Money Management articles from October 2004

Money Management archives from October 2004

Report gets PMI backs up.
October 1, 2004... Leading private medical insurers have defended themselves against allegations that they are failing to cover vital cancer treatment. A report published by cancer information charity CancerBACUP accused PMI providers of frequently...

Much ado about FOS.
October 1, 2004... The FSA has admitted that the Financial Ombudsman Service will have no jurisdiction over mortgage cases where the adviser is not directly authorised by the FSA when mortgage business comes under its rule from 13 October. The regulator also...

Fantasy portfolio challenge.
October 1, 2004... The second month of the Fantasy portfolio contest passed without major incident for the Western financial markets. The equity markets were marginally up over the month and it was a similar story for the bond markets. However, the movement...

Fresh start for directors of banned IFA.
October 1, 2004... Directors of a firm banned for mis-selling and condemned by the FSA for issuing misleading promotional material are seeking to publish a new investment guide. Michael and Stephen Aaron, sons of David Aaron and directors of the David Aaron...

Lacking in confidence.
October 1, 2004... The decline of the UK housing market has been underlined by a spate of recent reports. According to the Woolwich index, consumer confidence in the market has fallen for the third month in a row, dropping by 6% since July and confirming the...

Blast from the past.
October 1, 2004... In October 1979 Money Management covered investing on the money market and in the days when interest rates were high, placing money on deposit was an attractive prospect. Although the short end of the market was limited to those with large...

leaving the flock.
October 1, 2004... Scottish Life has revamped the managed fund range of its group pensions offering in an attempt to distinguish itself from its direct competitors, which have faced allegations of being too similar. The company has announced its intention to...

open range.
October 1, 2004... Standard Life has relaunched its open architecture pension fund platform for all its investment bond holders, giving them access to its range of external funds for the first time. Until now, policyholders only had Standard Life's internal...

a sure thing.
October 1, 2004... National Savings and Investments (NS&I) has launched issue 9 of its guaranteed equity bond offering a gross return equal to 105% of any growth in the FTSE 100 index over the five-year term of the bond, with no upper limit or cap on the return....

gartmore plays its hand.
October 1, 2004... Gartmore's new fund of funds range has been two years in the making, although the former big-four fund manager already had one multi-manager product -- Gartmore Balanced Strategy -- in the Balanced Managed sector. The investment house's...

Pru's new breed.
October 1, 2004... The quest to provide alternatives to with profits has intensified with a new launch from Prudential. The PruFund Investment Plan is effectively a retail version of the AGBP80bn life fund wrapped in an onshore investment bond and employs an...

growing up.
October 1, 2004... The latest structured product from Abbey for Intermediaries offers two growth options, designed to provide full capital payment at the end of the six-year investment term. Option one of the Abbey Growth Plan is designed to provide full...

Trial and errors.
October 1, 2004... The FSA faces the toughest challenge yet to its authority as it goes up against Legal & General in a tribunal over endowment mis-selling. The whole case revolves around whether L&G sold endowment mortgages to clients for whom they were not...

your industry needs you.
October 1, 2004... In recent years the number of intermediary firms has declined due to consolidation brought on by regulatory and legislative changes in the industry. But according to industry bodies including the LIA and the Association of Financial Advisers...

Staying Power.
October 1, 2004... There has been huge public and political interest in with profits funds of late. The restructuring of the with profits funds in the Axa Group, the turmoils at Equitable Life and, more recently, the decision of Standard Life to demutualise have...

USA initiatives today - uk pensions tomorrow.
October 1, 2004... Of all the major developed countries the UK has most in common with the USA's pension system. The three pillars of the systems are broadly similar, and the problems are also much the same. Both the USA and the UK place particularly heavy saving...

TAX avoidance - report yourself regulations.
October 1, 2004... Consider the fictional example of Mr Cole, a highflying computer consultant, who realised capital gains on non-business investments in 2003/04 of AGBP300,000. Three business associates suggest alternative arrangements to mitigate the...

Multiple choices.
October 1, 2004... Ask the man in the street if he knows how much he can raise in the form of a mortgage and he will immediately refer to income multiples of three or three and half times single income and two and a half times joint. However, figures show that,...

Evolution not revolution.
October 1, 2004... When depolarisation was first proposed back in 2001, most commentators suggested that the financial services industry was in for some radical changes. After the defined payment system was outlined in CP121, they were predicting the death of the...

distribution bonds vs with profit bonds.
October 1, 2004... Distribution bonds and with profits bonds share many characteristics and consequently appeal to the same clusters of cautious investors. But one important distinguishing feature -- that of sales and popularity -- is something they have rarely...

Rolling along on the crest of a waiver.
October 1, 2004... Former FIMBRA director Alan Harris is seeking to use his FSA-granted waiver to help out other IFAs who find themselves stymied by an inability to obtain compliant PI cover. The adviser, the sole trader at Glasgow-based Harris Investments, has...

Licence to skill.
October 1, 2004... The Financial Services Skills Council has enjoyed its official launch as it prepares to take responsibility for financial capability in the UK. The organisation, which is currently Government-backed but should be funded exclusively by...

Levy mettle.
October 1, 2004... Hundreds of IFA firms have failed to meet the deadline for paying the financial services compensation scheme (FSCS) levy. 630 of the 3,819 firms invoiced by the FSA have yet to pay their fees and could face fines or de-authorisation. ...

Taking Stock.
October 1, 2004... This summer may have BEEN wet but for the investment world it has been the doldrums -- months of drifting with no sign of direction-giving winds, a depressing climate of over valued assets, uncertain interest rates and political horizons that...

Networks banned from thinking Pink.
October 1, 2004... N(M) Day on 31 October was supposed to make mortgage advice more simple through the introduction of blanket regulation across the sector. But the date instead looks likely to cause turmoil and confusion as two mortgage clubs have chosen that...

Compensation consternation.
October 1, 2004... The Tories have vowed to put an end to the UK's burgeoning compensation culture with a vigorous review of the Human Rights Act, should they come to power. Shadow Home Secretary David Davis used a piece in the Spectator magazine to unveil the...

Handbags time for the FSA.
October 1, 2004... One of the two biggest names in financial services is to have its feathers severely ruffled by the outcome of a tribunal that began in September. The Financial Services and Markets Tribunal hearing saw the FSA square up with Legal &...

top 25 liFE OFFICES.
October 1, 2004... In September 2003 Standard & Poor's commented that the recent decline in credit quality of UK life assurers had reached its peak, and that the downward trend in financial strength ratings was expected to slow over the next three years. Since...

IMAginative plans.
October 1, 2004... The Investment Management Association (IMA) has revealed proposals for a new savings tax regime for investment funds in order to encourage long-term saving. The IMA has called on the Government to substitute the five current and two...