Royal London chief executive Phil Loney is stepping down at the end of 2019 and the new chairman, Kevin Parry, will lead the search for his successor. Parry’s appointment and Loney’s departure were both announced this morning. Parry, will leave his current non-executive director position at Standard Life Aberdeen at the end of December and […]
The Money Advice Service aims to launch a prototype version of a drawdown comparison tool aimed at non-advised, mainstream customers in spring next year. The guidance body’s senior policy manager Teresa Fritz shared details about the tool that is being designed in collaboration with the Association of British Insurers. Speaking at a Westminster Business Forum […]
Aegon‘s transformation director Elaine Maddison has joined a technology firm specialising in managing cloud-based solutions. She will start work at Brightsolid in January and has around two decades of experience in the financial services industry. Maddison has worked at Aegon since September 2016 where she was initially responsible for the delivery of customer service for […]
Advisers are avoiding putting all their eggs in the passives basket Few advisers have wholeheartedly taken on board the arguments for index-tracking and put all their eggs in the passives basket. Indeed, advisers are deeply split in their attitudes towards passive investing. There is no denying funds in passive investment vehicles have been on the […]
A weekly account of the curious goings-on in the world of financial services Fussy financial felines With the average salary for financial advisers continuing to grow, one has to wonder what privileges immediate family members are able to enjoy. Perhaps most important to the families that own them are cats. Thanks to Twitter, WSJ can […]
The pension industry is changing rapidly, supported by this government’s development of the pension dashboard, the introduction of collective defined contribution pension schemes and a consultation on the regulation of defined benefit superfunds. We are unleashing innovation and opening up options for pension schemes members and employers. These reforms will bring the pension industry into the […]
Trade tensions and Brexit are concerns ahead of 2019 European equity markets have had a tough year. The economy has failed to live up to the expectations at the start of the year that European growth would be fuelled by easy financial conditions and falling unemployment. Regional business confidence surveys have fallen steadily since January. […]
A hard Brexit scenario could see a £219bn increase in aggregate buy-out deficit of UK pension funds, fiduciary and risk management firm Cardano says. In the event of a no-deal Brexit, including the extent of any transitional arrangements, UK pension trustees and corporate scheme sponsors must be ready to “react to the consequences” they could […]
2018 saw mixed fortunes for the platform space, with a number of advised offerings launching successful IPOs, while others feeling the heat went through mergers or tough technology reboots. Here’s what the experts made of it all. Upgrade pain…again Platforms’ dilemma is whether to stick with the old tech and fall behind with the whizzy […]
The former Schroders chief finance officer and chief executive of Management Consulting Group will take over the position on 1 January 2019. Parry succeeds incumbent and former deputy Bank of England governor Rupert Pennant-Rea as Royal London’s chairman, who held the position for more than five years. He will help Royal London find a new […]
Consideration of ESG issues does not end when the investment decision is made. Through engagement and the active use of voting, investors and companies can work together to improve the management of risk and create the conditions for long-term outperformance. BMO Global Asset Management launched Europe’s first retail ethical fund in 1984. As a pioneer […]
For generations, life expectancy has been steadily increasing, with more and more people now likely to live to 100. Scottish Widows’ pension expert Robert Cochran tackles this longevity landscape with economist and co-author of the book ‘The 100-Year Life’, Andrew Scott, in episode one of Scottish Widows’ new podcast series – “The Future of Financial Planning”. Click […]
We’re all living longer – half the future generation born after 2036 is expected to live to 100*. But despite more of us saving for our retirement, and from a younger age, there’s still a lot of work to do if we want our time in retirement to be both financially and physically healthy – […]
Curtis Banks has bought a £180m Sipp book from wealth manager Hargreave Hale. The invested assets in the 600 Sipps will continue to be managed by Hargreave Hale, turning over administration to Curtis Banks. The firm has now made ten acquisitions since its foundation in 2009. Curtis Banks agreed to buy Suffolk Life off Legal […]
Legal and General Investment Management has appointed a new lead manager for its UK Special Situations Trust amid a trio of hires. The firm has hired Mirabaud Asset Management’s Robert White, taking over from Gavin Launder, who managed the fund since the start of the year. Money Marketing understands that Launder is still with the […]
Two professional bodies have joined forces to co-brand and promote an Islamic finance qualification. The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment’s Islamic Finance Qualification was launched in 2007 and has now got backing from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. CISI and ACCA signed a memorandum of agreement regarding their collaboration on the Level 3 […]
Directors at national advice firm LEBC have seen their pay packets rise by 10 per cent this year on the back of increased profits at the firm. The highest paid director at the IFA saw their remuneration rise by just over £25,000 in 2018, jumping from £394,000 to £420,000, accounts published today show. Combined, the […]
The pound dropped to its lowest level since June 2017 today as media reports emerged prime minister Theresa May will delay a parliamentary vote on her Brexit deal. There have been widespread reports the critical vote scheduled for tomorrow is going to be delayed with May scheduled to address MPs later this afternoon. The pound […]
Less than one in twenty consumers are aware their pension is 100 per cent protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if directly managed under a life insurance contract, research has found. The FSCS consumer survey by Populus also found 49 per cent of respondents do not think FSCS protection applied to pension products. The lifeboat scheme […]
Pension transfer values fell by 2 per cent in November, according to consultancy XPS Pensions Group. At the end of October 2018 the group’s transfer value index was £235,000 and at the end of November it was £230,000. The index tracks the transfer value that would be provided by an example defined benefit pension scheme […]
Ascot Lloyd has acquired West Midlands IFA Newell Palmer, taking the firm above the 100 adviser mark for the first time. Newell Palmer has made a number of acquisitions itself this year, and will add at least £1.3bn in assets to Ascot Lloyd. The firm says it will now have over £7bn in client funds, […]
The FCA has turned the focus of its fines from companies to individuals in 2018, latest data suggests. An analysis from law firm Clyde and Co shows that while the total value of fines levied by the regulator in the year to date has dropped sharply compared to 2017, the average amount individuals are being […]
The Financial Ombudsman Service has told an adviser to refund a client’s £970 advice fee and pay 8 per cent interest, plus £500 compensation, after it refused to sign a form declaring advice had been given. In the case, a client referred to as Mr B was advised by Lighthouse Advisory Services to transfer two existing […]
Auto-enrolment is a much-celebrated success, with around 10 million workers now belonging to pension schemes chosen by their employers. Unfortunately, however, the complexities of pension administration have created a major problem that has the potential to undermine confidence in it. The last thing we need is another pensions scandal splashed across the front pages. Pension […]
At the same time as our economic engines are faltering and our politics are less sure than ever, something else has been happening. The mass market is being replaced by multiple micro markets and seemingly infinite choice. The exchange of information creates ever more value, while commodity products and services are ever cheaper. It takes […]
I was one of the first to be granted chartered financial planner status, but I wonder what the future is for the accolade. The Personal Finance Society does not seem overly concerned about erosion of the title, seemingly allowing its abuse with impunity. There have been high-profile incidents of more than one chartered financial planner […]
With so much talk of regulatory burden and the big boys starting to push smaller advisers aside, it can seem like there is no hope at all of new entrants breaking into the financial planning space. It is not uncommon, at conferences and in private, to hear veterans of the market say things like “there’s […]
I was interested to read a Financial Ombudsman Service case lately, where a potential client approached a firm for pension transfer advice but the firm decided against advising them. Unfortunately, a delay in the firm making that decision resulted in the cash equivalent transfer value timing out, meaning there was no time left for the […]
Male and female state pension ages have finally equalised but the same cannot be said for the retirement incomes they receive Although the age at which men and women can claim the state pension has now equalised, the same cannot be said about the overall levels of pension income the different genders receive. Historically, women […]
I make no apologies for revisiting decumulation and challenging the current model. It is risky for clients and advisers. My comments relate to the process whereby a retirement portfolio is amortised for income. And I am not looking at financial planning for high net worth clients, whose assets will largely go to children and grandchildren. […]
HM Revenue & Customs is seeking views on policy design and any suitable alternatives After a long wait since it was announced in the autumn Budget of 2017, HM Revenue and Customs published consultation paper The Taxation of Trusts: A Review on 7 November. The consultation’s aim is to make the taxation of trusts simpler, […]
The complexity around inheritance tax rules is well known. Even experts in the industry need to revisit the details sometimes. A substantial part of my time as a financial planner has been spent helping clients manage how to pass on wealth to their loved ones, either during their lifetime or after death. As a millennial, […]
Advisers must be confident they know enough about the third parties they engage with I have used this column many times before to look at the increasing regulatory focus on how a business engages with another for the provision of services to its clients and what that firm is responsible for. This issue has received […]
There has been a great deal of regulation on the issue of suitability. Layer upon layer of rules addressing it have increased the cost of running a business and the appalling level of paperwork clients are assaulted with. It couldn’t get any worse, could it? Sadly, it probably will. Client vulnerability is an area the […]
Advice is becoming a more risky business, meaning firms must rethink their approach to the issues they face Given the Financial Ombudsman Service’s compensation limit is set to rise to £350,000, it is time for advice firms to rethink their approach to the risks they now face. The FCA’s plan is for the new limit […]
How vertically-integrated and restricted advisers are trying to prove bias is not the weak link in their chain While the RDR heralded a watershed moment by removing the conflict of commission, the rise of vertically-integrated advice models – where the same group owns both the financial planners and the investments – has led many experts […]
As MPs prepare to vote on Theresa May’s deal, three experts give their views on what may happen next Brexit has so far brought mass uncertainty across many different industries, but particularly among financial services. We will hopefully discover more next Tuesday (11 December) when MPs vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal; until then, investors […]
The keys to success when building a new business Apple co-founder Steve Jobs once said his model for a successful business was The Beatles: four parts that balanced each other so the total was greater than the sum of the parts. In the financial advice world, most agree there is no such thing as the […]
State pension equalisation brings yet more changes to the complex bedrock of retirement income Almost a quarter of a century after it was first mooted, the women’s state pension age has hit 65, reaching a level equal to that of men. The rise in women’s state pension age started in 2010, before which it could […]
With all the noise around consolidation, advisers would be forgiven for thinking it is easy. It is not. Here are 10 steps to success There has been no let-up in the pace of consolidation within the intermediary sector this year. Hardly a day goes by without the announcement of a deal. It is estimated there […]
Political noise from Washington is likely to increase in volume A recent visit to the US to meet fund managers, strategists and analysts left us reassured that, for now, the US economy is in decent shape. But we were not convinced market momentum would be sustained. The S&P reached a record high during our visit, […]
A closer look into the increase in popularity of exchange-traded funds capitalising on long-term trends Artificial intelligence, cloud computing and battery value chain are just some of the attention-grabbing themes tracked by exchange-traded funds launched this year. These new entrants join established thematic funds such as robotics and water strategies. Assets in these ETFs have […]
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The UK Edge asked Andy Robbens, Investment Specialist at J.P.Morgan Asset Management what an average day for him looks like.
Welcome to the UK Edge’s latest video series – ‘A day in the life of’. In this first episode we follow Investment Specialist Andrew Robbens during a typical day at the J. P. Morgan London offices.
With just over four months to go until the deadline for the UK to leave the EU, Karen Ward, Chief Market Strategist for EMEA and formerly Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers to Philip Hammond, assesses the lay of the land.
Kyle Williams, manager of the JPM UK Equity Growth Fund, examines the pharmaceuticals sector.
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James Illsley, portfolio manager for the JPM UK Equity Core Fund, reflects on a busy week for UK equities.
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PFS chief executive Keith Richards, Threesixty managing director Russell Facer and financial planner Susan Hill sit down with Money Marketing editor Justin Cash to discuss what’s wrong with the FSCS, and how it can be reformed.
Welcome to the on-demand version of our latest Wired event: The politics of Brexit – What investors need to know. Exclusively for UK Edge members!
Welcome to the third instalment of our good life gurus series. We talk to Kate Shaw, an IFA and ultra runner, to find out how she got started with an exercise regime and how a healthy lifestyle helps her with her work-life balance.
Catch up with last week’s Money Marketing debate on what Labour would mean for financial planners with former pensions minister Steve Webb and three leading advisers.
FSCS levies are one of the biggest bills advisers have to pay. But how are they calculated? Watch our video to find out Advisers slam levy increases as FSCS bills hit desks Solving the FSCS’ long list of problems FSCS chief executive Mark Neale’s blog
Here’s an intriguing question for some of your more historically minded colleagues on a quiet lunchtime. What’s been the biggest change to the industry over the last 20 years? By way of answer, you’ll probably get some mix of: RDR Pension simplification Regulatory body changes (PIA to FSA to…) Pension freedoms The rise of platforms. […]
From 6 April 2017, the Scottish Government were given powers to set a Scottish rate of income tax which applies to any non-savings, non-dividend income for those deemed to be Scottish taxpayers. These rates apply to an individual’s earned income, pension and most other taxable income. However, confusingly, for any savings income and dividend income, […]
London is seen by many as one of the leading cities in the world and many wealthy non-UK residents have bought residential property in London, or maybe somewhere else in the UK. Property prices in the south east of England, and especially London, can make owning a residential property a lucrative exercise. Buyers purchase London […]
It’s easy to see technology as a threat, but it doesn’t have to be; professional advisers, unlike robo-advisers, can excel at the soft skills – valuing clients, respecting them, understanding their investment objectives and feelings. All of these are major contributors to building long-term trust and relationships. Watch the full video and also find out […]
“My perspective changed after a visit to some clients. They were a couple in their late fifties, busy with work, and when I asked them what they wanted to do in life they used the phrase ‘one day’ at lot. One day we’d like to do this. One day we’d like to do that. I […]
What we see in study after study, is that most investors change advisers more because of lack of communication, lack of feedback, and lack of just getting back in touch with the clients, so building trust is very, very important in the adviser-client relationship. Watch Francis Kinniry, Vanguard’s global head of portfolio construction, explain why […]
Balance: Wealth Planning managing director on setting up a new firm and being fed up with inadequate systems Advisers are waking up to the fact that younger people are the clients of the future, and Balance: Wealth Planning managing director Rebecca Aldridge is no exception. She is weeks away from launching a second company that will […]
Insight.Out managing director on why she is committed to pension transfer advice, despite the high-profile problems The British Steel saga exposed the ugly side of pension transfers, providing a stark illustration as to why people considering one need the right advice. However, the fallout has led many advisers to question whether they can afford to operate […]
Essential Wealth managing director on coming up through the ranks of the graduate scheme she now runs Growing anything – whether that be a vegetable patch or a team – requires nurturing and giving it plenty of time to develop. Those who have not got that luxury (or the patience) will tend to buy the […]