Money Management articles from November 2006

Money Management archives from November 2006

Age of change.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Employment fears driver for offshoring Companies are being forced to offshore jobs to cope with future staff shortages that are expected as a result of the UK's ageing population, experts have said. One of the main criticisms...

Get charter.
November 1, 2006... Byline: CII gets practical with advanced exams The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) has launched its replacement for the Advanced Financial Planning Certificate (AFPC) with the welcome addition of a compulsory case study exam. The...

Shaky resolve.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Advice partnership extended Closed life group Resolution is extending its trial advice scheme with AWD Moneyextra to all its 6m policyholders. The trial, which saw Resolution referring people who called in to the customer...

FSA says relax.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Regulator eases capital requirements FSA proposals could allow life assurers to radically reduce the assets that they must hold to meet capital adequacy requirements - releasing some AGBP4bn from balance sheets and saving insurers...

The third way?
November 1, 2006... Who do you think should be responsible for the personal finance products marketed today? The provider or the adviser? The FSA is seeking opinions on this, and has issued a discussion paper (DP) on it following concerns about complaints from...

Bee in the bonnet.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Concerns raised over clarity The John Lewis Partnership has teamed up with Friends Provident to offer a direct sales only life insurance product, leading to renewed concerns over the regulation of products sold without advice. ...

Pension apathy.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Portillo calls for compulsory pensions Ex-Tory MP Michael Portillo has called for the Government to make enrolment into the incoming National Pension Savings Scheme (NPSS) compulsory to combat the country's apathy towards saving for...

The long and the short of it.
November 1, 2006... Byline: AIC seeks answers to short-sell confusion The Association of Investment Companies (AIC) is seeking Government clarification on the tax situation of the selling of short-sell stocks by investment trusts. Short selling is a...

Slashing NICs.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Government incentive could cut the cost of incapacity Employers could save up to AGBP2.3bn a year in national insurance rebates if the proposals in a new report on incapacity benefit were adopted by the Government, Money Management...

More data to go online Free statistical service on ftadviser.com.
November 1, 2006... Money Management is planning to greatly extend its statistical service, available FREE to subscribers at our website on FTAdviser.com. New services are scheduled to go live during the first part of 2007, and then progressively during the year....

Manager moves.
November 1, 2006... n Threadneedle Investments' head of equities, Michael Taylor, is retiring at the end of the year after 25 years in fund management. He is not being directly replaced, but head of UK equity Leigh Harrison will take over management of the...

AWARDS.
November 1, 2006... The following 43 first prizes have been won by Money Management Magazine, or by Money Management journalists and writers for articles published exclusively in Money Management Magazine: 2006: Pensions writer of the year, (John Chapman);...

Blast from the past.
November 1, 2006... Byline: News from 25 years ago Negative stories about endowment mortgages are never far from the headlines, so it is easy to forget that there was a time when they were considerably cheaper than their repayment counterparts. In...

Happy days.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Life insurers and fund managers reap benefits of A-Day Life insurers and fund managers are the most optimistic about growth prospects in the financial services sector, according to the Confederation of British Industry's latest...

Banking on Brazil.
November 1, 2006... Byline: SRI Funds ABN Amro has combined the popular trends of emerging market and ethical investing for what it claims is the first time in the UK. The Brazil Equity fund, a Luxembourg-listed SICAV (the equivalent of a UK OEIC), was...

Impaired release.
November 1, 2006... Byline: HOME REVERSION Retirement Plus has launched a home reversion plan that is specifically aimed at homeowners with impaired lives. The Impaired Life Property Plan is available to homeowners aged 65 and over with medical conditions...

MoM's the word.
November 1, 2006... Byline: MULTI-MANAGER Skandia Investment Management has launched its second 'best ideas' fund, this time restricted to UK stocks only. The OEIC, or investment company with variable capital as they are now known, comes to market just...

Pastures new.
November 1, 2006... Byline: PENSION TERM ASSURANCE Lutine has launched two pension term assurance (PTA) contracts offering indemnity commission for advisers. The Level Pension Term Assurance and the Mortgage Decreasing Pension Term Assurance policies can...

A leg up on the property ladder.
November 1, 2006... Byline: SHARED OWNERSHIP MORTGAGE SCHEME The Government has introduced its much talked about HomeBuy shared ownership scheme to help cash strapped first time buyers and key workers buy properties on the open market. The scheme follows...

Absolutely fabulous?
November 1, 2006... Byline: TOTAL RETURN FUND Three new funds have been launched which have a total return strategy and take advantage of new powers allowed under UCITS III, investing in a range of asset classes and using derivatives to reduce risk. JP...

All abroad.
November 1, 2006... Offshoring has received a lot of bad press lately following a spate of high profile job losses at leading financial firms. In September 2006 Norwich Union announced that it would shed 4,000 jobs, 1,000 of which are to be relocated to India and...

Update: with profits endowment survey.
November 1, 2006... Another year, another round of falling payouts on with profits endowments. Yet not all providers are failing to perform, as the updated survey this year shows. Rather than focusing on the continuing declines in with profits endowments payouts...

Challenging times.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Is the FOS avoiding a showdown on time barred endowments? A solicitor working on an endowment mis-selling complaint has accused the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) of sidestepping a vital issue that could pave the way for 2.5m...

Single pricing shambles.
November 1, 2006... In the 1940s there was no dominant feudal landlord running the Suffolk village of Eyke. The farm workers dodged church services, the pub had generous hours, and the shop traded on Sundays. The expression 'Oik, oik, do as yer loike' was coined,...

The better off set.
November 1, 2006... It is often said in financial services that if a product concept cannot be boiled down to a 'back of a cigarette packet' scribble, it is probably too complex to be successful in a market that craves simplicity and transparency. It is this need...

Pick of the professionals.
November 1, 2006... Good financial advice has the potential to keep the whole nation happy, according to latest research from Standard Life Bank. And the five financial planners showcased here demonstrate that good advice is not as hard to find as the...

Advisers as nightclub bouncers.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Pensions Spotlight At a presentation in London at the Cass Business School in October, Legal & General's pension strategy director, Adrian Boulding, called for an independent review of who might benefit from auto-enrolment into the...

The trials of HIPs.
November 1, 2006... November sees the start of a dry run for home information packs (HIPs). Organised by the Association of HIP Providers (AHIPP), these so called area trials are being backed with AGBP4m of Government funding. While these dry runs represent...

Inheritance tax planning.
November 1, 2006... As the individual tax burden gets greater and greater, often by stealth under this current government, IFAs need to be more aware than ever of the opportunities available to help their clients to pass on their wealth to their heirs. This...

Taking stock - why investment is hard.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Why can't we be happy with success that is slow and boring, asks former investment banker Russell Taylor? Thirty years ago John Bogle launched the Vanguard S&P 500 index fund. Any investor wise enough to invest $100 then, and keep...

The winds of change.
November 1, 2006... Ten years ago I met at one of our network conferences a fellow member who was proud to be able to say that his firm had totally given up indemnity commission. I decided, there and then, that that was a goal worth aiming for. More stable...

Pay as you go.
November 1, 2006... Byline: IFA plans partial indemnity commission system Positive Solutions is planning to introduce a partial indemnity commission system to help its advisers move away from relying on upfront remuneration. The 1,500-strong national IFA...

Losing faith.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Advisers take ASP concerns right to the top IFAs angered by the Government's stance on alternatively secured pensions (ASP) are lobbying their local MPs in a bid to have their voices heard. Advisers are furious about Treasury...

Brushing cobwebs aside.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Another hit for with profits endowments For the first time, the dramatic decline in average payouts on with profits endowment policies over the last 15 years has been revealed in exclusive data from Money Management. Figures in...

Eyes on the COB.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Insurance companies need to take note Insurance companies are being urged to have their say in the FSA consultation on Conduct of Business (COB) rules, which are being changed in preparation for new Markets in Financial Instruments...

To pay or not to pay.
November 1, 2006... Byline: HMRC issues warning on Class 3 NI contributions Government clarification of proposed changes in the pensions White Paper suggests that people could be throwing away their money if they continue to top up their pensions with...

Contract killer.
November 1, 2006... Byline: DWP to abolish contracting out and protected rights The end is in sight for contracting out - and perhaps for protected rights as well - as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) plans to scrap the ability to opt out of the...