370 candidates have completed the exam requirement for the Advanced Financial Planning Certificate, the Chartered Insurance Institute has announced. 67 qualified as associates (ASFA) and 16 as fellows (FSFA).
Qualifications director Lucy Courtenay says: “This is excellent news and shows that advisers want to be seen as professionals by demonstrating levels of commitment above the regulatory minimum standard.”
Childhood illness and disability is a very emotive issue. All of us would rather not think about what could happen and parents rarely want to plan for the consequences of something happening for fear of somehow making it more likely to occur. However the impact of a child being diagnosed with a critical illness would […]
Product providers say they face a wait of up to 20 years before breaking even on the new stakeholder products despite the 0.5 per cent rise in the price cap. Scottish Widows says under 1 per cent it would have taken 12-15 years to make a profit, dropping to eight to nine years for 1.5 […]
Failure to offer mortgages and protection products to women who work part-time or are pregnant could result in prosecution under sex discrimination legislation warns the Equal Opportunities Commission. Speaking exclusively to Money Marketing, EOC chief executive Caroline Slocock said the organisation would give backing to claims if providers distribute products in a way that discriminates […]
Are the comments of Bank of England Governor Mervyn King equal to a 25-basis-point rise in interest rates? Several commentators suggest that two rises of 0.25 per cent over a period of months have had much less psychological impact than one of 0.5 per cent. One says the property boom requires a much bigger rise […]
The Government is introducing legislation in the Pension Schemes Bill to protect people saving for retirement through master trusts. This follows industry concerns on the risks to members of a master trust failing. In this article, we consider the changes being introduced, why they are needed and their likely effect. What are the changes? The […]
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Close to 15,000 people have pushed back against alleged government plans to shelve the pensions dashboard by signing a petition. This week it was reported secretary of state for work and pensions Esther McVey’s was moving to scrap the project. The petition, hosted by 38degrees, has collected 14,377 of a target 15,000 signatures in just […]
Back in May, I wrote about the pressures building in advice firms due to a shortage of highly skilled staff and the consequent costs in recruiting. With Apfa research finding profits from retail investment advice fell 16 per cent between 2014 and 2016, I thought businesses faced a worrying future. But last month’s FCA Data […]
The Pensions Regulator has appointed an independent trustee for the 15 schemes linked to the now shuttered Fast Pensions. Fast Pensions and five connected companies were wound up at the High Court in May. According to an Insolvency Service statement, it is estimated around 520 people were persuaded to transfer a total of at least […]