January 4, 2009 · Leave a Comment
The start of the new year is traditionally a time for looking back over the past 12 months and looking forward to the next 12 months. It’s also a time for making predictions and being optimistic about the future.Well I’m going to stick my neck out and make a prediction for the next 12 months and say 2009 will be The Year of the Paraplanner! I say this with great enthusiasm, optimism and belief that 2009 will be a fantastic year for paraplanners and looking back over what has happened during 2008 I think there... [Read the full story]
August 1, 2008 · Leave a Comment
Dominic Brooks, Winterthur’s Pension Development Manager, examines the additional issues involved when a plan includes a Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) element. Client options Our clients’ options are to leave the benefits where they are or move them to a replacement S32, or to a personal pension. The first problem lies in finding an alternative provider willing to accept the GMP liability as, though there may be one, I am not aware of any provider currently accepting new S32 business that includes GMP. So... [Read the full story]
August 20, 2008 · Leave a Comment
Fund Legal Name: Newton Phoenix Multi-Asset FundManager: Phil Collins, BNY Mellon Asset Management Initial Charge: 4.00% AMC: 1.50% Launch Date: 11 April 2003 IMA Sector: Cautious Managed Performance YTD: -4.72% Annualised Standard Deviation: 6.34% Annualised Sharpe Ratio: 0.09 Aim: The fund aims to achieve long-term capital growth in excess of benchmark cash returns from a balanced portfolio diversified across a range of asset classes. Commentary: The fund pursues a diversified asset approach... [Read the full story]
September 2, 2008 · Leave a Comment
Stamp duty is to be axed for a year on properties costing less than £175,000 as part of a package of measures being unveiled to help the housing market.The level at which the 1% purchase tax has to be paid is to be increased from £125,000, from Wednesday morning. Read the full story from BBC News here. Read More →
October 6, 2008 · 1 Comment
The Paraplanner.com has been up and running for 6 months now and during that time we’ve seen the site grow from strength to strength. Each month we have more and more people joining the forum and adding their views and comments which is fantastic. It certainly is a mine of information. We’ve also just announced the winners of the very first Paraplanner of The Year awards in the UK and we are about to embark on a series of road shows around the country giving you all the opportunity to meet and get to know other... [Read the full story]
September 17, 2008 · Leave a Comment
I had the pleasure of attending the Financial Services Skills Council (FSSC) recently as part of the working party tasked with developing National Occupational Standards (NOS) for the role of a paraplanner. Not before time I hear many of you cry. Yes it may be but at least something is now being done and I for one am grateful for that. The fact that these NOS are being developed at all shows that the country at large is recognising the role of the paraplanner and not just as a job but more importantly as a career. Of... [Read the full story]
August 1, 2008 · Leave a Comment
We thought it would be a good idea to start to provide reviews of new products. We felt that as we were reviewing Plans and products and trying to understand them as part of our day jobs it would be good to share this information with our readers.We have tried to set this out in a way which answers basic questions and tried to collate all the various pieces of information from the company literature and present this in a way which is appropriate for paraplanners, whatever their level of knowledge or experience. Invariably... [Read the full story]
During the On the Road events I mentioned that one of my objectives was to raise the profile of paraplanners and for people generally, both within the industry and without,... [Read more]
The start of the new year is traditionally a time for looking back over the past 12 months and looking forward to the next 12 months. It’s also a time for making predictions... [Read more]
We have been working on this for some time now and are very excited to announce that the Awards are launched today. There will be lots of publicity and... [Read more]
We thought it would be a good idea to start to provide reviews of new products. We felt that as we were reviewing Plans and products and trying to... [Read more]
Knowing how long a client can expect to live is very useful when considering most types of financial planning issues yet, apart from in some unfortunate... [Read more]