The UK Pensions Ombudsman has upheld a complaint against Fidelity International for “significant distress and inconvenience” suffered by a client who was misinformed about holding investment trusts in her Sipp.
Fidelity International has stepped up the passives price war with the launch of six low cost cross-border equity index funds and the reduction of pricing on three existing UK-domiciled index funds.
A policy from the world’s largest pension fund to only work with asset managers that adopt performance-based fees should be reassuring for advisers even if they lack the scale to make same demands, Orbis UK head Dan Brocklebank has argued.
Pension experts have welcomed the clarity the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has established for defined benefit (DB) pension transfers through its updated rules. But they warn further, lengthy, consultation may not be the best way to address issues of poor practice that have come to prominence in recent months.
Allegations of money laundering and corruption have brought down the chief of the South Africa Revenue Services’ business and individual tax division. Senior changes at Fidelity International put a new face in charge of its continental European business, while Charles Stanley is targeting improved intermediary relationships with two hires.
Fidelity International has reversed its stance on research costs and is joining many asset managers in absorbing the fees of external research, instead of passing it on to clients.
Former Platforum head Heather Hopkins has launched a research and consulting business.
The UK’s lifeboat scheme has named a new chair, UBS Group has appointed a former Morgan Stanley chief executive to head up its Saudi ultra-high net worth business and Julius Baer International has hired five from Barclays Wealth and Investment Management.
Aberdeen Standard Investments and Fidelity have been named and shamed as the worst performing groups in Bestinvest’s bi-annual Spot the Dog report.
HSBC appoints a Hong-Kong based global head of private wealth solutions, Fidelity creates a head of stewardship and sustainability role, while Momentum Pensions has named a head of business development for the Middle East and Asia.
Fidelity International’s move to change its charging structure to a performance-linked fee has been welcomed but is seen as a risky move which may not be sustainable, according to fund selectors around Europe.
UBS Asset Management’s Shanghai-based wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE) has launched an onshore equity fund for domestic high net worth individuals and institutional investors in China.
