Financial Advisor articles from February 2006

Financial Advisor archives from February 2006

Time to take a good, long look at yourself.
February 2, 2006... Every January the press is awash with articles urging us all to make -- and keep -- New Year's resolutions. You have probably done the same thing, writing to clients in an attempt to win more business on the back of their good intentions to...

CML critical of Hips optimism.(Council of Mortgage Lenders)
February 2, 2006... The Council of Mortgage Lenders has expressed "serious concerns" to the government over the introduction of home information packs. The industry body has claimed that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was in danger of missing its go...

Meeting the individual needs of each client.(Letter to the Editor)
February 2, 2006... MONDAY I live on the north side of Chesterfield and work on the south side of Sheffield, which means an early start will get me into the office in no more than 20 minutes. I can only sympathise with those who have long arduous journeys...

Paisley moves from Dunedin to head Britannic investment.
February 2, 2006... Investment Andrew Paisley has been appointed UK investment manager for Britannic Asset Management, the multi-specialist investment provider, from the end of February. Mr Paisley was the manager of the Dunedin Smaller Companies investment...

French minister joins Triago-X.
February 2, 2006... THE former French minister of finance, Alain Madelin, has been appointed a senior adviser by Triago-X, the private equity secondary transactions specialist. Mr Madelin held a number of key ministerial posts for the French government and...

Revenue wins SL's praise on windfalls flaw.
February 2, 2006... A TAX anomaly that could have slashed the demutualisation payouts for 1m Standard Life policyholders has been closed by HM Revenue & Customs. The Revenue acted in response to lobbying from the Edinburgh-based mutual, which complained the...

First-time buyers down, warns Halifax.
February 2, 2006... THE number of first-time buyers in the UK has hit a 25-year low, according to Halifax research. Despite a pick-up in first-time buyer activity in the second half of 2005, research revealed there were an estimated 320,000 first-time buyers...

FSA strikes off fraudster IFA.
February 2, 2006... FRAUDSTER Stephen Howard Higham, who embezzled more than AGBP2.8m from 26 clients, has been struck off by the FSA. Mr Higham, the former managing director of Oaktree Financial Services in Nottingham, has received a final notice telling him...

No administrator role for Scot Eq.(Scottish Equitable)
February 2, 2006... SCOTTISH Equitable has refused to take on the new additional role of pension scheme administrator after A-Day. The decision has angered some IFAs as it leaves them only two months to advise clients whether to switch providers. ...

Cazalet attacks payment model.(independent financial advisers)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2006... REVENUE flows for IFA pension business could soon dry up, according to a report on pension profitability. Polly Put The Kettle On is the latest report from Cazalet Consulting which states the current IFA commission model operated by life...

Flight lands role in Thinc Destini.(Howard Flight and Nick Kelly)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2006... THINC Destini has announced that Howard Flight, former shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, will join its board as non-executive director. Nick Kelly will also join as group commercial director after leaving his role as divisional...

Mortgages Plc shifts rate base.
February 2, 2006... MORTGAGES Plc has re-launched its products based on the bank base rate rather than a London interbank borrowing rate-based standard variable rate. Details of the range were revealed last Friday at an event during which the firm also...

Axa finds advice is ideal avenue for cutting debts.(planning)
February 2, 2006... A UNIQUE social experiment, funded by Axa, has shown independent financial advice could shave AGBP29.7bn off the nation's debt in just three months. The Axa Avenue experiment, which kicked off last November, saw 20 Brighton households...

Leeds shows a way to help.(LEEDS Building Society )(Brief Article)
February 2, 2006... LEEDS Building Society has donated AGBP12,576 to Save the Children. Gary Brook, public relations manager for the Leeds, visited Low Ash Primary School in Bradford, West Yorkshire to hand over the donation. He is pictured here with the...

Female IFAs reflect make-up change.
February 2, 2006... THIS year's Women's Financial Adviser Group awards reflected the changing make-up of the distribution market post depolarisation. At a gala dinner in London's Canary Wharf last Friday, the group rewarded top multi-tied advisers, tied...

Ascentric bolstering wrap deal.
February 2, 2006... ASCENTRIC has added two self-invested personal pensions and three offshore bonds to its wrap service, which launches on 1 March. Clive Boothman, chairman of Ascentric and former chief executive of Cofunds, has signed a deal with Friends...

New Product - NU to protect with profits.
February 2, 2006... NORWICH Union is helping to protect its with profit fund investors with the launch of an inflation-protected guarantee. Available through its portfolio life bond wrapper and offshore bond wrapper, it will enable investors to benefit from...

New Product - BritishInsurance undercuts lenders.
February 2, 2006... MPPI specialist BritishInsurance.com is offering premiums a third cheaper than the average along with the option of disability or unemployment-only cover on its new product. The new cover offers mortgage payment protection insurance...

Gov't takes industry approach to reform.(planning)
February 2, 2006... The government will embrace industry-style solutions as part of its reform of incapacity benefits. The inclusion of insurance industry principles in the DWP's green paper for incapacity was welcomed by Nick Kirwan, director of protection...

FSCS adviser levy to soar by 25 per cent.(Financial Services Compensation Scheme)(industry forecasts)
February 2, 2006... THE FINANCIAL Services Compensation Scheme's levy for the year ahead is expected to be AGBP75.35m, compared with AGBP138m for the current financial year. In the scheme's plan and budget for 2006/2007, published on 1 February, while it was...

SW tool to consider external investments.
February 2, 2006... SCOTTISH Widows has launched a portfolio planner, P2, that can take into account investments with other companies. Scottish Widows laid claim to being the first life company to include external investments along with any lump sum that...

New Product - BM Solutions aims at sub-prime sector.
February 2, 2006... BM Solutions has launched a range of mortgages aimed at the sub-prime market. It includes a near-prime three-year tracker which tracks the Bank of England base rate plus 1.49 percentage points, giving a rate of 5.99 per cent, for two...

Aegon readies for big drive into annuities.
February 2, 2006... AEGON has targeted a top five position in the annuities market by the end of 2007 along with the addition of 40 new staff. Aegon has historically only offered annuities to its existing pension clients but has offered annuities to the open...

London Mecca for overseas professionals, study reveals.(services)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2006... FOREIGN-born financial services professionals have greater career prospects in London than in their native countries, according to London-based IFA Grace Agnew. Ms Agnew, who works for Cavendish Young in Belgravia, London, was born in New...

More advisers put liability in the dock.
February 2, 2006... NETWORKS and member-firms look set for a high court showdown as three test cases are being prepared by appointed representatives over who is liable for past advice. Since Financial Adviser reported law firm Financial Services Legal was...

Symponia orders IFA records to be probed.
February 2, 2006... ADVISERS are to be put through criminal records investigations by Symponia, the national organisation for long-term care advice. Warwickshire-based Symponia will insist members are subjected to Criminal Records Bureau checks before they are...

Mortgage Advice hits high in spite of a slow market.
February 2, 2006... Despite a slow housing market, the Mortgage Advice Bureau has announced record lending for 2005 of more than AGBP2bn, up by 35 per cent from 2004. Peter Brodnicki, chief executive of Mortgage Advice Bureau, said the company's proposition...

New Product - Chrysalis offers share classes.
February 2, 2006... CHRYSALIS VCT, a self-managing fund, has launched two share classes, which will be open until 5 April, to raise up to AGBP25m. The D-shares, a general fund, will invest mainly in qualifying companies to fund expansion, acquisitions and...

Threats to industry 'on the rise'.
February 2, 2006... THREATS to the growth of the financial services industry are greater in 2006 than they there were last year, the FSA has warned. In its 112-page Financial Risk Outlook For 2006, the world's most powerful financial services regulator said...

New Product - 7IM to open door to choice.
February 2, 2006... Discretionary manager Seven Investment Management has teamed up with Morningstar to launch a portfolio planning tool that includes private equity, hedge funds and foreign exchange. The 7IM Multi-Asset Class Search Engine incorporates a...

NASD degree aims to help firms face rising tide of rules.
February 2, 2006... Private sector regulator NASD and The University of Reading have announced details of what they claim is the first-ever international degree in Capital Markets Regulation and Compliance. The masters level certificate has been designed to...

FSA attacked for meeting rebuff over mis-selling.
February 2, 2006... AN ENDOWMENT mis-selling campaign group has hit out at the FSA after requests for a meeting have been rebuffed. Timebar said it was surprised by the decision as it had evidence that companies were flaunting regulatory rules. The online...

Site 'no threat to' IFAs.
February 2, 2006... IFAS should not see the launch of Mortgagebundles.com as sounding the death knell of mortgage advice, according to one of the site's founders. John Gibson, former chief executive of Northern Rock, said that the new model contains...

Assureweb deals add to choice.
February 2, 2006... ASSUREWEB has enhanced its protection proposition with deals to bring Synergy and UnumProvident into the portal, with a further protection specialist in the pipeline. UnumProvident has joined the portal's income protection comparison...

Organic firms buck consolidation trend.(independent financial advisers)
February 2, 2006... ORGANIC growth in the IFA industry has countered popular belief the industry is consolidating, according to research from Sesame. Based on a study of 1200 advisers' future aspirations, the IFA network revealed almost two-thirds of the...

Foreign cash threat for equity investors.
February 2, 2006... UK equity investors face an enormous challenge from foreign direct investors, according to new figures recently published. Commercial property investors in particular are in the firing line as they face shrinking opportunities amid a...

Fos a 'barrier', claim lawyers.
February 2, 2006... THE FINANCIAL Ombudsman Service is a barrier to important reforms in insurance that will protect consumers, according to the Law Commission. A scoping paper from The Law Commission and The Scottish Law Commission has set out reforms to...

Docucorp to help take strain as Hips swing into operation.
February 2, 2006... DOCUCORP has launched an IT offering for companies seeking to provide home information packs. The customer communications management company's solution will allow companies to implement Hip software in-house, outsource either the...

New Product - Skandia offers advisers helping hand to curb tax year-end problems.
February 2, 2006... Skandia has launched a tax year-end website designed to help advisers during the Isa season. The site contains information, documents and application forms to help IFAs demonstrate Isa investments to clients. It focuses on the benefit...

BBB deadline deal halts tribunal fight.
February 2, 2006... BERKELEY Berry Birch bosses have ditched plans for a tribunal showdown with the FSA in return for an extended deadline to turn the group's fortunes around. Senior management at the group now have until 27 February to prove the company can...

First-timers coming back, claims survey.(mortgages)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2006... First-time buyers rose sharply as a percentage of overall mortgages in the last quarter while buy-to-lets stayed in the doldrums, according My Mortgage Direct. Figures released from the online and telephone broker show that for December,...

New Product - Preferred cuts rates.
February 2, 2006... Non-conforming lender Preferred has announced new fixed and discounted deals. Preferred is offering clients of near prime status through to unlimited adverse status a discount of 2.2 percentage points for one year based on the London...

Softer touch urged over MiFID.
February 2, 2006... THE regulator may have to adopt a softly, softly approach to enforcing MiFID regulations in the face of feet dragging over IT compliance, a financial systems expert has warned. Pradeep Hardikar, director and practice leader of Cognizant...

Skandia urges using Isa transfer to cut time.(Individual Savings Account)
February 2, 2006... INTERMEDIARIES consolidating their business on to a single platform should opt for Isa transfers over re-registration, according to Skandia. With the Isa season taking off, Skandia is prompting IFAs to take the opportunity to review their...

Scot Eq raises alarm over exit sweeteners.
February 2, 2006... EMPLOYERS are offering cash-in-hand payments to individuals as incentives to exit company pension schemes, according to Stewart Ritchie. Mr Ritchie, pension development director of Scottish Equitable, said he had heard anecdotal evidence...

Ship figures reveal equity release fall.(industry sales report)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2006... EQUITY release figures for 2005 are down on the previous year with a dearth of specialist IFAs holding the sector back, according to Safe Homes Income Plans. The industry body -- which represents more than 95 per cent of the sector -- gave...

MTG aims for small packagers.
February 2, 2006... THE Mortgage Times Group has launched a new service provider group for smaller packagers. The United Packagers Association will provide information technology, compliance and marketing facilities to members as well as a panel of lenders...

Technology and teamwork get the client to the correct adviser.
February 2, 2006... FINANCIAL ADVISER: What do you think were Royal Liver's biggest achievements during 2005? STEVE BURNETT: Last year was the completion of the second full year that I was with the company and it has been a continuation of the progress we...

The Ship has come in for equity release plans.
February 2, 2006... EQUITY release is a thorny issue for both financial advisers and journalists. Those of us with long memories can recall the disaster of the late 1980s when investment bonds were sold in tandem with variable rate mortgages. When mortgage...

It's good news at last for with profits.(savings plan)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2006... WHAT is this? Good news on endowments? Closed fund specialist Resolution has remarkably boosted the payouts for the thousands of savers with old Pioneer Mutual policies, in some cases more than doubling the amount the old door-to-door savings...

Private pensions are in a sad state.
February 2, 2006... THE latest figures from the National Association of Pension Funds show that nearly a third of pension schemes reduced their exposure to equities last year. This is not really surprising, because managing risk is now all important for the...

PR's passion for fashion.
February 2, 2006... MOST commonly, journalists leave financial services to move into public relations. But what do PR officers move into once they have worked in the industry for a while. If you are Esther O'Reilly-Cain, who previously took on the form...

Star 20 years in the making.
February 2, 2006... WITH his cheeky charm and nearly 20 years in the industry, Roddy Kohn, managing director of Kohn Cougar in Bristol is a favourite face in financial services. Which is why it came as a surprise when he picked up the Rising Star award at...

Cheque your crystal ball.
February 2, 2006... FINANCIAL sales is a fickle world and we have all been on the end of a call with someone trying to make a hard sale. But it seems a Swiss company, ETLA SA, took it to the extreme, had its knuckles rapped by the Office of Fair Trading and...

Nothing going on but the rent.
February 2, 2006... It seems one hitherto Edinburgh-based PR manager has taken schmoozing with the press to a whole new level. The PR, who will remain nameless, has undertaken the 400 -mile journey down to the old smoke only to move into a flat above one of...

A common sense victory.
February 2, 2006... THE decision by the FSA to withdraw its draconian rules on money laundering must be welcomed by all reasonable people in the industry. It was a prescriptive and inappropriate rule that had no relation to the real world -- despite the...

Members only.
February 2, 2006... THE legal opinion obtained by solicitors Financial Services Legal regarding the liability of network member-firms is rather interesting. All that is needed now is for a number of guinea pigs to step forward so that lawyers can launch a high...

Cofunds takes its initial step in pensions market.
February 2, 2006... COFUNDS has made its first step into the life and pensions arena with the launch of a portfolio bond with Legal & General. The portfolio bond, an L&G product available through Cofunds, is the first life company wrapper to be launched by the...

Education is key to investor confidence.
February 2, 2006... THIS year many Isa providers will be rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of a bounce back in sales. After several lean years, it is hard to undermine their enthusiasm, but now is the right time for a review of how investments are being...

Bank puts faith in FinArch to support its data reporting.
February 2, 2006... THE Bank of England has given the green light to Financial Architects to operate as a recognised software house for the purposes of electronic statistical reporting. In order to obtain formal approval, 19 Bank of England forms and six FSA...

Small firms pick up the big bill.
February 2, 2006... The latest talk appears to be around the recently issued consultation paper regarding the funding of the Financial Ombudsman Scheme and the Compensation Scheme. I have previously written that I find it an odd state of affairs that I spend...

Mortgagebundles is warned of struggles.
February 2, 2006... MORTGAGEBUNDLES.COM faces an uphill struggle to win over customers and lenders, according to the man who first brought the concept to the UK. Launched last week, the founders of the new online bidding site announced that 14 lenders would...

Maturing Isas ripe for advice, says B&W.
February 2, 2006... Maturing structured cash Isas and Toisas will open up a AGBP1.6bn market for IFAs this year, according to Jim Goddard-Jones of Bristol & West. The latest statistics from SRPAdviser.com's structured retail products database have revealed...

An appetite for an adventure.
February 2, 2006... FOR years equities have been regarded as simply public equity quoted on recognised exchanges, but for all except the deepest of burrowing moles most will have been aware of the size and impact of the proliferating private equity market. ...

Cutting through the regulation confusion before it can strike.
February 2, 2006... MIFID IS a piece of shorthand for a complex set of European legislative proposals -- not necessarily even a directive -- that will apply to asset managers, brokers, investment banks and advisers. It is important because it will effectively...

Could Gordon's property delay make him look like a Reit idiot?
February 2, 2006... IT IS often said that flexibility is a wonderful thing. And, when it comes to property fund investment, Gordon Brown certainly wants us to think he is all for it. In his Pre-Budget speech, the chancellor said the introduction of real...

Owing me, owing you on UK tax law.
February 2, 2006... THE decision of the European Court of Justice in Marks & Spencer v Halsey was a judgment that was eagerly awaited by the taxpayer and advisers alike. Although the result was not as far reaching as some commentators had hoped for and some...

Time for that old black magic.
February 2, 2006... IN December 1992, the UK unemployment rate stood at a sorry 9.9 per cent. If an economist had stood up back then and proclaimed that the UK jobless rate could fall steadily to 3 per cent in less than 10 years and then remain at or below that...

Keep your exit strategy clear.
February 2, 2006... The Venture capital trust scheme started on 6 April 1995 was designed to encourage individuals to invest indirectly in a range of small, higher-risk trading companies whose shares and securities are not listed on a recognised stock exchange, by...

Forces for change make a mark.
February 2, 2006... IT SEEMS Sir Richard Branson has stirred up yet another hornets' nest with unconventional products and relentless marketing. And, while Virgin Brides may have been allowed to drop off the face of the planet, it seems the financial services...

Ship ready to sail into deeper waters.
February 2, 2006... Equity release providers have predicted that new products will have lower entry ages and secure income options as features. However, an expert has said that simplicity is still a key factor. The predictions were made in a survey...

L&G investment plan 'too complex', says IFA.
February 2, 2006... AN INVESTMENT plan from Legal & General is too complex for the consumer, according to an adviser. The six-year Legal & General Growth Investment Plan Plus, available until 3 March, is designed as a capital protection payment with an early...

Question of death and taxes.
February 2, 2006... IN any game of word association, mere mention of the words "tax simplification" is likely to prompt the instant response "pensions". And quite rightly so, given the radical changes set to affect pensions from 6 April. But advisers who...

Property boom on the wane, specialist warns.
February 2, 2006... INVESTORS should be wary of the end of the commercial property boom, an investment specialist has warned. Commenting on the launch of Fidelity's new Global Property fund, Melvyn Bell, investment manager for Lowes Financial Management in...

Standard Life International launches first offshore fund.
February 2, 2006... STANDARD Life International hopes its first offshore investment product will contradict traditional attitudes of the niche market. Murray Drummond, chief executive of SLIL, said the developments in wrap products had changed consumer...

Prudential cuts rate on flexi lifetime mortgage.
February 2, 2006... Prudential has cut the interest rate on its flexible lifetime mortgage from 6.45 per cent to 6.02 per cent and advisers will now receive a minimum AGBP650 for each transaction. According to the Pru, a customer who draws down AGBP20,000 at...

The times are a changing, and so must financial services firms.
February 2, 2006... When I began looking into the subject of the thesis part of my doctorate from Bradford University Business School I was involved during my day-to-day office routine in helping to structure a series of unconnected new products, financial...

Accord broker deals 'fail to beat Yorkshire offers'.
February 2, 2006... Accord Mortgages has launched a slew of broker-only products, but an adviser has said that borrowers still get a better deal going direct to its parent, the Yorkshire Building Society. Joanne Moore, director of Joanne Moore and Partners in...

Expert aims to inform and educate using the internet.
February 2, 2006... Annuities expert Billy Burrows has set up a website to help IFAs. The site will give up to date information on annuity rates and advisers can sign up for news flash alerts when rates change. Visitors can also subscribe to Mr Burrow's...

Woolwich overhaul may cause IFA 'overload'.(independent financial advisers)
February 2, 2006... The Woolwich has withdrawn and replaced all its fixed-rate mortgages, but the habit of revamping whole ranges can be too much to swallow, according to an adviser. David Holbrook, managing director of Hallmark IFA in York, said: "Doing it...

IFA urges swift action to avoid lifetime limits.(independent financial advisers)
February 2, 2006... ONLY a SMALL percentage of the up to 300,000 people with pensions worth more than AGBP1.5m are taking advice, according to an IFA. Phil McGovern, a director of MPA Pension and Investments in Warwickshire, who has been working as a pensions...

Providers cutting annuity rates as gilts drop.
February 2, 2006... Annuity rates have been cut by 2.5 per cent since the start of the year by a number of pension providers. Norwich Union, Legal & General, Standard Life, Canada Life and Prudential have reduced their rates since the beginning of January. ...

Old Mutual on a high.
February 2, 2006... OLD Mutual has increased the support for its hostile takeover of Skandia -- achieving 72.1 per cent acceptances from shareholders -- and has declared the bid wholly unconditional. Old Mutual again revised the deadline for acceptances to 9...

PMI tax change could boost uptake, says ABI.
February 2, 2006... Removing the benefit in kind status of private medical insurance tax could significantly boost uptake, an adviser has said. Anne Clayton, director of Clayton and Company in Northamptonshire, said removing the status would improve the PMI...