My life as a pie chart
So I came across this article today, called Retiring The Portfolio Screenshot. I opened it thinking it was something about what clients see about their investments on wrap platforms. But it isn’t. It’s about creative types doing better demos of the work they’ve done for clients. So, you know, whatever and good luck to them […]
Just write the cheque already
Well, that’s been fun. The last 24 hours or so have seen a flurry of to-ing and fro-ing as a result of a Dear Compliance Officer letter from the FSA that landed on desks yesterday.It’s all to do with adviser charging and making sure platforms / providers can be really sure that clients have stuck […]
A warm(ish) gonzo welcome to auto enrolment
Well, we made it. Today is 1 October 2012 and the culmination of years of effort on the parts of many. From the talk of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ compulsion (a full 10 years before Fifty Shades of Grey) to the realisation that this was unstoppable; from the furore over NEST charges to the as-yet unproven […]
Turning up for dessert – AJ Bell joins the unbundled dinner party
OK, so we have a new toy to play with. The toy is AJ Bell’s new Sippcentre pricing structure, and (colours to the mast), it’s a good’un. AJ Bell is the last of the big guys to the transparency table, so their structure will generate considerable interest. It does need a little unpacking though, so […]
the lang cat Guide To Platform Pricing – now live
So today the lang cat launches its very first commercially available market analysis report. Its title is ‘You want how much?’ and the subject, predictably, is platform pricing. We’re pretty excited about it. You can get a sneakypeeky here (just click on the image of the report). The cornerstone of the Guide is an analysis […]
Fashionably late – Skandia joins the transparency gang
There was SIMPLY NO WAY that I’d be able to let this go by. What a day for Skandia, and what a triumph of news management. With UK inflows on SIS dropping 40% and a reminder in the analyst statements that only £20bn or so of the near £40bn it’s credited with having is on […]
FG12/16 – left a bit…right a bit…no, as you were.
Selfishly, FSA have just published their Finalised Guidance paper FG12/16 on Centralised Investment Propositions and replacement business. I say selfishly, because I’ve been out all week and am trying to catch up with some stuff and instead I’ve had to read the paper and do this blog. Most of it is the same stuff as […]
Rubber And Glue Part Two – CP12/12
What a day. I’ve been speaking at Capita’s Great British Adviser Day on whatever nonsense came into my head. With the launch of CP12/12 today, at least some of that nonsense was around platforms and rebates, which would have been fine if a) I didn’t disagree with a big chunk of it and b)Rory Percival […]
Standard Life to the transparency diary room
<<EDIT – Since writing this SL has been in touch – hi, how you doing – to say that I got the charging structure wrong – the charge on the total pot changes at various trigger points rather than a set charge applying to each tranche. Very happy to amend – this stuff has to […]
What Tom Waits has to say about legacy business
First off, it’s been a shockingly long time since I wrote this blog. Poor form, been busy, blah blah. How’ve you been? Yes, yes I know. Yes, it is worrying. No, I don’t think putting a Greek island in your SIPP is a good idea. Shall we? Some years ago, when tripartite DFM agreements were […]
