortgage to reduce the amount of interest paid. But it points to markets such as Australia where borrowers without savings are adopting offset mortgages to pay off unsecured debt with high levels ...

  • 'Life offices will buy up all IFA networks'

    6 Mar 2003

    IFA networks will all be bought by life companies looking for cheaper distribution within the next five years, with the Misys networks likely to be sold in the next 12 months, forecasts leading industry commentator Graeme Laws. Speaking at the Matrix Data Brave New World seminar in London last week, former National Mutual deputy managing director Laws predicted that Misys will be bought by a life company, with others, such as Tenet and Burns Anderson, following suit. He describes ...

  • 'Only a handful of annuity firms chasing business'

    6 Mar 2003

    There is only a small group of annuity providers chasing new business and they are breaking away from the crowd of traditional players which are limiting their annuity exposure, according to research by Hargreaves Lansdown. Canada Life, GE Life, Britannic Retirement Solutions and Prudential have all changed their annuity rates on average at least every month since the middle of 2001 in a bid to remain competitive. Over the same period, Scottish Widows, Scottish Equitable and NPI only ...

  • 'Tax axe turns Isa investors away'

    6 Mar 2003

    Almost half of investors who are aware of the planned scrapping of the tax breaks on equity Isa dividends say they are less likely to invest in an Isa as a result. Research by fund firm Isis has found that 45 per cent of investors who know about the abolition of the 10 per cent break on April 5, 2004 say the move will deter them from investing in the future. Isis is urging Chancellor Gordon Brown to scrap the plans in this year's Budget.

  • 82% back Sofa-LIA merger

    6 Mar 2003

    An overwhelming majority of IFAs would like to see the LIA and the Society of Financial Advisers merge. The Money Marketing/ One Account State of the IFA Nation poll found that 82 per cent backed a merger and only 16 per cent wanted the two organisations to remain separate and 2 per cent did not know. The LIA has 23,000 members and Sofa, the financial services arm of the CII, has 9500 members. There is already an overlap between memberships, with many advisers being members of ...

  • ABI wants protection risk rating reduced

    6 Mar 2003

    The ABI and protection providers are lobbying the FSA to abandon its classification of protection products as higher risk than other types of general insurance as it designs its regime for their regulation. In CP160, the FSA proposed placing protection in a "higher-risk" category than other types of general insurance because it says their long-term nature makes them inflexible. But Scottish Provident and the ABI say there is no reason to treat critical-illness cover, income protection, ...

  • Advisers split on whether the remortgage frenzy can go on

    6 Mar 2003

    IFAs are split on whether the current level of remortgaging is sustainable. The MM/One Account Annual State of the IFA Nation poll shows opinion is divided, with 52 per cent saying that remortgaging will slow down this year. But 42 per cent of advisers are not only confident that remortgaging will continue to prop up the market this year but they also predict an increase in remortgage business. The Council of Mortgage Lenders which has attributed the strength of the current ...

  • AMP chairman refuses £600k handshake

    6 Mar 2003

    Stan Wallis, who stood down as AMP group chair-man last week, has declined a £620,000 golden handshake. AMP is in dispute with former group chief executive Paul Batchelor over severance pay.

  • Australian bank eyes IFA market

    6 Mar 2003

    The National Australia Bank is aiming to break into the IFA market with the extension of its multi-manager proposition, MLC Investment Management, which has previously only been available through its UK banking subsidiaries. The initiative, called Pivotal, will be headed by former Prudential group sales director John Cowan and based on its Australian model, which allows IFAs to focus on holistic planning based on their clients' long-term investment objectives. The multi-manager ...

  • Awards for Standard apprentice scheme

    6 Mar 2003

    Standard Life was given two awards for its Modern Apprenticeship Programme at a ceremony last week. The company won first prize in the large employer category and another top award for being the first company to have four employees to complete their apprenticeship in IT. Standard is one of the biggest financial services company to adopt the scheme in which recruits are put on a work-based development programme partially funded by Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian. At the ...

  • Axe hangs over ScotProv and ScotMut brands

    6 Mar 2003

    Abbey National is to consult IFAs as part of a review which could spell the end for brands Scottish Mutual and Scottish Provident. But despite earlier speculation, Abbey says it has no plans either to sell or close down the ScotMut or ScotProv businesses and will only rev-amp their product ranges. As part of a back to basics approach, loss-making Abbey has reaffirmed its commitment to the intermediary channel. However, it says it will look at more outsourcing deals such as ...

  • Barclays Bank - Guaranteed Equity Savings Bond - Issue 10

    6 Mar 2003

    Thursday, 06 March 2003 Type: Guaranteed equity bond and high interest accountGUARANTEED EQUITY BONDAim: Growth linked to the performance of FTSE 100 indexMinimum-maximum investment: £2,500-£500,000Term: Five yearsGuarantee: Original capital returned in full regardless of performance in indexReturn: 50% growth at end of termClosing date: April 17, 2003HIGH INTEREST ACCOUNTType: High interest accountMinimum-

  • Barclays Bank - Managed Fund of Funds Isa

    5 Mar 2003

    Wednesday, March 5 2003 Type: Oeic mini or maxi IsaAim: Growth and income by investing in equities and bondsMinimum investment: Lump sum £500, monthly £25Maximum investment: £7,000Catmarked: NoInvestment choice: JPMorgan Fleming Luxembourg, Baring global bond, Threadneedle UK corporate bond, Investec sterling bond A, iShare iFTSE 100, Merrill Lynch UK dynamic, Lazard UK alpha, Liontrust first growth, DWS UK equity income ...

  • Barclays looks to switch to multi-tied strategy

    6 Mar 2003

    Barclays is looking to loosen its exclusive tie with Legal & General, considering a multi-tied arrangement for all of its distribution channels, including Woolwich IFA Services, according to its managing director retail business Bob Dench. The bank says it recognises that, for some consumers, a tied channel will remain the best option and, for that channel, Legal & General will "likely remain the core provider" but Dench says that multi-ties are being considered across the ...

  • Big losses prompt Abbey Nat to split businesses

    6 Mar 2003

    Abbey National is refocusing after its recent expansion programme to concentrate on its retail banking and onshore IFA businesses after describing its results for last year as "extremely unsatisfactory". The company lost £984m last year after a profit of£1.47bn in 2001. As a result, Abbey is splitting its operation into two - personal financial services taking in high-street banking and its intermediary operations. Its other businesses, including Scottish Mutual International ...

  • Burden retires from C&G after 34 years

    6 Mar 2003

    Cheltenham & Gloucester managing director Roger Burden is to retire at the end of April after 34 years at the company. He will be replaced by Jon Pain, who is currently MD at LloydsTSB's general insurance arm. Burden, who was appointed MD in 1997, grew C&G's assets to £58bn at the end of last year from £20bn at the start of his tenure. He is planning to continue his involvement with the group as chairman of the C&G board, taking over from Alan Moore, ...

  • Can I have a word? Get it sorted...

    6 Mar 2003

    Abbey National may have the smooth, suave housewives' favourite Martin Kemp as the corporate image to get it out of its current hole, but if IFA portal Webline wants to continue the ex-Eastenders theme they need not look too far afield. While simmering hard man Grant Mitchell, aka Ross Kemp, himself might be a touch expensive, Webline managing director Paul Holland's brooding looks could easily do the job.

  • Clamour grows for equity-release regulation

    6 Mar 2003

    The FSA is being urged to regulate second-charge loans, buy to let and reversionary equity-release plans. The results of the Money Marketing/One Account poll reveal that most of the 215 advisers questioned want to see the FSA move into these areas. Top of the regulation wish list is equity release, with 87 per cent wanting this area regulated. Seventy per cent of advisers questioned wanted to see buy to let come under the remit of the regulator and 69 per cent wanted to see second-charge ...

  • Clerical Medical International - Growth Lock-in Fund

    10 Mar 2003

    Monday, 10 March 2003 Type: Capital guaranteed fundAim: Sterling - growth linked to FTSE 100 and JPMorgan UK government bond indices, Euros - growth linked to Dow Jones Eurostoxx 50 and JPMorgan Eurozone government bond indices, US dollars - growth linked to S&P 500 and JPMorgan US government bond indicesMinimum investment: £15,000, Euros 22,500, $dollars 22,500Place of registration: Isle of ManInvestment split: Sterling - FTSE ...

  • Cofunds leading with consolidation success

    6 Mar 2003

    Fund supermarket Cofunds is leading the platform pack in terms of total fund sales in the fourth quarter of last year, according to a confidential report seen by Money Marketing. The report shows that Cofunds, which recently saw chief executive Clive Boothman leave the group, achieved total sales of £118.7m in the fourth quarter of last year, £15m more than closest rival Skandia, which had sales of £103.6m. Third was Fidelity's FundsNetwork with sales of £95.2m ...

  • Derek Bottom

    6 Mar 2003

    Sainsbury's Bank deputy chief executive Derek Bottom is stocking the shelves with the Sandler suite in a bid to beat the high-street banks. Bottom must be the Government's dream come true. He firmly believes that the public can be persuaded to save without advice as long as they are continually urged to do so through store-based advertising and mailshots. He thinks it can be done cheaply. Both of the bank's new Isas - a FTSE-100 tracker and a UK equity fund - have no initial ...

  • Don't get too fixed on the short term

    6 Mar 2003

    Much is being reported about the seemingly unstoppable increase in popularity of fixed-interest investments such as corporate bonds and gilts. Presumably, this is mainly down to advisers recommending them as an alternative to equities. This is a dangerously short-term approach and may lead to more upsets, given that the present stage in the price cycle of fixed-interest investments must be comparable to that of equities in the late 90s. First, if, as is being widely predicted, ...

  • Double blunder over contracting-out rebates

    6 Mar 2003

    The Inland Revenue is recalculating 800,000 contracting-out payments which were aimed at compensating policyholders for an earlier miscalculation of the contracting-out rebate. The double bungle started when admin delays following the introduction of a new computer system meant that the Contributions Agency, the body which was then responsible for rebates, was late in processing National Insurance Contribution rebates for the 1997/98 tax year. The agency agreed to compensate people ...

  • Employers boost DB contributions

    6 Mar 2003

    Sixty-one per cent of defined-benefit schemes have seen increased employer contribution rates in 2002, according to a survey by Jardine Lloyd Thompson. The survey shows that 75 per cent of schemes have no part of their fund ethically invested while 7 per cent have 100 per cent of funds invested ethically. It also shows that only 7 per cent of schemes have changed their investment strategy following consideration of the Myners principles for management of funds.

  • Euro concerns emerging

    6 Mar 2003

    Fears are growing that the European Union consumer credit directive will damage the UK's lucrative flexible mortgage market. The State of the IFA Nation poll found 57 per cent of IFAs believe the directive poses a serious threat to the flexible mortgage market in the UK and 67 per cent of this group believe a European super-regulator will cover the entire market within five years. Their concerns are backed by the Council of Mortgage lenders, which is lobbying the European parliament ...

  • Ex-Schroders chief joins HSBC

    6 Mar 2003

    Former Schroders fund manager Chris Rodgers has been appointed head of UK equities and manager of the UK growth fund at HSBC Asset Management. Rodgers joins next week.

  • Fears that filtering questions may lead to misselling

    6 Mar 2003

    Many advisers are worried that the use of filtering questions could be open to abuse or lead to unqualified advisers providing advice. Seventy-eight per cent believe that the use of filtering questions or decision trees could lead directly to lesser-qualified advisers offering advice. The FSA's depolarisation proposals have led to suggestions that decision trees should be used as a means of selling the Sandler suite products because they are simpler and the regulator argues ...

  • Field calls for equal rights

    6 Mar 2003

    The Government must reform the priority for final-salary scheme wind-ups to give retired and non-retired workers the same rights before some schemes inevitably hit meltdown, says former pension minister Frank Field MP. Field told the Cityforum conference that, over the next five years, it will become commonplace for scheme wind-ups to leave existing members with huge shortfalls. He is presenting a private member's bill to the House of Commons this week, proposing reform of priorities ...

  • Flexibility needed over transfers

    6 Mar 2003

    The news that Opra is temporarily relaxing its rules to allow scheme trustees discretion over whether to provide pension transfer valuations is received with mixed blessings. On the one hand, Money Marketing understands the motive behind such a measure - to prevent a run on transfers from poorly managed or underfunded funds - thus jeopardising the benefits of remaining members in the scheme and raising the spectre of it possibly defaulting. On the other hand, such crude methods ...

  • Former Bankhall director joins Threesixty Services

    10 Mar 2003

    IFA support services provider Threesixty Services has appointed David Ingram as head of research, training and technical support. The former founding director of Bankhall's technical support arm, Resource Initiatives, joins fellow Bankhall alumni, Threesixty directors Ross McArthur and David Brattesani.McArthur says: "Ingram has a fantastic profile within the IFA sector, and brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge. He will strengthen our team and assist ...

  • Forsyth Partners - Forsyth Alternative Income Fund

    11 Mar 2003

    Tuesday, 11 March 2003Type: Hedge fundAim: Income and growth by investing in fixed interest hedge funds, sovereign, corporate and emerging market bond fundsMinimum investment: Lump sum $20,000Place of registration: Cayman IslandsInvestment split: 100% in fixed interest hedge funds, sovereign, corporate and emerging market bond fundsCharges: Initial up to 3%, annual 1.25%Commission: Initial up to 3%Tel: 020 8649 9440

  • Fortune Asset Management - Muzinich & Co's Hedgeyield

    6 Mar 2003

    Thursday, 6 March 2003 Type: Hedge fundAim: Growth by investing in high yield corporate bondsMinimum investment: Lump sum $1mPlace of registration: Cayman IslandsInvestment split: 100% in high yield corporate bondsCharges: Initial up to 5%, annual 1%Commission: Subject to negotiationTel: 020 7355 2000

  • Free switches into SG tech fund

    6 Mar 2003

    SG Asset Management is offering investors free switches into its SocGen technology fund to mark the fund's fifth anniversary on May 22. The offer, which comes as SG predicts further rationalisation in the tech sector, applies both to direct investments and Isa/Pep transfers. Following the discount period, the initial charge reverts back to 5.25 per cent with an annual charge of 1.75 per cent.

  • Friends and Axa prosper but Zurich suffers fall

    6 Mar 2003

    Zurich Financial Services, Friends Provident and Axa have released contrasting results. Zurich Financial Services' group losses rose to £2.15bn from £244m in 2001. Profits at its UK, Ireland and South African operations halved to £106m from £221m on an equivalent premium income basis. But Friends Provident saw an 11 per cent increase in new life and pension business to £377m from £343m last year. Profits at Axa'a UK life and pension ...

  • Friends buys 9.9% stake in Lighthouse

    6 Mar 2003

    Friends Provident Life and Pensions is taking a 9.9 per cent stake in Aim-listed IFA Lighthouse for just over £700,000. Friends is the third provider to snap up a piece of the 500-RI firm, which is looking to multi-tie parts of its business in the second quarter of the year after depolarisation. Friends takes a 9.9 share of the firm alongside Aegon and Skandia. However, Lighthouse says the new issue of shares brings down the other providers' stakes to 8 per cent each from ...

  • FSA caught in PI insurance trap

    6 Mar 2003

    A plank for the establishment of the FSA was to protect investors and, we hope, all other operators within the insurance industry. As far as IFAs are concerned, they have no powers to do so any longer. The environment which encouraged and presided over the pension review into so-called misselling was a total abuse of position and authority without regard to matters of integrity and fairness. That spirit pervades the FSA in its misdirected zeal to protect the investor. The result ...

  • FSA leading contender to take on Opra role

    6 Mar 2003

    The FSA is understood to be the front runner to take over responsibility for employer-sponsored schemes from Opra, Money Marketing has learned. Industry sources say the FSA is set to extend its domain by becoming the New Kind of Regulator first mooted by Alan Pickering in his pension simplification report which is under consultation as part of the Department for Work and Pensions' Green Paper. But Opra denies it is set to be absorbed into the FSA, which refuses to comment. Such ...

  • FSA sets up PI seminars

    6 Mar 2003

    The FSA is hosting a series of professional indemnity insurance seminars for IFAs. It will hold six regional workshops to try and find solutions to IFAs' PI problems. There will be two free half-day workshops in Leeds on March 20, London on March 25 and Edinburgh on March 27.

  • FSA throws new light on financial healthcheck

    6 Mar 2003

    The FSA has unveiled plans for a CD-Rom-based generic financial healthcheck to help consumers make decisions ranging from whether they should save for a washing machine to increasing pension contributions. At a Treasury seminar this week attended by providers, trade bodies, IFAs and representatives from the voluntary sector, FSA managing director John Tiner said the regulator is consulting on the potential for the tool to improve consumer financial understanding. Designed by software ...

  • Furore at MVAs on deferred pensions

    6 Mar 2003

    Life companies have been blasted by IFAs for imposing hefty market value adjusters of up to 27 per cent on the pension pots of people deferring or taking partial retirement. IFAs claim that Friends Provident, Clerical Medical, Norwich Union and Scottish Widows are all guilty of imposing penalties on with-profits pension planholders who choose either to defer or take part of their fund. The news comes as a briefing note from Standard Life seen by Money Marketing reveals that it ...

  • Hanover Life Re picks new MD

    6 Mar 2003

    Reinsurer Hanover Life Re has appointed David Brand as its new managing director, effective from this week. Brand has been involved in senior management of the reinsurer for a decade, most recently as deputy managing director. He takes over from Peter Savill, who has been managing director since 1983 and is retiring, although he will retain some links with the company as a consultant and non-executive chairman of UK subsidiary Hanover Services.

  • Hargreaves Lansdown is moving over to fees

    6 Mar 2003

    Hargreaves Lansdown, the UK's biggest investment IFA, is switching from commission-based advice to become a predominantly fee-only advisory firm in a move it says is essential to its survival. Following the recent consolidation of its advice arms, the company is restructuring the merged financial practitioner business to enable it to conduct at least 80 per cent of its advised business on a fee basis within the next three to six months. Currently, just 20 per cent of its advice ...

  • Has PI cover ceased to be?

    6 Mar 2003

    Those of you around the apocryphal average age of the IFA will no doubt recall the Monty Python gag involving the Spanish Inquisition. As I recall, the punch line was: "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition." In the same vein, I am sure not many expected the arrival of a consultation paper on professional indemnity insurance but arrive it has. In due course, IFAs will in a position to ask questions directly of the team responsible for this process of consultation. This allows us to ...

  • Heart of the matter

    6 Mar 2003

    A couple in their early 40s were referred to us by their accountant. The husband was self-employed and had suffered a major heart attack in November 2001, after which he was off work for six months. He returned to work in June 2002 and wanted to insure himself. He had approached two insurers and another IFA without success. Could we help? The client was a heavy-smoking workaholic until his heart attack. He had seen insurance as dead money and, beyond a joint-life £87,500 ...

  • Held to task over broken promises of life companies

    6 Mar 2003

    After some 30 years in the insurance industry, I have now put away my pen and have ceased advising clients on their insurance problems and needs. Despite this, it is apparent that I can still be held to task and need to provide substantial reasons for what, say, 15 years ago, would have been deemed sound advice. Over half of my professional life I have sought to establish goodwill in a business sector that has used such terms as "unitised with-profits", which we were persuaded ...

  • Hillman Imp

    6 Mar 2003

    Enough of trashing IFAs in Coronation Street, says Torquil Clark's Don Clark. Twenty million viewers tuned into evil IFA Richard Hillman's murder confession to his wife Gail, with tricky Dicky claiming that killing elderly women is a good solution to the pension crisis. Our Don is starting a campaign for Granada to introduce a good IFA character to the soap to sort out all the financial mess caused by Hillman. The Diary thinks Don should offer to take the part himself although ...

  • HSBC gears up for performance plus

    10 Mar 2003

    HSBC Bank is aiming its latest performance plus individual savings account (Isa) at investors who are looking to reinvest their maturing Tessas.The Isa is linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 index and returns the original capital at the end of the five-year term. Investors also get up to 45 per cent of the average growth of the FTSE 100 at the end of the term. To calculate this, the average level of the index over two days at the start of the term is measured against ...

  • IFAs calling for switch over to e-commission

    6 Mar 2003

    Leading IFAs want to scrap paper commission statements completely and process payments electronically. The Advisory Technology Forum, a group of 10 IFA firms set up to take the technology agenda to the providers, has produced a report on the e-commission process. The forum includes Bankhall, Inter-Alliance, Thompsons IFA group, Solicitors for Independent Financial Advice and Barclays Financial Services, which includes Woolwich IFA Services and Sedg-wick IFA. Its report reveals ...

  • IFAs hold on to share of a static life market

    6 Mar 2003

    Sales of new life and pension business increased by just 1 per cent to £11.1bn from £11bn equivalent premium income in 2001, according to annual figures from the ABI. The figures also reveal that sales of stakeholder plans increased to 1.25 million by the end of last year from 1.1 million at the end of the third quarter. It has conceded, however, that 90 per cent of employer-designated schemes remain empty shells getting no contributions. The ABI says 340,688 companies ...

  • IFAs must join brand band

    6 Mar 2003

    What have fizzy drinks, light bulbs, hamburgers and expensive cars all got in common? They all use branding to sell more of their products at higher prices. This simple fact of commercial life has important implications for IFAs. A recent survey by brand consultant Inter-brand and JP Morgan concluded that the top three brands in the world are CocaCola, Microsoft and IBM, which are valued at $69.6bn, $64.1bn and $51.2bn respectively. These businesses routinely spend millions of ...

  • IMF warns of life office consolidation

    6 Mar 2003

    The UK life industry could be heading for "largescale consolidation in the coming years", according to a report published this week by the International Monetary Fund. The Washington-based IMF says the insurance industry is under considerable stress and while this is not a UK-exclusive problem, it has been exacerbated in the UK because of falling markets and stringent regulatory controls on product design. The IMF says small to medium-sized life offices have been hit hardest but ...

  • Impartial booklet to aid advisers on income protection

    6 Mar 2003

    IFA consultancy firm Impartial is offering a booklet aimed at helping IFAs highlight the need for adequate income protection to clients. The company says the guide, entitled, The Value of Income Protection Insurance, is the latest in a series of booklets aimed at showing advisers through potentially new business areas. Other guides include mortgages and critical-illness cover. The aim is to tell clients about the importance of protecting themselves against accident, sickness or ...

  • In trouble with the police

    6 Mar 2003

    I read with interest the letters from Keith Lewis, Julian Stevens and Lorna Bourke's article in Money Marketing recently. We are being bounced from pillar to post at the whim of people who do not really understand the role of the financial adviser, whether independent or tied. I feel we are becoming more and more like the schools, the hospitals and the police force, where eventually 17-20 per cent of our time will be spent in front of our clients and the other 80 per cent will ...

  • Independent view

    6 Mar 2003

    It is a fact of life that people make mistakes. Given that it is almost impossible to be infallible, it is perhaps of greater importance and a better measure of a company to consider how it rectifies mistakes and complaints. Some business "experts" believe companies should welcome complaints as they provide an ideal opportunity to restore and strengthen the relationship with the consumer. In reality, none of us likes to be confronted with dissatisfaction. I have no doubt that, ...

  • Inside Edge

    6 Mar 2003

    Dear Mrs Brown, I thought now would be a good time to write to you as we have only a few weeks left of the 2002/03 tax year to decide what to do with your and your husband's £7,000 Isa allowances. As you know, in previous years, I have consistently recommended that we should always be invested in equities on your behalf, as most of the long-term trend charts that I have shown you indicate that equities outperform cash and bonds over the longer term. I have to tell you ...

  • Inter-Alliance joins ScotProv loan club

    6 Mar 2003

    Abbey National has signed a deal with Inter-Alliance which will see its Scottish Provident mortgage club made available to the IFA's 400 mortgage advisers. Inter-Alliance advisers will now have access to The Mortgage Alliance's 21 lenders, including Abbey National, Bristol & West, Halifax and Woolwich. They will also be provided with free access to the Trigold sourcing system.

  • Investment view

    6 Mar 2003

    There has been another interesting side-effect of the fall in sterling against the euro. France is on the verge of overtaking the UK to become the world's fourth-biggest economy. The weakness of the euro propelled Britain into fourth place behind the US, Japan and Germany in the mid-1990s. Before that, it had been slipping down the league tables, with even Italy enjoying a bigger GDP than us at one stage. The prosperous 1990s changed all that. Sadly, it may prove only temporary. Given ...

  • Investors taking a hands-off approach to shares

    6 Mar 2003

    More than three-quarters of shareholders plan to leave their shares untouched over the next three months, indicating that investors may believe the market has bottomed out, according to research from stockbroker comdirect. The company's quarterly cash confidence survey, which investigates the public's attitude to investing, shows that 77 per cent of people with shares intend to leave their portfolio alone for at least the next 12 weeks. Women are most likely to adopt a hands-off ...

  • Isas frozen out as January sales slump

    6 Mar 2003

    Net sales of retail investment funds slumped to £217m in January, almost £400m down on the same period last year, according to the IMA. The January net total was down by around 16 per cent from December's £269m and represented a huge drop from January 2002, when sales were £610m. A decline in Isa business accounted for much of the fall, with net Isa sales dropping to £157m from £211m in December. Last January, this figure stood at £276m. Isa ...

  • Japan economy poised for recovery

    10 Mar 2003

    A restructured Japanese economy is poised to benefit from any upturn in the global economy with equity yields rising above 10 year bonds according to Schroders.Manager of Schroders Japanese equity fund Fumiko Roberts says the country is well-placed due to the fact two thirds of its GDP growth last year was due to net trade with 25 per cent of exports going to the US. Given many experts predict the US economy is expected to recover strongly in 2003, he says Japan is positioned ...

  • Julian Gibbs

    6 Mar 2003

    Skandia is launching an excellent new protected Isa. It is designed to give investors the best of both worlds - the security of high levels of capital protection combined with the opportunity to benefit from the growth achieved from top-performing unit trusts. There are two options. The first provides a minimum capital return of 100 per cent plus 100 per cent of the average quarterly capital growth of the underlying funds over the term of the product. The second option, which I ...

  • Keydata puts three into five

    5 Mar 2003

    Keydata Investment Services has brought out the third issue of its dynamic growth plan, a guaranteed equity bond that offers investors five times the growth in the FTSE 100 index up to a maximum return of 60 per cent.The bond also provides investors with a full capital return unless the index falls by more than 50 per cent during the term without recovering to at least its starting level. Calculations are based on the closing level of the index on the first day of the term, ...

  • L&G wins exclusive insurance deal with Platform

    6 Mar 2003

    Specialist lender Platform has chosen Legal & General as the sole supplier of general insurance for its clients. The tie-up with the non-conforming lending subsidiary of Britannia Building Society follows its relaunch last month as a result of the merger of Verso and Platform Home Loans. L&G's general insurance products include specialist cover for buy-to-let loans as well as traditional household and ASU cover. The life office already underwrites a significant part ...

  • Licensed to skill

    6 Mar 2003

    Training is taking on a new look with IFAs getting more say on T&C as David Jack-man departs the FSA to set up a new body for financial education and ethics. FSA head of industry training Jackman is taking a third of his team of 15 to the new Financial Services Skills Council. He will also continue his review of examinations. The fact that responsibility for the exam regime has been removed from the FSA comes as no surprise to many. It never had much of an appetite for a hands-on ...

  • Life offices say waiver would let them buy equities again

    6 Mar 2003

    Norwich Union and Standard Life are claiming that applications for solvency waivers from the FSA would give them the flexibility to start buying equities again. There is speculation that the regulator is concerned about the drag of life companies on the stockmarkets and it believes that relaxing the rules will help a recovery in the markets as well as ease solvency pressures. In a speech in Edinburgh last week, FSA managing director John Tiner invited companies to apply for the ...

  • M&G and Cazenove team up for fourth time

    7 Mar 2003

    M&G has added a fourth fund of funds to the multi-manager range it has established with Cazenove.The M&G Cazenove cautious managed portfolio aims to provide both income and capital growth. It invests 50 per cent in bonds and 50 per cent equities via a portfolio of between 12 and 17 funds. Examples of holdings include M&G gilt & fixed interest income, Cazenove UK growth & income and Framlington UK growth.This fund of funds is lower-risk compared with the existing M&G Cazenove ...

  • M&G Investments - Cautious Managed Portfolio

    7 Mar 2003

    Friday, 7 March 2003 Type: OeicAim: Income and growth by investing in equities and fixed interest securitiesMinimum investment: Lump sum £1,000, monthly £100Investment split: Equities 50%, fixed interest 50%Isa link: YesPep transfers: YesCharges: Initial 4%, annual 1.5%Special offer: Initial charge discounted by 1%Offer period: Until April 5, 2003Commission: Initial 3%, renewal 0.5%Tel: ...

  • M&G weighs up fund of funds

    7 Mar 2003

    M&G INVESTMENTSM&G BALANCED PORTFOLIOType: Oeic Aim: Growth by investing in international equities Minimum investment: Lump sum £1,000, monthly £100 Investment split: UK equities 55.41%, European equities 3.78%, North American equities 12.12%, Japan 1.96%, Pacific 0.89%, UK bonds 9.95%, UK corporate bonds 9.98%, cash 5.92% Isa link: Yes Pep transfers: Yes Charges: Initial 4%, annual 1.5% Special offer: ...

  • Major scheme failure 'only a matter of time'

    6 Mar 2003

    The former head of the Boots pension fund has warned that it is only a matter of time before a major company goes insolvent, leaving tens of thousands of occupational scheme members facing serious shortfalls. Former Boots head of corporate finance John Ralfe says the Government has escaped criticism for allowing underfunded wind-ups because so far they have affected only small schemes. But he believes it will face a public backlash when a big scheme goes under. Speaking at the ...

  • Message in a bottle

    6 Mar 2003

    Cheers to Accord Mortgages, the new intermediary lending branch of Yorkshire Bank - it certainly knows its target market. Mortgage intermediaries are not known for their sobriety so Accord's launch party prize of a year's supply of vodka seems spot on. The prize will be given for the winner of a vodka taste test, perish the thought. The Diary did wonder, though, at Accord's definition of what amounts to a year's supply - 12 bottles? Some in the MM offices thought that ...

  • Microsoft plans UK version of platform

    6 Mar 2003

    Microsoft UK is planning a UK version of its US financial services platform MSN Money Professional, which allows IFAs to manage all their client information in one place. Announcing the move at the Adviser.tech conference in Manchester this week, Microsoft says it will also enable investors to view and manage their entire portfolio online.

  • Miss the N4 congestion

    6 Mar 2003

    Since the countdown to statutory mortgage regulation started ticking away, we have been talking to our packager introducers about how the proposals will affect their businesses and have used their feedback in our responses to the FSA. Advising, arranging, administering and lending are the four regulated activities for mortgages. Although pure mortgage packaging will not be regulated, many packagers deal direct with the public and may need to be authorised. Recently, we held two ...

  • Misselling warning as Isas win over pensions

    6 Mar 2003

    IFAs selling pensions to basic-rate taxpayers could be guilty of misselling as Isas will be more attractive under the new Inland Revenue regime, leading pension consultant Ros Altmann is warning. Altmann, a former adviser to No 10 Downing Street, says it is a good job that stakeholder has not been a success as anybody in its target market is likely to be assessed for pension credit. She warns that the Revenue's taxation simplification proposals, with the £1.4m lifetime ...

  • MLP fined £100k for pension and endowment sales failings

    6 Mar 2003

    German IFA giant MLP's foray into the UK market suffered a setback last week when its London subsidiary was fined £100,000 for regulatory failings. The FSA slapped the fine on MLP Private Finance, citing weaknesses in the training, monitoring and supervision of its investment staff which led to inappropriate sales of mortgage endowments and pensions between February and June 2001. The FSA said MLP's plans for growth in the UK market meant it should have made sure its ...

  • National Savings and Investments - Guaranteed Equity Bond Issue 4

    5 Mar 2003

    Wednesday, 5 March 2003 Type: Guaranteed equity bondAim: Growth linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 indexMinimum-maximum investment: £2,000-£1m, £2m for joint investmentsTerm: Five yearsGuarantee: Capital returned in full regardless of performance of indexReturn: Up to 60% of growth in index at end of termInterest rate: 3.5% gross a yearClosing date: April 8, 2003 Commission: NoneTel: ...

  • NDF Administration - Protected Income Plan 2

    11 Mar 2003

    Tuesday, 11 March 2003 Type: Guaranteed equity bondAim: Income linked to the performance of the Dow Jones Eurostoxx 50 or FTSE 100 indicesMinimum-maximum investment: £10,000, £7,000 Isa-£1mTerm: Five years two monthsGuarantee: Original capital returned in full provided indices do not fall by more than 50%Return: 7% gross income a year, 0.54% gross income a month if linked to the Dow Jones Eurostoxx 50 index, 5% gross income ...

  • Nearly half of investors are looking to drip feed their Isas

    10 Mar 2003

    Forty three per cent of Isa investors are looking to drip feed their investments this year, according to research conducted by Mori for Fidelity. It also found that 34 per cent want their money to go straight into equities as a lump sum. Another 16 per cent would like a facility which would see their money temporarily parked until they wanted to reenter the stockmarket.Fidelity says hesitance is understandable given the volatility of the markets and it has introduced a ...

  • Noble & Company - Abbey Shipping

    10 Mar 2003

    Monday, 10 March 2003Aim: Growth by investing in international shipping assetsMinimum investment: Lump sum £3,000Opening/closing date: March 5, 2003/April 4, 2003 for 2002/2003 tax year, April 30, 2003 for 2003/2004 tax yearCharges: ImplicitCommission: Initial 2.5%Tel: 020 7367 5600

  • Now Britannic's closing doors to new business

    6 Mar 2003

    Britannic Assurance is the latest life office to announce it is closing to new business. The Britannic group will now concentrate on Britannic Retirement Solutions and Britannic Asset Management. The group is aiming to assure policyholders that the closure is in their best interests. It joins firms such as Abbey Life, Equitable Life and Royal & Sun Alliance, which are all closed to new business. In its annual results, Britannic confirms that it will not be paying bonuses ...

  • Nurseries enterprise

    6 Mar 2003

    Teather & Greenwood Investment Management has introduced Childcare Corporation 6, an enterprise investment scheme that aims to raise up to £10m for the building and operation of around 10 purpose-built children's nurseries in the Midlands and the South of England. This EIS takes up the objectives of the previous five Childcare Corporation schemes by providing private daycare facilities for children aged between three months and five years. Each nursery is expected to have ...

  • OFT appoints two new directors

    10 Mar 2003

    The Office of Fair Trading is appointing two new branch directors to its markets and policy initiatives division.Daniel Gordon joins from the Treasury to head the branch responsible for OFT market investigations into whether markets and regulations that apply to them work well for consumers. Gordon was formerly an economic consultant at London Economics, Ernst & Young, and at the Competition Commission. He joined the Treasury in 1999 where he worked on the Cruickshank Review.Graham ...

  • Opra blocks pension transfers in wait for new rules

    6 Mar 2003

    The Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority is to allow pension trustees to stop members from transferring out of their schemes until new rules come in effect later this year which are likely to make leaving schemes less advantageous. The move could leave some members trapped in underfunded schemes, some of which could be in danger of defaulting on pension promises, until the Department for Work and Pensions implements the new regulations which are designed to reduce transfer values. Opra ...

  • Opra reappoints Edmans and Beaver to its board

    11 Mar 2003

    The Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority has reappointed Aegon director of corporate development Laurie Edmans and Mercer actuary Wendy Beaver to its board. In addition to the appointments by secretary of state for work and pensions Andrew Smith, Joanne Segars, Hugh Brown and Mike Jones have had their board positions extended by six months.The Government is consulting on a new regulator to replace Opra.

  • Out of context

    6 Mar 2003

    •"I've been Bob the builder for the past few months but I can't sell my house so I'm having to move into it." -M2 Financial's Mark Howard. •"I have never had the desire to fondle a waxwork." - Whitechurch Securities chairman Kean Seager on colleague Ian McIvor's fondness for Kylie's Madame Tussauds double. •"I was like a TV that is out of focus." - Quill Communications PR Roddi Vaughan Thomas on his inability to see after the company's party. •"We ...

  • Outside edge

    6 Mar 2003

    According to a JP Morgan Fleming Isa survey, 80 per cent of investors will not use their £7,000 allowance and, of the 20 per cent who would be investing in an Isa, 71 per cent will opt for a cash Isa. Let's prove them wrong. IFA: You don't get opportunities like this too often. Did you know that the market is 50 per cent lower than it was at the end of 1999? If you saw a Mercedes at 50 per cent off you would bite the salesman's hand off. Client: That explains ...

  • Pain of low-cost endowments

    6 Mar 2003

    The continuous wave of low-cost endowment review letters is causing many clients to consider their own situation. It is not difficult to find out through various media how easy it is to claim compensation to cover the potential loss from a mortgage taken out some time ago. A friend or colleague may even have personal experience or perhaps know someone who has "stuck their sticky fingers in the cookie jar". Certain companies' projections (Prudential and Standard Life are certainly ...

  • Penrose sets June date for review completion

    6 Mar 2003

    Lord Penrose has reaffirmed his commitment to completing his review of the Equitable Life debacle by June so that ministers can make a decision as to whether to publish it before Parliament rises in July. In a letter written to Treasury select committee chairman John McFall, Penrose conceded it was a tight deadline to meet and admitted that the inquiry has taken much longer than he originally estimated. He said he is keen to return to his duties as a High Court judge as soon as ...

  • Pinder Fry & Benjamin - Gold 5 Property Income Portfolio

    7 Mar 2003

    Friday, March 7, 2003Type: Exempt unit trustAim: Income and growth by investing in commercial propertyMinimum investment: Lump sum £25,000Charges: Initial up to 4%Commission: Initial 5%Tel: 020 7612 7650

  • Prescription for a healthy industry

    6 Mar 2003

    So CP166 has driven a ramrod through the whole concept of polarisation. This is where my 22 years in financial services come back to haunt me. In 1985, I worked as a broker consultant for NEL Britannia (now Unum), which was renowned for its market-leading permanent health insurance contracts. I spent much of my time calling on Sun Life of Canada, Allied Dunbar and Abbey Life direct-sales consultants and managers because their organisations did not have their own PHI contracts at the ...

  • Product matters

    6 Mar 2003

    What is the new investment black? Is there a new investment black? As sales of unit trusts are falling off a cliff, sales of structured products continue to climb. This is despite much negative publicity about many guaranteed high-income products launched several years ago. Growth products have been less affected and there are some interesting additions to the market at the moment. Generally speaking, looking at products without 100 per cent capital guarantees takes on a higher degree ...

  • Profits hit as offices set aside mortality cash

    6 Mar 2003

    Norwich Union and Legal& General have seen last year's profits dented bec-ause of having to add reserves for changes in annuitant mortality. NU parent Aviva's profits have fallen at its life operations to £699m from £850m in 2001. The drop reflects a strengthening of its annuity reserves by £123m following guidance from the Continuous Mortality Investigation Bureau. NU says it already reserved against its mortality assumptions but that the extra reserving ...

  • Property home for pensions

    6 Mar 2003

    Teather & Greenwood is setting up a pension investment vehicle which will be listed on Aim that invests in the London residential property market. Property Investment for Pensions plc qualifies for self-invested personal pensions, small self-administered schemes and funded unapproved retirement benefit schemes. It will list in April and proposes to raise up to £20m, although it will also borrow up to 70 per cent of the value of the properties it will invest in. The plan ...

  • Protection gap £13 billion says Swiss Re

    11 Mar 2003

    UK insurers are under-insured against long-term ill health to the tune of £130 billion according to new figures from Swiss Re. The figure represents the difference between the amount of income protection held by UK insurers and the amount of insurance the working population should have. Swiss Re says only 20 per cent of the UK population's insurance protection needs are covered.

  • Renewal rebate from Chartwell

    6 Mar 2003

    Investors with Chartwell Investment Management are to get a cash boost this month with the company rebating half of its renewal commission. Chartwell clients or investors who transfer Isas, Peps or unit trusts to the company free of charge get the renewal rebate every March and September. Information packs on the cashback plan can be obtained from Chartwell.

  • Research warns of costs on high-turnover funds

    6 Mar 2003

    Investors in funds with high trading levels face losing up to 9 per cent of the performance through expensive dealing costs, according to research by Fitzrovia International. The fund research company has found that portfolio turnover - the degree of buying and selling that a fund has undertaken in a year - can be as high as 500 per cent in some funds, generating dealing costs in excess of likely performance. According to the FSA, trading costs, which cover commission, ...

  • ScotEq helping IFAs give clients a pension MOT

    6 Mar 2003

    Scottish Equitable is recommending that IFAs give their clients a pension MOT in res-ponse to the negative media coverage of the products. The company is offering IFAs free copies of its literature, Time for Another Look, which guides IFAs through reviewing their clients' retirement savings and outdated arrangements. ScotEq says there are many ways that pensions can be improved, with people realising that their retirement income could fall short of their expectations. It ...

  • ScotProv raises CI rates again

    6 Mar 2003

    Protection specialist Scottish Provident is raising its critical-illness cover rates for the second time in three months with premiums going up by as much as 25 per cent from next week. The hike follows a "major increase" in December which saw all of the company's CI rates go up by an average of 25 per cent. This time, only its combined term and CI rates are affected. Policies with a five-year guaranteed rate will see increases of 8 per cent while those with a 15-year guarantee ...

  • Scottish Amicable fined £750,000 for endowment misselling

    6 Mar 2003

    The FSA has fined Scottish Amicable £750,000 for endowment misselling between January and December 2000.Following the intervention by the regulator, ScotAm - now owned by Prudential - has reviewed 33,781 policies and set aside £11m for redress. The FSA found that ScotAm's advisers did makes customers sufficiently aware of the risk that the endowment might not pay off the mortgage.Prudential spokesman Darragh Leeson says: "The shortcomings in our procedures ...

  • Shadow widens over taxpayers

    6 Mar 2003

    The approach of the end of the tax year provides opportunities for taxpayers to maximise the use of personal allowances, reliefs and exemptions for the current year. Now is also a good time to lay plans for tax reduction over the coming tax year, at least to the extent that the tax rules are not expected to change. This is particularly relevant this year, following the announcement by the Inland Revenue that, from April 2003, more people will be taxed than ever before and there ...

  • Small is beautiful for UBS

    6 Mar 2003

    UBS Global Asset Management has established the UK smaller companies fund, an Oeic that invests for capital growth.The fund will hold between 50 and 100 stocks, although typically it will have 75 holdings. The stocks will be selected from the bottom 10 per cent of companies on the Hoare Govett Smaller Companies Index, which measurescompanies in terms of market capitalisation. The stocks chosen by UBS are likely to have a market capitalisation of below £650m.Former ...

  • Smoke gets in your eyes…

    6 Mar 2003

    It may be the fag-end of the Isa season but the diary thinks Britannic Retirement Solutions head of communication Jim Boyd's tongue was only slightly in his tobacco-filled cheek when he suggested launching a campaign to persuade annuity purchasers to start smoking on National No Smoking Day. An ashen-faced Boyd feared his pipedream to filter better annuity rates to impaired-life clients could make him the butt of the anti-smoking lobby. Boyd wonders whether such a marketing ...

  • South African fund manager strengthens UK team

    10 Mar 2003

    South African manager of managers Io Investors has announced the appointment of a new chief investment officer and three business development staff in an effort to boost its UK market share. The company, which is the international asset arm of South African financial services group Sanlam, has announced the appointment of Deon Gouws as chief investment officer and Danny Vassiliades as business development director.Guows joins from Old Mutual Asset Managers in South Africa ...

  • Stakes alive

    6 Mar 2003

    The recent publication of the Treasury response to Ron Sandler's proposals for a broader range of "stakeholder" products raised many interesting issues for the industry - not least who is actually going to sell them and how are they to do so profitably. The industry may be encouraged to see a review of the 1 per cent cap and it is reassuring to see the powers that be recognising there needs to be a viable commercial model for such products. However, it must be a dangerous assumption ...

  • Standard says Sandler suite will be a failure

    6 Mar 2003

    Standard Life has attacked the Sandler suite of products, claiming they will be just another in a catalogue of failures. Speaking at the release of its new business figures in London last week, Standard deputy chief executive Sandy Crombie said the products would fail to bridge the savings gap in the same way as stakeholder and Catmarked Isas. He also ruled out selling the products unless there is enough "headroom" for IFAs to distribute the products. Standard this week met ...

  • Standard strife

    6 Mar 2003

    Three years ago, Standard Life's managers were fighting the biggest battle of their careers - the battle to keep the company mutual. They won but Standard Life's mutuality is now under attack again and this time the company's management, under new chief executive Iain Lumsden, faces an even harder struggle. Lumsden and his board are facing unprecedented personal criticism over their management of the giant insurer. They are fighting to protect a battered brand, to reassure ...

  • Strike up the bond

    6 Mar 2003

    In last week's article, I considered the importance of reinvested income to investment returns. The importance that the market places on the dividend yield from shares has always been evident but now more than ever. If evidence of that was needed, the market response to even a hint that dividends from a leading insurer may not continue to increase should provide it. But this column is not the place for a considered and worthwhile discussion on investment issues. So I am not going ...

  • Suckling Waddington

    6 Mar 2003

    We would like to confirm that the IFA firm which was reported in last week's issue of Money Marketing to have been struck off by the FSA for failing to satisfy its financial resources is Suckling Waddington & Partners Ltd of Crafton House, Alcester, Warwickshire. This firm has no relation to Suckling Waddington & Partners of Pierpoint House, Pierpoint Street, Worcester, Worcestshire.

  • Surprise sectors of the Isa season

    6 Mar 2003

    This Isa season was supposed to be dominated by equity income and bond funds. In an environment where corporate earnings are unlikely to exceed even the gloomiest expectations and volatility shows little sign of abating, these two sectors were set to take the market by storm. But despite the fact that most companies with funds in these areas are concentrating their depleted marketing budgets on aggressively promoting them, the prediction does not seem to have come true. Last month, ...

  • Switch craft

    6 Mar 2003

    Around two million people in the Government's target group for stakeholder already have a personal pension and might consider transferring to a stakeholder plan. Yet it is estimated that fewer than 1 per cent of consumers with personal pensions have switched. This is a huge group of people who could gain by moving from old-style products with high charges and limited investment options to plans with lower charges and superior investment potential. Their advisers could also benefit by ...

  • Talkback

    6 Mar 2003

    "No. Because I am going to leave that to Aifa,of which I am a member." Dhiraj Shah, Glebe Portman & Co "No. I have just done the Cemap exam and it just seems there is one thing after another. I don't think anything I do will make any difference to what they decide." Marcus Orpen, Mountbatten Financial "No. We have enough regulation as it is." Richard Mountain, Richard Mountain Financial Planning & Investment Services "No I would not pay a fee to join, charges ...

  • Thinktank says scrap private pensions for 'people's fund'

    6 Mar 2003

    The financial services industry and stockmarkets are no longer appropriate for pension investments and should be replaced by a "people's pension", according to thinktank New Economics Foundation. In its report, People's Pensions: New Thinking for the 21st Century, it proposes scrapping private pensions in favour of a series of people's pension funds which invest in new schools, universities, hospitals and improving public transport, social housing and sustainable energy sources. The ...

  • Tory MP points to £500bn liabilities on public schemes

    6 Mar 2003

    Unfunded liabilities for public-sector pensions have exploded to £500bn, claims Conservative Shadow Treasury Chief Secretary Howard Flight. At the Pensions in Crisis conference, Flight attacked Government pension policy and warned that private provision is going backwards. He criticised the Government's target of reversing the 60 per cent state and 40 per cent private provision split of pensions. Flight said there is a direct corollary between the £5bn annual tax ...

  • Tory MP's bill call for annuity reform

    6 Mar 2003

    Conservative MP Edward Garnier will table a Private Member's Bill this week aimed at reforming the annuity regime. He is calling for all pensioners to buy an annuity by 65 but only big enough for their basic needs and have freedom to spend the rest of their pension pot as they wish.

  • Treatment Centre EIS offers helping hand

    11 Mar 2003

    The Treatment Centre Company is an enterprise investment scheme (EIS) that aims to buy and operate treatment centres and temporary accommodation for people with drug and alcohol problems.The board of directors plan to raise up to £5m to buy the centres and a cluster of surrounding residential properties. Each residential property is expected to house up to six people and the EIS's board of directors will be looking for properties in the North and the Midlands, where prices ...

  • Trust never sleeps

    6 Mar 2003

    In discussion paper 18, the FSA says "ethics and regulation meet because standards of behaviour affect our ability to achieve our objectives set down by the FSMA". The objectives are of course - market confidence, consumer protection, financial crime, public awareness and confidence. With regard to confidence, the FSA rightly says that "higher business and individual standards of behaviour promoting the integrity and the general probity of all working in financial services will ...

  • Twenty firms declared in default

    6 Mar 2003

    The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has declared 20 IFA firms in default and is urging consumers who feel they are due redress to make a claim. Full details of the firms and how to make a compensation claim are on the FSCS's website.

  • Two IFAs jailed for pension fraud

    6 Mar 2003

    Two Midlands IFAs have been jailed for a total of five-and-a-half years after defrauding the Inland Revenue in a £4m pension liberation scam. Stephen Russell, 60, and William Ferguson, 56, were found guilty at Oxford Crown Court of cheating the public revenue of £1m after transferring the occupational scheme rights of around 200 people into bogus pension schemes. Russell and Ferguson deceived schemes into transferring pension benefits into a network of dormant companies ...

  • Verity's view

    6 Mar 2003

    In the hope of emulating the style of that esteemed professional qualification, the Financial Planning Certificate, here is a nice, easy multiple-choice question designed to build your confidence, a bit like the ones they ask for £100 on Millionaire. Over the last 100 years, which sector would have generated the most money for its investors as a direct result of a series of tragic and premature deaths? a: Oil companies, b: arms dealers or c: life insurers. Now I cannot claim ...

  • White-label deal for Merricks newsletter

    6 Mar 2003

    Professional View, the monthly marketing newsletter written by Simpsons of Brighton IFA partner Andrew Merricks, is being offered on a white-label basis to rival advisers. The letter, which costs £50 a month in each local area, contains forthright views on topical issues which IFAs can send to favoured solicitors and accountants with the aim of winning more professional referrals. IFAs can email lucy.whitaker @professionalview.co.uk for details.

  • Will son of stakeholder change behaviour?

    6 Mar 2003

    The Sandler review in July 2002 recommended that the Government should develop specifications for a suite of simple, low-cost and risk-controlled stakeholder products. This would improve competition and access to financial services for those on lower incomes. The features of the products would enable the FSA to create a simpler sales regime, shifting the focus of regulation from the sales process to the products themselves and reduce the costs of selling the products. In relation ...

  • Winterthur future in doubt over Credit Suisse review

    6 Mar 2003

    Winterthur's UK operations could be under threat after its parent Credit Suisse group instigated a review of its worldwide businesses after posting losses of £1.5bn last year. Announcing its results last week, Credit Suisse group chief executive Oswald Grubel said: "We are pursuing initiatives to reduce costs and withdraw from markets and businesses with unsatisfactory results to position us for a return to profitability in 2003." This has thrown doubt on the future of ...

  • With-profits bonuses cut by L&G and Axa

    6 Mar 2003

    Axa and Legal & General have slashed with-profits bonuses by up to 23 per cent and 20 per cent respectively. Axa's move means that a 25-year £25 a month endowment will be worth £60,373 at maturity, which is 23 per cent less than the £78,666 it would have paid out a year ago. The equivalent L&G endowment will now pay out £59,047 compared with £73,566 last year. Axa, which no longer sells with-profits bonds or endowments but remains in ...

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