Financial Advisor articles from January 2004

Financial Advisor archives from January 2004

Self-build may solve shortage.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... High demand for self-build homes could boost the UKs housing supply by 40,000 properties a year, according to BuildStore. The specialist mortgage lender said this week that rising house prices have caused self-build to rocket in popularity,...

First-time buyers the focus in 2004.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Lenders are expected to focus on first-time buyer mortgages in the New Year, as house prices continue to rise. In November HBOS said that house price growth would slow, but prices would continue to rise by 8 per cent in 2004, making it...

FSA issues KFI reassurance.
January 8, 2004... The FSA has released further details of key facts illustrations, following concerns over where responsibility for inaccurate information lies. The regulator has published clarifications of the rules on its website www.fsa.gov.uk - in a bid...

Extra News.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... APS Europe ready to unveil offering APS Europe Mortgage Club will launch its compliance offering later this month. The group will help intermediaries with applications for direct authorisation with the FSA, alongside general compliance...

Trade groups join forces to launch training scheme; CII, Sofa and LIA come together to help intermediaries deal with regulation issues.
January 8, 2004... Three industry trade bodies have joined forces to launch a course aimed at helping mortgage intermediaries cope with regulation. The Chartered Insurance Institute, the Society of Financial Advisers and the Life Insurance Assoc- iation have...

Ami raises doubts about Skills Councils abilities.(Association of Mortgage Intermediaries)(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries has raised doubts over the Skills Councils ability to revamp mortgage qualifications. Chris Cummings, director of Ami, said the body was concerned that the Skills Council was not up to the job....

Online property ?rm will expand overseas.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Online property search firm PropertySupermarket.com will expand into the overseas market this year. The site, which was launched in August by IFA Jim Gillespie and Personal Touch Insurance, is due to go international in the first quarter...

Mortgages plc is ?rst packager on the regulatory Ramp.(Regulatory Alliance of Mortgage Packagers)(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Fledgling trade body the Regulatory Alliance of Mortgage Packagers has signed up Mortgages plc as its first lender panel member. Mortgages plc joins Ramp less than a month after it was launched and is set to be joined by others over the...

Fleming hoping to build on relationships in new job; Future Mortgages product and project manager is heading for lender relationship role at Network Data.
January 8, 2004... Network Data, the mortgage and general insurance intermediary network, has hired George Fleming as lender relationship manager. Mr Fleming joins from Future Mortgages where he acted as product and project manager. He has worked in the...

Founder and CEO leaves Mortgages plc.(Paul Thomas)(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Mortgages plc is to lose Paul Thomas, its chief operating officer and founding member, after more than six years. Glasgow-based Mr Thomas is due to leave the group to pursue other interests. Mr Thomas said he may not remain within the...

Key dates for your diary.(Calendar)
January 8, 2004... NORWICH UNION: January, February and March: Norwich Union series of investment seminars, dates to be confirmed. The roadshows, entitled Diversity is a Balancing Act, will help equip IFAs for the 2004 Isa season. Sessions will feature...

Future imperfect? 2003 was an eventful year, but rising interest rates are casting a pall over 2004.
January 8, 2004... It has been a momentous year for the housing industry. However, all the ink spilt on the subject by the national media during 2003 did not merit much space when the papers compiled their reviews of the past 12 months George, Tony and Saddam,...

Balancing the prediction seesaw.
January 8, 2004... Regrettably, not everything in life is quite as predictable as we would like it to be. This is certainly true of the mortgage market. Looking back over 2003, at the start of the year there were some predictions made that ended up so far of...

January: a time for taking stock; The start of the year is a good time to review your procedures and decide how they can be improved. This includes business relationships and the speed of your communications.
January 8, 2004... Now is the time for reflection on the year gone past and a time for planning to make more of the opportunities offered by the year ahead. The opportunities within the mortgage market have seen a dramatic rise in the past few years. Figures...

Debt levels put pressure on advice.
January 8, 2004... A couple of months ago the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux published research containing some worrying findings that showed credit over-commitment was leaving many individuals extremely vulnerable. According to the...

Industry faces New Year fallout.
January 8, 2004... The New Year is likely to see a huge fallout in the mortgage industry, for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, there will be a fallout from intermediaries who cannot or will not get authorised. Then there will be the migration of...

Contemplating the uncertainty principle; Despite certain discernible patterns, 2004 is just as likely to throw up surprises as 2003 has done.
January 8, 2004... The end of one year and the start of the next normally provides an ideal time for reflection on how the past 12 months have gone and what is likely in the year ahead. Economists, too, indulge in this pastime, but possibly spend longer than...

Making war on obfuscation.
January 8, 2004... There has been much criticism from various quarters lately about the complexity of promotions for financial products. Product providers have been accused of using reams of small print and jargon to deliberately confuse consumers. What...

Dont let tax become a problem; The buy-to-let market is continuing to boom, but it is worth remembering that most profits are subject to income tax.
January 8, 2004... For income tax purposes, profits from buy-to-let are taxed on an actual year basis to 5 April. Receipts are recognised in accordance with normal accountancy principles. This means that you include all incomings earned in the tax year...

Best-Buys.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... This month there are three pages of mortgage facts and figures to help you select the best mortgage for your clients. On this page the graphs show the average of all discount, fixed rate, and first and second time buyer fixed and discount rates...

Chancellors VCT plans queried; The chancellor has announced plans to make venture capital trusts more attractive, but is planning to stop investors deferring their CGT liabilities.
January 8, 2004... The chancellors proposals to boost investment in venture capital trusts could flatter to deceive, according to industry experts. In his Pre-Budget speech in December, Gordon Brown announced proposals to move from capital gains tax to income...

Post Office account to be replaced.
January 8, 2004... The National Savings Ordinary account, known by savers as the post office account, is to be replaced after 142 years of service. National Savings & Investments has announced that it will be launching a new savings account to take its place,...

Bupa creates group risk unit to exploit growing market share.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Bupa has announced the creation of a group risk business unit focussing on increasing its share of the market. The unit will be headed by Graham Clark, formerly managing director of group risk for Swiss Life, who will report to Steve Flanagan,...

Caters multi-currency account aimed at regular travellers.(Cater Allen launches new currency account)(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Cater Allen has launched a new multi-currency account aiming to give regular travellers more control over their finances. The account being introduced by the private bank, part of Abbey, will provide full banking facilities, an unlimited number...

Survey shows demand for fixed-price surgery.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Consumers are less willing to tolerate NHS waiting lists and the costs of private health insurance, according to a specialist website. Private Healthcare UK has revealed that the biggest interest on the site has been for information and...

Commons committee warns of child trust fund inequalities.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Children from wealthy families will be the main beneficiaries of the governments child trust fund proposals, MPs have warned. The Commons Treasury Committee said the option for families and friends to contribute up to GBP1200 a year to funds...

Treasury saving scheme unlikely to survive expiry date.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... A scheme encouraging people on low incomes to save by offering matching funds has offered an incentive for people to save cash, according to a report. But the interim evaluation of the experimental Treasury scheme also found most of the...

SLI to add M&G funds to management services wrapper.(Scottish Life International)(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Scottish Life International has announced that it has agreed the addition of M&G funds to its Protected Investments Management Services wrapper. Richard Jamieson, investment marketing manager for Scottish Life International, said since M&G...

Close fund is evidence of interest in property; IFA says Fixed Uplift Properties shows companies are backing collective property vehicles.
January 8, 2004... A property fund from Close Property Investment shows renewed interest in collective property vehicles, according to IFA Jon Fennell. Mr Fennell, director of operations for Timothy James & Partners, said: "More companies have spotted the...

New Chelsea kids account could do better says IFA.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Chelsea Building Societys new Ready, Steady, Save childrens account has room for improvement, IFAs have said. Fiona Sharp, IFA at Finance 4Women, said: "The interest rate is on a par with other accounts for children, but there are a couple...

Cool reaction to Lincolns investment plan.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... The Staged Investment Plan from Lincoln Financial Group has received a cool welcome from IFAs. The plan is aimed at reducing risk through a phased approach to investment. The initial lump sum goes into Lincolns cash trust. Investors...

Aviva fund covers emerging markets.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Aviva has launched an emerging markets bond fund. The Luxembourg-based Sicav is denominated in US dollars. It aims to achieve capital growth and income by investing in fixed-interest bonds and floating-rate securities. These will be issued by...

Merrill Lynch sets up venture firm.(Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, BOC International China and BOC International Holdings set up venture fund management company)(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Merrill Lynch Investment Managers is setting up a joint venture fund management company in China. Its partners are BOC International China and BOC International Holdings. MLIM and BOC International Holdings will each hold 16.5 per cent of the...

Global portfolio service launched.(New Star launches portfolio management service)(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... New Star has launched a discretionary-style, global portfolio management service, offering investors access to four funds acquired from Edinburgh. The Galaxy Portfolio Service consists of the New Star Performance Portfolio, New Star Fund of...

S&P scoring service moves online.(Standard and Poors Risk Solutions creates new web service)(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Standard & Poors Risk Solutions has launched a web-based scoring service for private companies. The Credit Risk Tracker provides probabilities of default and rating estimates of private companies across Europe. It helps screen potential...

Massive redemption penalties stop growth; Mortgage broker says long-term fixed-rate loans are being hampered by 12-month fees.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Long-term fixed rates will only take off if early redemption penalties are slashed, according to mortgage broker Nick Corfield. Mr Corfield, senior mortgage adviser with Premier Mortgage Finance, said steep early redemption penalties will...

Kensington changes CCJ levels for adverse loans.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Kensington Mortgages has changed its definitions of low and medium adverse borrowers. The group has raised the amount of acceptable county court judgements for its non-conforming ranges, setting them at between GBP2000 and GBP3000 for low...

N&P returns to the capped-rate market.(Norwich and Peterborough Building Society)(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Norwich & Peterborough Building Society has re-entered the capped mortgage market for the first time in five years. The group has launched a pair of three-year products, capped at 5.14 per cent and 5.29 per cent and aimed at all types of...

B&W freshens up its flexible range.(Bristol and West)(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Bristol & West is reviewing its flexible mortgage range with a view to revamping it in the New Year. The lender confirmed that it was conducting the overhaul and hopes to launch a new variable range in mid January. Debbie Staveley, PR manager...

House prices will keep on rising.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Cheltenham & Gloucester has predicted that house price inflation will not slow in 2004. Jon Pain, managing director of C&G, made the prediction after lender released its latest house price index. However, he said that a "small rise in interest...

Newcastle unveils new fixed rates.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Newcastle Building Society has launched two five-year fixed-rate mortgages. The group is offering borrowers rates of 5.4 per cent and 5.2 per cent, available up to 90 per cent loan-to-value. Early redemption charges are set at 5 per cent of...

Adviser raises questions over the value of computer help.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... IFA Tim Davison has questioned the advantages of software tools designed to make pension transfers easier. His comments follow the launch of Clerical Medicals Pensions Comparison tool, which aims to help advisers investigate the benefits to...

Scottish Life launches benefit control system; Online employee benefit management may free up IFAs for more face-to-face meetings.
January 8, 2004... SCOTTISH Life will promote its Retirement Solutions pensions range by launching an online employee benefit management system. Called Works4you, the system will be supplied through IFAs and will offer a complete overview of employee...

ScotEq direct offer transfer rejected by IFA.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... IFA David Brunning has shunned Scottish Equitables direct offer transfer facility for group pensions. Mr Brunning, director of IFA Brunning Newman Houghton, said: "So many factors need to be taken into account when transferring that to do...

Employers still back defined benefit.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Employer support for defined benefit schemes has not evaporated, despite the shift to defined contribution schemes. Research by Mellon Financial Corporations Human Resources & Investor Solutions Group revealed that 80 per cent of employers...

Pension Facts series gets two new titles.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Friends Provident has published two new guides to add to its Pension Facts series. The first of the new guides summarises the Inland Revenues requirements on overseas aspects of UK pensions, including transfers both in to and out of UK schemes....

Global pension fund balance plummets.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... The global pension fund balance sheet lost 40 per cent of its value between 1999 and 2002, according to Watson Wyatts Global Investment Review 2004. The consultancy firm estimated that even with an average 8 per cent annual investment return,...

Internet tool to aid lifetime limit plans.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Actuaries AJ Bell have launched an online tool that calculates the impact of the GBP1.4m lifetime limit on a users pension benefits. The tool aims to assist users in calculating their projected pension fund and the tax that would be payable on...

Income protection is a challenge for Unum; Lack of consumer interest could pose a problem for protection specialist, warns IFA.
January 8, 2004... Unum Provident faces a challenge in moving into the individual income protection market according to IFA Gary Jefferies. Mr Jefferies, director of Tunbridge Wells-based IFA Warwick-Leigh, said: "IFAs have a fairly good knowledge of the...

IHA changes will not cause concern for the industry.
January 8, 2004... The rebranding of the trade body representing private hospitals should not be of great concern to the industry. That was the verdict of Peter Bye, director of the Private Health Partnership, after the Independent Healthcare Association...

IFAs must brush up on discrimination law.
January 8, 2004... IFAs specialising in group protection need to familiarise themselves with the latest discrimination legislation, according to Sue Sneddon. Ms Sneddon, employee benefits technical manager for Scottish Equitable Protect, said: "IFAs need to...

Drug can improve cancer survival rate.
January 8, 2004... Research has suggested that a drug given to women who are seriously ill with breast cancer could improve survival rates if prescribed early enough. A study into the effects of Taxotere found that, after five years, 90 per cent of the women...

Choice is becoming more important.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... The provision of a wider range of healthcare choice is increasingly important to patients, according to Bupa. Research conducted by the private healthcare provider revealed that 60 per cent of patients wanted to be able to choose or be involved...

Outpatient surgery rises by 15 per cent.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... The number of surgical procedures performed in outpatient clinics increased by 15 per cent in the six months to September 2003, according to a new report. The number of procedures carried out in doctors surgeries also rose, by 1.4 per cent,...

NHS improvement plan is ambitious.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... A report by the Nuffield Trust says the government effort to improve the NHS is the most ambitious and comprehensive initiative in the world. But the independent healthcare analyst said the NHS was producing data that was inadequate in...

IFAs on the trail of commission.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... RE YOUR article IFAs Dont Deserve Trail Commission (Financial Adviser, 27 November): please ask The Money Portal how it is going to find out who the 10 per cent of IFAs who deserve trail commission are. If the fund management companies do a...

Decision time on regulation for brokers.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... YOUR publication has the ability to deliver the right message at the right time to the mortgage broker fraternity. When this letter lands on brokers doormats in the New Year of 2004, they will be doing some serious thinking about their future....

Presentations must match audiences expectations.
January 8, 2004... It is clear that David Hares presentation at the Sofa conference did not satisfy you. I apologise for this and will endeavour to ensure that in future we will try to match more closely with the audiences expectations. I can tell you...

FSA needs a transparent fines policy.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... AS A simple soul, I cannot help wondering what formula the FSA uses for working out fines and misdemeanours. The penalty of GBP2.32m imposed on Abbey for alleged money-laundering offences and manipulation of fund management dealing procedures...

FOS makes IFAs survival a lottery.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... I am very grateful to you for awarding my letter to you "Challenging FOS Decisions" in the 6 November issue as the Letter of the Week. It seems that the papers are publishing a number of letters referring to the subjective and partial judgement...

Testing time in K10 exam.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... HAVING TAKEN the K10 exam I feel that I should make some comments about the exam procedure. I hope these comments will be taken in the positive spirit in which they are intended. Having studied the K10 material, and attended a Sofa Crammers...

Time for the FSA to stand up and accept its responsibilities.
January 8, 2004... I am not usually a big fan of New Year resolutions. Having spent a significant slice of my adult life making and breaking them, I tend to think they are a waste of time. All the more so after I studied some research from IFA Promotion,...

No outlandish claims, just strong organic growth, please; Kevin Paterson, managing director of Park Row Independent Mortgages and its subsidiary The Mortgage Partners, speaks to Holly Williams about the firms plans under parent Royal Liver.
January 8, 2004... FINANCIAL ADVISER: There does not appear to be one person whose job it is to oversee the Park Row Group as a whole. What is the thinking behind this management structure? KEVIN PATERSON: It is not a model you would design from scratch, but...

Christmasgloom for David Aaron.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... THE David Aaron Partnership has been taken into administration by KPMG, which is looking to sell the IFA as soon as possible. A spokesman for KPMG said it was not possible to discuss yet whether it had received any approaches for the...

Aegon expands stake to buy out IFA Aurora; Takeover sees south-east adviser join team at Dutch-owned provider.
January 8, 2004... AEGON has bought IFA firm Aurora Financial Services outright after owning a 9 per cent stake for a year. Aurora, bought for an undisclosed sum, marks the sixth large IFA investment by the Dutch-owned provider. Aurora employs about 100...

Currie joins Isis on American desk.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... EX-EDINBURGH man David Currie has been hired by Isis Asset Management to head its North American equity desk. Mr Currie was made redundant as head of US equities for Edinburgh Fund Managers when the company was bought by Aberdeen (and...

Prudential keeps up with profit bonuses.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Prudential has announced that it is not cutting its with profits bonuses this year. The annual bonus, set in 2003 at 3.25 per cent, will remain in place this year across all the 375,000 Pru bonds. This comes as Axa Sun Life announced it would...

Standard Life returns to China.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Standard Life has formally begun writing new business in China through a joint venture with Teda Investment. Heng-An Standard Life Insurance, will offer a range of products to meet the needs of customers in the Tianjin region. Iain Lumsden,...

First portfolio sale for Kensington.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Kensington Mortgages has announced the completion of its first portfolio sale to West Bromwich Mortgage Company of GBP60m of low adverse non-conforming mortgages.

McKechnie loses fight with cancer.(Obituary)
January 8, 2004... Dame Sheila McKechnie, director of the Consumers Association, has died of cancer. The 55-year-old campaigner, who had led the CA from 1995, was praised for her "unfailing support for great and noble causes" by Gordon Brown. While director of...

F&C appoints Japan expert to boost Pacific desk performance.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... INVESTMENT F&C Management has named Kerry Goh as fund manager on the Pacific desk. Mr Goh will report to Christian Dangerfield, head of the Pacific desk and will also work closely with Mr Dangerfield on the F&C Pacific Investment...

New Axa team aims for impact.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Axa Investment Managers has appointed Julia Choudhury, head of retail, to the newly created role of managing director. Ms Choudhury has been with the firm for more than six years and previously spent eight years at Barclays Global...

IFA lukewarm over new Genesis mortgage conditions; NEW PRODUCT right-to-buy mortgages.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... GENESIS Home Loans has improved the lending terms of its right-to-buy range. The new criteria, which forms part of the Planets & Moons non-conforming range, removes one condition. In the Genesis Thebe, Elara, Sinope and Leda products a...

New faces as Axa goes for growth.
January 8, 2004... Axa has poached Simon Ellis to be its new head of retail. Mr Ellis, who will join Axa this month, had been head of UK retail at Henderson since 1997. He said: "I am looking forward to working with the team to take Axa IM to the next...

Framlington closes fund of funds range; Company does not want to operate in the fund of funds space anymore.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Framlington is to close its fettered fund of funds business in an overhaul of its product range. The decision follows claims that the fettered range did not offer anything different to the crowded and highly competitive market. Nick...

Mill?eld receives GBP10m from NU.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... THE Millfield network has announced a GBP10m investment from Norwich Union. The deal, which delivered a GBP0.8m economic gain for Millfield, means Norwich Union is now a full partner in Lifetime, a personal portfolio services venture. ...

Four out of five IFAs think A-day date is unfeasible.
January 8, 2004... Most IFAs believe April 2005 is not a feasible date for A-day without detailed pension regulation before this April. According to research by Scottish Equitable only 21 per cent of advisers believe the implementation date for the single tax...

Council tax hits pensioners hardest.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... The Pensions Policy Institute has produced a briefing note on retirement income and council tax. It showed that council tax accounted for a higher proportion of total spending in pensioner households than in all other types of household....

Homeowners add up cost of moving.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... More than 1m homeowners will have moved home this year and spend GBP7.2bn doing so, a survey showed. Research from Capital One highlighted that the average cost of moving up the housing ladder was GBP5,500. This included stamp duty, searches...

Fidelity takes IFA workshops on tour.
January 8, 2004... Fidelity Investments is to host a series of IFA workshops in 26 venues across the UK. Between 26 January and 5 February, advisers can attend the workshops, called Catch the Wind, which will explore the Isa season, the current economic recovery...

Discount mortgage launched by L&C.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... London & Country Mortgage brokers has released a discount mortgage. The loan has a starting rate of 3.75 per cent, which includes a 2.04 percentage point discount. There are flexible features and no redemption penalties at any time. There is...

APS Europe ready to unveil offering.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... APS Europe Mortgage Club has said it will launch its compliance offering this month. The service will initially be used to help intermediaries with direct authorisation applications, and it will be open to all members of APS Europe. Contact:...

Membership fees for Network Data.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... Network Data has announced its membership fees for appointed representatives. From 1 April all new applicants will be charged GBP80 a month per firm plus GBP40 per additional adviser. Existing members applying before 31 March will pay GBP60 a...

Remortgage boom to boost lenders as price growth falls.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... REMORTGAGING is set to grow further in the next year, experts have predicted. Nationwide Building Society predicted that remortgages would increase to GBP137bn in 2004, compared with GBP123bn in 2003. House price growth in some regions are...