Money Marketing
5 October 2005

  • Revenue admits to error in guidelines

    6 Oct 2005

    The Revenue has confirmed its guidance notes on benefits in kind charges to be applied to property in Sipps contained a typing error. People holidaying in a second home ultimately owned by their pension fund and paying market rent will not face additional tax charges.

  • A&L appoints Sir Derek Higgs as chairman

    6 Oct 2005

    Sir Derek Higgs has been appointed as Alliance & Leicester chairman.

  • Aberdeen merges five funds with DWS

    6 Oct 2005

    Aberdeen is to merge five of its funds with their DWS equivalents following its takeover of the firm earlier this year.The two firms' European growth, European opportunities, Japan growth, UK growth and UK opportunities funds will merge on December 15 subject to a shareholder vote.Aberdeen is now implementing its investment process to the management of the DWS portfolios under the leadership of head of equities Hugh Young. The two firms use fundamental bottom-up analy- sis and ...

  • ABI and CBI chiefs shocked at Sipp breaks

    6 Oct 2005

    The director generals of the ABI and CBI have both questioned the logic of the Labour Government allowing residential property in Sipps.Speaking at an ABI fringe event at the Conservative ann- ual conference in Blackpool on Tuesday, CBI director general Stephen Haddrill said it was "strange" that a property tax shelter is to be introduced by the Government after it got rid of Miras, a tax relief that ben- efited low-income homeowners as well as the wealthy.Haddrill said: "It ...

  • ABI urging delay to Euro VAT rules on outsourcing

    6 Oct 2005

    The Association of British Insurers is calling on the Government to delay new European VAT rules on outsourced insurance services which it says will cost the industry 200m a year.The rules stem from a judgement by the European Court of Justice earlier this year and, if implemented, will mean that many outsourced insurance services used by UK insurers will no longer be exempt from VAT.The tax increase is scheduled to start in the UK on January 1, 2006 but the ABI says the industry ...

  • Aegon restructures its UK business

    5 Oct 2005

    Aegon is creating two new businesses Aegon Corporate and Aegon Individual in a restructure that will bring forward the review of the Scottish Equitable brand.Aegon Individual will bring together the groups individual pension team, its onshore and offshore life businesses and individual protection business and will be run by Peter Dornan in the role of director.Aegon Corporate will comprise corporate pensions and employee benefits businesses and will be headed by Maurice Brunet, ...

  • Aifa to set up whole of market wing

    6 Oct 2005

    Aifa is to create a separate wing to accommodate whole of market advisers but has given the cold shoulder to exclusively tied or pure multi-tie firms following consultation with its members.Despite a disappointing turnout of just 7 per cent, 80 per cent of the firms which responded to Aifa's scope of membership consultation voted to allow whole of market advisers to remain members and 63 per cent voted to admit firms that only operate a whole of market business model.This has prompted ...

  • Aifa vote opens a rift in the industry

    6 Oct 2005

    Aifa's decision to reject pure multi ties but admit hybrid firms and create a new sub-division for whole of market advisers has polarised leading advisers.Millfield chief executive Paul Tebbutt is calling for a single, united body for all advisers, claiming that Aifa's decision to bar multi-tie firms will diminish Aifa's influence in the longer term as multi-tie firms take off.Many advisers echo Tebbutt's concerns that the restructure, which includes the creation of a separate ...

  • Aim plans offer IHT pledge

    6 Oct 2005

    A Leeds IFA has designed three IHT-efficient portfolios that guarantee to return capital if the client dies within the first two years of investment.Aim for growth is a general Aim portfolio while Aim for tomorrow and Aim for resources are specialist technology and resources portfolios.Arthur Brown Insurance Brokers chose Aim because after two years CGT is payable at 10 per cent and there is no IHT liability. If clients under 80 die in the first two years their relatives will ...

  • All-round benefits

    6 Oct 2005

    A parent's work is never done as we give our children emotional and financial support throughout their early lives and after they leave university.

  • Antique dealers seeking sole Sipp deal

    6 Oct 2005

    The British Antique Dealers' Association is in discussions with several self-invested personal pension providers about setting up a partnership to take advantage of investment flexibility.BADA is gauging investors' appetite for holding antiques in Sipps after next April and has already received a string of queries from individuals and providers.Any antiques held in Sipps will have to be valued regu- larly for insurance and pension valuation purposes so BADA is in discussions ...

  • Apathy rules

    6 Oct 2005

    To be truthful, I was just a little disappointed with last week's IFA Events roadshow. The venue was great. The exhibition space was packed to the gunnels with as high a quality of contributors as you could hope for but was it my imagination or was it slightly less busy than last year? Perhaps it was the fault of the acoustics in the room in which the Investment Question Time panel session took place but the audience seemed strangely reluctant to come forward with their views.

  • Ascentric gets FSA approval for Fundsdirect deal

    10 Oct 2005

    Ascentric has received approval from the FSA for the purchase of the Fundsdirect platform, allowing the deal to be completed.The company will now proceed as planned to offer its IFA owned wrap by the end of the year to its partner IFA firms and to other advisers two months later.Ascentric chairman Clive Boothman says: "The purchase of Fundsdirect gives us a fast start, enabling us to use their existing fund management contracts, regulatory authorisation and infrastructure. With ...

  • B&B recruits finance chief and lending director

    6 Oct 2005

    Bradford & Bingley is replacing its group finance director and has finally filled the role of group lending director which had been effectively vacant for over one year.Group finance director Rosemary Thorne is leaving to pursue other interests and will be replaced by Chris Willford, who starts this week. Willford has held roles at Abbey, Barclays and British Airways. It is expec-ted that Thorne will leave the group at the end of the year.Chris Gillespie steps into the role ...

  • Bankhall unveils multi-tie panel

    6 Oct 2005

    Bankhall is to pay advisers using its multi-tie panel of Skandia, Prudential, Norwich Union, Standard Life, Axa and Clerical Medical higher commission than it will pay IFAs. The limited-range panel, called Bankhall Connect, has been in development for six months under partnerships director David Golder, and pays around 10 per cent more than through whole-of-market advice. Bankhall Connect will offer set commission rates detailed in the table on the right. These ...

  • Barclays widens search for advisers

    6 Oct 2005

    Barclays Financial Planning is investing 1.5m to recruit 300 new advisers to its Select Choice route next year, with around 40 per cent of advisers expected to come from other industries.Barclays is planning to train the recruits to Cefa 1, 2, 3 and 4.Commercial director Ste-phen Ingledew says he does not expect new entrants or gra-duates to be that high on the agenda and is instead looking for people in banking, accountancy, law or those in other sectors looking for a change.Ingledew ...

  • Base rate maintained at 4.5 per cent

    6 Oct 2005

    MPC maintains base rate at 4.5 per cent as widely expected.

  • BBB announces new director

    6 Oct 2005

    John Hall has joined the board of Berkeley Berry Birch as non-executive director.Hall is managing director of Howard Denton International Limited, a Birmingham based corporate finance boutique.He was previously regional director of Tenon Group's Birmingham office. He is a Fellow of the Securities Institute and is a director of Harbinger Capital PLC, an AIM-quoted investment company.

  • Be resourceful in stockpicking

    6 Oct 2005

    Despite the FTSE 100's recent run, many stocks have lagged and the index averages conceal big differences in performance.

  • Blair is courting the Scandinavian model

    6 Oct 2005

    Prime Minister Tony Blair's conference speech promp- ted speculation that a low-cost state-run scheme similar to the Swedish system could form part of the forthcoming pension reforms.Standard Life marketing technical manager John Lawson believes the UK is heading towards the Swedish model. He says: "Things are getting clearer and clearer and it looks like we are drifting towards some sort of Swedish model."But Lawson warns that the industry rather than the Government should ...

  • Blunkett warned he faces pension battle with Brown

    6 Oct 2005

    Work and Pensions Secretary David Blunkett has been warned that he will have to square up to the Chancellor over impending pension reforms if he is to take this opportunity to work towards solving the pension crisis.Left-wing Labour MP Alan Simpson, told an IPPR/Channel 4/Leonard Cheshire fringe event in Brighton that Blunkett had to introduce radical universal alternatives and scrap means testing.The Nottingham South MP said the Treasury policy belonged to the politics of a ...

  • Bolton quits HBOS for private equity

    6 Oct 2005

    HBOS has been rocked by a second exodus of high-profile directors as head of specialist lending Michael Bolton and a team of four leave to join private equity firm Oakwood Group LLP.But brokers say that Halifax is just too big to be shaken off course by the departures.In what has been a turbulent month of departures and branch closures, HBOS loses its most high-profile figure, Bolton, who created a personality cult around himself. He spearheaded the success of Birmingham Midshires, ...

  • Bolton stands by plan to split

    6 Oct 2005

    Star manager Anthony Bolton has reasserted Fidelity's need to split its special situations fund in two next year in order to maintain performance and plan for his successor.In an interview with Fidelity head of IFA sales Peter Hicks at the firm's annual investment conference, Bolton said he wanted the fund to avoid becoming a "mega fund" which was too big to be able to continue performing as it has. This met with a mixed reaction from advisers, many of whom asked about Fidelity's ...

  • Border lines

    6 Oct 2005

    Are Ucits' rules not designed to create a single market in fund distribution across the European Union? Why have they not succeeded?

  • Britons aim to retire earlier than Europe

    6 Oct 2005

    People in the UK expect to retire earlier but also to rely less upon the state for income in retirement compared with other European countries,Twenty-seven per cent, of people in the UK expect to retire with a decent standard of living before 60 compared with 23 per cent in France and Italy, 21 per cent in Spain and only 8 per cent in Germany, according to research from. Cicero Consulting and Brahm.Fifty-six per cent of people in the UK believe the state will provide 25 per ...

  • Broker

    6 Oct 2005

    Should the FSA have been more aggressive in its approach to insurers over endowment misselling?Yes "The insurers let customers down, not advisers, and it was too easy to blame endowments on a misselling scandal. The FSA ought to be asking the boards of these companies to come clean, the public are getting rather too used to hearing the IFAs blamed for everything."Simon Hart, Hart FinancialYes "The FSA has a job to do and it appears to have gone outside its remit. Who are they ...

  • Bryson joins Scottish Widows board

    6 Oct 2005

    Scottish Widows has appointed former Scottish Provident finance director Dr Norval Bryson to its board as a non-executive director.Bryson, who was also deputy group managing director at ScotProv, is also a trustee of the Church of Scotland investment trust and has three adult children.

  • Carry on NURS

    6 Oct 2005

    When the FSA published Coll last year, the retail Non-Ucits classification - often referred to as NURS - looked like it provided an exciting new opportunity, particularly for funds which sit in the cautious managed sector.The multi-manager providers are particularly well placed to take advantage of the flexibility offered by this structure and Gartmore and Insight have already launched funds.One of the specific characteristics of the NURS scheme is that it allows up to 20 per ...

  • Caught in the a-day vacuum

    6 Oct 2005

    Intermediaries responding to the FSA's recent call for firms to start planning "urgently" for A-Day say they are struggling to prepare because HM Revenue & Customs is dragging its heels on publishing the final rules.

  • Choice raises LTV ratios

    6 Oct 2005

    Commercial First Mortgages' subsidiary Choice, which focuses on the non-conforming commercial sector, has lifted its loan to value ratios and has reduced early redemption periods.The CFM sub-brand is rai- sing the loan to value from around 79 per cent to 85 per cent and shortening the time for early repayment charges to three years. Minimum advance is 50,000 and maximum is 2m.Choice, which is distributed exclusively through intermediary channels, has also launched a range of ...

  • Close Finsbury picks distribution chief

    5 Oct 2005

    Close Finsbury Asset Management has appointed former Insight managing director Stuart Alexander as head of distribution. Alexander will run all external distribution channels and look to develop opportunities with platforms and strategic partners. Close says it is looking to take its offering to a wider investor audience.

  • Close Finsbury picks distribution chief

    6 Oct 2005

    Close Finsbury Asset Management has appointed former Insight managing director Stuart Alexander as head of distribution

  • CML calls for commonhold shake-up

    6 Oct 2005

    The Council of Mortgage Lenders has branded the take-up of commonhold a "damp squib", saying the new form of residential property tenure has failed to take off.The CML believes the Government must engage in more active promotion of commonhold and involve its affordable housing proposals to give the tenure option a much needed boost.Commonhold was introduced in England and Wales a year ago as an alternative to leasehold. It is effectively a new form of freehold ownership that ...

  • Complexities of s32s

    6 Oct 2005

    Robert Reid's comments in MM last week shows how complex it is to advise clients on transferring out of existing s32s and EPPs to a new s32. To help advisers better understand A-Day issues, including those around transferring to s32, Standard Life has published documents on www.adviser zone.com. It is also worth bearing in mind the following:"Protecting tax-free cash" is not a valid reason to transfer funds out of a perfectly good EPP. An EPP is capable of "protecting" tax-free ...

  • Concern over flexibility in bond fund management

    6 Oct 2005

    High-yield bond markets are worryingly over-leveraged because of hedge fund and private equity trading, warns Fidelity Sterling bond fund manager Ian Spreadbury.He expressed concern over the level of leverage being exercised by hedge funds, particularly in the high-yield markets, where more than half of daily trading is being done by hedge funds.He said any major shock in the markets could cause massive problems for these funds and have a knock-on effect on the economy.Spreadbury's ...

  • Consultancy signs up 50 advisers for lead scheme

    6 Oct 2005

    Mortgage Intelligence founder Jim White has signed up 54 advisers to his latest lead-generating venture The Pension Consultancy just two months after launch.White, who set up Investor Intelligence in the 1990s, is looking to recruit 100 adv- isers. Firms looking to join are required to have at least one G60-qualified adviser and be independent, offering a fee option. The firms are off-ered all the leads generated from a specific Yellow Pages' area for a fixed price.These leads ...

  • Consumers are suffering

    6 Oct 2005

    With all the commotion and noise around pension simplification's A-Day, the heralded D-Day back in June seems to fade into insignificance.

  • Correspondent's week

    6 Oct 2005

    This week by freelance finance journalist Isabelle Kassam Any Out of Contexts or Diary stories? Send them to Diary editor Paul McMillan, email: paul.mcmillan@centaur.co.uk or telephone: 0207 943 8037

  • Coventry caps up

    6 Oct 2005

    Coventry Building Society5.25% Flexx Capped Rate Mortgage

  • Crude awakening

    6 Oct 2005

    Early autumn has seen two massive hurricanes hit the US and economists have become concerned as oil prices soared. Last week, Chancellor Gordon Brown cut his forecast for 2006 economic growth from 3.5 per cent to 2.5 or less, raising concerns that recession may be on the horizon.

  • Direct Life in deal with AA

    6 Oct 2005

    Direct Life and Pensions is set to offer AA customers term cover and reducing term options through its website.The products will be AA Insurance-branded but customers will use DLP's online application process and express underwriting system.Individual and joint-life terms are offered with waiver of premium as an option. The AA has plans to introduce online critical-illness cover later in the year with further products to follow.Direct Life & Pensions sales and marketing ...

  • Equitable drops case against two former directors

    11 Oct 2005

    Equitable Life has dropped its litigation against two former directors, settling with David Wilson and Roger Bowley.The settlements were reached on the basis that Equitable discontinues its claims against them with each side paying its own costs. The society says because the legal action against the 11 former directors is continuing, no futher comment can be made.

  • Equitable drops negligence case

    6 Oct 2005

    Equitable Life has abandoned its 1.7bn negligence claim against two former directors, with both sides agreeing to pay their own costs. The two are ex-sales director Shaun Kinnis and former non-executive director Peter Martin but the case continues against 13 other former directors.

  • Equitable drops negligence case

    5 Oct 2005

    Equitable Life, which dropped its 750m case against former auditors Ernst & Young last month, has now abandoned its 1.7bn negligence claim against two former directors with both sides agreeing to pay their own costs. Former sales director Shaun Kinnis and non-executive director Peter Martin settled but the case continues against 13 other former directors.

  • Equitable lowers with-profits MVR

    6 Oct 2005

    Equitable Life has reduced its with-profits MVR from 11.1 per cent to 8 per cent with policyholders able to leave at the reduced rate immediately.The society has also increased its bonuses, with the non-guaranteed interim bonus rising from 2.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent for with-profits pension policies and up from 2 per cent to 2.8 per cent for with-profits life policies.Equitable has increased its fund for future appropriations - a measure of solvency - from 547m to 713m, or ...

  • Equity-release exam deal for IFAs

    6 Oct 2005

    Just Retirement is launching two equity-release products as well as an educational pro-position for IFAs keen to enter the market.A roll-up equity-release pro-duct with low thresholds and a fixed-rate plan for the IFA market are offered, with rates to be confirmed next week.Ship member Just Retirement has made an agreement with the CII to offer 400 IFAs the opportunity to sit the lifetime mortgage activities exam (CF7), with all fees paid by the provider on a first come, first ...

  • European funds offer escape from 'high-street bloodbath'

    6 Oct 2005

    The outlook for European equities is upbeat as there are fewer opportunities in the UK stockmarket, say Fidelity fund managers Chris Stone and John Stavis.Speaking at Fidelity's an- nual investment forum in London last week, European opportunities manager Stone said he believes European funds are still being overlooked by IFAs despite attractive prospects.He said valuations are appealing while Euro consumer balance sheets are healthier than in the UK, with lower consumer debt ...

  • F&C hires DWS team

    6 Oct 2005

    F&C has hired Phil Doel and a team from Deutsche in a move that has surprised the market.

  • Fidelity ponders emerging markets trust

    6 Oct 2005

    Fidelity is considering setting up an emerging markets investment trust early next year to be run by head of investment trusts Stephen Westwood.The firm recruited Westwood from Henderson in April. It currently runs four of its own investment trusts plus the Edinburgh investment trust, which it took over in 2002, but an emerging markets trust would be its first new launch in 11 years.Westwood is understood to feel emerging markets would complement the company's existing range ...

  • Focus is picked to build Home of Choice back-office system

    6 Oct 2005

    Mortgage network Home of Choice has signed up Focus Business Solutions to build its back-office systems.The deal includes the development of an online system to enable HOC to recruit, register and support mortgage advisers who enter into the network.Focus is also being commissioned to deliver a number of additional applications, including a full sales support system for the provision of product information and a commission processing system. The online recruitment tool is already ...

  • Folger says endowment probe cost would have been 5.5bn

    6 Oct 2005

    Former FSA chairman Howard Davies' claim that a full investigation into endowment misselling was dropped to avoid provider collapses has been attacked by a senior director at the regulator.Director for wholesale and prudential policy Michael Folger, speaking at a Conservative fringe event in Blackpool this week, said the reason that no full pension review-style investigation was carried out was because of cost and not bec-ause of the precarious sol-vency of life offices.In a ...

  • Friends has fears on wrap impartiality

    6 Oct 2005

    Friends Provident has questioned the merits of insurers offering wrap services, saying technology firms will be favoured by IFAs for their impartiality.Speaking at Money Marketing Live at G-Mex in manchester last week, Friends marketing director Graham Harvey said he believes adv- isers may feel they are compromising their independence by siding with a single insurer's wrap proposition.But Standard Life disagreed with this claim, noting that a few years ago, product providers ...

  • FSA aims to break OFT competition 'chains'

    6 Oct 2005

    The FSA wants to see the promotion of competition become a free-standing objective of the regulator, removing the current "chains" created by the OFT.Speaking at a fringe event, FSA director for wholesale and prudential policy Michael Folger said it was up to Parliament to decide whether this should happen but there had been discussion in Westminster. He said if the competition remit was internalised, you take away the "chains bound" on the FSA.Folger used the example of polarisation, ...

  • FSA proposes new investor body

    6 Oct 2005

    FSA has proposed the setting up of an independent body to represent investors' interests on soft commission in retail funds in its latest consultation paper, CP05/13.

  • FSA reassures firms on enforcement

    5 Oct 2005

    FSA managing director Clive Briault has assured firms it is very unlikely they will face enforcement action if they have properly considered its Treating Customers Fairly principles and tried to address any failures. Briault said he had encountered many misconceptions about TCF including that it requires firms to gather large volumes of management information.

  • FSA reassures firms on enforcement

    6 Oct 2005

    FSA managing director Clive Briault has assured firms that it is very unlikely they will face enforcement action if they have properly considered the regulator's Treating Customers Fairly principles and tried to address any failures.

  • FundsNetwork bond to have 120 funds

    5 Oct 2005

    FundsNetwork confirms its investment bond will launch with 120 funds at outset by the end of December. Its market rates are yet to be confirmed. FundsNetworks Sipp will also launch mid-December. Both will be in partnership with Standard Life.

  • GE global renames lending service

    5 Oct 2005

    GE Consumer Finance Home Lending is rebranding to GE Money Home Lending as part of the GE global initiative to align the businesses to one brand. The First National and igroup brands are being preserved. In the unsecured division, all products will be branded GE Money.

  • GE global renames lending service

    6 Oct 2005

    GE Consumer Finance Home Lending is rebranding to GE Money Home Lending as part of the GE global initiative to align the businesses to one brand. The First National and igroup brands are being kept.

  • Get down to fundamentals

    6 Oct 2005

    Global market expertise is a key driver for manager selection in multi-manager portfolios. For the discerning adviser the overwhelming focus on quantitative and qualitative manager screening techniques can be misleading to the extent that it masks weakness in the original and most important fundamentals of this investment risk management strategy.

  • GMAC-RFC launches new BTL range.

    11 Oct 2005

    GMAC-RFC launches a new buy-to-let range with a change to how rental cover is calculated.

  • Go with the tied, says Mann

    6 Oct 2005

    IFAs should consider multi-tie and Sandler-style products to regain the growing market share being taken by banc- assurers, says Bankhall.Chief executive Peter Mann told members last week at the firm's Monte Carlo business conference they should be open to Sandler-style products and welcome multi-tie as these are the channels through which bancassurers are growing their businesses.He says the reason they gain such a strong position is because they "pile it high and sell it cheap" ...

  • Godfrey quits in move to general insurance

    6 Oct 2005

    Bankhall commercial director Shaun Godfrey is the latest high-profile departure fro m the IFA service provider, leaving after nine years to explore opportunities in the general insurance sector.Godfrey is the last of the old guard of senior management to leave Bankhall following the exit of co-founders Paul Hogarth and Simon Taylor who stood down as joint chief executives in August.The pair helped set up Bankhall in 1993. Hogarth remains in a consulting role while Taylor is ...

  • Grape expectations

    6 Oct 2005

    There is no doubt that regulation for Sipps is a hot topic. The FSA does not regulate the sale of a Sipp wrapper although how long this continues remains to be seen.

  • Half of Chinese rate UK firms in their top five

    6 Oct 2005

    The Chinese financial services market provides a massive opportunity for UK product providers, with domestic investors citing UK firms as among the most appealing in the world.Beijing research company Dragondata Research says 48 per cent of Chinese high-net-worth individuals place the UK in their top five most appealing foreign financial firms, with 8 per cent rating the UK first choice.The firm says there is big support for foreign banks operating in China, with 80 per cent ...

  • Hall rings the changes

    6 Oct 2005

    Discussion at the Labour Conference's financial fringe centred around the reasons why Citizens Advice's Tony Hall allowed his mobile phone to go off five times at a Scottish Widows' event, causing the polyphonic sound of Waltzing Matilda to echo round the room for an embarrassingly long period of time.Was Hall trying to put subliminal pressure on pensions minister Stephen Timms into backing the Australian pension model, was he producing damning evidence that people of a certain ...

  • Has the Sipp already sailed?

    6 Oct 2005

    The Treasury has decided to regulate Sipps but is it a year too late?

  • Holding the fort

    6 Oct 2005

    Forget helicopters or classic cars, this season's must-have for the financial services professional is a 19th Century fort in the middle of the English Channel.Webline's Paul Holland recently bought the historic building which he used to celebrate his 40th birthday party. Guests joining the celebration had to be winched up into the fort to join in with Holland's fun and games.Spitbank Fort can be hired out by anyone seeking to join in the merriment, with Friday and Saturday ...

  • Howard's way saved life offices but sank advisers

    6 Oct 2005

    Former FSA chairman Sir Howard Davies stirred up a hornet's nest last week when he admitted that the regulator sidestepped a full pension-review-style investigation into endowment misselling because it could have meant the collapse of several major life insurers.

  • I don't believe Hips...

    6 Oct 2005

    When watching the immortal Victor Meldrew, I often wondered what profession he had followed. On the basis of recent experiences, his life may well have been one spent as a residential property surveyor. Yes, that downtrodden and maligned species.

  • IFAs are reluctant to take Bankhall cash lure

    6 Oct 2005

    Bankhall is offering 10 per cent enhanced commission for moving into its multi-tie but members say commiss- ion uplift is not the key incentive to switch.The panel of six product providers is called Bankhall Connect and comprises Skandia, Prudential, Norwich Union, Standard Life, Axa and Clerical Medical.The company has nego- tiated enhanced commission rates which are around 10 per cent higher than its rates to member IFAs as well as promising improved service levels and new ...

  • IFAs call for Insight shake-up as two quit

    6 Oct 2005

    Insight has lost both its directors of UK and of international equities in the same week, prompting IFAs to call for a culture change at the firm.Director of international equities Jeff Atherton has left to join Stratton Street Capital and director of UK equities Paul Marriage is joining Cazenove.Atherton ran Insight's Japan equity fund and joined a year ago while Marriage ran the UK small cap fund and has been at Insight since 1998. A spokeswoman says: "We are confident we ...

  • IFAs urged to list regulatory gripes

    6 Oct 2005

    The industry should stop moaning about regulation and compile a list of regulatory gripes to help shape the FSA's simplified conduct of business rules, says Standard Life compliance director Phil Hay.The FSA is seeking feedback on its plans to introduce a simplified regime in 2007.Hay is urging IFAs to produce a list of four or five tasks that make their jobs difficult, which stem purely from regulation but which they think have no benefit for customers.He says: "IFAs should ...

  • IFP snaps up trio of Leeds advisory firms for 1m

    6 Oct 2005

    Yorkshire-based IFA Informed Financial Planning has bought three advisory firms in a deal worth 1m.The IFA has acquired Leeds-based companies Morgan Money Management and C Greenbank & Co, as well as Harrogate-based Financial Concepts, which takes IFP's total number of clients to over 8,000.IFP, which has offices in Leeds, Sheffield and Hull, is currently in talks with another two Yorkshire-based IFA firms to acquire their businesses, which would increase turnover by a further ...

  • iimia buys Intelli for 5.3m

    7 Oct 2005

    Investment trusts specialists iimia has acquired Intelli Partners, the holding company of Intelli Corporate Finance, for 5.3m.iimia is paying for the corporate finance firm with equity and as a result of the deal IPL shareholders will own 24.3 per cent of iimia.IPL chief executive Gordon Neilly joins the board of iimia.

  • 'Independent message could get diluted'

    6 Oct 2005

    Aifa's decision to admit whole of market advisers and hybrid firms with multi-tied offerings has met with a mixed reception from the market.Most advisers have praised the trade body's inclusive approach, particularly for whole of market advisers, but some have expressed concern that Aifa's independent message will be diluted.Lowes Financial Management managing director Ian Lowes and Gaeia Partnership partner Brigid Benson both support the decision to include whole of market ...

  • Inflation could blow up the bond market

    6 Oct 2005

    Rising inflation could drive a recession in the bond market, a panel of investment experts warned at the Money Marketing Live conference in Manchester last week.Seven director Justin Urquhart Stewart said that speculation is mounting that the bond market is set for a period of underperformance due to inflation concerns.He also cautioned that Government data on inflation cannot be relied upon as a number of inflationary aspects are taken out of the equation, such as council tax ...

  • Innovation is the key

    6 Oct 2005

    According to the latest figures, the volume of mortgage transactions is currently at 80 per cent of the levels this time last year. While the housing market continues to go through this current soft landing period, not only are the number of property transactions at a lower level, the amount of money being advanced is also down.

  • Institutions are on the move

    6 Oct 2005

    The rule for most investment trends is that institutional investors spot a new opportunity and this gradually filters down to the retail market.

  • Intelligent Finance revises its range of fixed rate products.

    10 Oct 2005

    Intelligent Finance is revising its range of fixed rate products.

  • Jack Saxton set to take over from Alan Cleary at Halifax

    7 Oct 2005

    Halifax head of intermediary markets Jack Saxton is set to take over from Alan Cleary after his dramatic departure from HBOS this week. Saxton is set to be confirmed as the new managing director of Halifax Intermediaries today.

  • JLT bids to break 1bn in DC assets

    6 Oct 2005

    Jardine Lloyd Thompson is aiming to break 1bn in defined- contribution assets under management in the next year.This follows JLT's recent outsourcing deal with Invesco Pensions, which saw JLT take over the admin of Invesco's defined-contribution book and take on 40 of its staff.The portfolio includes group and individual stakeholders, group personal pensions, AVC and Section 32 arrangements.JLT says it is now targeting the defined contribution market, which it expects to ...

  • John Joseph secures a "stay of execution" from the FSA

    7 Oct 2005

    John Joseph, the IFA at the centre of a mortgage endowment dispute has secured a "stay of execution" from the FSA.

  • Joseph faces closure in cash clash

    6 Oct 2005

    Prominent protection IFA John Joseph faces closure by the FSA for refusing to compensate a client for a Standard Life endowment policy.John Joseph Financial Services faces being closed down because he is refusing to pay £1,204 compensation until the client agrees to return any windfall paid out on Standard's demutualisation.Joseph is planning to challenge the Needler judgment made in the High Court in 2001which ruled that windfall benefits should not be taken into account when ...

  • JPMF emerging markets trust merges with F&C emerging

    10 Oct 2005

    The JPMorgan Fleming Emerging Markets investment trust is to swallow up F&Cs emerging markets investment trust in a merger creating a more liquid trust.

  • Just Retirement sets release rate

    5 Oct 2005

    Just Retirement has launched its equity release products at a rate of 5.99 per cent for LTVs from 25 per cent to 42 per cent. The competitively priced products launched this week include the ability to draw down initial advances as low as 10,000 and further cash advances of 2,000.

  • Just Retirement sets release rate

    6 Oct 2005

    Just Retirement has launched its equity-release products at a rate of 5.99 per cent for LTVs from 25 per cent to 42 per cent.

  • Logo heralds rebranding

    6 Oct 2005

    Bankhall revealed its new look at its business conference in Monaco last Thursday, unveiling a new corporate identity, replacing the old one that has been in place since 1993.The new logo is part of a wider rebranding exercise under the direction of newly appointed chief executive Peter Mann who says the development of Bankhall brand values will be next on the agenda.Mann says the new logo, which uses a lower case "b" and a modern font is part of a major overhaul.Bankhall ...

  • Matthews mashes Swede

    6 Oct 2005

    Standard Life life and pensions chief executive Trevor Matthews has dismissed pension czar Adair Turner's apparent leaning towards the Swedish pension model, saying the proposals would take the UK back 50 yearsSpeaking to Money Marketing at the Labour conference in Brighton last week, Matthews said Turner is "mesmerised" by charges whereas he believes passionately in a free enterprise system rather than creating a "big quango" to build a system to collect contributions and then parcel ...

  • MFS International UK - MFS Meridian Strategic Income Fund

    7 Oct 2005

    MFS International UKMFS Meridian Strategic Income Fund

  • Mint signs will writing deal with Sovereign

    10 Oct 2005

    IFA network Mint Financial has signed an exclusive deal with Sovereign Will & Probate Services for will writing.

  • Miton looks at non-Ucits after merger

    6 Oct 2005

    Multi-manager Miton Investments is looking at launching a non-Ucits retail scheme that can invest in hedge funds following its merger with Guernsey and South African-based manager Optimal Fund Management.

  • Mortgage market is set to slump in 2006

    6 Oct 2005

    Society of Mortgage Prof- essionals director Richard Fox forecasts gross mortgage lending will fall to 200bn next year due to uncertainty over the direction of the economy.A panel of mortgage experts agreed that gross mortgage lending will fall next year to between 200bn and 250bn from around 265bn this year. Fox said his prediction is widely to do with what he perceives as "uncertainty and fear" among consumers. He said: "It is a difficult market and there are a lot of people who ...

  • Mortgage regulation could be costing at least 123m per year

    5 Oct 2005

    Regulation may be costing the mortgage industry at least 123m per year according to research by Marlborough Stirling.

  • Multi-untied

    6 Oct 2005

    Aifa has embraced whole of market advisers and independent-multi-tied hybrids but pure multi-tied businesses are not to be admitted.

  • Neptune offers 2 per cent discount on two funds

    7 Oct 2005

    Neptune is offering a reduction in initial charge from 5 per cent to 3 per cent on its managed fund and Russia and Greater Russia funds. The Russia and Greater Russia fund is the only UK based Oiec investing solely in the Russian stock market.

  • New leeson life

    6 Oct 2005

    It may seem an unorthodox career move for a trainee priest to throw off his cassock and join the financial services industry but Prudential international sales manager Richard Leeson says his three years of training in the priesthood led to his decision that financial services was for him.

  • New Star promotes Whittaker to JCIO

    6 Oct 2005

    Stephen Whittaker has been promoted to joint chief investment officer at New Star Asset Management, working alongside Alan Miller.

  • Occupational hazards

    6 Oct 2005

    Recent studies have concluded that unemployment levels are at their lowest for 30 years.

  • Off track on standards

    6 Oct 2005

    A few months ago, a mate of mine had his 50th birthday.

  • Old Mutual U-turn on bid demand

    5 Oct 2005

    Old Mutual is to drop its requirement that shareholders owning 90 per cent of Skandia accept its 3.3bn hostile takeover bid. The decision was forced on the insurer when three Swedish pension funds said they opposed the offer.

  • Old Mutual U-turn on bid demand

    6 Oct 2005

    Old Mutual is to drop its requirement that shareholders owning 90 per cent of Skandia accept its 3.3bn hostile takeover bid. The decision was forced on the insurer when three Swedish pension funds said they opposed the offer.

  • 'Online business will kill off packagers'

    6 Oct 2005

    The growth of online mortgages will squeeze packagers out of the market within five years, says Bradford & Bingley head of retail mortgages David Bitner.He predicts that all mortgage applications will be carried out online within five years meaning that brokers will not need packagers.Bitner said: "I think we will be looking at an online world where there will be no packagers at all. We will be look- ing at direct and instant decision-making in place of the packagers."But ...

  • Opportunity knocks

    6 Oct 2005

    The changes to the rules governing pensions, due to come into force in April 2006 on A-Day, offers a golden opportunity for the IFA industry, as a whole, to take advantage of this unique opportunity to generate new business. However, the industry must react positively to these changes and ensure that it is ready to deal with this new challenge. Too often in the past, marketing opportunities such as this have been missed and the benefits to IFAs lost.

  • Packs could be out year early

    6 Oct 2005

    The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is looking to roll out home information packs well before the April 2007 launch date, according to mysalepack.co.uk.Chief executive Marcus Cox says he was told by the ODPM two weeks ago that the launch date could be brought forward by as much as a year because so many lenders now have their offerings ready.He says even though the new Hip requirement will not become compulsory for sellers until 2007, the Government is keen to dry-run the ...

  • Paying price of hindsight regulation

    6 Oct 2005

    Howard Davies claims that the FSA did not carry out a full pension review-style of endowment misselling because it could have caused a collapse of life insurers. What a splendid fellow he is for having saved all our jobs and prevented the destruction of one of the mainstays of the British economy. If what the FSA has imposed on the industry instead is not pretty much exactly the same thing but by a dirty, back-door route, then will someone at the FSA please spell out for us in exactly ...

  • Pension scheme funding rules delayed again

    7 Oct 2005

    New funding requirements for defined benefit pension schemes have been delayed again and will now come into force on December 30.The original date of September 23 was delayed until October 31 but Pensions Minister Stephen Timms says the additional delay is needed to take into account stakeholder comments.The regulations will apply to most private sector defined benefit occupational pension schemes and will replace the current minimum funding requirement.Timms says: "These are ...

  • Pensioner life expectancy up three years in a decade

    6 Oct 2005

    Pensioner mortality rates have improved by 30 per cent in the past 10 years but actuaries say bad diet, smoking and drugs make them reluctant to make life expectancy forecasts.The Continuous Mortality Investigation, a research arm of the Actuarial Profession, has published its latest mortality tables for pensioners, which show a 30 per cent reduction in mortality rates for males and females in their late 60s.The figures are based on data analysis for the four year period 1999-2002 ...

  • Perpetual motion

    6 Oct 2005

    Neil Woodford, Nick Hamilton and Stephen Anness from the Invesco Perpetual UK investment team recently took part in the Octopus challenge cycle-a-thon, raising 16,000 for CancerBACUP and The Shooting Star children's hospice. All three agreed to shave their heads if they raised over 10,000.

  • Peter Hales

    6 Oct 2005

    Norwich Union sales and marketing director feels Peter Hales believes his career has come full circle after taking over the presidency of the Chartered Insurance Institute last week.

  • Peter Le Beau appointed as chairman of Red Arc

    7 Oct 2005

    Peter le Beau is appointed chairman of Red Arc Assured, the care support provider.

  • PFS to host pension seminars

    10 Oct 2005

    The Personal Finance Society will host a series of technical half-day pensions seminars around the country both pre- and post-A day.Winterthur Life pensions strategy manager Mike Morrison will lead the sessions, which will cover retirement planning, business planning opportunities and transitional arrangements.The seminars are split into basic, intermediate and advanced levels and cost 95 per half day for members.

  • Principal Global says preferred securities can bring diversity

    6 Oct 2005

    Principal Global Investors, the asset management arm of US-based Principal Financial Group, is urging multi-managers to diversify their portfolios by investing in preferred securities.

  • Property projections

    6 Oct 2005

    In my past few articles, I have identified and highlighted the features of collective funds investing directly in commercial property, noting in particular their applications within many portfolios.

  • Pru mortgage set for October launch

    6 Oct 2005

    Prudential says its new lifetime mortgage product will be open for business on October 17.The product, which will launch with an online calculator, provides loan comparisons at different interest rates.

  • Pru mortgage set for October launch

    5 Oct 2005

    Prudential confirms that its new lifetime mortgage product will be open for business on October 17 and marks the launch with an online calculator for advisers. The calculator helps advisers calculate the impact of drawing down funds rather than releasing one lump sum and provides loan comparisons at different interest rates.

  • PSigma recruits four for fund team

    5 Oct 2005

    PSigma Investment Management has made four new appointments to its fund management team. Jeremy Matthews joins as investment director, Keith Horstead joins as a business development director, with 70 year combined industry experience. Andrew Cantouris and Rowland Flower join from HSBC and investment manager and director respectively.

  • PSigma recruits four for fund team

    6 Oct 2005

    PSigma Investment Management has made four new appointments to its fund management team. Jeremy Matthews joins as investment director, Keith Horstead joins as a business development director. Andrew Cantouris and Rowland Flower join as investment manager and director respectively.

  • Put risk in perspective

    6 Oct 2005

    It is not much fun being confronted with an investor who is determined to lay the blame of a poorly performing portfolio at your feet.It is essential when building an investment portfolio that a client's expectations are met by ensuring they are aware of the nature and size of any risks involved, not just the fantastic growth potential.In basic terms, the overall aim of the adviser is to achieve the investor's objectives within the confines of the investor's risk tolerance limits.The ...

  • Re-registration boost for FundsNetwork

    6 Oct 2005

    FundsNetwork pulled in more than 200m in assets through its 10-week incentivised re-registration campaign.The platform offered inves-tors 50 to cover their admin costs and their clients 25 for all investments of 5,000 or more re-registered onto the fund supermarket over July, August and September. The 203.1m haul was up on the 192.4m attracted by a similar deal in 2004 and 30 per cent up on case size.Executive director David Dalton-Brown says the platform is likely to carry ...

  • Retirement realities

    6 Oct 2005

    I think the first thing which needs to be said is that it is not the payment of commission which is the problem, it is the lack of accountability.

  • Revenue admits to error in guidelines

    5 Oct 2005

    The Revenue has confirmed its guidance note on benefits in kind charges to be applied on property in Sipps were a typing error. It confirms people holidaying in a second home ultimately owned by their pension fund and paying market rent will not face additional tax charges.

  • Rulers in the rate war

    6 Oct 2005

    Arate war is currently raging in the lifetime mortgage market, with fixed rates more competitive than they have ever been.

  • See the games in turin

    6 Oct 2005

    Now that summer has gone, it is time to look forward to the onset of winter. And, as it's the last month of the First Active sporting calendar promotion we are delighted to be able to offer you the chance to make it a winter to remember.First prize this month is a trip to Italy to attend the 2006 Winter Olympics. This time, they are being hosted by the city of Turin and the surrounding area. Not only will you enjoy superb travel and accommodation, you will also be able to breathe ...

  • Selestia adds 28 funds to the platform

    10 Oct 2005

    Selestia has aded 28 funds to its platform, bringing the range of funds available to 780. The firm has also signed an exclusive deal with fund manager Wise to offer its investment fund, active growth fund and income funds. The new funds added to the platform include funds from F&C, Aegon, Henderson, Jupiter, Schroder, Standard Life and UBS.

  • Shame on you

    6 Oct 2005

    Several months ago, every single business in our industry, including the life companies, unit trust groups, banks, brokers and IFAs were offered the opportunity to comment on the enforcement procedures and workings of the regulatory decisions committee. It would appear that anyone else who felt they might like to put their oar in was also asked to comment.

  • Sipp sliding away

    6 Oct 2005

    The Sipp situation is rapidly descending into farce. The cowboys are jumping on the bandwagon, sensing rich pickings in promoting dubious schemes to investors who will probably live to rue the day they ever thought putting property into a Sipp was a good idea, let alone collections of banjos, swords or antique clocks.

  • Sipps are a safe house

    6 Oct 2005

    Safeguarding residential property in the case of bankruptcy is the latest attraction being touted for Sipps.People can already ringfence a property by holding it in trust but by doing so through an occupational pension scheme, such as a group Sipp or Ssas after A-day will enable homeowners to gain tax relief on the property as well as have any rental contributions paid into their pension pot.Standard Life marketing technical manager John Lawson says personal pensions and self-employed ...

  • Small firms fear regulation will force them out of Sipps

    6 Oct 2005

    Sipp regulation could squeeze smaller players out of the market and still provide "cowboys" with a year's window.The fanfare around Sipps and the ability to invest in residential property has prompted Treasury reaction amid fears of a future misselling crisis.The move has been welcomed by major life offices such as Norwich Union and Standard Life but smaller firms say it will squeeze margins and probably drive consolidation.The Treasury's admission that regulation would ...

  • Small print is a big issue

    6 Oct 2005

    When mortgage regulation brought around the well documented headaches of technological breakdowns, greater admin burdens and general upheaval, the impact on how mortgages would be marketed to consumers was, at the time, one of the least pressing issues.

  • 'Smash and grab' tax raid on life offices

    6 Oct 2005

    The Revenue's draft tax legislation for life companies is a "smash and grab" raid on the industry that will undermine capital adequacy, says the ABI.The plans to change the way non-profit investment reserves are taxed could cost the industry hundreds of millions.Legal & General warns the tax hike could cost up to 500m.ABI head of taxation and accounting John Breckenridge says it is disappointed it was not consulted by the Revenue and says the measures will hit firms holding ...

  • Smooth running

    6 Oct 2005

    I read with interest the article headlined, Pru's unitised WP fund up 8.4% in first year, (Money Marketing, September 22), which did a fantastic job of explaining and simplifying the benefits of Prufund. One of the questions that remains unanswered, however, is whether Prufund was launched as an alternative to traditional with-profits? Regulation demands that an adviser must demonstrate not only what a fund/product is expected to deliver in performance terms but how these returns ...

  • Standard set to go ahead with float

    6 Oct 2005

    Standard Life is expected to make a formal announcement this month giving the green light to its demutualisation plans.

  • Standard set to go ahead with float

    5 Oct 2005

    Standard Life is expected to make a formal announcement this month giving the green light to its demutualisation plans. The insurer will then begin mailing its 2.5 with-profits policyholders with details of the voting process. Policyholders are expected to receive between 500-1,000 windfalls with a float touted for July.

  • Stewards see red over Katie's shoes

    6 Oct 2005

    It was not only 84-year-old hecklers causing the stewards problems at the Labour conference. The Building Societies' Association's Katie Errington's choice of footwear - a delightful bright red pair of shoes in the style of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz - created so many headaches due to their metal heels that Errington had to walk through the security cordon barefoot.

  • Stockbroker moves into Fof market

    6 Oct 2005

    Stockbroker Charles Stanley is moving into the fund of funds market with an international growth portfolio planned for the end of the year.The portfolio is the first mutual fund ever launched by Charles Stanley and will be initially targeted at its stockbroking and discretionary management clients. It will also be positioned as a core holding for its recently laun-ched alpha Sipp product.Head of investment Shauna Bevan says the move is primarily for tax purposes because it is ...

  • Surveyors see continued rise in building activity

    6 Oct 2005

    Construction activity is rising despite concerns of a slowdown in the housing market, according to the third-quarter construction survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.Activity across all areas picked up slightly, with 17 per cent more chartered surveyors reporting a rise rather than a fall in workload, up from 15 per cent in Q2. The private housing sector saw the biggest increase. Private housing workloads show their biggest rise in 15 months, with 29 per cent ...

  • Tenet gives six month warning on A-Day

    11 Oct 2005

    Tenet is urging IFAs to prepare for A-Day, being just six months out, and is issuing an A-Day folder to each member firm over the next few weeks along with the first in a series of factsheets.

  • The with-profits trap

    6 Oct 2005

    The motives behind FSA directives to treat customers fairly are totally laudable, in the national interest and morally correct to the benefit of those companies which supply of financial products for the long term.

  • Total recoil

    6 Oct 2005

    Mainland PR Kat Milne helped organise a corporate event for Artemis giving journalists and IFAs the chance to shoot clay pigeons in Sussex.The shotguns had a bit of a kick, as they do, but Kat fought against the disadvantage of her slight build to end the day with a perfect score of10 out of 10 and a big bruise on her cheekbone delivered by the repeated smack from the gun stock.

  • Two thirds of private equity firms abandon corporate deals

    11 Oct 2005

    Two thirds of private equity firms are abandoning corporate deals after discovering pension deficits, according to research by Punter Southall.After canvassing the views of investment professionals at 16 private equity houses, Punter Southall says everyone surveyed found problems with pension transactions, while 88 per cent did so frequently.

  • 'UK property Sipps will prop up market'

    6 Oct 2005

    Overseas property in Sipps will be blocked but UK homes will be allowed because they are needed to prop up the housing market, says Shadow Treasury chief secretary Philip Hammond.Hammond told an IMA Conservative fringe event that, from next April, much regul- ation will be hidden "under the sea" as the Treasury rushes to create more restrictions in res-ponse to public controversy.He said the issue of allowing UK residential property in a Sipp will not be scrapped as the Treasury ...

  • Unsure about offshore

    6 Oct 2005

    Millfield's decision to sell Inter-Alliance International to De Vere & Partners for 750,000 has raised question marks about the viability of the offshore market for UK IFA firms.

  • Why change Sipp name?

    6 Oct 2005

    I refer to the article under in the September 22 issue of Money Marketing concerning changing the name of Sipps. With all that is going on in the pension field today, why on earth must we even think about changing the name? I have been in the pension marketplace for longer than I care to remember and have seen many "bizarre" suggestions but this beats them all. As far as I am concerned, a Sipp is a self-invested personal pension and it is down to the IFA and other advisers to ...

  • Winterthur to offer Sipp swap

    6 Oct 2005

    Winterthur Life is adding a bolt-on self-investment fac- ility to its personal pension product enabling customers to switch the policy into a Sipp if required.Effectively turning its personal pension into a deferred Sipp, the self-investment facility is turned by the client signing a pre-populated form.Winterthur pensions strategy manager Mike Morrison says the fast-track option, as it is being branded, enables clients to access a Sipp without having to transfer pension but ...

  • Wise won't be in shadow of New Star

    6 Oct 2005

    Wise Investments is launching an income fund of funds but is adamant it will not be overshadowed by the higher-profile introduction of New Star's cautious portfolio.

  • World travellers

    6 Oct 2005

    Sending financial jobs offshore is expected to double in size over the next three years according to research from PricewaterhouseCoopers.The study entitled, Offshoring in the Financial Services Industry: Risks and Rewards, finds that a quarter of respondents currently have between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of their workforce offshore but by 2008 almost half anticipate this to be the case.The research from the global consultancy claims that financial firms which send jobs ...

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