UK pensions puzzle: Pension freedoms spark both young and old to ask more questions April 14, 2016 Annuity providers may have been worried their work would drop off once the pension freedoms were introduced, but there's one organisation in the pensions sector that has seen work flood in. The Pensions Advisory Service has received a 71 per cent increase in people seeking guidance on their pensions since the pensions freedoms rules came in [...]
BlackRock’s profit has slumped by 20 per cent after struggling to deal with high levels of volatility in global markets April 14, 2016 US based BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, failed to weather the global financial storm at the start of this year. The wild market swings, which saw the total value of the Chinese markets reduced by 50 per cent and the price of a barrel of crude oil sink to lows of $27 per barrel, knocked [...]
The subdued mood at the LendIt USA conference this week highlights why the UK market is increasingly the envy of the world April 14, 2016 It surprises me to write it, but it’d be accurate to call Lendit USA – the world’s largest online lending conference, which took place in San Francisco this week – a relatively sober affair. Peter Renton, the founder of Lendit, set the tone from the start, remarking that “the easy money is no longer there”. Renaud [...]
P2P lending: These are the nine key trends in alternative finance April 13, 2016 How will P2P lending fare in a downturn? Can the industry improve securitisation practices? Why did growth slow last year? Is China really the most exciting market? What will consolidation mean for the industry? These are just some of the questions thrown about at LendIt USA. With over 4,000 attendees, including the world’s leading platforms [...]
UK pensions and personal finances: Advisers believe Financial Advice Market Review will not help close the advice gap April 13, 2016 A long-awaited report in the financial advice market, which was published last month, may not help to improve access to advice after all, a notable City investment company said today. A survey conducted by Royal London discovered that almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of advisers believe the recommendations in the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) and [...]
Brits are sleep-walking into an inheritance tax nightmare April 13, 2016 If you've been fortunate enough to accumulate significant wealth during your lifetime, then you still face one major headache: you can’t take it with you. Yes, estate planning is in the headlines once again, with the news that David Cameron’s parents wanted to pass on more of their wealth to him, rather than leave it to [...]
UK pensions crisis: Low interest rates are forcing people to head back to the drawing board on their retirement plans April 13, 2016 Low interest rates have not only taken their toll on general savings, they have also hampered many people's retirement plans, research out today has found. According to the survey by Canada Life Group Insurance, almost a quarter (23 per cent) of employees have been forced to rethink their retirement plans because of low interest rates, including eight [...]
Marketplace lending: How the industry is dealing with securitisation – and does having skin in the game really matter? April 12, 2016 If you've watched The Big Short, you’ll be able to call to mind a securitisation cheat sheet: big financial institutions – investment banks, quasi-government agencies – bundle together hundreds of loans, then issue bonds to investors, using those assets as backing. In the alternative lending industry, securitisation is an exciting word for some, and a dirty one for [...]
“Closet indexer” fund managers help drive exchange-traded fund market to record levels in Europe as assets invested globally top $3 trillion April 12, 2016 Assets invested in exchange-traded funds and products listed in Europe reached record levels at the end of the first quarter in 2016. Preliminary figures from ETFGI shows $522bn (£366bn) was invested in the funds at the end of March. The market also saw its 18th consecutive month of net inflows, totalling $5.11bn. The data also showed [...]
UK pensions trends: FTSE 100 defined benefit pension schemes are increasingly bolstered by bonds April 11, 2016 FTSE 100 companies now hold a record £315bn worth of bonds across their defined benefit (DB) pension pots, research released today has found. According to the study by JLT Employee Benefits, FTSE 100 companies increased the value of bonds they held in their DB pension scheme assets by roughly £25bn over the year to the end of September [...]