Financial Advisor articles from May 2004

Financial Advisor archives from May 2004

Exeter Friendly adds portability to cover.
May 6, 2004... THE new portable element in the Interplan Worldwide policy from Exeter Friendly is a welcome addition, according to Andrew Wilson. Mr Wilson, international client sales manager for Whitley Bay-based Medibroker, an international health...

Income protection sales rise unrelated to CI.
May 6, 2004... DAVE Dawson has rejected claims that income protection sales have gained from the bad press given to critical illness insurance. Mr Dawson, an IFA for London-based Capital Asset Management, said: "That is difficult ground because they are...

WPA limits product sales to shared responsibility.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2004... WPA WILL only be selling shared responsibility products to individuals as of June. Charlie MacEwan, head of communications for WPA, a not-for-profit insurer, said the decision would mean the insurer losing clients looking for full PMI, but...

Service standards key to professional relationships.
May 6, 2004... PROFESSIONAL partnerships could potentially damage IFAs if all parties are not in agreement over service standards. Matthew Berry, client services manager for Blackpool-based Beckett & Co, said: "There is always the possibility of mistakes...

Prudential enters UK private health insurance market.
May 6, 2004... PRUDENTIAL has signed a deal with a South African health insurer to provide private medical insurance in Britain. On Friday the two firms announced they would create a joint business called Prudential Health, which would see the two...

IFAs warned of pension tax exemption headache.
May 6, 2004... ANYONE who moved uncapped pension savings into a capped scheme could face a hefty tax bill come A-day. Andy Bell, managing director and actuary of AJ Bell, warned that changes made to the formula used to determine how much cash can be...

Winterthur plans three years of growth.(Winterthur Life (UK) Ltd.)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2004... WINTERTHUR Life has unveiled a three-year strategy designed to achieve continued growth and profitability in the UK. As the provider's eight-month restructuring phase ended, Mike Kellard, chief executive of Winterthur Life, unveiled his...

Website recommends the best buys for investors.
May 6, 2004... Everyinvestor, a personal finance website, is launching a 'best buy' funds service for investors. The site is designed to help investors construct a portfolio of funds that are expected to outperform their respective sectors over the...

Health check shows more IFAs in distress.
May 6, 2004... THE number of IFAs showing signs of financial distress has risen over the past year. In its annual health check of the top 1000 UK IFA companies, Plimsoll Publishing found that the number of firms rated as being in danger rose from 196 to...

CSAM and Isis pick up SGAM US fund.
May 6, 2004... IFAs will soon be able to access the all-new SocGen American Growth through Isis and CSAM's multi-manager funds. Richard Philbin, head of Isis's Portfolio Service, and Gary Potter, director of the Credit Suisse Asset Management fund of...

BBB merger talks go on despite delay.(Berkeley Berry Birch PLC)
May 6, 2004... Berkeley Berry Birch and Inter-Alliance were in last minute discussions this week to finalise merger plans. The unexpected delay has led to the two troubled IFAs extending their talks longer than was originally expected. Over the past...

Expectations of mortgage rate rise.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2004... MORE homeowners are convinced the cost of their mortgages will rise this month, according to a new survey. The Direct Line study claimed 67 per cent of homeowners think that interest rates will go up this week. By comparison, 64 per...

Fat cats scrutinised again as RSA's Haste earns AGBP1.4m.
May 6, 2004... FAT cat pay came under the spotlight once again with Andy Haste, chief executive of Royal & SunAlliance, receiving AGBP1.4m. The amount taken home by Mr Haste, who took up his post in April 2003, included a AGBP570,000 bonus and AGBP224,000...

AIG to launch managed income.
May 6, 2004... AIG Life will launch its Managed Income Fund next week. The fund, which aims to extend AIG Life's existing range of balanced funds, will cater for more risk-averse investors who wish for better returns than cash. Called the AIG Life...

Reassurance required on Newton managers.(Newton Investment Management, employee turnover)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2004... IFAS are calling for reassurance that Newton Investment Management can keep hold of its remaining fund managers. Last week, Ezra Sun, manager of the AGBP211.9m Newton Oriental fund and three other Asian portfolios, became the third fund...

Lifetime's IFA wrap awaits FSA approval.
May 6, 2004... Lifetime is awaiting FSA approval to go ahead with the launch of its wrap platform this summer. After nearly two years of development, the provider has finalised its IFA wrap offering and is working to get fund managers on board. The...

New members join FSA panel.
May 6, 2004... THE FSA has appointed Luqman Arnold and Alan Yarrow as members of the Financial Services Practitioner Panel. Mr Arnold, chief executive of Abbey, and Mr Yarrow, vice chairman of investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, will join the...

NU publishes guide to electronics investment.
May 6, 2004... NORWICH Union is producing new investment tools and literature to help advisers understand investing in the electronics sector. The literature, available online and as a hard copy, provides a market overview of the sector, including current...

EU growth may kick- start property boom.
May 6, 2004... The accession of 10 new member states into the EU will create opportunities for investment and buy-to-let. Investment IFAs have said the enlarged European Union could create new direct and indirect investment opportunities, particularly...

Bee claims A-day message understood.(Steve Bee)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2004... INTERMEDIARIES are aware that action needs to be taken now to prepare clients' pensions for A-day, according to Steve Bee. The head of pensions strategy for Scottish Life claimed the fact that more than 150 IFAs turned up to the London leg...

Managers cautious on eurozone stocks.
May 6, 2004... Some fund managers are still cautious about European economic recovery. David Franklin, director in charge of retail funds at Christows, said he was cautious about the outlook for eurozone equities. He said that on a conventional...

Mortgage Brain attracts 20,000 to loan software.
May 6, 2004... Mortgage Brain has announced it has attracted over 20,000 subscribers for its products and services. It claimed it was the first mortgage sourcing software provider to reach this number of users. The company said it broke the 20,000 mark...

Friends and L&G plan more IFA sales.
May 6, 2004... FRIENDS Provident and Legal & General saw a slump in pension sales, but both plan to increase sales through IFAs. Ben Gunn, managing director of Friends Provident Life and Pensions, said an increase in sales through IFAs had offset the...

Sapiens highlights technology doubts.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2004... INSURERS are cynical about whether information technology would be able to support their business strategies, according to Sapiens. Research by the technology provider revealed that a quarter of life office executives have serious doubts...

Mortgage work to pick up in Q2.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2004... MORTGAGE advisers expect to see business pick up in the second quarter of 2004. Paragon Mortgages' first quarter 2004 survey of mortgage advisers, revealed the first three months of the year saw a slight cooling in the overall level of...

MFS poaches Kay to boost private clients.
May 6, 2004... Momentum Financial Services has appointed Gary Kay as director of its private clients division in a move to boost its business. The London-based IFA is planning to boost the private clients side of the business to balance the corporate IFA...

Equity release mis-sale risk.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2004... EXPERTS have warned that the equity release sector will be the next mis-selling scandal. Dean Mirfin, business development manager of Key Retirement Solutions, said it was possible the products could be mis-sold if customers did not...

New names to the fore on LIA board.
May 6, 2004... The LIA has appointed Peter Williams and Roger O'Brart as directors on its board. Mr Williams, head of industry development for Aegon, and Mr O'Brart, director of Middlesex IFA the Peers Group, were appointed last week at the 24th LIA...

New thinking will lead to new recruits.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2004... The decline in direct salesforces has reduced a traditional recruitment pool for IFAs, according to former LIA president Len Warwick. Speaking on day two of the LIA conference 2004, Mr Warwick voiced concerns that the industry was...

Regulation and the industry's image dominate LIA debate.
May 6, 2004... Advisers at this year's LIA annual conference hit out at the proposed depolarisation of the market. In a question-time session with a top-level panel David Kenmir, managing director of regulatory services for the FSA, defended the FSA's...

Relationships are key to cross-selling.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2004... Advisers can boost their businesses by developing better relationships with accountants and solicitors, according to Karl Snowdon. Speaking at the LIA conference, Mr Snowdon, former director of government and industry relations at Zurich,...

TUC attacks political inaction on pensions.
May 6, 2004... POLITICIANS should stop brushing the pensions crisis under Westminster carpets, according to the leader of the Trades Union Congress. Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC, challenged all the political parties to face up to...

Members attack Sesame.
May 6, 2004... IFA NETWORK Sesame is under fire for allegedly withholding thousands of pounds of commission from departing members. One outgoing Sesame member, who asked to remain anonymous, claimed Sesame threatened to withhold around AGBP16,000 of...

Risk allocation must be understood by IFAs.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2004... IFAs must understand risk in asset allocation, according to Isis Asset Management's Mike Felton. Mr Felton, manager of the AGBP95.5m UK Prime fund which celebrates its third anniversary this week, said too often IFAs believed wider...

Rental market spawning naAve, clueless landlords.
May 6, 2004... THE buy-to-let boom has created an army of clueless landlords, according to property law experts. Tom Bland, associate of Savills Private Finance, said people had to make sure they knew all the risks before going into the buy-to-let...

HSBC raises variable rate by quarter point.
May 6, 2004... HSBC has bowed to the inevitable and raised its standard variable by a quarter of a percentage point. The move comes amid heightened speculation of a rise in Bank of England base rates, which many have been forecasting will happen this...

Electronic processing takes off in direct sales.
May 6, 2004... ONE in every six new life and pensions business transactions is now processed electronically, according to Focus Solutions Group. Research compiled by the technology provider to benchmark the industry's take-up of electronic trading...

Pensioner independence needs clearer definition.(Department for Work and Pensions)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2004... INDEPENDENCE should not be confused with isolation when considering pensioners, according to the Department for Work and Pensions. Research published by the department last week revealed different groups involved with the elderly differed...

Industry split over ethics of super long-term loans.
May 6, 2004... Financial advisers are questioning whether long-term mortgage products are suitable for all clients. Intelligent Finance's three mortgage products must be paid back when the borrower reaches the state retirement age of 65, but there is no...

ScotEq issues adviser angioplasty guidebook.(Scottish Equitable )(Brief Article)
May 6, 2004... Scottish Equitable has released a guide for IFAs explaining how angioplasty is dealt with by underwriters. The guide is the latest in its series on critical illness conditions, aimed at financial advisers. Angioplasty, a technique used...

Premier launches plan with FTSE link.
May 6, 2004... Premier Fund Managers is launching a six-year growth plan linked to the FTSE 100 Index on May 10. Investors will receive their capital back and 8 per cent a year in capital growth, if the index has grown by 4 per cent, or more from its...

Ommanney says change is coming.
May 6, 2004... The LIA's director general has pledged to help the FSA restore public faith in the financial services industry. In his second speech as director general, Mark Ommanney told delegates that under the new regime planned for the association he...

CA calls for national pensions advice web.
May 6, 2004... A NATIONAL independent advice network is needed to make people plough more cash into pensions, according to the Consumers' Association. The consumer watchdog claimed the only way to encourage consumers to save for the future was to provide...

FA Expo 2004 dates confirmed.
May 6, 2004... ThIs year's Financial Adviser Expo is set to attract 2500 delegates to venues in London and Yorkshire. The events, which will take place in September and October, will bring together IFAs and product providers for exhibitions and seminars...

Warning issued over potential PPF issues.
May 6, 2004... POLITICIANS have been warned about the potential pitfalls of running a pensions protection fund. At a Watson Wyatt and Tanaka Business School lecture last week, Steven Kandarian, the former executive director of the US Pension Benefit...

TMB launches online processing.
May 6, 2004... The Mortgage Business has launched a new online processing service for intermediaries. The service, to be called TMB Interactive, is being rolled out this month and will allow brokers to process applications online. TMB said the system...

IFAs warned, savers waste AGBP128m in tax.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2004... SAVERS are wasting AGBP128m a year in tax by not transferring their assets, according to a new study. The survey from IFA Promotion (Ifap) claimed that families would be better off to transfer their savings and investments to partners less...

TUC launches new pensions website.
May 6, 2004... A WEBSITE promoting a protest calling for a new deal for pensions has been launched by the Trades Union Congress. The website is promoting the national Pay Up for Pensions demonstration, due to be held in London on 19 June. Trade...

AGBP500,000 plea to EqLife 'hostages'.(Equitable Life Trapped Annuitants)
May 6, 2004... EQUITABLE Life annuitants have only a few days left to raise AGBP500,000 in order to pursue compensation through the courts. Equitable Life Trapped Annuitants (Elta) has invited 60,000 with profits annuitants to join them by 14 May to...

House prices in Wales soaring.
May 6, 2004... HOUSES in Wales are becoming beyond the means of the average earner, according to the Principality Building Society. Principality said the value of homes has increased by 32.2 per cent over the past 12 months, while average earnings have...

Emag blasts board over poll.
May 6, 2004... EQUITABLE Life policyholders have slated the insurer's board for failing to back their triumphant fight for a judicial review. The High Court has given policyholders the go-ahead to challenge the Parliamentary Ombudsman's report, which...

Offshore outsourcing to grow for mortgages.
May 6, 2004... More companies in the mortgage outsourcing sector will process their business offshore, according to the chief executive of Global Home Loans. Simon Hinshelwood predicted that as regulation approached there would be increasing demand for...

Ethical IFA firms unveil two-stage merger plan.
May 6, 2004... Global Ethical Investment Advice has announced plans to merge with Bromige & Partners. The deal between Manchester-based Gaeia and Bromige in East Sussex has doubled the number of advisers at the new firm, totalling six. The first...

Halifax reacts to surge in AGBP1m homes.
May 6, 2004... Halifax is responding to the massive growth in house prices by raising the upper limit on its mainstream lending. The lender has decided to offer upper limits of up to AGBP2m on its mainstream products, given the large number of houses that...

Practising the act of 'elegant disengagement' on the clients.(Interview)
May 6, 2004... FINANCIAL ADVISER: Paradigm operates an unusual client-rating system, according to annual fees paid and the complexity of advice needed. How are clients rated? BARRY HORNER: Clients are divided into AA, A, B, C and D ratings. An AA client...

ICA and FSA team.
May 6, 2004... AN international taskforce will help develop compliance and regulation standards in the UK. The International Compliance Association is set to team up with the Financial Services Skills Council to develop anti-money laundering legislation...

Mercer sees a win-win for flexible retirement.
May 6, 2004... FLEXIBLE retirement arrangements could create a win-win situation for employers and staff, according to Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Dr Deborah Cooper, senior research actuary at Mercer, said flexible retirement permitted under new...

Blair's reminder of previous high rates.
May 6, 2004... Tony Blair talked up the economic environment on Tuesday, reiterating that interest rates were at historic lows. Issuing a sideswipe at the Conservative Party over interest rates, the Prime Minister said: "I think people remember the days...

Committee gives top actuaries a bloody nose.
May 6, 2004... Once the ravenous MPs had scented blood, there was nothing the cornered actuaries could do to defend themselves. The Treasury select committee quite clearly intended to launch an all-out assault on the beleaguered number crunchers, who they...

Edinburgh provides a more than standard life.
May 6, 2004... STANDARD Life's U-turn has become as much a Scottish as a financial services story. To say every cloud has a silver lining may make one appear guilty of insensitivity or attempt to trivialise the issue, but one cannot avoid that this has...

Time for IFAs to take control, if the FSA is not up to the job.
May 6, 2004... IF ONLY the financial services industry unfolded like a John Grisham novel. Okay, it has got suspense and intrigue, but each new chapter brings not clarity on where the plot is going but confusion, disappointment and indeed fury at the...

FSA releases details of EU insurance rule.
May 6, 2004... THE FSA has released final indications of changes in regulation for the life and pensions industry. The near-final rules for implementation of the Insurance Mediation Directive for long-term insurance business highlight changes in advised...

Step one: open envelope.
May 6, 2004... The FSA has done it. The City watchdog has finally uncovered the secret of form filling. Its Mortgage and General Insurance Registration top tip states: "It seems obvious, but read the forms carefully before you begin completing them,...

Kelly sees the Equitable light.(Ruth Kelly, Equitable Life Assurance Society)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2004... RUTH Kelly, the economic secretary to the Treasury, has found herself in a bit of a pickle over the disastrous Equitable Life saga. First she set up the Penrose Inquiry, severely limiting its remit so it could not really make any findings...

Out to get you?
May 6, 2004... IFAS have every reason to think that They -- whoever They are -- are out to get them. When you consider that IFAs are more heavily regulated than doctors or lawyers -- and there is more to come -- while at the same time taking a cursory...

Flying the hungry skies.(airline food)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2004... Mike Mumford of Axa is a man who knows what he likes, and airline food is no exception. Mr Mumford and a colleague have been 'monitoring' the breakfast standards on board their business flights over the past few months to determine value for...

Ashmore battles through.
May 6, 2004... Congratulations go to Simon Ashmore of the IFS (pictured right) who has been promoted to head of PR and marketing at the Institute of Financial Services. Mr Ashmore battled through the interview process with a number of external applicants...

No confidence in our financial future.
May 6, 2004... LATE last month, I was momentarily transported back to the heady days of the 1980s when London politics was dominated by the regular verbal punch-ups between Margaret Thatcher, leader of the Conservative government at the time, and 'Red' Ken...

Completed forms require scrutiny.
May 6, 2004... THIS week I have had to fill in my annual FSA questionnaire. For those of you not aware of this little piece of administrative paperwork, the directly regulated among us have to report within four months of our company year-end on several...

IFA + PPFM = transparency.
May 6, 2004... THE Principles and Practices of Financial Management are just a few days old. As one of the key planks of our programme of reform for insurance regulation, all with profits companies were required to prepare and make publicly available this...

FSSC set to publish response.
May 6, 2004... The Financial Services Skills Council will publish its response to the exam review feedback later this month. Companies, trade associations and professional bodies have delivered detailed feedback on the examination review, which was passed...

The inside story of Equitable.(Equitable Life Assurance Society)
May 6, 2004... THROUGHOUT the long-running Equitable Life debacle, current and former directors and policyholders' protest groups have had plenty to say. However, very little has been heard from former senior managers who were too junior to be in the...

Rewards in long-term care.
May 6, 2004... DISCUSSING incontinence is never going to be as sexy as telling clients how you are going to make their investments grow, but advisers should not discount long-term care as a specialist area to work in. While many advisers are put off the...

The MPC's credibility is at risk.
May 6, 2004... AN independent central bank's most prized asset is its credibility. The more widespread the belief that it will enforce its target, the easier it will be to do so -- or, in the jargon, the lower the economic cost -- as people will tend to...

The menace of inheritance tax.
May 6, 2004... INHERITANCE tax has become increasingly important for IFAs to consider in recent years as the price of property has rocketed, particularly in certain hotspots within the UK. The recent Budget has done nothing to stem the UK's growing...

FA makes its TV debut.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2004... Financial Adviser is used to making the headlines, but it is not often it features in them. Eagle-eyed readers will have spotted the paper on the BBC's 10 o'clock news on 27 April. Auntie Beeb was reporting on proposed changes to the...

Cooling the house market fire.
May 6, 2004... THE overall outlook for the UK and global economy is as good as it has been for the past five years. Inevitably there are risks and uncertainties -- there always are. Some of these risks are political, some are international -- for example the...

Positive's London office driven by expansion plans.(Positive Solutions)
May 6, 2004... POSITIVE Solutions is stepping on the accelerator for its UK expansion drive, taking the number of advisers up to 800. The national IFA, part-owned by Aegon, opened its twelfth regional office in central London following the recruitment of...

Rebranded and challenging.(National Savings and Investments)
May 6, 2004... ALTHOUGH National Savings, or as it is now called, National Savings and Investments, has been around forever, it is really only since its rebrand that it has come onto the IFA radar to any significant degree. It is making a serious attempt...

Beware money purchase wolf.
May 6, 2004... THE Finance Bill introduces into UK pensions legislation a definition of "cash balance benefits". This started me thinking about the different types of pension arrangements, which present themselves as money purchase but can turn out to be...

Contracting out: the pension gamble that may just pay off.
May 6, 2004... In retirement, the state provides people who have paid their national insurance contributions with a basic state pension and an earnings-related pension. Since April 2002 the latter has been know as the state second pension. The BSP is...

The great Eastern trusts sail onwards.
May 6, 2004... SPRING looks like it has finally sprung and, astonishingly, a quarter of the year has already passed. It is therefore an appropriate time to take a look at the latest investment trust performance figures and any corporate activity trends. ...

Adding to the pensions jigsaw.
May 6, 2004... WITH the publication of the Finance Bill another piece of the new pensions jigsaw fell into place -- with an almighty thud, given that the Bill and schedules, together with explanatory notes, run to more than 500 pages. I can advise that...

Signs show Isas bouncing back.
May 6, 2004... NEW research suggesting an Isa revival has given some respite to the fund management industry. Figures from the Investment Management Association are a welcome relief since the industry, by and large, had been wary of forecasting much of a...