Concern that over one third of financial services are unsure if they are MiFID II compliant What is MiFID II? MiFID II is an EU Directive which comes into force January 3rd 2018. Its purpose is to offer greater protection for investors and create greater transparency in all asset classes: from equities to fixed income, exchange traded funds and foreign exchange. How will it affect investment decisions? The legislation…
Despite the rise in the use of robots as employees in the workplace, IFAs remain adamant that such technology will not replace their human face-to-face investment advice. Although robots and automation are increasingly infiltrating the financial services industry, experts argue that there are certain matters which robot advice cannot be used for; robo-advice generally focuses on investments which relate more to saving money rather than providing advice. For the…
The FCA has recently announced that IFAs are to disclose more risky investment strategies which they have recommended to their clients The FCA’s reforms follows its review of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS); from 2013-2016 around a third of FSCS claims were linked to the sale of esoteric investment plans by Advisers. During the consultation The FCA did not address the proposal that Advisers selling higher-risk products were…
The Week in Numbers – 17th November 24% – Proportion of calls not answered by HMRC staff. MPs have criticised the tax office’s performance calling it “completely unacceptable” £500 – Amount each new employer using The People’s Pensions for auto-enrolment will be charged in 2016 9 – Number of insurers on the Financial Stability Board’s “Too big to fail” list. Dutch insurer Aegon replaced Generali last week 400 – Number…
The Week in Numbers 34% – Year on year rise in SIPP claims reported by the Financial Ombudsman Service, from 210 in Q3 2014 to 281 in the same quarter this year 10 Years – Length of SIPP administration deal agreed between Curtise Banks and Zurich 100 – Number of Sanlam Wealth Planning employees whose jobs are under threat after the firm placed its Rhyl and Worcester offices under…
The Week in Numbers – 14th September 50% – Rise in protection sales reported by LV= in the first half of the year. Total life sales hit £869m, with profits of £12m £8bn – Size of Jupiter’s Merlin fund range. Jupiter’s John Chatfield-Roberts has stepped down as CIO to focus on managing the funds 2.83% – Average interest rate on gross mortgage advances in Q2, the lowest figure on…
The Week in Numbers – 11th June 2015 8.7% – Year on year rise in the number of loans approved in April, from 105,394 to 114,628 according to the Bank of England 193% – Year on year increase in the number of people using an equity release plan to pay off their interest-only mortgage, from 78 in April to 229 this year, Age Partnership says £4.3m – Money lost…
