Vanguard is entering the UK advice market with a service offering investment guidance to UK investors as Thisismoney reports.
It does appear that the distinction between advice and guidance is rather crucial here. The firm talks of guidance in the Thisismoney report, but in a letter to clients from Vanguard head of Europe Sean Hagerty describes it as a direct to consumer financial advice offer.
There will be much scrutiny of its model whether it passes muster with the FCA or not. Reading the various IFA comments around social media, they range between some concern to very relaxed.
Speaking to Money Marketing, consultant and Altus director Simon Bussy says that Vanguard must tread carefully so as not to put off its adviser customers. This, one suspects, will run and run.
Quilter has bought national advice firm Prescient adding £800m to its funds under management.
The Complaints Commissioner has decided that the FCA must pay £2,500 to an investor for inaccuracies on the register. The investor had placed money with a cloned advisory firm. The actual firm from Austria had decided it no longer needed the ‘passport’ and should not have been on the register when the client checked.
Certainly interesting given how controversial the register is proving these days.
Another Budget another debate about pensions tax relief. The former pensions minister Ros Altmann, writing in Money Marketing, suggests that for the Tories to be a one nation government promising renewal in the ‘left behind’ areas of England, they will have to take a look at pensions tax relief.
I am deeply sceptical about a combination of very large spending pledges both in the manifesto and in various ministerial remarks, the ability and certainly willingness of the government to borrow, promises not to raise many key taxes as indeed Altmann points out and all in the context of economic uncertainty.
It is the relief to the top ten per cent of pension savers that Altmann thinks may be in the Government sights. And yet as IFAs have noted, we have heard this all before. I think we came close to a big reform when George Osborne was Chancellor but what often happens is that backbench opposition frustrates any significant moves.
The following story will cause further disgruntlement and worry. The first payment from the Woodford Equity Income Fund’s unwinding has been delayed by ten days and will now theoretically take place on January 30th.
IFAs using Phoenix Wealth to invest in M&G property have been told that adviser charges can no longer be facilitated. Everything in financial services seems to have a long term effect.
