Latest News

Home economics – building investment trust: a personal story from Artemis’ Natasha Ebtehadj
The ravages of inflation can be all too damaging for savers. However, for Natasha Ebtehadj, co-manager of the Artemis Global Select Fund, a chance conversation about money with her seven year old has her in reflective mood about her role as an investment manager as...
Supporting good outcomes for business owners
For professional advisers and paraplanners only. Not to be relied upon by retail investors. With rates on cash savings climbing, it’s harder for clients to appreciate the value of advice. It has also become harder for advisers to recommend investments to clients while...
Please mind the gap: The gender pension gap and the hidden inequality
Written by Caitlin Southall, Pension Technical Manager at Curtis Banks Every week, it seems a worrying new statistic comes out about the gender pensions gap, and the seeming disparity in financial knowledge between men and women. The gender pensions gap is defined by...
Support mental health carers this World Mental Health Day
RedArc, the nurse-led health and wellbeing support service is reminding employers and insurers to ensure they have adequate provision in place for those who support others with mental health issues. This includes a wide range of people from those who have caring...
Business & Development

Lyon Griffiths Financial and Wealth Experts combine to form new partnership
Nantwich Wealth Management specialist, Lyon Griffiths Financial, has announced that it is joining Chartered Financial Planners, Wealth...

Two-fifths of advisers have seen clients increase their pension contributions in the six months since the spring budget – Fidelity Adviser Solutions
Policy changes announced in the Spring Budget are driving client pension contributions, advisers reveal - as Fidelity Adviser Solutions...

CII & PFS Apprenticeship Awards: 2023 winners announced
The CII and PFS have announced the winners of their inaugural Apprenticeship Awards, celebrating the achievements of exceptional...

Adviser numbers may struggle to meet rising demand
Bovill analysis of the FCA’s latest intermediary data suggests the UK’s financial advice market is in good health. But while retail...

Perspective announces two further acquisitions
Perspective Financial Group Ltd has announced that it has completed two further acquisitions, meaning the Group has made 17 acquisitions...
Economy

Bank of England holds interest rates at 5.25% – is the end of the line in sight? Reaction from finance experts
Finance experts share their reaction to the latest Bank of England interest rate decision

Online Safety Bill passes final reading in the Lords – positive reaction
Following today's news that the Online Safety Bill has passed its final reading in the House of Lords and is set to receive Royal Assent,...

Is Sunak set to backtrack on UK’s Climate and Net Zero plans? PM to make statement later this afternoon: reaction
With a BBC report this week highlighting that the UK Government is looking to backtrack on some of its environmental targets, PM Rishi...

Surprise, surprise! What are the implications of today’s shock inflation data? The industry reacts
For once, there's some relatively good economic news as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today announced the latest UK CPI...

BoE at risk of underestimating impact of QT: T. Rowe Price
By Tomasz Wieladek, chief European economist at T. Rowe Price The Bank of England (BoE) will likely raise its deposit rate by 25bps...
Insurance and protection

Podcast #58: IHT planning, PETs and the importance of gift cover – with financial adviser, Jonathan Morris
On this latest IFA Talk Podcast, we’re talking IHT planning, but with particular focus on the importance of Gift Cover – and we’re using...

19 million UK workers concerned about meeting essential food and utility bills – The Exeter
The equivalent of 19m UK workers anxious over affording food and utility bills, based on ONS employment data Fear of missing mortgage or...

‘Insurance Gap’ narrows amid surge in insured admissions
Launched in 2022, the Broadstone Insurance Gap Index tracks the relative changes in self-pay and insured private medical treatments...

Market-leading package of features on new digital group risk business, from Legal & General Group Protection
Legal & General Group Protection has enhanced its digital quote, buy and renew platform ONIX, which sees it opened up to a lower...

Chartered Insurance Institute awards prizes for exceptional exam performance
The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) has awarded 33 prizes for exceptional performance in its qualifications during 2023. The CII has...
Mortgage & Property
Propertymark: Propertymark cautiously welcomes 5.3 per cent housing price drop
Propertymark has cautiously welcomed the latest news that UK house prices fell by 5.3 per cent in the year to September. Whilst this news will provide many aspiring homeowners with the chance to own either their first home or their next one, the latest data from...
Is there light at the end of the Property Market tunnel? Experts react to Nationwide HPI data
This morning’s House Price Inflation (HPI) data from Nationwide has been much anticipated by Mortgage and Property professionals. The data showed that annual house price growth was virtually unchanged over the month and in response mortgage and property experts have...
Podcast #1 Mortgage and Property Monthly: Is AI here to replace or assist mortgage advisers? With Smartr365’s Thora Kehoe
With the continuing success of our weekly IFA Talk podcasts, we’re really excited to bring you a brand new monthly podcast special. On the first Monday of each month, we’ll be bringing you this special podcast edition where we focus on topics relevant to mortgage and...
L&G: 18% of parents and grandparents who helped their family members onto the property ladder used their own property wealth to do so
Craig Brown, CEO of Legal & General Home Finance 42% of parents and grandparents aged over 55 have helped fund a family member’s property purchase Parents and grandparents are frequently turning to the value of their own homes to come up with the cash, either...
House price growth remained weak in September – Nationwide
This morning's announcement of the latest House Price Inflation (HPI) data from Nationwide, giving the September figures, has been eagerly awaited by Mortgage and Property professionals. So now we know, that annual house price growth was virtually unchanged over the...
Fleet Mortgages reduces rates on all five-year fixes
Fleet Mortgages, the buy-to-let specialist lender, has today (29th September 2023) cut rates on all five-year fixes across its three core ranges: standard, limited company and HMO/multi-unit block. The lender has cut rates by 20 basis points (bps) across these...
Regulation & Compliance

Aegon hopes FCA advice / guidance boundary review will lead to more personalised guidance
Aegon has welcomed the FCA’s latest update on its review with the Treasury of the advice guidance boundary. It believes this could pave...

Government sets out plans to ban cold-calling for ALL financial products – AJ Bell
Tom Selby, head of retirement policy at AJ Bell, was one of the earliest and most vocal campaigners for a pensions cold calling ban in the...

FCA sets out 14-point action plan on cash savings
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today set out a 14-point action plan to ensure banks and building societies are passing on...

Regulators finalise clearer, more transparent Complaints Scheme
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Bank of England have finalised a revised scheme...

Financial Lives survey highlights importance of the FCA’s Consumer Duty
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has found 7.4 million people unsuccessfully attempted to contact one or more of their financial...
Digest
High childcare costs have forced over a third of UK parents to cut their working hours
Over a third of parents in the UK have had to reduce their working hours or take time off work to take care of their children due to the high costs of childcare, according to new research from personal finance comparison site finder.com. The survey found that...
Students head to university with a major in money worries
New research reveals many freshers will be heading off to university with financial trepidation due to money constraints faced by themselves and their families. According to a Nationwide Building Society poll of more than 1,000 upcoming first year students1, 86 per...
Winter’s hottest hub for digital nomads revealed in new study
Abu Dhabi declared the top destination for digital nomads this winter Business Name Generator has analysed cities across the globe to determine the best destinations for digital nomads to work from in the winter. Abu Dhabi crowned the best destination for...
New study has revealed the UK’s attitudes to how they split their household bills
A new survey commissioned by Moneyboat has revealed the UK’s attitudes to splitting the bills The survey has discovered how Brits most commonly split their bills, the factors they think should influence how much people pay and if they think it’s fair to split...
Surge in Ransomware Attacks: Experts Advise UK SMEs to Strengthen Cybersecurity
In the UK, a digital storm is brewing. As ransomware attacks escalate, small businesses are particularly under threat. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has reported that ransomware attacks in the UK have reached a record high, with over 5.3...
Over a third of Brits encounter legal or logistical difficulties when handling the affairs of a deceased loved one, according to new survey
63% of 16-24-year-olds say they’ve discussed death and end-of-life preparations with their loved ones – the highest percentage of any age group. Over a third (34%) of respondents have not discussed death and end-of-life preparations with their family. 37%...

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