Advisers in Europe need to embrace the hurricane of legislation that is about to hit them or risk “driving their business into a cul-de-sac with no reverse gear“, writes Chris Lean, a Czech-based chartered financial planner with Aisa International.
Upfront commission remains a burning issue in South Africa, as the nation’s financial advice sector awaits the regulator’s next move following the signing of the ‘Twin Peaks’ legislation into law.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma) is turning up the heat on asset managers, highlighting the impact of fund charges on returns in a fresh report. Fund fees wipe out an average 20% of gross returns, according to the regulator.
The European Central Bank (ECB) will cut the size of its monthly asset purchases in half from January next year, the bank’s president Mario Draghi announced on Thursday. Bond and equity markets, as well as the euro, hardly responded to the announcement.
There are some serious positives for savvy advisers with the long shadow of Brexit negotiations driving expats to seek professional advice in droves.
IFAs in the UAE continue to play guessing games ahead of the Insurance Authority’s unveiling of plans for commissions caps, greater transparency in customer contracts and tighter rules on financial advice.
Advisers must stay on the ball as the UK regulator continues to tweak pension transfer rules in an attempt to get a handle on this rapidly evolving sector.
While never in doubt, the strength of victory of prime minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling party in Sunday’s snap lower house election exceeded expectations, with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) securing more than half the number of lower house seats.
You are more likely to be “hit by lightning” than see returns that beat inflation and cash from a multi-asset fund, according to fresh research raising the debate into cost effectiveness once again.
On 22 August, doorstep lender Provident Financial hit investors with a devastating triple-whammy – a profit warning (its second in a matter of months), an FCA investigation into its credit card subsidiary Vanquis Bank and the resignation of disgraced CEO Peter Crook.
If anything, the flurry of studies during this year’s Good Money Week have proved that green investing has to overcome a number of hurdles before it really takes off.
Faith in the “Trump trade” faded during the summer, as controversy crowded out policy, but it has sparked back to life as the administration lays out plans for a significant overhaul of the US tax system.
