Financial Advisor articles from May 2006

Financial Advisor archives from May 2006

Doherty moves up the ranks of Firstplus to chief executive oaPcer.
May 4, 2006... Lending Firstplus, the secured loan provider, has named Jack Doherty as its chief executive officer. Mr Doherty was previously operations director for the company. In his new role, he will be responsible for running of a new contact centre...

Scores will point the way to sound choices.(decision making tips)
May 4, 2006... Good decisions can mean the difference between success and failure. Guesswork is not usually a good foundation for an excellent decision, so I am going to present some simple techniques you can use in a work situation. However, they can be...

Klemmer moves up at Oakwood.
May 4, 2006... Oakwood Group has named Richard Klemmer as president, responsible for the operations of all six of its wholly-owned companies. The group is an international financial services company specialising in non-US lending markets, including the...

Research exposes mortgage ad failings.
May 4, 2006... More than eight out of every 10 mortgage promotions are flawed according to research. The business and financial arm of Grant Thornton found that 76 per cent of all financial services adverts and promotions failed to meet FSA requirements....

Exploit price gap at your own peril.(real estate rental yields )
May 4, 2006... Rising rental yields and ignorance of buy-to-let investment could mean property in Scotland is undervalued, according to a buy-to-let provider. But Lee Grandin, managing director of Landlord Mortgages, warned that southerners would be...

Changes to NI planning guidance could raise prices.
May 4, 2006... Planning changes to curb random development in Northern Ireland could see house prices rise, according to e.surv. At the moment, people are three times more likely to obtain a residential planning approval in a rural Northern Ireland than...

Single lender faces ire of commercial broker body.
May 4, 2006... One of the largest commercial mortgage brokers in the UK has been accused of undermining self-regulation in the commercial mortgage industry. A row is brewing over whether lenders can refuse to do business with brokers who are not members...

Buy-to-let equity release inally offered to over 60s.(New Life Mortgages launches Landlord Loan)(Brief article)
May 4, 2006... Sixty-year-olds who want to release equity from buy-to-let properties can now do so, but at a price, according to an expert. New Life Mortgages' Landlord Loan is available to over 60s with up to five properties and is claimed to be the...

Speed of processing key to lender choice.(survey)(Brief article)
May 4, 2006... The most important reason why advisers choose one lender over another is the speed of processing from application to offer, according to a study. More than 200 intermediaries were questioned in the study and 45 per cent said that speed...

Fidelity puts fund changes to a vote.
May 4, 2006... Fidelity will offer investors in Anthony Bolton's Special Situations fund the chance to vote against proposed changes to the AGBP6.5bn fund. Fidelity has sent investors a timetable for the proposed split of the fund, which will facilitate...

Gaining a foothold in a growing sector.
May 4, 2006... THE buy-to-let sector has never had one of the best reputations in terms of property sectors. Everyone at some point in their lives seems to have had a dodgy landlord -" be it in their student days or possibly when they were saving up to...

Time is right to get the pick of the crop.
May 4, 2006... RECENT press coverage and industry research indicates that there has never been a better time to enter the buy-to-let market and landlords are increasingly looking for innovative and flexible products to help them manage their portfolios. ...

Warnings raised over land tax plans.
May 4, 2006... The Parliamentary Select Committee has been told that government plans to impose a new land tax could backfire. MPs were given a chance to question the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and British Property Federation, who have...

Sowing the seeds of change.
May 4, 2006... It is a bit of a cliche now, but the only constant in life is change itself. Yet it is true, if we did not experience change, then intermediaries would still be receiving fax updates on new mortgage products, watching Soldier Soldier, debating...

Riding on the crest of a wave.(Tony Capon)
May 4, 2006... Like many in the buy-to-let market, Derbyshire Building Society's head of intermediary support and development, Tony Capon has put his money where his mouth is. As head of sales for the firm's intermediary support he recognised there was...

Barring born-again Rachmans thriving.
May 4, 2006... The expression 'the past is another country' springs to mind when I look back at the development of the buy-to-let market. Reading the 1974 Labour Party manifesto, you begin to realise how very different things were in the UK at that time....

Weeding out the competition.
May 4, 2006... The buy-to-let mortgage market has changed enormously over the past few years. The property boom in general has led to increased demand for investment property from all walks of life -" from professional landlords with portfolios of property to...

The way forward.(affordability calculations in the lending industry )
May 4, 2006... I do not believe it is an exaggeration to say that the use of affordability calculations is one of the most significant new developments to take place in the lending industry this decade. The move away from traditional income multiples and...

Bright young property things.
May 4, 2006... A recently published Rich List of British football players was unsurprisingly topped by David "brand" Beckham who represents England, Real Madrid, Police, Brylcream, Pepsi, Adidas to name but a few. In third position, with an estimated...

Breaks at risk, warns Scot Eq.
May 4, 2006... Scottish Equitable has warned trustees of new group life schemes that they risk losing tax breaks if they fail to register with the HM Customs & Revenue by July. Sue Sneddon, employee benefits technical manager for Scottish Equitable, said...

Repayment option may 'be better for FTBs'.(first-time buyers)(Brief article)
May 4, 2006... Interest-only mortgages can cost up to AGBP12,000 more than repayment products, according to moneysupermarket.com, the price comparison website. The warning comes as more and more first-time buyers opt for interest only mortgages. The...

Figures contradict downturn forecasts.(mortgage lending)
May 4, 2006... The highest lending figures for any March on record is a sign of a continuing boom, according to a mortgage expert. James Cox, mortgage specialist for London & Country, said that figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders contradict...

Tigue chosen to be AITC deputy.
May 4, 2006... JEREMY Tigue has been elected as deputy chairman by the board of the Association of Investment Trust Companies, joining its other two deputy chairmen, Carol Ferguson and Gill Nott. Mr Tigue has been a member of the board since December...

Shedding light on all the facts.(mortgages)
May 4, 2006... Back in December 2003, I wrote a Broker's Voice hot-on-the-heels of the BBC Money Programme's expose of self-certified mortgages. The subsequent industry furore the programme generated -" with lenders withdrawing from the self-cert market...

Sesame and CII to aid e-learning.
May 4, 2006... Sesame has teamed up with the Chartered Insurance Institute to offer IFAs an online service aimed at improving standards of professionalism. The initiative has been launched in response to what organisers say is a shift in the type of...

GE Life bolsters retirement range.
May 4, 2006... GE Life has added alternative secured pension capability to its retirement product range. Other changes made to the product range following A-Day include nil income options on new and existing unsecured pension cases, tax-free cash from...

Transsexual wins pension.
May 4, 2006... A British transsexual who was born male has won the right to receive the state pension from the women's age of 60. Sarah Richards took her battle to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, when UK regulations refused to allow for a...

New Product - Britannia taps stock market with 'uncompetitive' bonds.
May 4, 2006... BRITANNIA Building Society has re-launched a series of bonds aimed at customers wanting to tap into possible stock market growth. Included in the range is a five-year guaranteed return bond offering a 20 per cent profit on original capital...

Providers feel persistency pinch, says Scottish Life.
May 4, 2006... FSA figures showing falling persistency of personal pension business from IFAs is increasing the pressure on providers to make pensions profitable, according to Scottish Life. Alasdair Buchanan, group head of communications for Scottish...

GE looks to India for backroom staff.(GE Money Home Lending)(Brief article)
May 4, 2006... GE Money Home Lending has said it will outsource 66 jobs to India, but none of these will deal directly with brokers or consumers. Andy Punch, chief operating officer for GE Money Home Lending, said the jobs involved were only data entry...

Moving onwards and upwards.(mortgage lending forecast)(conversation with Charles Haresnape of Bank Of Scotland )(Interview)
May 4, 2006... According to figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, gross buy to let advances have risen again in the last year. Research conducted during the first quarter of this year by the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) indicates...

Baroness Andrews: 'Hips will not disrupt the market'.(home information packs)(Brief article)
May 4, 2006... FRESH questions have been raised about the progress of home information packs and assessments of their effectiveness before they are introduced next summer. Housing minister Baroness Andrews told the House of Lords it had previously been...

The great, the good and the winners.
May 4, 2006... Some 160 adviser and provider delegates gathered in the grand surrounds of One Whitehall Place for the third Financial Adviser Life & Pension awards on 26 April.

Specialists cheer care funding proposals.(Joseph Rowntree Foundation's lond term care funding recommendations)(Brief article)
May 4, 2006... PROPOSALS to reform long-term care funding through a voluntary equity release scheme and increased support have been welcomed by IFA specialists. On Thursday, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation produced a report in which it outlined...

The marathon man of N4.(N4 Solution's Paul Keegan raises funds for Autistic Society by participating in a fund raising marathon)(Brief article)
May 4, 2006... N4 Solution's Paul Keegan was among the various rhinos, wedding couples and celebrity runners brazing the rain during this year's London Marathon. The project director for the financial services IT solutions firm managed to complete the...

Pru warned over outsourcing bid.
May 4, 2006... PRUDENTIAL is to move up to 150 jobs to India in a cost-cutting exercise that has angered unions. The insurer announced it is to axe posts in the UK as part of a shake up that will see the closure of sites in Bristol, Belfast as well as...

Fos survey reveals sins of the few are paid by many.
May 4, 2006... ONLY 3 per cent of firms produce 95 per cent of all the cases considered by the Financial Ombudsman, the service's funding review has revealed. In a 47-page discussion paper, published on Tuesday, the ombudsman outlined an array of options...

Shaping the future of the Ombudsman.
May 4, 2006... Option A: Retaining the existing arrangements. Case fees would be payable for the third and subsequent cases for each firm each year. The case fee would remain fixed at AGBP360. Annual fees would cover the fluctuating balance then...

New Product - Harrison to lead fund.
May 4, 2006... THREADNEEDLE will attempt to bring the alpha approach of its UK fund range to the equity income sector with its UK Equity Alpha Income fund. The open-ended fund will be managed by star fund manager Leigh Harrison, head of UK retail funds,...

Allies rallying to cut Brown's IHT nets.
May 4, 2006... GORDON Brown's political opponents have stepped up their efforts to overturn the Treasury's changes to inheritance tax and trusts. The Conservatives last week held a summit of industry figures and consumer interest groups to begin...

FSA slashes ine for vetting error.
May 4, 2006... THE FSA has handed down a AGBP20,000 fine to London-based insurance intermediary Besso, after it failed to seek approval for an employee who turned out to be a convicted fraudster. The unnamed individual is being investigated by police for...

Drawdown is on the up, IFAs tell Skandia.
May 4, 2006... FINANCIAL advisers believe they will write more income drawdown business now unsecured and alternatively secured pension options are available, according to Skandia. A poll conducted by the provider showed 81 per cent of 340 IFAs thought...

Awards celebrate the true pension winners.
May 4, 2006... MORE than 160 provider and adviser representatives assembled for the third Financial Adviser Life & Pension Awards, last week. The grand surroundings of the Gladstone Library at the national Liberal Club on Whitehall Place were the backdrop...

And the winners were...
May 4, 2006... Life Assurance Provider of the Year First place: Legal & General Second place: Scottish Equitable Third place: Norwich Union Pensions Provider of the Year First place: Scottish Equitable Second place: Scottish Widows...

New Product - A&L tracker offer curbs fees burden.
May 4, 2006... ALLIANCE & Leicester has launched a new range of mortgages available through intermediaries. It includes a two-year tracker, FeeSaver, with a reduced rate of Bank of England base rate plus 0.49 percentage points. It is available at up...

Pensions heavyweights divided on longevity of A-Day bonanza.
May 4, 2006... LEVELS of new life and pensions business at three of the nation's largest insurers soared in the run-up to A-Day. Last week, Legal & General, Norwich Union and Friends Provident reported new life and pension figures had risen by 15 per...

ICMA course aims to mould generation of managers.
May 4, 2006... The ICMA Centre at the University of Reading has introduced an Msc in Investment Management. The qualification has been created with 7city Learning and is designed to prepare students for entry into the investment industry by combining...

Price hikes aid pensioners, Economic Lifestyle claims.
May 4, 2006... The continued growth in the housing market has meant that pensioners' property equity is AGBP54bn higher in value than 12 months ago. Economic Lifestyle's Pensioners Property Equity index has found that the UK's 6.3m retired homeowners...

Origen deal keeps cash in the family.
May 4, 2006... ORIGEN has launched a family pension, which enables any remaining pension funds after death to be transferred to family, friends or a favoured charity. By setting up the family pension, a client can ensure family members or friends benefit...

New Product - Morley fund to aim for absolute returns.
May 4, 2006... MORLEY Fund Management has launched the Aviva Funds Absolute Tactical Asset Allocation fund. The offering is a global tactical asset allocation fund, unitised in structure with daily pricing. Steve Cleal and Adrian Jarvis will manage...

Scot Friendly develops Co-op ties with CTFs.
May 4, 2006... Scottish Friendly has announced a distribution deal with United Co-operatives and the acquisition of Preston Operative. The news was confirmed at the society's annual general meetings last week, during which record assets under management...

New Product - Woolwich deal to cut need to switch.
May 4, 2006... THE Woolwich is launching a lifetime mortgage in response to borrowers' growing anger about having to switch products every few years. The product, launched at the beginning of May, is a tracker mortgage guaranteed to stay 0.19 percentage...

Attitudes to ageing in flux, says HSBC.(retirement survey)
May 4, 2006... The global concept of retirement is undergoing a revolution, according to the latest findings from HSBC's global survey on the future of retirement. The study follows HSBC's report on people's attitudes to ageing. The report, which...

Aifa turns focus on A-Day failings.
May 4, 2006... A NUMBER of leading providers who failed to get their houses in order in time for A-Day have been reported to the FSA and the Financial Ombudsman Service by the Association of IFAs. Chris Cummings, director general of Aifa, said problems...

VCT chiefs hail ally in ight for influence.(venture capital trusts get access to Association of Investment Trust Companies)
May 4, 2006... VENTURE capital trust managers have welcomed the prospect of Association of Investment Trust Companies representation and hope the organisation can make progress in lobbying government. The AITC last week announced that it would expand its...

Debts limit FTBs, says B&B.(Bradford & Bingley's report on first-time-buyers)(Brief article)
May 4, 2006... NEARLY half of first-time buyers have debts of more than AGBP8000 by the time they start looking for a property, according to a report. Research for Bradford & Bingley's First-Time Buyer report also found 16 per cent owe more than...

Multi-ties rise to top on electronic wave.(intermediaries replaces independent financial advisers)
May 4, 2006... MULTI-tied intermediaries have replaced IFAs as the distribution channel processing the largest proportion of new business online, according to Focus Quotient. The annual report, from technology provider Focus, revealed the multi-tied...

New Product - NS&I offer aims to minimise risks.
May 4, 2006... NATIONAL Savings & Investments has launched the 11th issue of its guaranteed equity bond, available from 3 May to 27 June. It offers 112 per cent gross return of any FTSE 100 growth over its five-year term, with no upper limit on the...

FSA is to watch over 'Islamic' mortgages.
May 4, 2006... PROPOSALS for placing home reversions and home purchase plans, also known as Islamic mortgages, under the FSA's remit have been revealed. In a consultation paper -" Regulation of Home Reversion and Home Purchase Plans -" the regulator sets...

Watchdog leaves probe in the dark over its attendance.
May 4, 2006... THE FSA has refused to confirm if it will give evidence to the European Parliament's committee of inquiry into Equitable Life. The probe into the near-collapse of the mutual is set to continue next month, with the Irish Financial Services...

Planning tools seeping into 'IFAs' consciences'.(independent financial advisers)(Brief article)
May 4, 2006... PLANNING tools are becoming part of every day life for advisers, according to FundsNetwork. The investment platform found a quarter of all FundsNetwork registered advisers now use its portfolio planner and more than 6500 bespoke portfolio...

New Product - Friends revamps web planning tool.
May 4, 2006... FRIENDS Provident has upgraded its online investment portfolio planning tool, Dynamic Portfolio Planner. Designed exclusively for IFA use, its improvements include a new format of investment arrangements and reports, meaning an arrangement...

Isa season marks arrival of property, say managers.
May 4, 2006... Asset managers hailed this year's Isa figures as confirmation of commercial property's emergence as an essential asset class. The Investment Management Association produced sales figures for the first quarter of the year that showed the...

Gov't colluded to aid Eq Life, MEPs told.
May 4, 2006... An European probe into the near collapse of Equitable Life has heard a stinging attack on the role of the government and regulators in the debacle. During the second evidence sessions of the European Parliament's Committee of Inquiry into...

Ifap warns over FTBs' knowledge of process.
May 4, 2006... PROSPECTIVE first-time buyers are oblivious to the financial reality of the home-buying process, according to IFA Promotion. A study by the organisation that promotes the benefits of independent financial advice showed the majority of...

Defaqto engages the web by moving Aequos online.(Aequos information system enhanced to Aequos Engage search engine)(Brief article)
May 4, 2006... The next generation of the Aequos product search engine will cut the process of sourcing products from all advice sectors down to minutes, according to designers Defaqto. Aequos Engage is the revamped and fully online version of Aequos,...

Field your star side to net prizes.
May 4, 2006... Wayne Rooney might not be involved in the World Cup, but you still can be, thanks to Financial Adviser. Along with F&C, we will be giving you the chance to enter our World Cup fantasy football competition, offering prizes ranging from...

Matrix meets PPI criticism head on.
May 4, 2006... Assurant Solutions has launched a mortgage payment solution it claims will answer criticism of PPI products. The Matrix creates tailored cover for customers with a service that gives lenders and intermediaries access to 250,000 possible...

OFT probe to drive move to tailored PPI.
May 4, 2006... PROVIDERS offering payment protection insurance will soon have to tailor their products more closely to customers' needs and take smaller commissions, according to Berkeley Alexander. Ted York, managing director of the general insurance...

Boulding takes on Sipps in L&G's Driven to Retirement.
May 4, 2006... A NEW breed of self-invested personal pensions is identified in the latest online webcast of Adrian Boulding's Driven to Retirement. Mr Boulding, pensions strategy director for Legal & General, looks at the new breed of Sipps, which offer a...

Wills irm holds IFAs' hands over trust issue.
May 4, 2006... A NEW online company has been launched for IFAs who want to put clients' insurance policies into trust but are afraid of the possible risks involved. Active Wills & Trusts offers intermediaries a trust drafting service through which...

New Product - C&G reveals range of ixed-rate deals.
May 4, 2006... Cheltenham & Gloucester has launched a range of fixed-rate mortgage products, including remortgaging and lower minimum loan sizes. The two-year loan is fixed at 4.45 per cent, the three-year is 4.69 per cent and the five-year is fixed at...

FSA pledges to put focus on ICA.
May 4, 2006... SUCCESSFUL implementation, rather than new initiatives, is key to the reform of insurance regulation, according to the FSA. Sarah Wilson, who replaced David Strachan as insurance sector leader for the FSA on 1 May said, barring ongoing...

Candidates up in arms over CII test paper.(Chartered Insurance Institute)(Brief article)
May 4, 2006... Disgruntled candidates taking the Chartered Insurance Institute's diploma in financial planning have complained that questions on an exam paper were not covered by the syllabus. One candidate said she was left feeling disappointed after...

Make the most of travel, urges IFS.
May 4, 2006... IF advisers used time spent commuting to study they could gain a qualification in 30 days, according to the Institute of Financial Services. Mark Roberts, head of the faculty of financial regulation for the IFS, said many advisers were...

Prestbury seals deal on Barclays' account.
May 4, 2006... PRESTBURY has announced an exclusive deal with Barclays Bank to distribute one of its unregulated investment products. The partnership -" which has been a year in the making -" will expand the bank's distribution channels and prove an...

FSA reveals a haul of irms with cash gaps.
May 4, 2006... MORE than 50 financial advisory companies have so far failed to meet the FSA's capital adequacy requirements, according to the financial services regulator. Just weeks after the City watchdog pulled the plug on Berkeley Berry Birch for...

Investment bonanza is proving to be a puzzle.
May 4, 2006... IAM puzzled and bemused by the latest set of statistics from the Investment Management Association. While it gives me a warm feeling inside to see that investors appear to have recovered a taste for the stock market, I am a tad confused...

Jockeying starts as patience is tested.(Fidelity UK's company forecast, Anthony Bolton to step down)(Brief article)
May 4, 2006... AHA, a press release from Fidelity on its Special Situations fund. Expecting all to become clear I scoured it, but ended up disappointed. It tells us that Fidelity will write to investors and in a few weeks time send out a voting pack, when a...

Raging bulls are conident that the future is sunny.
May 4, 2006... WEDNESDAY afternoon and I stroll through Kensington Gardens having just been gored by a rampaging bull. Stephen Whittaker, joint chief investment officer of New Star, tells me the UK stock market is going to rise and rise and rise. In...

Elle of an addition to team.(Elle MacPherson)(Brief article)
May 4, 2006... FINANCIAL Management IFA group clearly live in a dream world and, as Insider pointed out last week, it likes to be distracted from financial work by thinking of semi-clad beautiful ladies. A glance at their website www.staffbenefits.net/...

Kohn leads Standard Life 'No' drive.
May 4, 2006... A campaign by IFA Kohn Cougar against the proposed demutualisation of Standard Life has 90 per cent support among its client base, according to Roddy Kohn, the IFA's managing director. The Bristol-based IFA is appealing for more advice...

A tantrum-free birthday.(Insider celebrates anniversary of child trust funds)(Brief article)
May 4, 2006... INSIDER was more than happy to dust off the party hat and blow into the unfurling whistly thing to help celebrate the first birthday of child trust funds. Although disappointed that jelly and ice-cream was not on the menu, Insider watched...

Labouring on over holiday.(Bright Grey opened on bank holiday)(Brief article)
May 4, 2006... Looks like there was no rest for the workers this Bank Holiday at Bright Grey. Despite the UK bank holiday being a celebration of the achievements of the workers' movement, those in Edinburgh came in during the day to help out. Insider...