Money

The Morning Briefing: Annuities hit new highs; Transact adopts Cash ISA transfer service

Published

3 hours ago

September 24, 2024

The Morning Briefing: Phoenix Group scraps plans to sell protection business; advisers tweak processes

Good morning and welcome to your Morning Briefing for Tuesday 24 September 2024. To get this in your inbox every morning click here.

Annuity comparison quotes hit new highs in 2024

Pensions technology provider iPipeline has reported a significant rise in demand for annuities among financial advisers.

In the first half of 2024, annuity quotes increased by 12% compared to the same period in 2023, marking the highest demand since iPipeline began tracking in 2013.

This follows a record 60% year-on-year rise in adviser annuity comparisons on its platform in 2023.

Transact adopts electronic Cash ISA transfer service

Transact has become the first intermediary platform to adopt an electronic Cash Isa transfer service via Pay.UK (BACS) and Equisoft.

This simplifies the transfer process by enabling seamless information exchanges between Transact, banks and building societies, removing the need for paper-based transfers.

Previously, transferring a Cash Isa required sending paper instructions to banks, locating processing teams and manually completing the steps.

Financial Adviser 2B: Questions to ask prospective employers in a job interview

There is often a point during job interviews where the candidate is asked if they have any questions to put to the employer.

This part of an interview can be overlooked during preparations — but asking the right questions can help a prospective employee decide if the role is a good fit for them, while showing the employer that the candidate genuinely wants a career in advice.

So, what are the best questions to ask?

Quote Of The Day

She left the conference in no doubt that painful decisions are coming – although the country remains in the dark on where exactly the axe will fall

– Tom Selby, director of public policy at AJ Bell, comments on Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ conference speech ahead of the 30 October Budget

Stat Attack

New research from talent solutions firm Robert Walters reveals that 52% of Gen-Z professionals reject the idea of becoming middle managers, a phenomenon dubbed ‘conscious unbossing’.

72%

of Gen-Z professionals would choose an individual route to progression over managing others.

63%

of professionals think senior professionals value middle management more than their younger peers.

69%

of Gen-Z professionals say middle management is too ‘high stress, low reward’.

Double the amount

of Gen-Z professionals would opt for a flat structure over a hierarchical one.

89%

of employers still think that middle managers play a crucial role in their organisation.

Source: Robert Walters

In Other News

Unbiased, the UK’s top platform for finding financial advisers, has announced a new integration with intelliflo.

This upgrade automatically transfers accepted leads to an adviser’s intelliflo account, improving efficiency by reducing manual tasks.

The feature is available to firms on Standard, Enhanced, Premium and Enterprise plans.

Iain Thomson, chief product officer of Unbiased, said: “We are dedicated to enhancing our platform so that we can offer the best possible experience to our customers.

“This integration with intelliflo is a demonstration of our ongoing efforts and investment in improving our offering and supporting growth in the industry.

“The API will help make converting leads into clients even easier with faster contact rates and improved cadence.”

The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) has released a new report in its Market Insights series, focusing on the growth of sustainable equity UCITS.

Titled ‘Sustainable equity UCITS: promoting sustainable business models’, the report offers an in-depth look at market trends and investor behaviour.

Sustainable equity UCITS now account for 24% of all sustainable UCITS, up from 15% in 2019, with net assets growing from €0.6trn to €1.3trn over the past five years.

Despite economic challenges and market volatility, these funds have shown resilience, particularly in 2021, when net inflows reached €231bn. While inflows dipped slightly in 2022 and 2023, demand remains strong.

The report highlights that 70% of these funds are classified as Article 8 under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), with 20% falling under the stricter Article 9 category.

This distribution reflects investor caution due to ongoing regulatory uncertainty, though the SFDR review is expected to offer greater clarity.

Sustainable equity UCITS have also delivered positive net performances, on par with their non-sustainable counterparts, while often offering cost advantages.

The report underscores the growing investor confidence in sustainable investment as a viable and profitable option.

Vera Jotanovic, senior economist at EFAMA, commented: “Sustainable equity UCITS not only encompass a wide range of sustainability themes catering to varied investor preferences, but are also a resilient investment product with competitive returns. This makes them an attractive option for investors.”

Anyve Arakelijan, policy adviser at EFAMA, added: “As the regulatory landscape evolves, we expect the sustainable finance framework to become more investor-centric, resolve inconsistencies with other EU regulations, and provide greater support for transition finance, further driving sustainable progress and achieving the EU’s long-term sustainability goals.”

China unveils raft of measures to boost economy (BBC News)

Growth softens across UK businesses in September, PMI shows (Reuters)

‘Get a grip’: why has the UK’s Labour government been so bad at politics? (Financial Times)

Did You See?

The Platforms Association launched yesterday (23 September) to represent and provide a voice to the £1trn investment platform sector.

The launch marks a step change in how the platform industry will engage with regulators and policymakers.

It aims to bring a united voice to co-ordinate and promote industry interests.

Several high-profile investment platforms, including Abrdn, Aegon, Fidelity, Quilter, Seccl and SS&C, are represented on the board and leadership council

Membership will be open to UK and European regulated firms whose primary activities are the settlement, custody and safe keeping of retail investor assets.

It will also be open to regulated sub-custodian firms providing dealing and safe-keeping services to organisations acting on behalf of retail investors.

Read the full story here.

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Money

NewRiver agrees £147m takeover of CapReg

Published

35 mins ago

September 24, 2024

NewsAdmin

Combination of the companies would create portfolio of 29 community shopping centres and 13 retail parks across the UK and Northern Ireland.

The post NewRiver agrees £147m takeover of CapReg appeared first on Property Week.

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Money

FCA clears chair of whistleblowing misconduct following internal review

Published

55 mins ago

September 24, 2024

NewsAdmin

FCA clears chair of whistleblowing misconduct following internal review

The Financial Conduct Authority has cleared its chair of whistleblowing wrongdoing following an internal review.

Last month, FCA’s chair Ashley Alder was criticised for revealing the identity of a whistleblower to other staff members.

The whistleblower sent emails to Alder in December and March to raise concerns over “opaque hiring practices” at the FCA.

However, Alder reportedly forwarded the whistleblower’s correspondence, revealing their identity without their consent, which goes against the regulator’s policy.

The whistleblower told the Financial Times that they were left “angry, stunned and speechless” when they saw the forwarded emails unredacted.

They called the breach “institutional betrayal” and accused the FCA of “incompetence and incapability”.

A second former FCA employee also made a similar allegation as to the handling of their whistleblowing communication to the chair.

Following the FT report, the FCA launched an internal review to investigate the complaints.

The board’s senior independent director, Richard Lloyd, led the internal review of the handling of the two individuals’ whistleblowing communications by the chair.

Lloyd concluded that “while the FCA’s chair did not follow our existing policy to the letter in handling two complex cases, he had sought to ensure the concerns raised, if appropriate, were acted on”.

“The FCA’s chair, Ashley Alder, therefore consulted senior colleagues confident they would treat the information with the utmost care,” he added.

He also said the chair “reasonably took the view that he was providing information of which those colleagues were already aware”.

Alder welcomed the review findings, insisting that he acted appropriately.

He said: “These were unusual and complex cases involving two employees who had left the FCA some years ago and who have raised a range of issues over an extended period of time, in one case through multiple public channels.

“I wanted to ensure that, as non-executive chair, I was in the best position to act on the concerns of both individuals.

“To do so, I needed to consult an extremely limited number of senior colleagues and, while I did not follow the policy to the letter, I knew that they would treat all information with utmost care, and there would be no risk of prejudice to the individuals involved.”

Simon Morris, a financial services partner with law firm CMS, said: “The FCA chair twice disclosed the identity of whistleblowers to colleagues when seeking help to respond. He thought this wouldn’t harm the whistleblowers, and that their names were already known.

“The Lloyd review concludes that this ‘did not follow to the letter’ – meaning breached – the FCA whistleblowing policy, but that the chair was acted reasonably.

“It will be interesting to see if the FCA takes a similarly benign view if a bank chairman reveals a whistleblower’s identity in analogous circumstances.”

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Money

LondonMetric poaches CIO Richards from British Land

Published

1 hour ago

September 24, 2024

NewsAdmin

LondonMetric poaches CIO Richards from British Land

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CryptoCurrency

Philippine agency empowers youth with blockchain and NFT education

Published

1 hour ago

September 24, 2024

NewsAdmin

Philippine agency empowers youth with blockchain and NFT education

The Philippines’ DOST-ASTI introduced blockchain, NFTs, and crypto to youth, with a focus on real-world applications, fostering innovation for the future.

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