Money Management articles from January 2008

Money Management archives from January 2008

If...
January 1, 2008... Byline: Perhaps instead of spending vast sums on the RDR the FSA should simply spend it on policing the industry. If only. T he announcement by the FSA that it is to deliver an interim paper on the RDR responses ahead of schedule came as a...

Out with the old.
January 1, 2008... Byline: 2008: fresh start for protection industry? Protection advisers are predicting that new players will add vigour to the market that will outweigh Standard Life's departure in November 2007. General insurance specialist Fortis is...

Fee based furore.
January 1, 2008... Byline: Online directory comes under fire from competitor The newly formed Forum for Fee Based Advice has been criticised by the chief executive of IFA Promotion, who said that the proposed online adviser directory might be misleading to...

Annuities find new home.
January 1, 2008... Equitable Life's with profits annuities book is expected to be transferred to Prudential by the end of December following final court approval of the agreement. The estimated 62,000 policies valued at around AGBP1.7bn will become part of...

2008 IFA awards.
January 1, 2008... Byline: MM rewards the best planners of the year Preparations are well under way for the 2008 Financial Planner of the Year Awards, hosted by Money Management in association with MetLife. Now in its 13th year, the FPoY Awards 2008 look set...

Correction.(Correction notice)(Reprint)
January 1, 2008... - In Table 1 on page 59 of November's with profits endowments update survey, the performance figures for instant access accounts and 90 day deposit accounts are in the wrong order. The 90 day deposit accounts should be the higher of the two...

A positive attitude.
January 1, 2008... Byline: Funds launch in the face of sector negativity Despite predictions of doom and gloom, HSBC and Henderson have entered the property arena with a global multi-manager property fund and a pan European property fund respectively. ...

Nascent realms.
January 1, 2008... Franklin Templeton Investments has launched the Templeton emerging markets smaller companies fund, a Luxembourg registered SICAV, while Investec has gone offshore with its Guernsey domiciled offshore emerging markets debt fund, a mirror to its...

Safe as houses.
January 1, 2008... MPPI provider Bennett Gould & Partners has launched what it believes is the first mortgage payment protection insurance (MPPI) product for commercial mortgages. CommercialWise has been specifically developed to cover mortgage repayments on...

Change in the wind.
January 1, 2008... An alternative energy fund is being launched by Guinness Asset Management early next year subject to FSA approval. About two thirds of the investments in the Guinness Alternative Energy Fund will be in solar and wind companies with smaller...

Looking east.
January 1, 2008... Schroders has launched an addition to its Alpha Plus range. The Asian Alpha Plus will sit alongside the UK, European and Japan Asian Alpha Plus funds. The fund, a non-UCITS retail scheme will hold 60-80 Asian stocks, not including Japan...

RDR final report delayed.
January 1, 2008... Byline: Regulator updates timeline in light of responses The FSA has delayed its final report on the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) by four months, citing a high quantity of responses as a primary factor in its decision. The...

Very interesting comment piece in December!
January 1, 2008... Byline: Letter of the month Whilst I generally agree that to pay compensation at the end of a contract would effectively be a guarantee, nonetheless, we experienced a case a couple of years ago whereby we recommended a product to a client,...

Prising off the lid.
January 1, 2008... Debbie Harrison did a wonderful job in outlining the problems of with profit funds, particularly those that are closed (November issue). It is a shame she stopped short of directly pointing the finger at those responsible for the move away from...

Chartered vs certified.
January 1, 2008... I was interested to read your article on Certified versus Chartered (December) and I am sure I am not alone when I say that I find a lot of this internecine squabbling irritating and even somewhat childish. I happen to hold the CFP mainly...

Consumer agreed remuneration.
January 1, 2008... John Chapman's article 'Implausible regulation' (MM, October) was as provocative as John usually is. But I have to take issue with him regarding customer agreed Remuneration. (CAR). John says that it is unclear whether CAR involves any real...

Publish SIPP performance.
January 1, 2008... John Chapman has a well- deserved reputation for producing high quality research. However his comments concerning the development of the SIPP market appear to be influenced by some of the more hysterical elements of the industry. At their...

Independent financial advisers.
January 1, 2008... Your November Comment piece, just brilliant - you have excelled even yourself! Just call me Harry Hoover from now on! Harry Katz, Norwest Consultants, via email

Low cost endowments.
January 1, 2008... What if an advisory firm refused to pay compensation in respect of a projected (and therefore not yet actual) shortfall on one of these policies, on the grounds that this projected shortfall had arisen ~ indeed, had been a virtual certainty...

SIPPs.
January 1, 2008... I totally disagree with Martin Tilley that a SIPP "should include commercial property and unquoted shares" (November issue). As a state wrinkly, with no NRE, I am immensely grateful to Hargreaves Lansdown for offering the facility to invest my...

The LAUTRO 12.
January 1, 2008... Your October comment; profound as usual. Thanks very much for bringing some commonsense to the debate. Terence P O'Halloran, IFA, via email

A battle of giants.
January 1, 2008... The dramatic flow of funds into SIPPs in the past couple of years has led to claims that they are the mainstream product of the future. But it is unclear just what SIPPs offer over personal pensions and especially stakeholder priced personal...

Sting in the tail.
January 1, 2008... Byline: Severe fines for those failing to meet Pensions Bill requirements Employers will face a fine of up to AGBP50,000, increasing by AGBP10,000 per day if they fail to comply with the new rules laid out in the Pensions Bill. The...

It's a fair cop.
January 1, 2008... In November the FSA launched the latest in its series of Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) reports, "Treating customers fairly: measuring outcomes", at a major TCF conference that was held in London. The report sets out the FSA's assessment...

Business ISPs.
January 1, 2008... An unreliable internet connection can be damaging to a business, resulting in reduced productivity and income. And nowhere is this more true than for financial advisers, where a litany of portals, wraps, research programs and financial planning...

Advising on legacy with profits.
January 1, 2008... One of the many requirements that the FSA expects providers and advisers to achieve by December 2008 is that policyholders receive information sufficient to make informed decisions on their investments, which will, of course, include any with...

Protecting the mortgage.
January 1, 2008... Consumer confidence in the UK mortgage market has suffered since the Northern Rock crisis began, while interest rates are at a six year high of 5.57%. As a result, the protection industry is beginning to see an increase in mortgage related...

Plans for retirement?
January 1, 2008... Trustee investment plans (TIPs) developed out of a demand from trustees of final salary pension schemes for access to some providers' more interesting insurance funds. They were, and still are, used as a vehicle by the trustees of UK registered...

Rate expectations.
January 1, 2008... Following alarm at the economic indicators, the Bank of England base rate (BBR) was finally cut in December to 5.5%, giving borrowers an early Christmas present. It had been at 5.75% for five months, but most analysts had been predicting a cut...

Taking stock - banking crisis and economic slowdown.
January 1, 2008... Byline: Have investors yet appreciated the risks involved in the credit crunch, asks former investment banker Russell Taylor The long absent volatility of share prices returned to stock markets in 2007. More importantly, so also did fear -...

CGT complication: an opportunity for advisers.
January 1, 2008... The Pre-Budget Report on 9 October 2007 announced a 'simplification' of the capital gains tax (CGT) regime, but in his strive for simplicity the Chancellor unwittingly produced areas of complexity. The current capital gains tax (CGT)...

Means testing lite.
January 1, 2008... Byline: Two and a half cheers for 'income disregard', proposed by the PPI, says John Chapman With debates on the new Pensions Bill looming, Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain and Pensions Minister Mike Brien should count their lucky...

Protection: Forward to a flexible future.
January 1, 2008... Byline: Provider innovation is key to success of protection cover, report suggests Flexible and simple products are essential to the future of protection, according to Prudential. A survey carried out by Prudential's PruProtect arm...

Proceed with caution.
January 1, 2008... Byline: Mortgage market credit crunch warning Advisers agree with the FSA's warnings that continued credit and liquidity problems next year will have a significant impact on the mortgage market. In a speech to the Council of Mortgage...

Protection: Advisers targeted.
January 1, 2008... Byline: Project aims to close the protection gap A pilot scheme will measure the impact that training in protection has on advisers' business. The scheme, run by Axa in partnership with Chisenhale Consulting, lasts until March 2008 and...

Protection: Mind the even bigger gap.
January 1, 2008... Employers should ensure that they are providing sufficient cover for employees as the new Welfare Reform Bill will result in lower benefits for many people, according to Canada Life. The Government's Welfare Reform Bill is due to be...

Protection: Who provides the best service of them all?
January 1, 2008... Byline: Report shows income protection sales are falling due to cost and lack of customer enthusiasm Defaqto has released its second annual report into service in the protection industry, which has found that income protection (IP) sales...

Protection: Product update.
January 1, 2008... - LV= has made a number of changes to its income protection product. These are a simplified approach to business mileage (for most occupation classes, mileage will not affect the rate class, definition of disability or premium), enhanced...

Protection: Getting a GrIP.
January 1, 2008... The three main areas of need for protection insurance are living too long, dying too soon or becoming too ill to work. Perhaps the one that is least recognised, however, is the need to protect the ability to earn an income. Only about 6%...

Protection: Support stockings.
January 1, 2008... Surely, income protection (IP) should feature in every financial planning recommendation? So why doesn't it? Everyone has plans, hopes and aspirations for themselves and their loved ones. Many are making those dreams a reality by putting...

Protection: Crib sheet: income protection.
January 1, 2008... Income protection (IP) is designed to provide a tax free income if an individual is too ill to work for an extended period of time. The policy will begin to pay out after a set deferred period, and will continue to pay out until the individual...

With Profits: Q&A.
January 1, 2008... Byline: Jo Dymock asks Frank Morton whether with profits are on the mend Prudential has been in the with profits bonds market for over 15 years. In the past four years it has launched the PruFund, a with profits-type bond which aims...

With Profits: With profits bond results.
January 1, 2008... With profits bonds have spent several years in the financial doldrums, but last year Money Management revealed that they were finally beginning to pick up speed and enter the race again. The turbulent market conditions this year have meant that...

With Profits: Sharpening the claws.
January 1, 2008... With profits bonds will be facing a new challenge this spring if the proposed capital gains tax (CGT) changes go ahead. The changes will not affect bonds directly, as gains made on bonds are subject to income tax and not CGT. But by making CGT...

The price is wrong.
January 1, 2008... Byline: IFAs speak out on low protection sales IFAs are pessimistic that the Northern Rock crisis will help improve protection sales, instead blaming poor business on high premiums. Despite the volatile nature of financial markets,...

In the spotlight.
January 1, 2008... Byline: TCF rules highlight vulnerable clients Long term care (LTC) advisers may find themselves under greater scrutiny than other advisers as a result of treating customers fairly (TCF) rules, according to Symponia, the association for...

Safety first.
January 1, 2008... Byline: Calls for greater protection depositors Depositors should have their assets protected by a separate insurance system to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), the Investment Management Association (IMA) has said. ...

A chartered headache.
January 1, 2008... Byline: IFAs criticise the CII for treatment when applying for their charter Disgruntled IFAs believe that they are being exploited and treated unfairly by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) when pursuing chartered status. The...

Know your rights.
January 1, 2008... Byline: Proposal to hold protected rights within a SIPP Proposed changes that would allow protected rights to be held in a self invested personal pension (SIPP) have been welcomed by providers and advisers alike. Protected rights, the...