FTAdviser Podcast

Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England, famously said open-ended funds which invest in illiquid assets are "built on a lie". This has been particularly evident with property funds, which have been forced to open and close themselves to redemptions repeatedly over the past few years, first in response to Brexit and then because of the coronavirus pandemic.To fix this this the Financial Conduct Authority has proposed a new type of fund: the long-term asset fund, which have "liquidity tools" which could include notice periods, deferred redemptions or limits on the amount of a fund which can be redeemed during a set period.This week FTAdviser digital editor Damian Fantato is joined by Ryan Hughes, head of active portfolios at AJ Bell, and Mike Barrett, consulting director at The Lang Cat, to discuss what these new funds could mean for advisers, platforms and discretionary fund managers.They also examine how this fund could work in practice and how it could fit into existing distribution channels, what this means for property as an asset and whether the FCA's attempts to square the liquidity circle are in vain.The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joe Biden has now marked more than 100 days of his term as President of the United States. While he has been a lot quieter on Twitter than his predecessor, that is not for a lack of activity.President Biden has signed a $1.9tn stimulus package, put together a $2tn package of infrastructure spending and unveiled a $1.8tn package of reforms on issues such as healthcare and labour laws.By common consensus, Biden is governing more radically than he campaigned. So what does this mean for investors and global markets?This week FTAdviser digital editor Damian Fantato is joined by Ed Smith, head of asset allocation research at Rathbones, and Ilan Chaitowitz, manager of the Nomura Global High Conviction fund, to discuss this.They discuss whether Biden's greater radicalism shows investors and markets can stomach more than expected, what impact the US stimulus might have globally, if debt ultimately doesn't matter all that much and whether the stimulus even matters if trade continues to be tense.The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the clichés of the 21st century is to say data is the new oil but, like a lot of clichés, there's a kernel of truth in there struggling to come out. Indeed companies like Facebook have turned data into an awful lot of money and an awful lot of controversy.But what does this mean for advisers? How can they put the data they hold to good use to improve the service they offer? And what are the pitfalls?This week FTAdviser digital editor Damian Fantato is joined by Nick Eatock, chief executive of Intelliflo, and Russell Andrews, head of solutions at SEI.They discuss what data is in the context of financial advice, what uses advisers can put their data to - both for their own businesses and for their clients, whether advisers are making enough use of it and what regulatory issues there might be.The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Exceptionally low interest rates, a high level of economic uncertainty and elevated valuations across multiple asset classes have combined with the Covid-19 pandemic to make this a tricky time for all investors, but particularly for those looking for an income.Many companies cut their dividends as they faced the uncertainty of the pandemic, with Shell cutting its dividend for the first time since the Second World War. Overall, UK dividends fell by 54 per cent between April and June.This week FTAdviser special projects editor David Thorpe examines what this means for investors and how they can address it. He is joined by James Harries, the manager of the Troy Global Income fund, and David Lewis, a manager who helps run Jupiter's Merlin range of multi-manager funds.They discuss what impact rising government bond yields could have on income portfolios, the potential for higher inflation and what investors should make of the rise of alternatives - such as music rights and aircraft leasing.The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The government has said it will be reviewing the pension advice allowance - which was introduced following the Financial Advice Market Review to help close the advice gap - after most major providers said they either didn't offer it or saw little or no interest.Pensions minister Guy Opperman has admitted the allowance, currently set at £1,500 over three years, was "too low to get an efficacious outcome" and said he was now working with HM Treasury to see if it could be improved.This week reporter Amy Austin examines what future the pension advice allowance might have. She is joined by Peter Glancy, head of pensions and investment policy at Scottish Widows - one of the few providers which offers the allowance - and Tim Morris, a financial adviser at Russell & Co.They discuss why take-up of the allowance has been so poor, how it can be improved to increase interest from advisers and consumers, and how the process of seeking advice on pensions can be made easier.The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Millions of Britons are being affected by "ill-thought-out rules, which have come into force for the private sector.Whether these are freelancers, concerned about how the rule might be assessed, or businesses worried about how they assess the tax status of every freelance contractor they hire, IR35 has posed problems for both advisers and their clients. Joining Simoney Kyriakou, senior editor of FTAdviser, to talk about what the new rules mean for contractors, clients and for advice firms themselves, are three specialists: Nimesh Shah, chief executive of Blick Rothenberg; Susan Ball, partner at RSMUK and deputy president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation; and Justin Small founder of the Future Strategy Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Earlier this year the Financial Conduct Authority announced plans to review the controversial 10 per cent drop rule, which was introduced by Mifid II in 2018 and means clients must be informed when their portfolios drop by 10 per cent or more.The rule has been suspended since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic due to increased market volatility, a suspension which the FCA has said will continue until the end of 2021.But now the UK has left the European Union, what should the FCA do about this rule following its review? Should the rule be scrapped completely? Or can it be saved.This week FTAdviser digital editor Damian Fantato is joined by Tim Fassam, director of government relations at adviser trade body Pimfa, and Greg Davies, head of behavioural science at Oxford Risk, to discuss these questions.They also discuss what advisers can learn about this rule about communicating investment performance with their clients.The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last month marked five years since the final report of the Financial Advice Market Review was published.The review was commissioned by HM Treasury to find measures to close the advice gap and enable the development of affordable and accessible financial advice - but in the five years since not much has changed and by some measures the advice gap has actually grown. And earlier this year the government was forced to admit one of the measures introduced following the review - the pensions advice allowance - was not working and would be reviewed.This week, FTAdviser digital editor Damian Fantato is joined by Personal Finance Society chief executive Keith Richards and Prakash Chandramohan, strategic policy director at Tisa, to discuss what can be done now about the advice gap.They discuss whether the answer is more advice or more guidance, what role advisers and providers have to play in closing the gap and what barriers exist to preventing the advice gap from being closed.The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pensions taxation in the UK has been tinkered around with for years. Over the decades, different laws have shaped pensions legislation, making what should be a simple concept – helping people to save more for their retirement – extremely complicated. With this in mind, Simoney Kyriakou, senior editor of FTAdviser, spoke with three industry specialists to ask them to think the unthinkable about pensions. If they were chancellor, what changes would they make and why? Joining FTAdviser In Focus on this podcast is Fiona Tait, technical director of Intelligent Pensions; Jamie Jenkins, director of policy and external affairs at Royal London; and David Brooks, technical director for Broadstone. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since 2007, the number of private-rented households has grown by 60% as house prices have soared but incomes stagnated following the financial crisis.This growing cohort of renters has become known as 'Generation Rent', but what does this mean for the protection market?Homeowners across the UK are already underprotected and renters even more so, but since protection is traditionally sold at the point of a house purchase, what does the decline of home-ownership mean for consumers, brokers and insurers?This week, FTAdviser deputy features editor Ima Jackson-Obot discusses this, and how the protection gap for renters can be closed.Joining her to discuss this are Abi Greenhalgh, director at Nest Financial Services, and Andy Walton, protection proposition director at the Mortgage Advice Bureau.The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.