Good morning and welcome to your Morning Briefing for Wednesday 19 January, 2022. To get this in your inbox every morning click here.
FCA strengthens promo rules
The Financial Conduct Authority has strengthened its rules on how high-risk financial products are marketed.
This is a central element of the FCA’s Consumer Investments Strategy, published in September 2021.
It aims to give consumers the confidence to invest and reduce the number of people who are investing in high-risk products that are not aligned to their needs.
Better informed are better protected
“The nation’s pension saving has remained remarkably resilient throughout the pandemic. The latest data from the office of National Statistics (ONS) shows total membership of occupational pensions is up 7% on pre-pandemic levels, including an increase of 13% in private sector defined contribution (DC) membership.
“It’s clear – the retirement saving habit is sticking. Thanks to automatic enrolment, the overwhelming majority of eligible employees – 88% – are now enrolled in a workplace pension and our ambitions for the future will help people save more and start saving earlier.”
Guy Opperman writes for Money Marketing.
Dashboard functionality
The pensions dashboard is meant to revolutionise saving habits but are there limitations in the original conception?
The Association of British Insurers thinks so and it has called on forthcoming legislation and regulatory regime to allow pensions dashboards to be interactive.
Virtual office
A lot has been written about the great wealth transfer being an opportunity for financial advisers.
But financial services veteran Malcolm Kerr has interrogated this claim in his latest column for Money Marketing.
He argues the estimated £5trn 30-year intergenerational wealth transfer “opportunity” actually presents a major challenge to financial advisers.
This is because once the rich parents who are the clients die a relationship might not have been established with the children.
Kerr suggests a virtual family office should be considered. “It could future proof their business and enhance the services available to their clients and their clients’ children,” he writes.
Please take part in our weekly poll on the subject below.
Loading …Quote Of The Day
Politics can wreak havoc on markets, and with inflation and the cost of living already adding to the volatility this year, it might not take much for investments to be impacted.
-Stuart Clark, portfolio manager at Quilter Investors warns that 2022 is the year of political risk for investors
Stat Attack
Nearly nine out of ten employers say that supporting the health and wellbeing of their staff has a positive impact on their business, according to research conducted by Group Risk Development (GRiD).
45%
Of employers believe that supporting the health and wellbeing of their staff demonstrates that they care about their employees, and that engenders loyalty and engagement
42%
Said that when their employees know they are supported with their overall health and wellbeing, it increases their engagement
41%
Stated that productivity is increased when employees know that their employer supports them with their overall health and wellbeing
33%
Said it is integral to their company ethos to support their employees – including their health and wellbeing – and that helps them fulfil their business objectives
31%
Believe that supporting health and wellbeing holistically helps manage absence, mitigating both the number and length of absences and helping staff return to work more quickly
26%
Think that supporting the health and wellbeing of staff differentiates them from their competitors, helping with employee recruitment and retention
19%
Say that potential clients are interested in how they look after staff and that having a good policy in place helps them win new clients
Source: GRiD
In Other News
Dimensional Fund Advisors has launched the Emerging Markets Sustainability Core Equity fund and the Global Sustainability Short Fixed Income fund.
Both funds use the firm’s overarching sustainability investing approach. It targets a meaningful reduction in exposure to businesses with high greenhouse gas emissions intensity and potential emissions from fossil fuel reserves.
The funds also take into consideration other issues of concern to sustainability investors, including tobacco, factory farming and child labour.
They also expand upon Dimensional’s suite of sustainability strategies, which already include the Global Sustainability Core Equity fund and the Global Sustainability Fixed Income fund.
With these new funds, Dimensional’s sustainability equity strategies now cover both developed and emerging markets.
In fixed income, combining the Global Sustainability Short Fixed Income fund with the existing Global Sustainability Fixed Income fund allows investors to vary their term and credit exposure.
In an effort to strengthen its macroeconomic expertise, AXA Investment Managers has announced two appointments to its research team.
François Cabau has joined as senior Eurozone economist and works jointly with economist Hugo Le Damany. Cabau previously was director-senior European economist at Barclays in London.
Claire Dissaux has been appointed as senior sovereign emerging market credit analyst. She joined from Millennium Global where she was most recently head of global economics & strategy.
They are both based in Paris and report to head of macro research David Page.
Independent platform, pensions, and investment consultancy The Lang Cat has appointed Rich Mayor as senior analyst. He will be responsible for the development and delivery of the firm’s renowned quarterly insight publications, which currently include the Platform Market Scorecard and Adviser Briefing.
Rich, who started his career at Skandia (now Quilter) in 2008, joins from Fundscape where he was editorial director working on all platform and fund industry publications.
Lang Cat principal Mark Polson said: “We’ve been developing our insight and analysis services over recent years. Good quality industry data, insight and analysis has never been in greater demand. This a big growth area for us and it requires knowledgeable and trusted people to deliver a great service.”
From Elsewhere
Inflation jumps to 30 year high — and worse is to come (Evening Standard)
Big Credit Suisse investor Harris backs new chairman (Reuters)
UK has around 2,000 ‘Isa millionaires’, figures show (Belfast Telegraph)
Did You See?
“As we sit in a small, third-floor conference room at the fund data and technology firm’s Soho office in London, the T20 Final between England and New Zealand is under way. Purdey’s enthusiasm bounces around the room.
“For a chief executive who assumed his current role only in March 2020, he looks to have taken the past 18 months in his stride. He wears jeans, a blue checked shirt and a beaming smile.”
