Latest - INVESTMENT ZONE

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  Bonds – an asset class that ‘masks a lot of danger’

  21 February 2019

  Seven Investment Management (7IM) is warning investors that the chance of a bond catastrophe remains worryingly high, particularly to cautious investors, as interest rate rises are set to continue.  The Investment Management team at 7IM said it has protected portfolios through holding fewer bonds in recent years as they would rather give up the...

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  Recession on the cards, warns Schroders’ economist

  13 February 2019

  Schroders’ senior European economist, Azad Zangana is warning that weak UK growth figures point to risk of recession this year Growth in the UK economy slowed sharply in the final quarter of 2018 as Brexit uncertainty weighed on business investment. Real GDP growth fell from 0.6% in Q3 to just 0.2% in Q4, lower...

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  New fund management due diligence service launched

  11 February 2019

  A new discretionary fund management due diligence service has been launched to help adviser firms cut down the time they spend on researching investment services.  The DD|hub, which is free to use, provides adviser firms with instant online access to due diligence responses from DFMs, cutting out the delays and inefficiencies of traditional questionnaires....

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  Need to demonstrate investment pathways for pension drawdown in suitability reports

  10 February 2019

  Thesis Asset Management has flagged the FCA’s focus on pension drawdown investment pathways and warned that too many investment solutions used in accumulation are routinely being used in the decumulation phase.  Following the FCA’s recently published CP19/5 Consultation Paper on Retirement Outcomes Review, Thesis Asset Management has welcomed the idea of ‘investment pathways’ as...

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  7 reasons to invest in China – for the long term

  10 February 2019

  David Coombs, manager of the Rathbone Multi-Asset Portfolio funds argues that investors’ views on China are behind the times. Here he gives 7 reasons clients should consider investing in this global GDP powerhouse. 1. Recent data on China and the ongoing trade war have brought out the bears but whilst current negative sentiment may hang...

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  Review flags 2018 as “fantastic” year for structured products

  7 February 2019

  2018 was “fantastic for structured products” despite the wild swings seen across financial markets, according to Ian Lowes, managing director of Lowes Financial Management, the firm which produces the annual Structured Product Performance Review. The review analysed the 381 structured products that matured in 2018. It found that not a single capital-at-risk product that...

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  Dynamic Planner begins roll out of £5m ‘Elements’ software

  7 February 2019

  Dynamic Planner has announced a three year, £5m technology investment into the next generation of its software – Dynamic Planner Elements – which the company is rolling out over two years. The new iteration of the software is intended to help adviser firms deliver annual suitability reviews and charges disclosure under MiFIDII without leaving...

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  Financial advice threats and opportunities

  4 February 2019

  Brexit is proving a contentious issue for the advice industry, with over half of advisers viewing it as a threat, while a quarter cite it as an opportunity. According to the latest research by Aegon, 51% of those surveyed saw Brexit as the biggest threat to the advice sector, while 27% viewed it as...

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