Money Management articles from April 2007

Money Management archives from April 2007

Kill or cure?
April 1, 2007... Byline: The FSA is keeping itself and the industry busy, busy, busy. Will it ever come to a point where its work will be over? Hypochondriacs - people who think they might be seriously ill when there is patently nothing wrong with them at...

Manager moves.
April 1, 2007... n Morley has appointed Hoong Wey Hoon as fund manager for its AGBP86.3m Igloo Regeneration Fund, which invests in brownfield and mixed use urban projects. Hoon previously worked as assistant director to the CEO of Grosvenor. He will report to...

FPoY Awards 2007.
April 1, 2007... Byline: Enter for your chance to win AGBP5,000 With the tax year safely under wraps in April, now is the time to start thinking about this year's Financial Planner of the Year awards. For your chance to win AGBP5,000, a framed...

Prudent decision?
April 1, 2007... Byline: Pru takes on failing Equitable Life policies Prudential has agreed to take on more than AGBP1.8bn with profits annuities from the ill-fated Equitable Life. The move signals a change in fortunes for Equitable Life with profits...

Mixed blessing.
April 1, 2007... Byline: Government 'guilty of maladministration' A High Court judicial review on 21 February upheld the Parliamentary Ombudsman's view that the government is responsible for maladministration by providing inaccurate information about the...

Blast from the past.
April 1, 2007... Byline: News from 25 years ago When Money Management surveyed the investment approaches of eight fund management groups in 1982, the unit trust industry was enjoying a period of strong growth. The de-control of management charges in 1979,...

Expo 2007.
April 1, 2007... Byline: In association with Laserfiche Not long to go now for this year's FTAdviser Expo 2007 event, held in association with Laserfiche. The expo events will again provide an opportunity for IFAs to network with providers from every aspect...

Change to stats provider.
April 1, 2007... Byline: Morningstar buys Standard & Poor's Following the ACQUISITION of stats provider S&P by US firm Morningstar, there will be some minor changes to the statistics section from this month, but these will be confined to branding. The same...

A REIT mess.
April 1, 2007... Byline: Specific guidance due soon The FSA will be publishing specific guidance on real estate investment trusts (REITs) "within a few weeks", an FSA spokesperson exclusively told Money Management. A new web page on the small firms...

Best of both worlds?
April 1, 2007... Byline: The Hartford enters 'third way' pensions arena The Hartford has introduced a new pension plan for lump sum transfers and single contributions, which it claims combines the best aspects of an annuity and a drawdown product. The...

Clean and cautious.
April 1, 2007... Aegon Asset Management is adding to its ethical repertoire with the launch of the Ethical Cautious Managed fund. It is also launching a UK Cautious Managed fund and a UK Opportunities fund. The Ethical Cautious Managed fund comes in...

Life office churning.
April 1, 2007... Byline: 'Loyalty bonus' hides massive MVRs, says adviser An IFA has claimed that Standard Life is encouraging churning as a way of minimising massive MVRs imposed on its with profits bonds. The adviser invested into a stand alone with...

Stock up.
April 1, 2007... Friends Provident HAS launched a new guaranteed bond that offers exposure to the stock markets while guaranteeing to return at least the original capital sum invested provided the investments are held for at least five years. The bond...

The CTF generation.
April 1, 2007... When child trust funds (CTFs) were first announced in the 2003 Budget, they were hailed as a means to teach the next generation about finance and help parents plan for their children's future. However, it was after their launch in April 2005...

Claim pain.
April 1, 2007... Claims management companies (CMCs) are being forced to review their business practices following a decision to regulate them. The Compensation Act 2006 was passed in July and will come into effect in April this year. Under the Act, CMCs...

Fair enough?
April 1, 2007... Recent statements made by senior FSA representatives have made it clear that treating customers fairly (TCF) will form the bedrock of principle-based regulation in the future. Accordingly TCF should be an integral part of every firm's business...

Financial planning tools - just a fad?
April 1, 2007... New business within the financial services industry grew substantially last year, with sales of pension products alone rising by nearly 70%. However, the majority of this growth can be attributed to the recycling of existing money as a...

With profits endowment results.
April 1, 2007... Just when you thought it was safe to get out of with profits, the round of bonus announcements begins to improve. This year, fewer firms than ever are applying market value reductions (MVRs) and more are beginning to blow trumpets about their...

Investors looking for a pile.
April 1, 2007... The buy to let market continues to grow apace according to the latest figures from the CML. In 2006, 330,000 buy to let mortgages worth AGBP38.4bn were taken out. By value, it represent 9% of all mortgage balances at the end of 2006, up from 8%...

Small and self-administered pension arrangements.
April 1, 2007... SSASs are trust-based occupational pension schemes, with fewer than 12 members, where at least one of the members is connected to another member. In practice many SSASs are private family operated schemes, with two or three member directors....

Taking stock - the meaning of volatility.
April 1, 2007... Byline: Former investment banker Russell Taylor looks at volatility and whether stock market performance can be predicted Life was simple before economists got hold of computers. Harry Markowitz was the first culprit, with his doctoral...

Tax advantages of VCT investments.
April 1, 2007... The rules and regulations governing VCTs are complicated, and perhaps the best way to explain how they apply is by working through a case study. Vincent is a city banker, with earnings of AGBP350,000 (PAYE deducted of AGBP132,000) having...

Pool sharks.
April 1, 2007... Byline: CTF providers squabble Smaller child trust fund (CTF) stakeholder providers have hit back at claims that they are receiving a significant share of the CTF market by default despite doing little to educate people about the schemes....

Totally non PC.
April 1, 2007... With the increasing role that IT plays in both financial services and in the success of individual businesses, advisers' lack of skill with technology can no longer be ignored. Lack of adequate training has been suggested as a major factor...

ASPs - The neverending story.
April 1, 2007... A year ago, A-Day occurred and the pensions industry was supposed to get simpler. But savers, particularly those who opted to transfer their pension fund into an alternatively secured pension (ASP), could be forgiven for thinking that that day...

The crucial question of health.
April 1, 2007... You cannot open a paper or turn on the TV without reading about another health related issue: obesity at all ages is grabbing the headlines. However, health is a difficult issue to broach and some medical conditions can be very socially...

Investing for income.
April 1, 2007... One very significant side effect of the simplification of the pensions regime last year was that income retirement options again came under the spotlight. The result is that while there has been no leap in sales of investment annuities,...

The case for deferral.
April 1, 2007... In a nutshell, insurance companies take annuity premiums and invest the money in assets that will include corporate bonds, equities, property, and government bonds. These investments carry a risk premium and an equity premium, yet insurance...

Protecting your assets.
April 1, 2007... The subject of value from annuities typically tends to elicit one of three viewpoints: They are good value and the best way of securing an income for life for most people; they are poor value because rates are historically low; they are poor...

Looking ahead.
April 1, 2007... Before A-Day the self invested personal pension (SIPP) market was growing quickly and the ability to hold residential property and exotic investments such as fine wine was expected to catapult SIPPs into the mainstream. The hope of investing in...

Opportunity knocks.
April 1, 2007... In a supplement to the October issue of Money Management the prospects for the SIPP market were examined. In particular, the different types of SIPP being marketed and the likely future demand were discussed. John Chapman questioned whether...

Raising rights awareness.
April 1, 2007... Protected rights cash values have been building up in pensions for nearly 20 years and industry experts estimate that the value of these funds could now be worth over AGBP100bn. Unfortunately many investors are unaware that they can fully...

Sifting through the SIPPs.
April 1, 2007... When asked for their comments for this survey, a number of providers said that it was 'exciting times' for self invested personal pensions (SIPPs). They were no doubt referring to the fact that SIPPs are about to come under new regulation as of...

Happy hardcore.
April 1, 2007... Byline: Regulation needed for SSAS schemes Pension providers have called for tougher regulation for small self administered schemes (SSAS) to clamp down on 'hardcore' scheme members that knowingly break the rules. Since the...

What we can learn from over there.
April 1, 2007... It is a picture that will be wearily familiar to IFAs and their clients. Pensions and retirement savings are being squeezed by the effects of historically low long term interest rates on annuities. Even though they have edged up they have still...

What can SIPPs invest in now?
April 1, 2007... SIPPs have achieved what many thought was impossible by bringing new excitement and enthusiasm to pension saving. Allowing people to take responsibility for their pension provision by making their own investment decisions across a wide...

The customer of tomorrow.
April 1, 2007... It is worth stepping back to think about what a SIPP actually is and what it aims to deliver for the customer. Many think of it as a product when in reality it is an offering of services. It is not just about the administration services from...

Raising the game.
April 1, 2007... While the purpose of the A-Day reforms may have been to simplify pensions, customers have become increasingly sophisticated. The boom in the SIPPs market demonstrates their appreciation of the options available to them and their desire to have...

Fade to grey.
April 1, 2007... Byline: EIA criticises M&S campaign The Ethical Investment Association (EIA) has strongly criticised the advertising for the newly launched Marks & Spencer Ethical fund, saying that it misleads consumers. While the advertising campaign...

Advocating changes.
April 1, 2007... Byline: AIC receives vital support on VAT case The EU Advocate General has added her support to the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) in a legal case, arguing that VAT should not be imposed on investment trusts. Advocate...

Personal accounts under fire.
April 1, 2007... Byline: Contributions cap and lump sum option criticised ASPECTS OF DECEMBER'S personal accounts White Paper have been criticised ahead of the closure of the government's consultation period in March. The proposed AGBP5,000 annual cap...

Bonus returns.
April 1, 2007... Byline: With profits providers announce rate rises Returns on with profits policies are showing signs of improvement, with many insurers announcing increases in bonus rates on the previous year. This follows disappointing rate announcements...

Claims confusion cleared.
April 1, 2007... Byline: CSC accepts damning ABI figures The Claims Standards Council (CSC) has accepted that ABI figures showing poor performance from claims management companies (CMCs) may be correct, despite issuing an official statement to the contrary....