Money Management articles from September 2007

Money Management archives from September 2007

Naming and shaming.
September 1, 2007... Byline: Even if the illustrated growth rate is achieved in full, the policy would not be able to match the mortgage The ink had barely dried on the article on the fallout from the LAUTRO charges fiasco (see page 68) when we had an...

Funds rush overseas.
September 1, 2007... Byline: IMA survey shows increased popularity of offshore funds An increasing number of fund managers are being forced to set up funds overseas due to concerns over UK taxation and regulation, according to an Investment Management...

Greener and meaner.
September 1, 2007... Byline: Platform pricing war predicted as SRI funds launch on Cofunds Ethical investment company Co-operative Financial Services has joined the platform fray by launching three funds on Cofunds, as adviser services provider Threesixty...

Blast from the past.
September 1, 2007... Byline: News from 25 years ago In our September 1982 issue, we reported that the Life Insurance Association (LIA) proposed a licensing scheme that would stamp out underhand sales methods by direct sales forces and forestall Government...

Fantasy rugby.
September 1, 2007... Byline: Pick your team today It seems hard to believe that it is four years since that glorious night in Sydney where England defeated Australia to win the 2003 Rugby World Cup sending the nation into euphoria. Since those heady days only...

Pulling into the platform.
September 1, 2007... Byline: New platform offering will have to prove worth Skandia and Selestia have merged their platforms to form Selestia Investment Solutions. The new platform became active on 15 August, although existing Skandia customers will not be...

Offshore flexibility.
September 1, 2007... Axa Isle of Man has launched what it claims to be the first offshore investment bond to offer both single and regular premium payment options. The product also allows a number of three month payment holidays to be made for those paying...

Pricing without the PIPs.
September 1, 2007... Prudential has intro-duced so called factory gate pricing to its range with the launch of its new investment bond. The Prudential Investment Plan (PIP) is a single premium insurance bond with access to 63 funds, both internal and external....

Swelling the ranks.
September 1, 2007... F&C has become the latest company to add to the growing numbers of 130/30 funds in the UK. The F&C UK Enhanced Alpha fund is the first 130/30 fund in the UK to invest in UK equities, according to F&C. The fund, which will be managed by...

Small cap fund launches.
September 1, 2007... Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) has launched its first UK Smaller Companies fund in the face of ongoing turbulence in the UK's equity markets. The investment trust, which sits in the IMA UK Smaller Companies sector, will invest...

Held to account.
September 1, 2007... Byline: Letter of the month Excellent article in June's Money Management by David Severn. There are several well made points but the area which gives me greatest concern is whether as advisers we should or should not recommend any type...

Teething trouble.
September 1, 2007... Byline: Further delays in the name of TCF A new practice on surrendering policies from Prudential in the name of treating customers fairly (TCF) has created confusion among brokers and angered advisers. Previously, when advisers wanted...

Constantly moving goalposts.
September 1, 2007... I would like to comment on Alan Lakey's article entitled 'constantly moving goalposts' in the July issue, where he discusses the apparent inconsistencies of the FOS adjudicators. I am an IFA with some experience of dealing with the FOS; in one...

Meaningless designatory letters.
September 1, 2007... In your June editorial I thought you were rather harsh in your assessment of the PFS and the new Chartered Financial Planner designation. No matter what profession you work in the general public will always have little understanding of...

Recipe for disaster.
September 1, 2007... I read your comment most months and have to admit that I am not always in agreement with every point you make - but that, I think, is healthy! However, you really have 'hit the nail on the head' in your July editorial. I get very...

Searching for profits.
September 1, 2007... Recent stock market turbulence is making investors more cautious. After more than four years of rising share prices, there are growing fears that the next bear market may be around the corner. Even diversification between conventional asset...

Pay now, live later.
September 1, 2007... If an employer were to suggest to employees that they should cut their earnings to engineer income tax and national insurance (NI) savings, with savings shared between employer and employees but with no reduction in employee's take home pay,...

Lasting powers of attorney.
September 1, 2007... Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) will be introduced from 1 October 2007. They will be the new method of appointing an attorney to act on behalf of an individual when mental capacity to make decisions for themselves is lost. It is a sad...

Round of applause.
September 1, 2007... At a protection review conference last month one theme was common throughout the day, which is that consumer trust, largely influenced by the negative media impact of declined claims, is the biggest single issue facing the UK protection...

Trading places.
September 1, 2007... Only a small minority of endowments are actually held until the maturity date. As much as 30% of policies are cancelled in the first few years, while 40% are surrendered to the life company before maturity. As an alternative to surrendering,...

Going back to basics.
September 1, 2007... Agrowing number of financial advisers are turning to outsourced paraplanners in an attempt to free up client meeting time lost to hours spent writing financial reports. It is a trend brought on by tightened FSA regulations that oblige...

Charge of the life brigade.
September 1, 2007... In January 1995 a bad regulation that had been in force for seven long years was finally repealed. Although this regul-ation adversely affected life and pension plans of all sorts, the policy where it arguably had the most disastrous effect was...

RDR sparks fears.
September 1, 2007... Byline: Review could lead to adviser exodus The confusion surrounding the FSA's retail distribution review (RDR) could lead to an exodus of IFAs from the industry, an adviser has warned. The warnings come from Nick McBreen, an adviser...

Go on, give it a try.
September 1, 2007... There are two big temptations when you're picking your fantasy side in any sport: selecting mostly players from your own team; and picking all the players from the best team in the tournament. But if you really want to compete, you have to...

Where the buck stops.
September 1, 2007... Yet another publication has emerged from the FSA under its Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) banner, this time dealing with the responsibilities of providers and distributors for the fair treatment of customers: the FSA wants to ensure that a...

Less than prime conditions.
September 1, 2007... The sub prime market has been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons in the last few months. Firstly, the US sub prime sector began to implode as interest rates rose and borrowers began defaulting on their mortgages. Secondly, the FSA...

A climate for clean energy.
September 1, 2007... Concerns about environmental degradation, climate change and water shortages and the possible solutions to these issues are now in the mainstream. The Stern Review, entitled 'The economics of climate change', published last October, showed...

Taking stock - reading the runes.
September 1, 2007... The last days of July saw a sharp increase in price volatility. Fears of a tightening of credit spreads, and a further worsening of the sub-prime mortgage market, spooked investors. The failure of the major investment banks to sell on their...

Risk sharing - why not go Dutch?
September 1, 2007... Under final salary schemes, investment and annuity conversion risks lie with employers, but such benevolence risks insolvency, and pension fund liabilities have bought many UK companies to their knees. The inexorable switch into defined...

Coming in from the cold.
September 1, 2007... T he law Lords' rejection of HM Revenue and Customs' appeal to tax Mr Jones on dividends paid to his wife from their family company is a victory for common sense. Mr Jones was an IT specialist who traded through a personal services...

Pick of the bunch.
September 1, 2007... In this age of treating customers fairly (TCF) and the ever growing range of funds available, the concept of outsourcing some degree of investment management to a fund manager is becoming increasingly attractive. However, multi-manager funds...

Q&A.
September 1, 2007... Byline: Jo Dymock meets the co-heads of multi-manager at Credit Suisse This August, Credit Suisse announced that it was consolidating its 21 funds to create a more focused fund suite. The three biggest changes are the relaunching of the...

Asset allocation for all seasons.
September 1, 2007... Market participants invest considerable resources and intellectual capital in developing methodologies that enable the construction of asset allocations to meet tailored objectives. The only area that market participants can (probably)...

Closed funds hope.
September 1, 2007... Byline: F&C may take on post-merger management Resolution's closed life funds could be managed by F&C if a proposed merger between Resolution and Friends Provident takes place. The intention to merge was announced in July, and Friends...

Go forth and diversify.
September 1, 2007... Economic and corporate profit growth is slowing, interest rates are rising and inflation concerns remain on investors' minds. Given these factors, and the fact that equity markets in particular have enjoyed such a strong run, the next few years...

Q&A.
September 1, 2007... Jupiter brought in the multi-manager team from Lazard in 2001, before also buying Lazard's multi-manager funds. This means that, apart from a brief hiatus, the team at Jupiter has been running the same multi-manager portfolio for 10 years....

Crib sheet: multi-manager.
September 1, 2007... FoF v MoM Multi-manager funds can be split into two main types - manager of managers (MoM) and fund of funds (FoF). - MoM funds evolved from institutional investment, where investment managers give specific mandates to private ...

Renewed income.
September 1, 2007... Byline: Continuous income stream more important than initial commission Money Management data agree with research from Lincoln Retirement Income that says that an ongoing income stream is more important to advisers than initial commission...

Results round up.(Financial report)
September 1, 2007... Byline: Retirement schemes drive Q2 gains Life companies have posted increased mid year profits as life and pension products drove growth despite market turmoil. Standard Life's UK pension sales were up 45% to AGBP6.95bn halfway...

IFAs get mouthpiece.
September 1, 2007... Byline: Forum to test electronic service standards A new online forum designed to improve the electronic business facilities offered by providers has been launched. Origo, the ecommerce standards body, has launched the forum on...

Bloodied but unbowed.
September 1, 2007... Byline: Mortgage lenders left unpunished on exit fees The FSA will not be censuring mortgage lenders that failed to meet its guidelines on exit fees stating that mortgage exit administration fees should be representative of the actual cost...

FSCS funding furore.
September 1, 2007... Byline: Investment banks escape funding levies The FSA's decision to drop plans to require investment banks to contribute to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) makes a mockery of the scheme, according to one IFA. An FSCS...