Money Management articles from December 2006

Money Management archives from December 2006

Upfront and honest.
December 1, 2006... The financial services industry doesn't help itself sometimes. Extortionate upfront commission levels plagued the market's reputation in the 1980s and early 1990s, so the recent news that, as the Sunday Telegraph so delicately put it, "rip off...

Unrelaxing regime.
December 1, 2006... Byline: Call made for relaxation of insured pension investment rules Insured personal pensions should have their restrictions on investments reduced, giving greater flexibility and lessening the need for transfers out by policyholders,...

Finance fun for kids.
December 1, 2006... Byline: Teachers' TV launches show A series of programmes that aims to bring finance to the classroom has been launched on Teachers' TV. The four-episode series, called Financial Capability, is part of the FSA's strategy to educate the...

In the loop.
December 1, 2006... Byline: Simplification allows contribution 'doubling up' With City bonuses expected to reach almost AGBP9bn this year, a loophole created by A-Day rule changes could let those flush with cash make significant contributions to their...

Manager moves.
December 1, 2006... n Chris Rodgers is leaving HSBC to set up a boutique fund house with two former colleagues from Schroder. Rodgers is the latest departure from HSBC - he is currently managing Bob Morris's UK Growth & Income fund following Morris's resignation....

Blast from the past.
December 1, 2006... Byline: News from 25 years ago Contracting out of the State Second Pension (S2P) has been a controversial issue since it was fully introduced in 1978. The Government is restruct-uring the S2P rebate from next April, which estimates...

Active encouragement.
December 1, 2006... Byline: SVM offers improvement through investment A new socially responsible investment (SRI) fund from SVM Asset Management is an open ended UCITS fund focusing on companies in Europe. The SVM All Europe SRI fund engages in positive...

Where's WOL?
December 1, 2006... Zurich has become the latest life company to offer a guaranteed rate whole of life policy following strong demand for the option among advisers and clients. The Zurich Adaptable Life Plan (ZALP) now offers clients the choice of paying...

Added choice.
December 1, 2006... INCOME PROTECTION Cirencester Friendly has launched Income Assured Plus, a 'Holloway plan', which builds on its existing income protection product by enabling policyholders to shift between protection and investment, protection only and...

Worldwide REIT investment.
December 1, 2006... PROPERTY FUND Norwich Union's new global property fund is an investment company with variable capital (ICVC) that has 80% of its investments in real estate investment trusts (REITs). The fund will invest in 13 countries with the...

Eastern promise.
December 1, 2006... EMERGING EUROPE FUND Jupiter is adding to its range of SICAVs (the European equivalent of an OEIC) with the Emerging Europe Select fund, to be co-managed by Elena Shaftan and Ingrid Kukuljan, the managers of Jupiter's Emerging European...

The unfairer sex.
December 1, 2006... Byline: Women to lose out under DWP proposals Women that contract out of the State Second Pension (S2P) could face significant reductions in annuity payouts if proposed changes to protected rights pensions are introduced, an IFA warns. ...

Can't pay, won't pay.
December 1, 2006... Personal debt in Britain is growing by an estimated AGBP1m every four minutes, according to Credit Action, a national money education charity. With Christmas around the corner, spending and borrowing levels are expected to soar further. Most...

Managing loyalty.
December 1, 2006... Successive reports from Cazalet Consulting, KPMG and Deloitte suggest that the present life and pensions model is unworkable, not least through low persistency - in other words, a lack of customer loyalty though policyholders stopping premium...

Hard currency.
December 1, 2006... It has never been easier for investment houses to market their products across the continent, thanks to new European regulations. The ability to market cross border has vastly increased the potential investor base for fund managers and they...

Adapting to change.
December 1, 2006... The new ABI definitions announced in April this year signal a new era for critical illness cover (CIC). Definitions have been updated to give consumers a clearer idea of what level of cover to expect from CIC on the market. And a new measure...

It's the customer, stupid.
December 1, 2006... Looking back, all the post-Sandler Review flurry of new business models, new intermediary consolidators and new regulations has changed very little, despite the seemingly frenetic push for change. An estimated AGBP1bn has been spent by...

Starting from scratch.
December 1, 2006... It may seem an obvious thing to state, but one thing that you will need when setting up a business is money, and lots of it. As it will be a while before your fledgling firm makes a profit, before you start up you will need to estimate how much...

Calling all landlords.
December 1, 2006... With house prices still on the rise, investing in property remains attractive. The potential for a steady stream of income and gains on disposal explains why property remains such a popular asset class. However, there are tax implications for...

Taking stock - preparing for the future.
December 1, 2006... Byline: Play the odds and beat the market, says former investment banker Russell Taylor Investors are accustomed to think that America grows much faster economically than the UK, or of Europe generally, but that may now be changing....

Rising markets, falling principles.
December 1, 2006... It is one of the worst aspects of housebuying. The buyer has found the property of his dreams and his offer has been accepted. There are no problems in the survey, the sale is proceeding, albeit at a sedate pace, and a date for exchanging...

NPSS - a pensions lottery.
December 1, 2006... The reform package proposed by the Pension Commission and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) assumes that people will work for 40 years. But many will be unemployed, take time off to have children, fall ill, or retire early. The bulk of...

Confusion reigns.
December 1, 2006... Byline: Advisers unclear on long term care rules Advisers are confused over new rules concerning long term care (LTC) advice and not all hold the relevant qualification, Money Management has discovered. As of 1 November, all...

March of the multi-manager.
December 1, 2006... Since the first multi-manager funds launched in the UK over 10 years ago, the fund structure has become one of the most popular choices for retail investors. The Investment Management Association (IMA) reports that as of 30 June 2006, there...

A tale of two.
December 1, 2006... Since the first UK multi-manager fund was set up over 10 years ago, every life company worth its salt has moved to offer one of these products through its life and pensions vehicle. The multi-manager concept tries to make an adviser's life...

advisers.
December 1, 2006... Few if any advisers can have missed the explosion of interest in multi-manager as an investment approach in recent years - a phenomenon for once not entirely driven by the marketing muscle of product providers. The premise is simple....

Less is more?
December 1, 2006... In an environment where fund managers are regularly promoted as the name (and increasingly the face) in which investors should place their trust and money, multi-manager fund managers are emerging as a new class of kingmakers in the investment...

Putting principles into practice.
December 1, 2006... Access to a choice of funds and to fund managers has never been better. The qualitative characteristics of the funds available to advisers have not evolved at the same pace as the platforms or selection tools, however. Funds can struggle to...

Evolution is key.
December 1, 2006... Multi-manager investing is steadily increasing in popularity. Some surveys show the rate of growth compounding at 18% versus 5% for conventional funds and the Investment Management Association points to a 15% growth in fund of fund assets in...

With profits but without friends.
December 1, 2006... With profits has been written off by many investors and advisers and demonised by much of the consumer press. But ask advisers what most of their clients want and many will say an investment that does not take too many risks and provides...

Which way now?
December 1, 2006... Viewed by some as the 'problem child' of financial services, with profits, it seems, is back on the main agenda - as if it had ever gone away, really. The issue being aired this time is the post sales support for with profits policyholders....

Untrendy returns.
December 1, 2006... With profits bonds are not trendy anymore: that much is certain. Unit trusts and investment companies with variable capital (ICVCs) are the new darlings of the industry when it comes to medium and long term investments. And until unit trusts...

Closed and no cigars.
December 1, 2006... Since the boom days of the early 1990s, with profits has slid slowly out of favour and a slump in demand coupled with a battered reputation has seen many of the funds underpinning with profits bonds shut. Today, some AGBP85bn of with...

Bidding war.
December 1, 2006... Byline: Fund houses criticised for unfair charges Fund houses have come under fire for applying uncompetitive withdrawal charges on small deals. Asset managers have been found to apply cancellation charges when investors sell units in a...

The case for mutuals.
December 1, 2006... In a recent industry survey, on 1 August 2006 the average maturity value of AGBP25,000 invested in a with profits bond five years before was AGBP29,540. But what is interesting about the five year performance figures submitted by the 22...

Every tax has a silver lining.
December 1, 2006... As with profits bonds have fallen from favour with investors, they seem to have fallen off the radar of the Chancellor as well. Just a few years ago Gordon Brown was considering eliminating the tax-deferred withdrawal facility attached to all...

A fading star.
December 1, 2006... In its hey day, with profits might have seemed a good choice for many cautious investors. After all, it met the needs of investors who had a cautious approach to risk, wanted any movements in the stock market to be smoothed and looked for an...

Self-assured.
December 1, 2006... Byline: Unum Prov leads backlash against reinsurers Providers of critical illness cover (CIC) are starting to turn their back on reinsurers following substantial cuts in sums assured and hikes in premiums. Unum Provident is ditching...

FSA dishes up menu change.
December 1, 2006... Byline: Regulator raises market average commissions The FSA has finally released new market averages to be used in adviser menus after admitting months ago that they were not an accurate reflection of average commission levels. The...

ISA reform reported.
December 1, 2006... Byline: Pre-Budget report wish list The Government has announced its intention to overhaul the ISA regime ahead of the pre-Budget report (PBR), expected at the beginning of December. At a recent PEP and ISA Managers' Association...

Pensions slip up.
December 1, 2006... Byline: Pension schemes urged to check invoices Final salary pension scheme trustees and administrators are being urged to check their risk based levy invoices from the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) following warnings that many of this...

Elle presidentes.
December 1, 2006... Both the Personal Finance Society (PFS) and the Institute of Financial Planning (IFP) have appointed new presidents. Bristol based IFA Carole Nicholls of Nicholls Stevens Financial Services took over from Brian Steeples of the Turris...