M&G Investments will halt trading on 21 funds as it ploughs ahead with plans to shift £34bn of assets out of the UK amid Brexit concerns. The suspensions, which will begin midday Thursday and finish on Monday, are the first of four tranches of planned downtime by M&G so as not to suspend all of […]
Alliance Trust Savings has been sold to fellow flat-fee platform Interactive Investor for £40m. II will also take control of parent company Alliance Trust’s office building in Dundee that houses ATS as part of the deal. ATS confirmed it was in discussions with potential new owners in July, but market watchers had tipped a deal […]
Despite pressure to come down on the market like a ton of bricks, the FCA has taken a measured approach to improving standards Another week, another barrage of headlines about an FCA intervention on defined benefit pension transfers. The regulator’s latest missive focuses squarely on the standards and processes advisers employ when carrying out pension […]
Every pound spent on financial education initiates can create more than £5 in social value, a new study finds. Research firm ERS examined the impact of “survival” money management workshops delivered to more than a thousand 16-25-year olds who were either not in work, full-time education or training, or had care responsibilities. They found that […]
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 […]
With a firm understanding of clients’ needs and expectations, more advisers are looking to offer the perfect financial plan to cater for their circumstances, but where is the starting point for selection? A discretionary management service is one of the tools that advisers have at their disposal to craft the perfect plan for their client. […]
The Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment has appointed four new members to its financial planning forum committee. St James’s Place senior manager for partnership development James Mallinson will work with the CISI on organising its forum events and also more broadly on financial planning strategy. Mallinson says: “I am passionate about holistic financial planning and hope […]
Cura Financial Services grew their protection business by 16.5% over 18 months by using a positive, human approach to educate clients on the value of protection. Emphasising the tangible benefits of additional support services like Scottish Widows Care is one way to show how some protection plans can help a policyholder and their family in […]
The Pensions Regulator has banned the man branded the “mastermind” of a £13.7m pension scam and his three accomplices from being trustees. David Austin – along with Susan Dalton, Alan Barratt and Julian Hanson – ran a scam that cost 245 people their pension savings, after the members were persuaded using cold-calling and other techniques […]
Google has given people access to instant answers to questions that, in the past, would have required a trip to the library or a talk with an expert. While this is no bad thing, it does have unintended consequences. Take, for example, in the medical profession where patients are going to doctors with incorrect pre-diagnoses […]
Advisers are placing more importance on this tax, just as the OTS readies recommendations for its simplification I was fortunate enough to be asked to speak at an event run by Cicero Group earlier this month. Cicero was presenting some interesting adviser research on inheritance tax, and my job was to talk about it in the […]
Almost 200 footballers are under investigation for alleged tax abuses linked to image rights payments, the Mail on Sunday reports. HM Revenue and Customs are reportedly looking into 198 players, 44 at Premier League level, and 29 agents. The investigation into the football world has netted £329m extra tax for the Treasury after many clubs […]
Retirees are likely to miss out on sustainable income and death benefits if they do not annuitise at least part of their pot, new research finds. In a paper from actuaries Milliman, which draws on data from provider Just, Milliman modelled a pure drawdown strategy combining equities and bonds, and a combined annuity with an […]
Advice giant St James’s Place will block access to its investment platform for 10 days while it migrates services to a new provider. SJP tells Money Marketing that the work will affect online service ability for clients between 19 October and 29 October. A spokesman says: “SJP will carry out essential maintenance to our systems as part […]
Money Marketing Wired returns in association with The UK Edge on Tuesday 30th Otober, at 10 am with a topical debate on The politics of Brexit: What investors need to know. Discussion topics A month on from the Conservative Party conference, will the party be able to resolve its Brexit divisions? What options are still politically palatable to all sides? […]
Pension savers in ill-health are at a greater risk of being hit with a 40 per cent inheritance tax bill after a Court of Appeal ruling in favour of HM Revenue & Customs, experts have argued. Currently anyone who is in ill-health, transfers their pension and then subsequently dies within two years could see their […]
Defined benefit pension transfers have helped push strong results for AJ Bell this year as the business prepares to float on the London Stock Exchange. Full year trading results released today show the platform recorded £1.8bn of DB transfers in 2018. This is down from £2.3bn in 2017 but still above previous years’ figures. Assets […]
Homeowners released £1.02bn of property equity from July to September, according to The Equity Release Council’s newest figures. This compares to the £971m released in Q2 of this year, and £824m in Q3 2017, a yearly increase of 24 per cent. In contrast to this sharp growth, the Council points out that the average amount withdrawn […]
Royal London’s Governed Retirement Income Portfolios (GRIPs) are a suite of five risk-targeted, multi-asset portfolios with dynamic asset allocation available for customers seeking a regular income from their pension savings. Over six years the GRIPs have remained resilient throughout challenging market conditions and have outperformed benchmark. Gripping reasons to invest. • Governance – ongoing, independent […]
Fundsmith has successfully launched its new investment trust, Smithson, to the main market of the London Stock Exchange this morning. The asset manager led by star manager Terry Smith has confirmed that 82,250,958 shares were issued at 8am. The firm also noted that Smith and the other founder partners and key employees of Fundsmith currently […]
Invesco has sealed a deal to acquire OppenheimerFunds as the firrm looks to break into the top 10 global investment managers. The deal will see OppenheimerFunds parent Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company sell the asset manager to Invesco, with MassMutual taking a 15.5 per cent stake in Invesco in return. Invesco will manage $1.2trn (£920bn) […]
Advice firm consolidator Newell Palmer has acquired midlands IFA Sense Wealth Management in a deal adding another £35m to its funds under management. The purchase is the 51st acquisition made by Newell Palmer since it began trading in 1993. The £35m is split between around 100 active clients from Sense, who will all transfer over […]
Rumours are swirling about changes to pension tax relief being announced in the upcoming Budget. Predictions of a shake-up to pension incentives have been touted for many years but, so far, we have only seen tinkering rather than root and branch reform. The £40bn from pension tax relief would come in pretty handy for a […]
The advice industry must grow out of old habits and move on from these worrying arrangements I will always remember the day I got my first bicycle. I was four years old, still in short trousers and my dad led me out into the courtyard of our block of flats to show me my birthday […]
Money Marketing has spent a lot of time with lawyers over the past few weeks. It’s pretty rare that a challenge to a Financial Ombudsman Service ruling goes all the way to the High Court, but that’s exactly where Sipp provider Berkeley Burke has taken its judicial review of a decision, essentially holding it accountable […]
Can avatars lead to a better retirement? No, I am not talking about some sci-fi version of our future lives. I hope not anyway, as such futures tend to be more dark, wet and dystopian than utopian – at least in the movies I have seen. We live in the age of nudges, popularised by […]
As discussed last week, the regulator, being the regulator, will regulate. That is what it does. It is its job. Ensuring we are compliant is expensive and exhausting but it is not the same as ensuring we have a robust strategy. There is overlap, for sure, but it is not a substitute. While it may […]
Protection has really started to change over the last few years. While the upper echelons of most major insurers remain largely pale and male, we are seeing the tangible effects of industry efforts to redress the gender and ethnicity imbalance, with senior females gaining prominence and a more interesting array of faces populating panels and […]
If you had told me 10 years ago that not only would I be a chartered financial planner but that I would enjoy it so much I would be reading about the “science” of retirement and the “new retirementality” in my spare time, I reckon I would have asked you to kill me. But it […]
The shackles of the industry are finally being broken but there is still much work to be done The financial planning profession has incredible potential that sadly has still not yet been achieved. But things are changing and the tide is slowly turning. The only way to bring about the fulfilment of our profession’s true […]
Over the past few weeks, I have been helping my wife act as the executor of her late father’s estate. Despite a 25-year career as an adviser for some very wealthy people and being quite familiar with the tasks involved in dealing with the financial affairs of a deceased person, I have found this time […]
Your website is your shop window and needs to support your marketing strategy An effective website should support every element of an adviser’s marketing strategy. From helping referrals understand more about your business, to being found on Google by people looking for an adviser, your website is your shop window. Essentially it has three jobs: To […]
I wonder how many client conversations come to an impasse when the subject of their existing cover is discussed. All too frequently, we find clients have little knowledge of their employment benefit package. Death in service, critical illness cover and sick pay benefit periods may have been discussed during the recruitment process and will be […]
This summer saw the S&P 500 rule headlines for enjoying the longest-running bull market in history. Yet, as per the old adage, what goes up inevitably comes down, and it is the job of advisers to manage clients’ portfolios accordingly – either directly or via the third-party investment services they use. A crude assumption might […]
There is currently no minimum qualification level, but the majority of advisers think this needs to change The role of the paraplanner is a relatively new one and its definition and responsibilities can differ hugely between firms. According to the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment, the role can be broken down into four key […]
Exit fees can mean advisers are hit with high and unpredictable costs, but are they justified? Many advisers have been caught out with the unexpected burdens that come with trying to leave a platform, and an increasing number of them are looking into the potential pitfalls that exiting discretionary fund manager services could bring as […]
Michael Klimes explores the arguments and potential outcomes from two landmark court cases that have now been heard.
Long-awaited guidance clears up confusion around the IHT position of policies issued under seal Life assurance protection is an often overlooked estate planning tool. For UK-domiciled individuals, effecting a policy subject to a trust can deliver a neat, effective way of sorting inheritance tax liability that cannot be diminished through other planning. It can also […]
With markets generally positive since they arrived, have pension freedoms really been tested yet? With the advent of pension freedoms, advisers are increasingly looking for a safe harbour that provides some guarantees of their clients’ income, while retaining a lump sum for their heirs. But trying to manage a portfolio that can achieve this is […]
Their power over fund selection is only set to increase as more firms adopt centralised investment propositions Fund research and rating agencies have enjoyed a buoyant market in advice firms thanks to the post-RDR rise of centralised investment propositions. While a minority of advisers have chosen to outsource portfolio management, the majority are selecting funds […]
Clients that suffer ill health at a young age can access their pension if certain requirements are met With the recent news that we are not living longer after all, there are questions to be asked as to why this is. Life expectancy increases the older you get, as the fact you made it that […]
News and expert analysis straight to your inbox
Sign up
Watch our latest Wired debate, where experts discuss the relative merits of growth and value investing.
Callum Abbot, co-manager of the JPM UK Equity Core Fund discusses the four key pillars of support for the UK equity market.
Blake Crawford, portfolio manager of the JPM UK Dynamic Fund, discusses quantitative easing (QE) and the UK economy.
John Baker, portfolio manager for the JPM UK Dynamic Fund, looks at the video game market, and the opportunities for investors.
Anthony Lynch, portfolio manager of the JPM UK Equity Plus Fund, JPM UK Equity Core Fund & the Mercantile Investment Trust, looks at the impact of Brexit on the housing market.
Callum Abbot, portfolio manager, discusses the changing market and end of cycle positioning.
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
FCA chief executive Andrew Bailey has just marked his first year at the top of the regulator. Money Marketing asks: Who is the man running the financial services show? Watch: Where do your FCA fees go?
Title: MM Wired: Beyond the election Date: Thursday 15th June Time: 11am Money Marketing Wired returned in association with The UK Edge on Thursday 15 June with a topical debate on the election results. To see the full on-demand version of this session, please watch the video above. Panelists Stephanie Flanders – Chief Market Strategist (UK […]
Many clients aren’t aware that their protection policy can give them access to practical and emotional support for coping with bereavement or serious illness. Such additional services can really add value, and help your clients see the tangible benefits of protection. Scottish Widows Care comes with every protection policy at no extra cost and is […]
Tom Smith, Fund Manager, Neptune Investment Management After a volatile month for emerging markets in aggregate, and for Argentina in particular, it is worth revisiting what has happened. The run on the Argentine currency reaccelerated in August, with the peso falling by a further 30% against the dollar. Read more Investment risks The value of […]
James Dowey, Chief Economist & CIO, Neptune Investment Management Above all, we learned that we can’t leave finance to its own devices. As Joseph Stiglitz said: “Now we know why the invisible hand is invisible. It’s because it isn’t there.” Read more Investment risks The value of an investment and any income from it can […]
Simon Halifax – Senior Marketing Consultant, Royal London Renovating a home could have an impact on your client’s savings and income. ‘Grand designs’ or indeed home renovations appear to have really taken off this year, especially where I live. As there are a huge number of homes getting extensions, roofs replaced or new windows and doors. I’m […]
Tracey Miller – Marketing Consultant, Royal London No one wants to think about how they’ll pay the bills if they’re sick or injured and can’t work. And that’s especially true when you’re in your 20s and getting sick is something that only ever happens to ‘old’ people, never someone like you. Unfortunately, for one of my […]
Ross Jackson – Senior Marketing Manager, Royal London Millennials are a scary bunch aren’t they? They’re more demanding of businesses that they deal with, are less loyal to brands, and have a much higher level of digital understanding than previous generations. And while those sweeping generalisations may all be true, they’re just another segment of potential […]
Susan Hill director on making finance more appealing to women and the need for a central training academy Think about your favourite products and services – the fragrance your partner bought you last Christmas; the last concert you went to; that meal you recently had at your local restaurant. Now think about the way they […]
Tilney chief on providing financial planning while attracting investment management business from external advisers Nobody likes being the new kid at school – even those at the top. So, a year on from becoming chief executive of wealth manager Tilney, Chris Woodhouse is happy to be “part of the wallpaper”. His strategy has been clear […]
Nicholls Stevens managing director on how to solve the problems created by pension freedoms A combination of being technically minded and looking for areas with recurring income that suited her business model set IFA Carole Nicholls on her path as a pensions specialist. The managing director of Bristol-based firm Nicholls Stevens realised early in her […]