Financial Advisor articles from January 2005

Financial Advisor archives from January 2005

Honours go to industry figures.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... THIS year's New Year honours list features a raft of figures from financial services, including the City regulator's deputy chairman. Digby Jones, director general of the Confederation of British Industry, was given a knighthood for his...

New rules could spell end of daring product design.
January 6, 2005... TOUGH new capital requirements for insurers could spell the end of daring product design for all but the biggest providers. On New Year's Eve, the FSA's new regulations come into force, requiring insurers to more closely match their...

Exclusive's bare-faced cheek.
January 6, 2005... EXCLUSIVE Connections staff ditched their grey suits in favour of their birthday suits for the British Institute for Brain Injured Children. Staff from the packaging network's Peterborough head office put together for a charity calendar...

Lawyers and advisers heap praise on repossession law.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... A NEW court procedure designed to stop delaying tactics used by borrowers faced with repossession orders has "real bite". Matthew Arnold & Baldwin has claimed to be one of the first law firms to use the new procedure concerning Civil...

Pre-M-Day indecision failed to last long.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... HALF of mortgage intermediaries opted for direct authorisation a fortnight before the industry became regulated. Just 12 months after IFAs surveyed at Mortgage Business Expo 2003 revealed they were unsure what direction to take, 50 per cent...

New Product - HealthSure offers accreditation scheme to its customers.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... HealthSure has launched an accreditation scheme for corporate clients that have opted to pay for its HealthSure cash plan. Employees covered by the plan, which costs staff nothing but which carries a weekly charge of AGBP2.30 for each...

Home reversion plans to be regulated by the FSA.
January 6, 2005... THE government has announced that home reversions plans are to be regulated by the FSA. Under a typical plan, a homeowner sells a percentage of his property to a reversion company in return for a cash lump sum. On the death of the...

Drawing on artistic flair.(investment of Clerical Medical and General Life Assurance Society)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... CLERICAL Medical has invested in the artistic talent of tomorrow to use in its new adviser and consumer literature. The company commissioned the works of up and coming artists from leading art colleges.The monthly adviser bulletin has been...

December was sixth month in row that house prices fell.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... HOUSE prices fell for the sixth consecutive month during December, with the average price dropping 0.8 per cent to AGBP163,500. According to Hometrack's December survey, a year of mixed fortunes for the housing market came to an end, with...

New Product - Portman's nice new offerings will deliver low payments.(Portman Building Society)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... PORTMAN Building Society has launched a range of mortgages. Among the offerings are three fixed-rate deals, a two-year discount and two-year tracker. The two, three and five-year fixed rates are set at 4.49 per cent, 4.79 per cent and 4.99...

Children's funds need councils' help.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... LOCAL authorities should invest AGBP50 a year in the child trust funds of children in care, according to the IPPR. The Institute for Public Policy Research said councils should have a duty to make a contribution that in many cases would be...

Implementation costs 'could have been worse'.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... THE cost of implementing the Myners report's recommendations should not be too onerous, claimed the Association of Friendly Societies. Graham Berville, chief executive of the AFS, said the fact that Paul Myners wanted mutuals to use an...

Mixed ownership of mutuals benefits public.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... THE UK's mixed ownership of financial companies should be encouraged because it serves the public interest. According to the Myners report, the mixed ownership structure of publicly owned and mutual companies "provides a diversified...

Mutuals welcome report's focus.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... THE Myners report has been welcomed by mutuals who believe it will help improve consumer confidence and trust. Royal London, which owns pensions specialist Scottish Life, said the report's heavy focus on corporate governance and member...

Mortgage rates lagged behind increasing base rate in 2004.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... MORTGAGE rates have failed to keep up with 2004's increasing base rate, a survey revealed. A comparison of Moneyfacts' best buy online tables for the year revealed good news for homeowners. It showed that the cost of mortgages in December...

New Product -Charcol's Libor-friendly loan.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... CHARCOL has launched a Federal Reserve Mortgage that allows borrowers to take advantage of the lower US Libor rate, set at 2.5 per cent. The loan, which is in sterling to avoid any currency risks, kicks off with a fixed rate of 2.99 per...

New regulation powers outlined in Opra's guide.(Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... THE outgoing occupational pensions authority has published a guide explaining the new regulation powers. Avoiding Pension Liabilities -- Implications of the Pensions Act 2004 for Employers and Trustees -- has been published by Opra, the...

Charging structure and re-registration change by Selestia.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... SELESTIA has changed its charging structure and re-registration process to meet advisers' demands in the depolarised world. The provider plans to allow IFAs to nominate trail commission and abolish wrapper charges in favour of the Selestia...

DTI investigation into Network 300.(United Kingdom Department of Trade and Industry)
January 6, 2005... Department of Trade and Industry investigators are probing the activities of Network 300. The department's companies investigation branch is looking into a series of allegations about the actions of the directors of the IFA network, in the...

Bringing home the bacon (again...).(food habits of Jon Cofield at First Ifa Mortgages)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... BACON sandwiches rather than roast dinners have fuelled one Worcestershire-based financial adviser since the age of three. While the rest of the country tucked into turkey during the festive season, Jon Cofield, director of Redditch-based...

FSA to look at easing of regulatory burden.(Financial Services Authority)
January 6, 2005... THE FSA has hit back at accusations that its disproportionate focus on consumer protection was hurting the industry. John Tiner, chief executive of the FSA, said he disagreed with the Financial Services Practitioner Panel's criticism that...

Regulation, pensions and house prices to dominate.
January 6, 2005... THE industry needs room to concentrate on developing, rather than changing the way it does business in 2005. That was the message from Bob Bullivant, chairman of the newly formed Personal Finance Society and deputy director general of the...

FSA to further regulate mutuals following report.
January 6, 2005... MUTUAL life offices face tougher regulation after a government report criticised them for failing to represent policyholders' best interests. In his report on the review of the governance of mutuals, Paul Myners recommended that the FSA...

Jelf Group signs up Wilkinson as commercial account executive.(Philip Wilkinson, Robin Jarvis, Alan Keegan)(appointments)
January 6, 2005... LIFE ASSURANCE The Jelf Group has named Philip Wilkinson commercial account executive. Reporting to Chris Clarke, director of Jelf Insurance Brokers, Mr Wilkinson's role will involve raising awareness of the company's achievements and...

Kerley joins Henderson Asia.(Mike Kerley joined Henderson Global Investors Ltd.)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... Henderson Global Investors has announced the appointment of Mike Kerley to its newly combined pan-Asia team. With more than 12 years' experience in Asian stock markets, Mr Kerley is to co-manage the Pacific Capital Growth Oeic and the Horizon...

Final two join Thinc's multi-tie proposition.(Thinc Destini )(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... THINC Destini's multi-tie panel is now complete after Prudential and Standard Life became the latest providers to sign up. After working on the fine details of its deal, the distributor was able to kick off the new year by joining Millfield...

Two taxes face the axe if Tories win.(inheritance tax, capital gains tax)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... INHERITANCE tax and capital gains tax could be scrapped if the Conservatives win the next general election. As the election looms on the horizon, the party unveiled three options for removing the complexities of capital gains tax and five...

Unisex annuity rates opt-out 'will not last'.
January 6, 2005... ADOPTION of the gender directive is the start of a slippery slope towards unisex annuity rates, according to Standard Life. Following protests from UK insurers, the European Union's gender directive has been adopted with a clause allowing...

FSCS should be available to all.(Financial Services Compensation Scheme)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... THE Consumer Panel has raised concerns about the protection afforded to general insurance consumers who use interim-authorised intermediaries. With early indications that there will be many companies with only interim authorisation when...

Thousands fail to register.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... IFA firms are among 4500 companies who have yet to apply for authorisation from the FSA to sell protection products. The deadline for applying for authorisation to sell critical illness cover, term assurance and income protection products...

Wise chief aims to set skilled army on a victorious campaign.(Chartered Insurance Institute)(Interview)
January 6, 2005... FINANCIAL ADVISER: Why was the Society of Mortgage Professionals formed? RF: I was with the Mortgage Code Compliance Board and one of the things we did was helping registered firms improve their standards. The Chartered Insurance...

Actuaries criticised for empty promises.
January 6, 2005... TOO much has been promised by actuaries, who should be regulated independently, according to the Morris report. In his interim report on the actuarial profession, author Sir Derek Morris, an accountant, criticised the profession for being...

What does this year promise for IFAs?(Stuart Fowler an independent financial services talks about the US dollar future)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... THE weakness of the US dollar will continue to hit UK companies in 2005. Stuart Fowler, head of UK equities for Axa Investment Management, said further falls in the greenback would be significant for the profits of UK companies. He said:...

Here's wishing for an end to old complaints.(Editorial)
January 6, 2005... WHAT would we like to see in 2005? Every financial adviser has different hopes and ambitions, some more modest than others. For many, survival in a vastly different environment is the aim. So let me give you my own wish list for 2005: see...

Banks and IFAs swinging both ways.(Alan Keegan appointed at Origen Financial L.L.C., independent financial advisers)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... ANOTHER interesting last-minute news item from 2004 was the recruitment by Aegon-owned IFA firm Origen of former Barclays Financial Planning managing director Alan Keegan as its new operations director. Keegan previously headed Barclays'...

Spanking raises interesting questions of B&B.(Bradford & Bingley pays fine)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... I DO NOT know about you, but I was intrigued by the announcement, just before Christmas, of the massive AGBP650,000 fine by the FSA on Bradford & Bingley. The company's fine was over the mis-selling of precipice bonds and with profits...

Well it looked nice...
January 6, 2005... Getting kids while they're young has taken on a new meaning following the theft of an Asset.tv screen from a fund analyst. As any aficionado knows, these are expensive-looking flat screen monitors that store scores of interviews with fund...

Gangsters at Christmas.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... It is perhaps incumbent upon all of us who ply our trades in this industry to keep its image whiter than white, beyond reproach. Fines dished out in December show that the FSA will not extend goodwill to those found guilty of misselling or...

Mutuals stand for solid social values.
January 6, 2005... THIS is a period for reflection. Given the awful tragedy of the south Asian tsunamis, the beginning of the year is a reminder to put life in perspective. Entire families wiped out, economies threatened, once-thriving holiday islands turned...

Resolution required now.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... THIS year will be make or break for New Labour's moribund pensions policy. One way or the other, the government will be forced to make up its mind on where it stands on the burning issue of pensions provisions and the AGBP57bn savings black...

Standard pair waive bonus pay.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... THE chief executive and finance director of Standard Life have waived their rights to bonuses believed to be worth more than AGBP500,000. Sandy Crombie, group chief executive of the Edinburgh life office, said he had decided not to accept...

Playing chicken.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... THE threat of tough financial regulation is borne out only when the regulator carries through those threats. Otherwise, laying down the law becomes a play on words. The Financial Services Authority had threatened the split caps sector over...

Multi-ties and juicy equity stakes.
January 6, 2005... Hardly was the ink dry on Policy Statement 04/27 than we started to get the announcements about multi-ties. Reading the reports in the various trade papers, which of course I believe absolutely because all the journalists are such a great...

Providers defend AGBP15m merger loan.(Millfield's merger with InterAlliance)
January 6, 2005... PROVIDERS have hit back at accusations they were only included on the Millfield multi-tie panel because of a AGBP15m loan. Rivals in the industry have been swift to point out that five of the six members of the panel appointed in December...

Nightmare before Xmas.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... First Active is getting even keener in its attempts to promote itself and increase customer awareness. Its most recent endeavour was to arrange carol singing in Trafalgar Square, along with mince pies and celebrity endorsements. The...

Naked ambition on show.
January 6, 2005... WHAT is it with the mortgage world and calendars? Two mortgage companies have taken it upon themselves to take pictures of each other, turned the results into calendars and distributed them to all their contacts in the industry, including...

Long faces as slow year looms.
January 6, 2005... FROM the end of the Gulf War in 2003, the UK market has enjoyed a dynamic earnings growth and historically low interest rates, but we expect this to level off. Indeed, initial thoughts on 2005 centre on a year of slowing economic growth...

Short-term fall, but no crash.
January 6, 2005... OVER the coming year I expect the housing market to continue to slow, with a slight fall in house prices of 2 per cent likely in 2005. This modest fall follows nine years of rising prices, during which time the average home has climbed in...

Protection is about to take off.
January 6, 2005... REGULATION, depolarisation, the general election and powerful market forces will ensure that 2005 will see dramatic change in the protection market. Change always brings opportunity, so 2005 should be very interesting. Under the new...

Good advice on a tricky road.
January 6, 2005... The year 2005 will be one of advice and decision-making for individuals saving for a pension and for pension provision in the UK. It will be one of advice for individuals about the pensions tax framework which comes into effect in April 2006....

Will IFAs share in children's glee?(Independent Financial Adviser)
January 6, 2005... This month every eligible child born on or after 1 September 2002 will receive a belated Christmas present of a AGBP250 to AGBP500 voucher as the government rolls out its new tax-efficient savings scheme for children. Although government...

There is no resting on laurels.
January 6, 2005... THIS is the season not only of goodwill, but also of pundits' predictions. Twelve months ago I forecast a better year for the global economy as it finally emerged from the 2000/1 investment bust and subsequent geo-political shocks. And, sure...

David Aaron business declared in default.
January 6, 2005... THE David Aaron Partnership has been declared in default, allowing its precipice bond clients to finally claim compensation from the FSCS. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme finally declared the David Aaron Partnership and David M...

Big challenge as new era dawns.
January 6, 2005... Finally, after 18 months of endless consultations, pensions and the retirement market is about to change again. From April 2006, consumers will not be compelled to buy an annuity with their pension fund at the age of 75 -- or at any time...

Child trust fund initiative spawns funds.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... A PLETHORA of new child trust funds have sprung up in preparation for the launch of the government's child trust fund initiative in April 2005. One of the most recent moves into the sector is by banking group Lloyds TSB. The new CTF...

IFAs told to take care as VCTs gain popularity.(Venture Capital Trust and Independent Financial Adviser )
January 6, 2005... IFAs have been urged to upgrade their knowledge of relatively risky VCTs as tax-incentive driven investors flock to the asset class. Chancellor Gordon Brown has attempted to stir investors' interest in early-stage and start-up businesses by...

Another big year ahead for pensions.
January 6, 2005... PENSIONS and savings have never been higher on the public and political agenda than this year. And with good reason: Britain faces a AGBP27bn annual savings gap, and closing it needs to be a national priority. The Pensions Commission...

Property fund of funds 'will appeal to public'.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... Insight Investment has launched a property fund of funds designed to appeal to the masses. The Insight Property Portfolio fund is an open-ended Guernsey-registered fund that will invest in commercial property. UK providers generally...

Skipton to enter the CTF market with Homeowners.(child trust fund )(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... Skipton Building Society is planning to enter the child trust fund market in partnership with Homeowners Friendly Society. Skipton, which plans to launch cash-based and equity-based investments, has decided to allow families to leave their...

Rate drop on Britannia's 10-year fixed rate.
January 6, 2005... BRITANNIA has reduced the rate of its 10-year fixed mortgage to 5.29 per cent. The building society has been pitched at those who wish to have constant monthly repayments, enabling borrowers to plan for the long term. Early repayment...

BoI's 3-year fixed rate hailed as 'market leader'.(Bank of Ireland )
January 6, 2005... A NEW three-year fixed rate from the Bank of Ireland has been hailed "market leading" by an IFA. Simon Firmin, mortgage broker of Cheshire-based Plan Insure, said: "This is definitely up there in terms of being competitive. We have...

Economist predicts less activity in house market.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... ECONOMISTS at Bristol & West believe the UK housing market is still slowing, despite recent reports to the contrary. Laurence Sanders, an economist at B&W, said although the recent Nationwide house-price index showed a 1 per cent rise in...

Commercial property enhances CSC's Sipp.(CARR Sheppards Crosthwaite )(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... CARR Sheppards Crosthwaite has launched an enhanced version of its Sipp that will include commercial property as an asset class. The Helmsman self-invested personal pension plan, one of the first introduced in the early 1990s, will also...

Housing slowdown may lead to client-poaching.
January 6, 2005... MORTGAGE lenders may be forced to poach rivals' clients amid further signs of a five-year property slowdown. Two reports published this week predicted a significant dip in property price rises during 2005. Nationwide claimed prices...

Counselling offered to Lifesearch claimants.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... LIFESEARCH has offered all clients free counselling when they make a claim on life, critical illness or income protection policies. Lifesearch, which said it brokers more than 20,000 policies a year, has teamed up with Red Arc, a specialist...

Regulations will protect pensioners from bought-out employers.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... NEW regulations will protect employees against their pension scheme being scrapped if the company is bought out. Up until now, people working for companies that were taken over occasionally found that their new employer would abolish their...

Healthsure rewards firms' commitment to employees.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... HEALTHSURE has launched its first scheme to reward corporate clients for commitment to the wellbeing of their workforce. The scheme, Healthy Workplace, has been designed to recognise companies that demonstrate a high level of commitment to...

SMEs report deterioration in Q2 sales performance.(Small and medium sized companies)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... SMALL to medium-sized companies have experienced a deterioration in their sales performance in the second quarter of 2004. The Q2 2004 Government Regulations and Paperwork survey, conducted by the Small Enterprise Research Team, revealed...

Standard's Sipp has a 'formidable' presence.(Standard Life Assurance Co.)
January 6, 2005... STANDARD Life has already carved itself a formidable presence in the Sipp market, according to one industry expert. David Higgins, director of London-based Glazers Financial Services, said the life company's reputation had given it a head...

New SII course should help avoid adviser shortgages.(Securities & Investment Institute)
January 6, 2005... THE Securities & Investment Institute's latest qualification is a blessing for the ageing population of intermediaries, according to IFA Brian Dennehy. The Securities & Investment Institute has created a new qualification to reach people...

Small firms are the worst payers, according to BPPG report.(Better Payment Practice Group)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... SMALL firms are worse payers than their larger counterparts, according to the Better Payment Practice Group. According to a survey conducted through the BPPG's website, 40 per cent of respondents believed small companies were worse in terms...

Shouldering problems and longing for golf.
January 6, 2005... Monday At 10.30am I met with a Scottish Widows consultant to discuss the various cases we have on the go and any need to discuss. We talk fleetingly about escaping onto the golf course on Wednesday afternoon. Around lunchtime I...

Donate to wave fund 'to honour IFA's wife'.(Independent Financial Adviser )
January 6, 2005... COLLEAGUES of a Norwich IFA whose wife was killed by the Asian tsunami have encouraged advisers to donate to the disaster fund. Father-of-four Nigel Willgrass, 43, was parked outside a supermarket in the Thai resort of Phuket when the giant...

Plastic is fantastic for UK's shoppers.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... PLASTIC overtook cash as British shoppers' payment method of choice last month. A transaction by Portsmouth teacher Helen Carroll, made in a supermarket at 10.38am on 29 December, saw spending on plastic overtake cash for the first time....

Homeowners offers family income benefit.
January 6, 2005... HOMEOWNERS Friendly Society has entered the family income benefit policy market for the first time. Better Start Family Income Life Cover has been launched by the society to provide families with a tax-free income for a maximum of 20 years...

Sesame uses in-house experts to attract increased annuity business.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... SESAME is trying to attract extra annuity business by allowing members to refer clients to an in-house team of specialists. The network aims to target the 58 per cent of British adults who are still failing to exercise their open market...

Fighting the good fight against the virus.
January 6, 2005... ON NOVEMBER 11, the FSA published a report that highlighted differences in the way financial firms manage their information security to combat fraud and other financial crime. It found that while some large firms, particularly banks, have...

Policies needed on issue of internet pornography.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... COMPANIES have been reminded of the importance of internet usage policies after a rise in the number of organisations disciplining staff over pornographic images. A survey into illegal and inappropriate images in the workplace revealed 71...

Unwieldy clubs will hit difficult times.
January 13, 2005... I DO NOT think anyone would be surprised to read that the majority of mortgage intermediaries will have used a mortgage club at some point. In fact, it is fair to say that for many mortgage intermediaries, these clubs have provided a...

More of the same expected this year.
January 13, 2005... IN EARLY January, all the magazines and newspapers are full of articles either looking back at events over the past year or looking forward to the new one. The bad news for economists is that the time lag for the publication of many...

Fees cast a long shadow over IFAs.(Independent Financial Advisers)
January 13, 2005... Many mortgage intermediaries may not be fully aware of the raft of fees that are about to hit them. Having paid much lower fees to the Mortgage Code Compliance Board and the FSA last year, the further charges will probably introduce a...

Buy-to-let the good times roll.(housing market)
January 13, 2005... FOR ALL the crazy speculation about the risk of buy-to-let falling off a cliff, 2004 has been a very good year for the serious property investor. Capital appreciation on investment portfolios was strong in the first half of the year, with...

A wise plan can mean less pain.(insurance and mortgage regulations)
January 13, 2005... ONE of my favourite books has always been Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. There have been some terrific adaptations of it and some not so good (anyone remember the Ross Kemp version a couple of years ago -- no? Probably for the best!)....

A fit patient despite dour views.
January 13, 2005... THE endless debate on house prices continues unabated and, even if you follow the data carefully, you are no nearer to knowing what is likely to happen. This has been demonstrated by the conflicting house-price data that has been issued....