Financial Advisor articles from September 2002

Financial Advisor archives from September 2002

FA brings employment solutions to your desktop; Financial Adviser launches real-time recruitment website visit it now.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... By Clare Bettelley JOBHUNTERS looking for a new challenge can now do so from the convenience of their desk thanks to Financial Advisers new online recruitment service. The website, which promises to be the most comprehensive and...

MAQ pass rate just 60%.(Mortgage Advice Qualification)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... THE average pass rate for the Mortgage Advice Qualification exam could be as low as 60 per cent. According to a source close to the examining board, pass rates for the Chartered Insurance Institutes mortgage qualification are likely to be...

IFSs exam hit by IT problems.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... TECHNICAL difficulties in the IFS exam are indicative of problems from the FSAs paper on exams, it has been claimed. According to an industry source, the problem was caused by an alleged failure to anticipate the numbers applying for the...

GlobeSkills latest to join online training market; Software will focus on advisers weaknesses and fire testing questions at them.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... By Clare Bettelley MANAGEMENT consultancy GlobeSkill is the latest company to offer an online continued professional development programme. However, the firm claims to offer advisers a more thorough assessment of their abilities by...

School project moves into its second phase.(Institute of Financial Services)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... THE Institute of Financial Services is to embark on the second phase of its schools project. The second pilot is being launched this month and involves the introduction of its Certificate in Financial Studies for students entering further...

IFAs complain of pressure on T&C.(Independent Financial Advisers, training and competency)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... FSA training and competency requirements will signal the end of the older IFA. According to one Surrey-based IFA, regular testing will force IFAs out of the industry because they will be unable to cope with the amount of study required to...

Learning to shine in interviews; Adam Byrnes is recruitment manager for Joslin Rowe.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... SUCCESSFUL interview and assessment practice can be learned. An understanding of what to expect and solid preparation are the key. A frequent complaint from client organisations is: "There is a real skill shortage in the marketplace." ...

The grass isnt always greener; Before saying we should take our lead from the US and Australia on pensions and distributions, we should remember why regimes which suit them might not work in the UK.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Peter Williams ACOUPLE of weeks ago I was speaking at a conference and I made a comment about how the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. The examples I used were Australia and the US. Commentators are...

The cost of staff incompetence; Staff training is often said to be expensive, but IFA-based companies need to consider the true cost to their business of an untrained, incompetent workforce.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... David Jackman This is the third series of articles for Financial Adviser. The first set out a vision for training and competence in the financial services arena and the second sought to involve as many as possible in building the vision....

You can still beat deadline.(mortgage adviser certification)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Gary Millner TO BEGIN with, an introduction for the benefit of regular readers: those of you who navigate the paper by the unflattering photographs of its regular contributors will observe that I am not Neil Young. He has moved on to...

Now the trick is to keep the standard up; The mortgage exams are only the beginning of a long process the test will be maintaining those standards.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Ian Jeffery FOR months now we have been talking about the need to get the appropriate mortgage qualifications in advance of the deadline. If you are only just beginning to realise that there is an exam to be sat this year, where have...

It is time to plan your exit; Nearly everyone has to plan an exit strategy from a business but different buyers suit different situations.
September 25, 2002... Nick Cann AT SOME point in time nearly everybody has to plan an exit strategy from his or her business. As the shape of distribution changes again, we have already seen a flurry or mergers and acquisitions. Some of these seem sensible...

Going down the MBA route; MBAs are popular among workers in the City, but the industry is split over their relevance to IFAs.
September 25, 2002... Clare Bettelley clare.bettelley@ft.com THE World MBA Tour is coming to London but the jury is out on the relevance of an MBA qualification to IFAs. On one hand, faced with a barrage of regulation and compliance issues on top of...

Advice versus information; Intermediaries have to tread a fine line between information and advice and to read between the lines of rulings from the Treasury and the MCCB.(Mortgage Code Compliance Board)
September 25, 2002... Peter Beaumont IN DECEMBER last year, the economic secretary to the Treasury announced that the FSA would have responsibility for regulating mortgage business, including mortgage advice, whether it was provided by intermediaries or...

Ken Davy deluged by IFA queries.(Independent Financial Advisers)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... KEN Davy has been "inundated" with inquiries from IFAs after announcing plans to set up a service company for them. Mr Davy, founder of DBS and dubbed "the father of the IFA networks", told Financial Adviser last week that his new firm,...

Fears of Revenue axe on tax-free lump sum; Inland Revenue pensions review sparks concern over tax incentives.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... By Holly Thomas THE right to take a tax-free lump sum at retirement may be scrapped under radical changes to the pension system. Industry experts are suspicious that the Inland Revenue review of the pension system will favour either...

Britannic calls for equity release regulation.(Britannic Retirement Solutions)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... BRITANNIC Retirement Solutions is calling on the government to regulate the GBP750m equity release market. Britannic has already raised its concerns with the FSA and written a letter to Ruth Kelly, financial secretary to the Treasury. ...

Halifax changes fund charging structure.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Halifax has restructured its fund range so that funds have no initial or exit charges. The high-street bank has changed the charging structure on the 14 funds managed by its HBOS fund management arm, Insight. Funds already available have been...

London house price inflation slows.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... London house prices rose by 0.6 per cent in September according to this months Hometrack survey. This is the lowest monthly growth since January. So far prices have risen 12.7 per cent this year and are currently on track to reach 16 per cent...

Endowment crisis campaign launched.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... The Consumers Association has launched a campaign promising to reveal shocking findings about the scale of the endowment crisis. The campaign Endowmentaction will show that the situation is worse than previously thought, according to the CA. It...

Dowsey moves to Winterthur Life.(Helen Dowsey)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Winterthur Life has announced the expansion of its corporate team with the appointment of Helen Dowsey as its new relationship manager. Prior to joining Winterthur Life, Ms Dowsey was employed by Merrill Lynch Investment Managers as a...

Law firm recruits ex-Lloyds adviser.(Lupton Fawcett)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Leeds-based commercial law firm Lupton Fawcett has employed Paul Smith as senior investment adviser in its financial services department. He has more than 25 years blue-chip experience in asset management and financial planning with Lloyds...

Many active funds run like trackers; IFA attacks managers which are charging active fees for quasi-trackers.(Independent Financial Advisers)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... By Simoney Girard Investors are still paying high charges for quasi-tracker funds, according to IFA Bates Investment Services. A recent survey conducted by the firm discovered that investors were paying more than GBP170m in charges for...

DWS plans bond fund for 2003.(DWS Investments)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... DWS Investments is planning a corporate bond and money market guaranteed funds for the Isa season. The fund manager, formerly known as Deutsche Asset Management, said a money market fund launch, with some sort of guarantee, was likely to...

Irish lender offers mortgage range; NEW PRODUCT: mortgage funds.(Irish Permanent)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... IRISH Permanent has launched a fresh range of UK mortgage products in an effort to increase its market share. The range includes a Bank of England base-rate tracker for remortgage customers. It is available both for self-certification and...

Prudential staff given a day off to sort out financial affairs.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... PRUDENTIAL is putting its money where its mouth is and giving staff one day off a year to review their finances. The Prudential Day, for its 8000-strong workforce, is the insurers latest attempt to help close the savings gap. The...

Aberdeen is top of the IFA class.(Independent Financial Adviser)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... ABERDEEN has been voted IFAs favourite corporate bond fund manager in a survey by PR firm Gavin Anderson. The 35th Investment Funds Survey is based on 200 intermediaries and awarded Aberdeen 18 per cent of the unit trust intermediaries...

FSA offers buyers guide on shopping around for funds; The FSA produces shop around guide, and urges customers to seek advice from IFAs.(Independent Financial Advisors)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... By Jason Corcoran CONSUMERS have been urged to shop around after research revealed that many people looked at just one company when buying financial products. The FSA called on people to use the same approach when taking out a...

Northern Rock to offer 50/50 deal; NEW PRODUCT: bond.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... NORTHERN Rocks offshore arm has launched a limited issue Offshore Fifty Fifty savings product. Offshore Fifty Fifty Issue 11 is a combined fixed-rate bond and an equity-linked tracker product. For a minimum investment of GBP10,000,...

Mortgage lending set to hit GBP210bn mark; Experts predict that UK mortgage lending will reach new high by year-end.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 25, 2002... By Bjorn Sodeland TOTAL mortgage lending will reach GBP210bn by year end, it is predicted. According to an estimate made by the Council of Mortgage Lenders, this years lending will crush last years record of GBP161.5bn. Reporting...

Holistic approach is urged.(financial advisers)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Leading American financial planner Patti Houlihan has urged advisers to boost their personal relationship with clients by developing their "softer side." Ms Houlihan, chairwoman of the International CFP council, told delegates in Telford...

Advisers seen as social vermin by the public; BBC journalist tells conference that industry must improve its image among consumers.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... By Kevin ODonnell BBC news reader Huw Edwards has warned financial advisers that they must improve their reputations. He said advisers were often seen, like journalists as social vermin and they had to tackle that issue if they were to...

Complex products confusing advisers.(financial products)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Financial products are becoming more complicated and the gaps in advisers knowledge are growing, according to industry experts. In his address at the Institute of Financial Planning annual conference, incoming president Campbell Edgar said...

Hedge funds using naughty tricks; Expert warns advisers to be on their guard and protect investors.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... By Kevin ODonnell Advisers should be aware of the "naughty tricks" used in the hedge fund market, a leading expert has warned. Paul Nevin, head of UK equity derivatives of BNP Paribas, said hedge funds, and particularly funds of hedge...

Delegates to get media advice.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Pensions guru Danny Cox told delegates they must invest large amounts of time to build a media presence. The pensions development manager of IFA Hargreaves Lansdown said it was vital that IFAs were able to devote a substantial amount of...

Stakeholder cap too low, says ABI chief; Head of life assurance calls for more realistic policy on charges.(Association of British Insurers)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... By Holly Thomas THE ABI has hinted again that it wants the stakeholder cap raised or even abolished. At the IBC conference The Impact of Regulatory Change on Retail Pensions in London last week, Francis McGee, head of life assurance at...

NU speaks out about glut of regulatory bodies.(Norwich Union)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... NORWICH Union has called for a new government department to provide an overview of the pensions industry. Speaking at the IBC conference, Jerry Barnfield, director of pensions development for NU, attacked the current system for containing...

Call for overhaul of whole system.(pensions)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... SIMPLIFICATION cannot reform the pensions system alone there needs to be a more drastic overhaul. This is the opinion of Margaret Craig, pensions development manager for Scottish Equitable and a member of the Pickering Report team, who...

FSA hires director of consumer affairs; Anna Bradley, director of NCC, is to replace Christine Farnish at the FSA.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... By Jason Corcoran ANNA Bradley has been appointed as the new director of consumer affairs at the FSA. Ms Bradley, currently director of the National Consumer Council, replaces Christine Farnish, who left at the end of June to head up...

AMP shares frozen after status queried.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... SHARES in the Australian insurance giant AMP were suspended on the Australian stock exchange last week. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission, the companys corporate regulator, rejected as inadequate a company document that...

RBSI offers new capital guarantee; NEW PRODUCT: deposit account.(Royal Bank of Scotland)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... ROYAL Bank of Scotland International has launched the latest in its series of capital guaranteed deposit accounts. The accounts offer investors the opportunity to earn up to 25 per cent interest over only three years, while still giving...

Standard Life may be forced to cut bonuses; Insurer admits it will have to cut payouts if poor conditions continue.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... By Simon Falush STANDARD Life will have to join other insurers in cutting payouts to policyholders, according to chief executive Iain Lumsden. This is because of the sharp fall in the size of its reserves, said the mutual. The...

Regulation may harm firms, warns APCIMS.(Association of Private College Investment Managers)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... THE FSAs response to recent financial scandals needs to be balanced against the costs to innocent firms, warned the trade body for private client managers. Speaking last week at the AGM of the Association of Private College Investment...

NU launches four-year income bond; NEW PRODUCT: income bond.(Norwich Union)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... NORWICH Union is to offer investors a four-year structured income bond. With a minimum investment of GBP5000, this single premium life Prosper bond guarantees 6 per cent income. But capital is not protected and investors could lose money...

Raise pension age to 70 years; Pensions industry figures approve of later retirement.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... By Holly Thomas Key pensions industry figures say they hope the PPIs proposals to increase the retirement age to 70 will be endorsed. The Pensions Policy Institutes new report, Raising the State Pension Age Are We Ready?, argued the...

Savers would rather wait.(raising of retirement age to 70)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... LAZY savers would rather wait five years than put money into a private pension if the state pension age was raised. New research by Clerical Medical revealed that more than two-thirds of those asked would rather accept they would have to...

Fixed-rate, three-year plan; NEW PRODUCT: investment plan.(Scottish Mutual)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Scottish Mutual, the pension and investment brand of Abbey National, has launched the Income and Growth Plan 4. The three-year investment plan, which offers the choice of income and growth options, also comes with specially devised safety...

FSA proposal is a disaster.(non-advice mortage brokers)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... By Bjorn Sodeland The FSAs proposal to create a breed of non-advice mortage brokers could be a "recipe for total disaster". Despite the presence of Ruth Kelly, the financial secretary to the Treasury, at the presentation of the...

Godsave joins Beachcroft.(Simon Godsave, Beachcroft Wansbroughs)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... SIMON Godsave, former head of strategy for Old Mutuals life business in the US, has joined Beachcroft Wansbroughs as senior consultant. Mr Godsave was recruited by Beachcroft Wansbroughs new consulting venture, which was launched in July...

Fresh NI blunder affects thousands.(national insurance)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... ANOTHER blunder at the Inland Revenue means thousands of self-employed people have a gap in their national insurance payments. The Revenue failed to collect NI contributions from 42,000 self-employed people in 1998 due to problems with its...

CIS cuts bonuses by 5%.(Co-operative Insurance Society)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... CO-OPERATIVE Insurance Society has reduced final bonus rates on traditional with profits pensions and endowments by 5 per cent. CIS attributed the cut to continuing falls in global stock markets. Maturity values on deferred annuity policies...

Impaired annuities see 30 per cent rise; As more buyers take out lifestyle annuities, impaired life funds grow.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... By Holly Thomas IMPAIRED life and enhanced annuities have seen a 30 per cent growth in market share this year. A report from Watson Wyatt has claimed these results pave the way for further growth. The consultancy believes the...

Poor managers shamed.(HCF Partnership advertising campaign)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... A PLANNED advertising campaign which names and shames poor performers is likely to send fund managers scrambling for cover. London-based financial adviser HCF Partnership is to launch the campaign in the national press in January. The...

Johnson steps down at igroup.(David Johnson)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... DAVID Johnson, managing director of sales and marketing at igroup, has resigned. Mr Johnson has been with the group since its inception and, according to the company, he is now leaving to "pursue his business interests elsewhere". ...

Abbeys First National on the market.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... ABBEY National is rumoured to have put First National, its consumer credit business, up for sale. The bank has refused to comment on what it has claimed is pure speculation, but it is reported to be asking for an estimated GBP800m for the...

ScotEq banks on the luck of the Irish.(Scottish Equitable International)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... SCOTTISH Equitable International has launched the Dublin Investment Portfolio to mark the opening of its office in the Irish capital. The product is aimed at buyers with a lump sum to invest over the medium to long term. Investors with...

IR denies blocking money-back fund.(Inland Revenue)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... The Inland Revenue has denied reports that it rejected initial proposals by insurers to launch a money-back annuity. Norwich Union and Prudential have been in talks with the Revenue and the Treasury about the launch of a product that would...

Broccardo replaces Banerji as CIO of F&C.(F and C Management)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Investment manager F&C Management has appointed Anthony Broccardo as chief investment officer, replacing Dr Arnab Banerji. Mr Broccardo joins F&C from Invesco, where he was institutional chief investment officer. Robert Jenkins, chief executive...

Investec extends specialist services.(Investec Private Bank)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Investec Private Bank has created a specialist private client investment banking service. The service is focused on clients whose wealth is linked to their businesses. It concentrates on three core activities: funding through the provision of a...

Lambeth to launch loans through Pink.(Lambeth Building Society, Pink Home Loans)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Pink Home Loans has added Lambeth Building Society to its panel of lenders. The society will offer two exclusive discount home loans through the packager. Tony Jones, managing director of Pink Home Loans, said: "The societys award-winning...

Ansbacher hires two fund managers.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Ansbacher Channel Islands has made two new appointments to its senior management team. Elizabeth Dulake has been appointed director of fiduciary services and Gary Envis has become the client services director. Both have come to Ansbacher from...

Regulator set to rework depolarisation proposals; The FSA has bowed to pressure and altered key parts of its depolarisation plans.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... By Jason Corcoran THE FSA plans to rework its depolarisation proposals following overwhelming opposition from the industry. The regulator is to abandon the proposal for an authorised financial adviser category and alter its defined...

Treasury leaves second loans out.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... THE Treasurys decision to leave second-charge mortgages outside the scope of regulation is flawed, say brokers. According to a statement from the Treasury to Financial Adviser, the decision to leave out second-charge mortgages in...

Pru sacks the Man in favour of GBP20m Plan.(Prudential rebranding campaign)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... PRUDENTIAL has launched a GBP20m rebranding campaign to replace the Man from the Pru with the Plan from the Pru. Instead of face-to-face advice from its salesforce, the Plan is a step-by-step guide, available online or as a wallchart and...

FSA urged to scrap retrospective reviews.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... THE Society of Financial Advisers has called on the FSA to do away with retrospective reviews. The professional body said the regulator could bolster the confidence of the professional indemnity insurance market by considering future...

Top AMP exec resigns.(Paul Batchelor)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... THE chief executive of Australias AMP has resigned after revelations of a capital adequacy shortfall at UK unit Pearl. Paul Batchelor, also managing director of AMP, announced he was leaving during a trip to the UK for a board meeting. His...

Schroders and S&P offer multi-scheme; NEW PRODUCT: investment fund.(Schroder Investment Management, Standard and Poors)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... SCHRODER Investment Management and fund research house Standard & Poors have linked to offer a multi-manager fund of funds. It will be available to large IFA firms and financial institutions across the UK and in Europe, effectively...

Insight makes two SRI appointments.(Insight Investments, its socially responsible investment)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... HBOS asset manager Insight Investments has appointed two new members to its socially responsible investment team. Kerry Ten Kate 36, and Rory Sullivan, 34, will join Insight in October. Ms Ten Kate is a policy adviser to the Royal Botanic...

New Star produces free bond guide.(New Star Investment Funds)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... New Star Investment Funds has produced a free consumer guide to investing in corporate bonds. Drawing on the experience of James Gledhill, manager of the New Star High Yield Bond Fund, the aim is to help investors understand the basics of...

Standard Life confirms standing.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Standard Life has dismissed speculation that its position is at risk due to its policy of investing in equities. For some time, media reports have suggested that Standard Life intends to cut bonus rates and/or introduce market value...

Keydatas selector is ready for women.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Keydata, the fund information service for investment intermediaries, has announced that its online Fund Selector is available on the Womens IFA Groups website. WIG members can now prepare illustrations and download fund fact-sheets and...

World markets hit six-year low; Investors are taking the fall in their stride, claim IFAs.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... By Simoney Girard WORLD markets plummeted to a six-year low on Monday, but national IFAs are urging clients to remain calm. The FTSE100 fell more than 3 per cent to 3739, the lowest point for six years, while world markets also...

BM campaign rapped.(BM Solutions)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... BM SOLUTIONS has been criticised for its portrayal of packagers in its latest advertising campaign. Under the heading "Sub-prime. It is time to cut out the middling men", is a drawing of a man with a box over his head, a gold watch and...

15 of the top 100 IFAs in danger; Exclusive: Report warns of serious decline in the fortunes of advisers.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 25, 2002... By Jason Corcoran FIFTEEN of the UKs top 100 IFA companies are in financial danger, according to a study of the market. The report Trouble at the Top revealed that 46 firms were making less profit than three years ago, while 23 were...

ScotMut to launch property vehicle.(Scottish Mutual)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... by Simoney Girard SCOTTISH Mutual is to launch a 10-year commercial property fund next month. The Guernsey-based plan has been developed with London-based property agent Knights Frank and property manager Westbury, which Scottish...

FA Expo to aid advisers.(Financial Adviser)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... FINANCIAL Adviser Expo 2002 will look at how straight-through processing can help IFAs. The speech by Miriam Leach, business development manager of The Exchange, will focus on how new systems can be integrated with existing technology to...

IFAs seen as social vermin.(independent financial advisers)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... PEOPLE see IFAs as "social vermin", according to BBC presenter Huw Edwards. At the Institute of Financial Plannings annual conference question time last week, Kevin ODonnell, editor-in-chief of Financial Adviser, asked panellists and...

Fidelity joins aggregation platform for intermediaries; Company becomes the seventh to join unique business management system operated by 1st Software.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Lisa Bowman lisa.bowman@ft.com Real-time valuations for Fidelity accounts for financial advisers and intermediaries have been launched by technology solutions 1st Software. The system is intended to provide a compliant and...

IFAs plan own insurance firm as PI costs continue to rise.(professional indemnity)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... As insurance costs spiral, the IFA market is considering creating its own mutual insurer for professional indemnity cover. Premiums have soared due to an increase in claims, particularly accidents at work, the collapse of insurer...

Chance to catch up on technology.(independent financial advisers)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Many IFAs are behind when it comes to technology, but can now get better IT advice through a government scheme. The Approved Centre programme accredits organisations offering IT advice and services, and builds on the Technology Means...

Number of business start-ups falls by 11 per cent.
September 25, 2002... IFAs and insurance providers are struggling to make profits and insufficient margins are forcing some firms out of the market. Business start-ups were down 11 per cent in 2002 compared to last year, according to Barclays quarterly start-up...

Claiming compensation for late payment; Dominique Vaughan Williams.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Q: As finance director of a small firm of business advisers, I am being troubled by a number of late paying clients from large firms. I have recently read that businesses can charge compensation of GBP40 for the late payment of commercial debts...

Moving into a crowded market; Scottish Value Management is one of several players to have launched retail funds despite the bear market conditions which prevail.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... By Dan Bloch SCOTTISH Value Management has rebranded itself as SVM Asset Management and launched three onshore Oeics. A move into retail funds might seem perverse in a bear market. But several groups see opportunities to move into the...

Mortgage firms combine on platform.(Mortgage 2000, Mortgage Brain)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Mortgage 2000 and Mortgage Brain have joined forces to create a common trading platform for mortgages. The two companies will still operate their separate mortgage sourcing system, offering their members the additional trading service free...