Financial Advisor articles from March 2005

Financial Advisor archives from March 2005

Commission taken back from IFA after cover dispute.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... A SCOTTISH IFA had his commission withheld without warning following a dispute between his client and Scottish Life. Donald McKay, director of the Mortgage Information Centre, claimed that AGBP1000 of commission had been taken back by...

New look on St David's Day.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... Principality, Wales's largest building society, celebrated St David's Day with a new, brighter image. The company has changed its logo to a bolder and brighter design in red, reflecting the Society's Welsh roots. It has also redesigned...

Deal may be good news for Barclays.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... BARCLAYS' multi-tied distribution deal could effectively make it a whole-of-market provider by default, a leading adviser claimed. This week, Barclays unveiled a financial planning advice service that would offer life, pensions and...

Upgraded ShareCrazy site offers two new packages.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... ShareCrazy has upgraded its website with a host of new features for online traders and investors. Visitors to the site can now sign up for ShareCrazy's Supermarket and Hypermarket packages. The Supermarket package offers investors access...

New Product - Thames River exposes investors to European property.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... Thames River Capital has launched a fund for investors wanting exposure to property. The Guernsey-based open-ended investment company is listed on the Channel Islands stock exchange and aims to provide a mix of income and growth. It...

Straight-through processing 'could save AGBP365m each year'.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... STRAIGHT-through processing could save protection providers up to AGBP365m a year, according to research by Marlborough Stirling. Analysis carried out by the software provider showed that it costs life companies about AGBP200 to process...

Lib Dems 'will lift stamp duty threshold'.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... THE Liberal Democrats have pledged to raise the stamp duty threshold to AGBP150,000 if they win the general election. At the launch of the party's alternative budget, it was claimed that raising the current AGBP60,000 threshold would spare...

Personal pension sales up ahead of the PPF's arrival.(pension protection fund)
March 3, 2005... LIFE offices are seeing a rush on personal pension sales as companies ditch occupational schemes in anticipation of spiralling costs. Advisers and providers claim companies are swapping staff pension provisions to escape having to fund the...

Compulsion on way, claim political and union figures.
March 3, 2005... COMPULSION in pensions is now unavoidable and the system of voluntary private pensions has failed, according to leading trade union and political figures. Lord Peston, chairman of the Lords Economic Affairs Committee, spoke at a meeting of...

NU praised for tsunami pay-out.
March 3, 2005... THE family of a tsunami victim whose body has not been found have praised Norwich Union for settling a life insurance claim in seven weeks. The victim, a woman in her 30s from Maidstone in Kent, was on holiday with her husband in Thailand...

Mortgage Operation denies lender rumours.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... THE Mortgage Operation is denying rumours it is to become a lender following the departure of its managing director. A fortnight after TMO closed its appointed representative network the business has parted ways with Mark Charlesworth, its...

New Product - NatWest reveals three ways to interest intermediaries.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... NATWEST has unveiled three remortgage products for the intermediary market. Included in the three products is a tracker mortgage with interest set at 0.23 of a percentage point above the Bank of England base rate until the end of 2006. It...

Gerrard gets in arty mood.(painting exhibitions)(York Art Gallery)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... ANDREW Miller, head of Gerrard's York office, admires Monet's masterpiece Flood Waters as he celebrates the opening of York Art Gallery. The investment house is sponsoring the Reflections exhibition, which marks the reopening of the...

Burgesses given sole rights to provide ASU to Biba members.(accident, sickness and unemployment)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... THE British Insurance Brokers Association has appointed Burgesses as the exclusive provider of ASU to members. Under the deal, Burgesses will provide accident, sickness and unemployment cover to the 2000 insurance companies that are members...

Kenmir tells advisers to manage risks or lose out.(David Kenmir)
March 3, 2005... IFAS need to manage their operating risks or face a struggle to remain profitable, the FSA's regulation chief has warned. David Kenmir, managing director of the regulatory services business unit and sector leader of retail intermediaries...

Call for more flexibility in way advice is priced.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... PROVIDERS have been criticisedby an IFA for failing to allow advisers more flexibility over the way they price advice. Condemning depolarisation as the "worst thing" to have hit the industry in a long while, John Shackleton, an IFA for...

New Product - Range has near prime options.(Mortgages PLC)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... Mortgages Plc, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Merrill Lynch, has launched a mortgage product range that includes a three-year fixed-rate mortgage for 'near prime' borrowers. The applicant can have AGBP1000 in county court judgments and...

Government looks at citizen's pension.
March 3, 2005... THE government is considering the viability of a flat-rate state pension based on residency. The 'citizen's pension' was an idea first mooted by the Liberal Democrats and is based on the New Zealand state pension system, which pays out a...

New Product - Intelligent move means lower fees.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... Intelligent Finance has announced a reprice of its tracker and fixed-rate mortgage deals, which will result in a reduction of fees but a hike in interest rates. From 1 March IF's tracker mortgage -- available at up to 80 per cent LTV --...

Allianz pulls into pole position.
March 3, 2005... Advisers can race ahead of their colleagues in Allianz Global Investors' Fantasy Formula 1 competition. Allianz, which sponsors the BMW Williams F1 team, has teamed up with online fantasy competition provider Silentmanager to launch the...

Reporting season sees strong growth.(Royal London Group Inc.)(Royal Bank of Scotland PLC)(Alliance & Leicester PLC)(Legal and General)
March 3, 2005... THE reporting season continued last week with steady growth among life offices and strong balance sheets from banks and building societies. Legal & General and the Royal London Group reported respective profit increases before tax of 4 per...

Pension pledge just a stunt, claim Tories.
March 3, 2005... THE government's pledge of money for workers whose pension schemes have been wound-up has been dismissed as a publicity stunt by opposition politicians. Malcolm Wicks, the pensions minister, promised the members of wound-up schemes who...

Winterthur tells IFAs to learn fast.(Independent financial advisers)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... Winterthur Life has urged IFAs to get up to speed on the complexities of putting property in Sipps before A-Day arrives in April 2006. Mike Morrison, pension strategy manager for Winterthur Life UK, said that although the subject was...

New Product - Close opens a fund for Isas.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... Close Brothers has opened a property fund of funds for Isa investors. The product will invest fully in Close Brothers' Closepip product, which has seven sub-funds and invests across a range of property sectors, including offices, hotels,...

B&B sets aside AGBP37m to meet compensation claims.(Bradford & Bingley)
March 3, 2005... Bradford & Bingley has revealed that more than AGBP37m has been set aside to cover potential compensation claims. B&B's annual report for 2004 showed that group profits rose 6 per cent to AGBP280.2m, before tax and exceptional items. ...

Buyers coming back to market, says Hometrack.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... House prices fell 0.2 per cent last month, but buyers are coming back to the market in force, according to Hometrack. It reported a 29 per cent rise in the number of buyers registering their interest with estate agents. While much of...

IFAs are behind most of Axa's new business.(Independent Financial Adviser )(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... IFAs accounted for 82 per cent of Axa UK's new business levels in 2004, according to the insurer's annual results. The results, published on Thursday, showed that the life and savings part of the business thrived last year, with a rise in...

New Product - Sits targets kids.(Scottish Investment Trust Savings)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... Scottish Investment Trust Savings has launched a savings scheme for children. Stockplan: A Flying Start has no initial or annual management fee and gives exposure to the AGBP912.3m Scottish Investment Trust. There is a minimum investment...

Concern grows over likely VCT shortfalls.
March 3, 2005... CONCERNS are growing that investors will lose tax breaks as their VCTs struggle to hit minimum cash levels, according to Matrix Securities. Matrix Securities said that 11 VCTs had failed to meet their minimums last week, while a further...

Parents urged to study all options.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... Parents should consider alternative investments before making top-up payments into a child trust fund, Baillie Gifford has warned. Although the company welcomed the arrival of the new child trust funds, it told parents to carefully consider...

7.5-times salary loan attacked.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... VESTA is to offer a seven-and-half times salary mortgage aimed at cash-strapped first-time buyers. The mortgage, created by Vesta Packaging and available both direct and through intermediaries, is open to first-time buyers and other...

Exchange is set to enter PMI market.(private medical insurance)
March 3, 2005... THE Exchange is planning to complete the product range it offers by moving into the private medical insurance market. The IFA portal is set to launch a PMI comparative quotation service in the first half of this year. The service would...

Origo move sees provider claim first.(HARGREAVES Lansdown )(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... HARGREAVES Lansdown claims it has become the first annuity provider to adopt Origo standards for quotes that will reduce telephone research and save time. Financial services standards body Origo created the quotes and new business standard...

Providers warned over avoiding cost burden.
March 3, 2005... NORWICH Union has warned providers not to use depolarisation as an excuse to divest themselves of distribution costs. Peter Hales, sales and marketing director of Norwich Union, said providers may have offloaded ownership of their sales...

New Product - Ethical offerings.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... THE Children's Mutual has confirmed it would give parents a choice of three ethical investment options in its child trust fund package. Two of the options will be available through its non-stakeholder CTF account, called the Baby Bond...

Update lets users of First Software upload fact-finds.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... IFAS using First Software's Adviser Office can now upload and automatically register fact-find details for a client. For more than a year, clients of IFA Systems who are also First users have been able to upload a snapshot of a client's...

FSCP sets out its hopes for future.(Financial Services Consumer Panel)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... The Financial Services Consumer Panel is urging the industry to find an alternative to commission. Setting out its agenda for the Financial Services Forum, which met for the first time last week, the FSCP argued that commission rebates...

Standard Life go inesto multi-manager.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... Standard Life Investments has entered the market for multi-manager funds with the launch of seven manager of manager portfolios. The funds will cover equities that are European, global, Japanese, North American and Pacific basin as well as...

New Product - Offset relaunch.(by NEWCASTLE Building Society )(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... NEWCASTLE Building Society has relaunched two offset mortgage products available through selected buyers. Borrowers can opt for an interest rate that tracks at 0.5 of a percentage point above the Bank of England base rate for the lifetime...

FSA urged to release paper on RU64 rules.(Financial Services Authority)
March 3, 2005... THE pension industry is urging the FSA to bring out its consultation paper on the RU64 rules. The Association of British Insurers said it had been waiting for the consultation paper to be published for a number of months. In November...

Sales aid in form of Norwich data.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... NORWICH Union Healthcare has produced claims statistics for income protection policies that it hopes will act as a sales aid for advisers. The statistics, for 2004, show that there were big differences between the nature of claims for males...

Voting for awards is under way.
March 3, 2005... Votes are starting to come in for the Financial Adviser Investment Awards, which will be held next month. Don't miss your chance to reward the providers you do business with and your favourite IFAs by voting now. Simply go to the...

Tunks takes on fixed interest role.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... Old Mutual Asset Management has appointed Andrew Tunks as head of fixed interest. Mr Tunks was previously head of global bonds and treasury for Isis Asset Management. Omam's fixed interest team includes global bond specialist Sofia...

Claims of confusion over new FPC exam.(Financial Planning Certificate)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... THE Personal Finance Society's new exam has been criticised for having the potential to confuse customers. The Institute of Financial Planners said its members were concerned that the name of the Personal Finance Society's Certificate in...

Companies reporting positive results.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... ST James's Place has managed to ride the wave of change in the industry, reporting a 19 per cent rise in new business. It reported that individual adviser productivity jumped 18 per cent in the year to the end of 2004. Total group...

Bailey takes 20 years' experience to Belgravia Asset Management.(Simon Bailey )
March 3, 2005... Investment Belgravia Asset Management has appointed Simon Bailey as its chief executive. Mr Bailey has more than 20 years' experience in equity and derivatives trading across a number of markets. He has worked for financial...

Regulation 'is failing vulnerable consumers'.
March 3, 2005... VULNERABLE consumers do not see the benefit of the stakeholder suite of products or regulation of financial services, according to a report. A study by the University of Notthingham's Financial Services Research Forum found that government...

IFA says Fos denied him human rights.
March 3, 2005... A WILTSHIRE IFA has said he will take his fight to the European Court of Human Rights after he was fined by Fos for allegedly mis-selling endowment mortgages. Brian Pickering, from Chippenham-based IFA Heather, Moor & Edgecomb, said that...

Keep the scrapheap as a last option.
March 3, 2005... PLANS to abolish indemnity commission have failed to muster any real support from providers and advisers, it is claimed. Last week, the Association of British Insurers published a consultation paper calling for indemnity commission -- the...

Investment changes welcomed by IMA.(Investment Management Association)
March 3, 2005... THE IMA has welcomed the regulator's decision to bring forward the scrapping of its investment-pricing publication requirement. From April this year collective investment schemes operating under the collective investment scheme sourcebook...

Integration sees F&C close funds.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... F&C will close seven funds and merge the proceeds into existing former Isis funds as part of the integration of the two companies. The seven funds, five institutional and two retail funds, will be merged with former Isis funds with the same...

FSA puts networks under its harsh glare.(Financial Services Authority)
March 3, 2005... MORTGAGE networks and equity release plans have been included in the City regulator's latest financial promotion crackdown. The FSA said it would be examining the promotional activities of equity release providers, sub-prime lenders and...

New Product - Range makes debut.
March 3, 2005... THE Chelsea Building Society has launched its first range of tracker mortgages. The mortgage deal mirrors the Bank of England base rate for two years, giving an initial rate of 4.75 per cent. It then reverts back to the building society's...

After leaving a troubled Charcol it is time for a fresh challenge.(Interview)
March 3, 2005... FINANCIAL ADVISER: What do you believe caused the problems surrounding Charcol's profits last year? RICKY OKEY: You have to look at some of the history. The business went from being a small entrepreneurial concern to a bigger corporate...

ABI conference panel is named.
March 3, 2005... Trade unions, government minsters and product providers will discuss employers' role in plugging the savings gap at this year's ABI Conference. The conference, which is co-sponsored by Financial Adviser, will feature a panel including...

Public sector pension plans need defending.
March 3, 2005... IT IS rare that I find myself at odds with Jeff Prestridge, but his recent column on the issue of whether it is worth defending the right of public sector employees to keep their pensions (FA, 24 February) rang a few alarm bells with me. ...

Sloppy work by FSA will not help.(Financial Services Authority)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... I don't know about you, but I was intrigued by the FSA's sudden U-turn on the subject of fee payment by instalment. Remember, this was something that we were told was simply not possible only a few months ago, when financial advisers were...

Joanne Segars will be happier out of the ABI.(Association of British Insurers)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... So, it is goodbye to Joanne Segars, head of pensions and savings for the ABI, and hello to Joanne Segars, director of policy for the NAPF. I congratulate her on her move. Having known and dealt with Joanne in her previous incarnation as...

A busy day for B&W.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... JOURNALISTS are infamous for their love of long and boozy PR lunches but it seems the tables have finally been turned. An FA journalist recently went out for lunch with two representatives from a certain mortgage lender, and enjoyed a...

Art imitating life on Corrie.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... WHILE cost may not be an issue for Charles and Camilla, Coronation Street's Ken and Deirdre have had to reconsider their marriage plans because of problems with their pension. The couple hoped to escape the cobbles of Corrie and marry on a...

Vote to prevent cancer.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... BRITANNIA is boosting its caring credentials by trying to persuade people to attend its AGM and raise money for Cancer Research UK. It is hoping to raise more than AGBP30,000 for the charity by donating 10p for every vote cast at its AGM on...

L&G tees off for charity.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... LEGAL & General has gone celebrity mad and has got involved with a celebrity golf tournament later this month. It is supporting the annual Mad March Hares Golf Tournament, set for Wednesday 30 March at Kingswood Golf Club in Surrey. The...

Clarity is key, not jargon.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... NOW that the inward-looking review of the distribution of retail financial products is nearing an end, it is timely to refocus on how consumers will view these changes. The financial services industry can become a bit obsessed with its own...

Bringing shame.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... THERE are complaints once more about the alleged endowment mis-selling and the scandalous role played by so-called no-win, no-fee lawyers. If ever the actions of a few are bringing a proud profession in to disrepute, it is the...

Revenue accused over CRBs.(capital redemption bonds )(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... THE Inland Revenue is "using a sledgehammer to crack a nut" in its reform of tax relief for capital redemption bonds, according to providers. The IR has announced that for corporate investors, capital redemption bonds will no longer be...

Reforming aim just muddies the waters.
March 3, 2005... JUST when we thought that the confusion over pensions was reaching a resolution of sorts with the pending final report from the Turner commission, up comes secretary of state for work and pensions Alan Johnson with his Principles for Reform....

No excuses for not offering choice.(Column)
March 3, 2005... Irecently had the pleasure of reading an interview with the managing director of the financial services arm of one of the large banks and building societies, a company that is part of the same group as one of the well-known investment...

Getting the balance just right.
March 3, 2005... THE days when a balanced managed fund could be used as an automatic default for a pension plan -- an anodyne solution to the 'average' client's risk profile and objectives -- are long gone. In the defined contribution world, the adviser's...

From a distance, there is harmony.
March 3, 2005... Aside from M-Day, yet another new piece of regulation dropped into our laps last year. Just in case you did not notice, it was called the Distance Marketing Directive. The primary purpose of the DMD is investor protection. In particular,...

Guiding a market on the move.
March 3, 2005... INCREASINGLY, people are living longer and families are getting smaller. These and other factors will, over time, have a significant effect on the annuities market. Demand for annuities will increase whether the Pensions Commission...

When time really is money.
March 3, 2005... Every IFA knows that it takes time to process applications for financial products. But for those applying for annuities, there is a whole other problem to deal with. Rates can change during the period between the application form being...

Small, but perfectly formed.
March 3, 2005... THE UK is currently a highly liquid market and companies are returning cash to shareholders, meaning the equity pool is shrinking. Furthermore, there has been a significant level of mergers and acquisitions activity and investors are...

Hiding behind the good news.
March 3, 2005... LAST week's bonus rate announcement from Prudential was a bit of a diamond in the rough for with profits investors, but the question now is whether it will sparkle brightly enough for the whole industry. Prudential, owner of the largest...

Advisers can play their part in guiding vulnerable citizens.
March 3, 2005... I WAS delighted to see an article in Financial Adviser on the Mental Capacity Bill (3 February) and the effect it could have on the work of independent financial advisers. I was particularly pleased to see that the article listed the five...

Opinion remains split on Cofunds.
March 3, 2005... Five years after its launch, the future of Cofunds is still hanging in the balance. The fund supermarket, which has assets to the tune of AGBP3.5bn, has experienced a turbulent ride to date. After launching straight into a bear market, Cofunds...

NU sets sights on cautious investors.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... NORWICH Union has launched a new protected fund aimed at cautious investors. The Norwich Active Protector fund aims to provide long-term capital growth and protect the share price from falling below 80 per cent of its peak level. It...

Chase de Vere sold for AGBP20m.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... BANK of Ireland has sold Chase de Vere to AWD for AGBP20m, just five years after buying the IFA for AGBP110m. The deal involves the sale of Chase de Vere Financial Solutions and its mortgage broking subsidiary Moneyextra Mortgages. BOI...

PFB's hedge fund is aimed at retail buyers.
March 3, 2005... PINDER Fry & Benjamin has launched a retail hedge fund as investors opt out of traditional products. The PFB Guaranteed FTSE Hedge Index fund has been launched for retail investors with a minimum investment of AGBP10,000. It offers...

Zurich account takes 'common' approach.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... ZURICH has launched a 'common' Guaranteed Capital Account, which is available until 30 March 2005. It comes with the assurance that the initial capital investment is protected at the end of the product's six-year term and allows investors...

Fixed-rate rise by Chelsea is a surprise to adviser.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... ANTHONY Moss, director for Best Advice Financial Planning, has said he is surprised at Chelsea Building Society's decision to increase its two, three and five-year fixed-rate mortgages by 0.1 of a percentage point. He said: "It seems a bit...

Fixed-rate deals taking long view set for a boost.
March 3, 2005... THE number of longer-term fixed-rate mortgages being offered by lenders is set to rise as the industry anticipates a fall in the base rate, according to advisers. Ashley Clark, director of Need An Adviser.com said: "As we move closer...

Market suits different type of BTL borrower.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... THE market is catering for a different type of buy-to-let borrower, due to the dwindling number of amateur property investors, according to a broker. Jonathan Moore, marketing manager of Mortgages For Business, said one example was a new...

A simpler system will facilitate compulsion.
March 3, 2005... COMPULSORY pensions could only happen if the current system was made a lot simpler, according to an IFA. Gemma Watson, senior pensions adviser for Bath-based Chartwell, said that a lot would need to change if compulsion was introduced. ...

GE Life's section 32 plan is A-Day friendly.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2005... GE LIFE has launched an A-Day friendly section 32 transfer plan with a deferred drawdown option. The Deferred Executive Drawdown plan gives people whose tax-free lump-sum entitlement is greater than 25 per cent the means to preserve their...