Money Management articles from January 2005

Money Management archives from January 2005

IFAs come out on top.
January 1, 2005... FSA calculations of market average commission rates have revealed that tied agents' commission will compare unfavourably to IFAs' across major product areas. The market average rates released so far by the FSA in its depolarisation...

Dispute over Mortgage Day debacle.
January 1, 2005... Legal & General has estimated that mortgage business volumes dipped by just a quarter after Mortgage Day, shrugging off claims that its computer system was a shambles. The group said figures for November were unavailable at the time of...

Care bare.
January 1, 2005... LifeSearch is attempting to spur insurers into improving policyholder support services by providing its own free assistance programme. By teaming up with claimant support specialist Red Arc to provide LifeSearchCare to all customers, the...

FSA clarifies rule.
January 1, 2005... The FSA has been forced to amend an ambiguous statement in its depolarisation document following pressure from providers. At first, the new rules stated that providers could grant cash or other assistance to firms from other groups for the...

Fantasy portfolio challenge.
January 1, 2005... Five months in and the competition is fierce, and the results are fantastic. There are definitely some budding multi-managers out there. Volatility continues to pay dividends in the middle stage of the challenge. However, market opinion is...

Wake up call to IFAs.
January 1, 2005... Resolution, the firm that bought Royal & Sun Alliance's book of closed with-profits policies, may prompt much needed action among IFAs after advising bondholders to make use of exit penalty holidays. The group, which recently announced the...

Do it for the kids.
January 1, 2005... IFAs are debating the value of selling Child Trust Funds (CTFs), despite being hampered by limited information on fee and commission structure just weeks before their launch. The products will fall into one of three categories: savings,...

Life goes on.
January 1, 2005... Never mind the government's plans for us all to work until we are 67, the retirement age could be extended to 900 if a Cambridge University scientist's theory turns out to be true. Geneticist Aubrey de Grey, believes that life expectancy...

A seasonal fairy tale for our times.
January 1, 2005... Once upon a time, in the year of our Lord 1988, in a land not far from here, thousands upon thousands of independent advisers lived happily and flourished, helping people from all walks of life with their money worries. Over the years, many...

Ratebuster in the neighbourhood.
January 1, 2005... DWS Investments has burst forth from the savings wilderness with an enterprising attempt to provide an alternative to building society products. The Ratebuster portfolio pledges to give investors the chance to earn higher than average cash...

Blast from the past.
January 1, 2005... How prescient was Roger Corley, then actuary of CM&G, when he asked, "what shall we say when the bonus is cut?" of an audience of IFAs at a London seminar, as reported in the January 1980 issue of Money Management. He went on to say that...

AttracKtive offers.
January 1, 2005... Bradford & Bingley has launched a three-year tracker that has been designed especially for those remortgaging who have smaller mortgages. The product, which is funded by BM Solutions, offers 95% LTV and has an initial pay rate of 0.4% above the...

Unique health cover for companies.
January 1, 2005... An unusual corporate private medical insurance plan has emerged from YourHealth+. The Corporate Health Fund operates as a 'medical savings account' from which employees' private medical treatment bills are paid. The plan also covers chronic and...

making child's play of investing.
January 1, 2005... Foreign & Colonial has become the first investment trust company to enter the child trust fund (CTF) market, unveiling details of a stakeholder and non-stakeholder plan in time for the first vouchers to be sent out to parents in January. ...

To green, or not to green.
January 1, 2005... Any discussion about the merits of dark green, light green and screening sounds like it belongs in the weekend fashion or culture supplements. But readers of the newspaper money pages are becoming more accustomed to these terms as the concept...

Investing in the US: does it make cents?
January 1, 2005... The US has the largest and most technologically powerful economy in the world by country, and the second largest by economic union, after the EU, but there have been times when this economic super power has had its status tested to the limit....

Medical insurance.
January 1, 2005... Axa PPP is to herald the new era of protection regulation with a product that seeks to marry PMI with critical illness. The Essential Medical Protection Plan covers the three most common life-threatening conditions in the UK - cancer, heart...

Investing in life and death.
January 1, 2005... For investors that are still wary of investing in the stock market but frustrated by returns from low interest rates, life settlements are an interesting alternative. They are life policies are that purchased from people expected to die soon...

Solving the pensions problem.
January 1, 2005... A rapidly ageing population and falling birth rates has struck fear into the heart of the British government. The old age dependency ratio (pensioners as a percentage of the working age population) only rose from 22.6 in 1975 to 24.4 in 2000....

China in your hands.
January 1, 2005... HSBC Bank International has launched three capital-secured structured products: The China Bonus Fund, the China Bonus Plus Fund and the Atlantic Growth Fund. All three funds have five-year terms, unlimited annual bonuses and offer capital...

The newest profession.
January 1, 2005... The days when people worked for 40 years for one company and retired with a final salary pension scheme are long gone. Now people have to make their own provision and they need help. This is particularly true now that the financial world is...

Taking Stock - January.
January 1, 2005... Risk is at the heart of the investment process, and identifying risk correctly is the difference between investment success and failure. Giving capital to a bank, goes the saying, is like giving a gallon of beer to a drunk. You know what will...

After the storm.
January 1, 2005... THE STRUCTURED product industry has had a tough time turning the corner on the so-called 'precipice bond' scandal. For thousands of investors, the effects of the disastrous performance of many high income bonds (HIBs) remain all too real and...

Don't call us-.
January 1, 2005... Mortgage intermediaries are still grappling with the implications of the FSA's rules on contacting existing clients over a long period of time. For example, while it has been customary for an adviser to contact a client to whom he sold a two--...

Pre-owned assets: The new regime, part II.
January 1, 2005... Although there was some initial speculation that the new pre-owned asset tax charge would be restricted to pre-owned land and chattels, it has quickly become clear that the government crackdown on tax avoidance is not discriminatory. The rules...

Hard working IFAs.
January 1, 2005... Despite claims that they work hard for their money, many IFAs are neglecting their clients, according to recent research from Pivotal and SOFA. The finding that the most profitable IFA firms conducted 0.81 reviews per year per active client --...

They claimed, we saw, we conquered.
January 1, 2005... Money Management has secured a small victory over the endowment claims firms. We reported in November how the website of one such company, Brunel Franklin, was churning out the same standard response -- that the individual could have a claim --...

Depolarisation reaction polarised.
January 1, 2005... Depolarisation has been ushered in to the echo of disgruntled IFAs lamenting its potential implications. The publication of the final rules in the FSA's depolarisation document, 'Reforming depolarisation: implementation', was met by IFAs with a...

Limbo time.
January 1, 2005... Providers have decided against a consortium bid for The Exchange, which was put up for sale following financial problems at its parent company Marlborough Stirling. The situation is being watched closely by an industry uneasy about the future...

Chancellor plays Scrooge.
January 1, 2005... While the Chancellor handed out some early Christmas goodies in his Pre-Budget Report -- such as more money for new mothers and pensioners -- he was not as kind to investors, despite backing down on cutting the annual ISA limit from AGBP7,000...

Severn's deadly sins.
January 1, 2005... The Association of Independent Financial Advisers' (AIFA) appointment of David Severn as its new director general has upset some members, unsure of his suitability for the role. The IFAs have cited a series of perceived attacks on the IFA...

Curiosity kills the Katz.
January 1, 2005... Harry Katz, the IFA who became a cause celebre as Money Management followed his attempts to secure PI cover at the height of the crisis, is still suffering at the hands of liability insurers. Two years on from his initial troubles, Katz has...

Breaking out of charges jail.
January 1, 2005... Anew personal pension with a charging structure outside stakeholder limits has just been introduced by Norwich Union. In particular, there are up-front charges which lower transfer values below stakeholder pension levels. The multiplicity of...

Me and my shadow.
January 1, 2005... The FSA is launching a scheme in January to send its staff out into the IFA community and experience life at the sector's coal face. The watchdog is working with the Association of Independent Financial Advisers (AIFA) and the Institute of...