10 QUESTIONS THAT DEMAND ANSWERS
1: What benefits can multi-ties, product ties, white labelling or dep-olarising stakeholder products bring to consumers which the current system fails to deliver?
2: How much will any change cost to implement, who will pay for this change and by what method?
3: What possible changes to stakeholder and Isas could be made to increase the efficiency of distri-bution without requir-ing changes to the polarisation regime?
4: What evidence is there to demonstrate a new regime will increase savings levels, especially for pensions?
5: What plans are there for a full public debate before any changes are made?
6: What research has been done to gauge public understanding of the current regime and how quickly they will understand the new set-up?
7: Will a change in the regime risk increasing the incidence of misselling and misbuying and, if so, by how much?
8: Who is ultimately responsible for the decision at the FSA and the Treasury?
9: Is this decision being taken purely on competition or economic grounds, as the London Economics' report suggests, or is the consumer interest to be taken into account?
10: What damage will the options for change, that is, multi-ties, multi-product ties, gap-filling or white labelling, and depolarising Catmarked or kitemarked products do to the IFA sector over the next five to 10 years?
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DSS guide helps IFAs plug new scheme
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Specialist help for IFAs
Finance marketing specialists The Insurance Marketing Department is to offer a service to help IFAs wishing to switch their business from commission to fee based. The IMD says the move comes as a result of the 1 per cent maximum charge the Government is set to impose on IFA's commission. The service will include a […]
Abbey launch stakeholder on-line
Abbey National is launching a fully automated on-line facility to enable employers to choose stakeholder pensions for their employees on the internet. Abbey say the move comes as a result of changes in pensions legislation which requires employers with five or more staff to offer pension provisions to employees from next October. Abbey's stakeholder sales […]
ABI asks IFAs to explain with-profits to public
The ABI's Raising Standards initiative is to aim its accreditation for with-profits products primarily at IFAs because its explanation of charges and deductions may prove too complicated for consumers.Life offices which do not offer the with-profits option are claiming that the quality-mark scheme will struggle to make the multi-billion-pound with-profits market transparent to consumers.The concerns […]
Quarterly Macro Insights: October 2016
Loomis Sayles senior global economist James Balfour looks at the three main macro themes evident during October: a world lacking in demand; the strength of global market performance; and the required exit from profits recession. Click here
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