Standard Life’s chief executive for UK and Europe Pensions and Savings is to retire, with Quilter Cheviot’s chief executive announcing similar plans. Audit, tax and advisory firm Crowe Clark Whitehill sadly announced on Friday that its national head of private clients has died.
After 10 years with the business, the chief executive of Axa Global Asset Management has announced she is stepping down. James Hambro & Partners has made three senior staff members partners of the business, with Fidelity International handing five multi-asset open range funds to a new portfolio manager.
The HL Select UK Shares Fund launch on Friday has been hailed as its biggest ever by Hargreaves Lansdown.
Barclays’ announcement on Monday that it has launched an execution-only platform should come as no surprise. But, it should serve as a reminder to wealth managers not to get too complacent.
Net fund flows via UK platforms fell to £8.6bn ($10.7bn, €10bn) in the third quarter of this year, the lowest level since RDR was introduced in Q1 2013, according to the latest Fundscape Platform Report.
HSBC reported an 86% decline in Q3 profits having sold its Brazilian business, changed its credit spread, and faced a strengthening US dollar.
The UK government has scrapped plans to set up a secondary market in annuities saying “it has become clear that creating the conditions to allow a competitive market to emerge could not be balanced with sufficient consumer protections”.
Shares in Hargreaves Lansdown fell 2% this morning on the back of mixed results for Q3 – revenue was up 15% to £90.6m, but inflows dropped 22% compared to Q1.
The UK government is considering a number of new pensions options ahead of the Autumn Statement, including one from Hargreaves Lansdown that proposes breaking the link between tax relief and earnings, instead using a system based on the age of the saver.
Hargreaves Lansdown said its chief executive Ian Gorham is to step down by the end of September 2017, as the FTSE 100 quoted UK platform announced its assets under administration had grown 12% to £61.7bn over the year to 30 June.
Hargreaves Lansdown will not offer a service for investors to sell their annuities when the UK government scheme launches next year, citing too many risks for investors.
Aviva Investors has advised that its property trust will stay closed to trading for another six to eight months.
