The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) inquiry into online platforms risks focusing on the wrong issues and could fail to yield a good result for clients, according to industry expert and Novia chief executive Bill Vasilieff.
The active funds industry must shrink, cut prices, better-align itself with investors and differentiate if it wants to compete against a passive onslaught, according to a report by Morningstar.
Hot on the heels of the US, the UK has reported weaker than expected inflation data and like its opposite number on the other side of the pond, the Bank of England is now faced with a quandary over rate rises.
Some 12 months on from the carnage open-ended property funds experienced in the wake of the Brexit vote, investors seem to be returning to the sector once more.
The FCA has proposed overhauling the rules for advising on DB to DC pension transfers. Rob Morris, partner at RPC, looks at the risks these changes create for financial advisers and their insurers.
Advisers and clients could be caught unaware by a little-known change to offshore bond top-slicing, warns Rachael Griffin, financial planning expert at Old Mutual Wealth.
Performance fees are often seen as a necessary evil. But the unambitious hurdle rates most funds employ mean fund managers also get rewarded for underwhelming performance. Is that fair?
Has the FCA asset management review missed a trick by not expanding its demands for transparency to wealth management?
Portfolio advisers have been looking at equity market valuations rather nervously for some time, tilting towards less risky assets, taking profits and holding more cash.
With melting ice caps and dwindling fossil fuel reserves, it’s easy to see why some £87bn (€99bn, $112bn) of assets have been funnelled into ethical and sustainable funds – but how wary should investors be when opting to put money into these strategies?
UK income investors are on high alert after research revealed that dividend cover for companies listed in the FTSE 350 has fallen 18% in the past year, hitting its lowest level for seven years.
There are exciting new market opportunities for the taking, two years after the UK pension freedoms were introduced that raised customer awareness of the need for pension planning, says Matt Ward, communications director at AKG Financial Analytics
