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Watch out for Fake Gold Bullion Bars

When you buy gold bullion bars these days you expect the metal to be pure gold but recently fake bars are being sold around the world and one of them was detected in the U.K. filled with tungsten. Detecting fake gold bullion is important to ensure that you retain the value of your gold bars.

When you purchase gold bars you expect them to be real gold bars, not fake. Fake gold bullion bars are those which have had the gold drilled out of them and the gold replaced by tungsten. Tungsten is a similar weight to gold and so the difference is not easily detected at once. But if you weight the bar there can be enough of a difference to warrant further inspection.

Many of these ‘gold’ bars can be in existence undetected as it is rare that anyone actually tests every individual gold bar they have. So when you buy gold make sure your product is pure gold and not fake. You can check for tungsten in the gold bars by melting them down and separating the different metals. Each metal melts at a different temperature so for example tungsten melts at a higher temperature than gold. This can be an expensive project.

Another way to detect fake gold bars is to weight them but the different weight between tungsten and gold is very hard to detect.

Here the ultrasonic instrument is coming to your rescue. It shows you whether the big gold bar has metal of consistent characteristics(pure gold). Or if it has a void area with tungsten buried below some millimeters of fine gold. Testing small bars, even if they are sealed in plastic foil (less than 0.5 mm thick) takes only a few seconds.

Finally, when you are buying gold bars make sure you are dealing with a reputable dealer and if you are buying large quantities of bars check them with an ultrasonic instrument.

Via EPR Network
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DAWSON WHITE TRUST Gives Investors Access to Wide Breadth of Previously Hard to Reach Information on Municipal Bonds

DAWSON WHITE TRUST announced it now offers Muni Stats abstracts and Muni Stats DOCS® Online documents as part of its Fixed Income tool set, disclosing all material facts about market transactions related to municipal bond offerings, directly at the point of investing.

Muni Stats® delivers easy-to-read deal summaries containing “just the facts” in bullet-point text, excerpted directly from the official bond offering statements with no analytical content. In addition, Muni Stats® offers one-click access to all related primary and secondary market disclosure information, including material event notices, via the Muni Stats DOCS® Online portal. Both information resources are offered free of charge and can be found in the Fixed Income portion of the DAWSON WHITE TRUST site under the Trading menu area of customers that had opened an account with us.

“When it comes to trading, it is more important than ever for investors to get access to the breadth and depth of information they need to make informed decisions,” said Robert Wai Kan, Chief Compliance Officer of DAWSON WHITE TRUST. “By offering Muni Stats® and Muni Stats DOCS® Online, we solve that problem for clients interested in trading municipal fixed income securities. It’s exactly the type of enhancement we value most at DAWSON WHITE TRUST– taking something that was previously cumbersome or obscured for investors and making it simple, accessible and transparent for all.”

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Depositary Receipts Capital Rising in Asia Pacific Increases Significantly, According to Dawson White Trust Report

In a year of gradual economic recovery, the issuance and trading of depositary receipts (DR) remained strong in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in key markets such as China, India and Taiwan, according to Dawson White Trust inaugural Depositary Receipt APAC Year in Review.

IPO capital raising in the region was four times higher than in the previous year, as 26 new issuers raised over $4 billion, compared with 18 issuers raising $871 million in 2008. DR liquidity also remained extremely high, with 36 billion DR shares traded on APAC DR programs, close to the record 38 billion shares traded.

“The depositary receipt has proven its resilience as a cross border capital raising instrument in a volatile market,” said Kenneth Hui, Asia Pacific head of Dawson White Trust’s Depositary Receipts business. “As the global financial crisis subsides, the depositary receipt will play an even bigger role as a capital raising tool in funding the growth of the emerging APAC economies.”

Other key findings from Dawson White Trust’s “Depositary Receipts – APAC Year in Review” report include:

• 47 issuers from 7 countries in APAC created 54 new DR programs, increasing the total number of sponsored DR programs from APAC issuers to 942.
• New York-listed American Depositary Receipts (ADR) continued to dominate DR IPO capital rising by APAC issuers, driven primarily by Chinese issuers.
• Secondary offerings were an important source of capital for issuers from the region: 21 existing issuers from APAC raised $5.2 billion in the U.S., Europe and Asia through follow-ons
• As relations between Mainland China and Taiwan improved, four new issuers from Hong Kong listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in the form of Taiwan Depositary Receipts (TDR).

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Dawson White Trust Announces Changes to the Compensation Program

Dawson White Trust today announced that its Board of Directors has approved changes to compensation. They include the following:

• Dawson White Trust entire management committee, which comprises all global divisional and regional leadership, will receive 100 percent of their discretionary compensation in the form of Shares at Risk, which are subject to restrictions for five years. Discretionary compensation represents the vast majority of senior management’s compensation and is directly tied to the firm’s overall performance.

• Shares at Risk cannot be sold for five years, in addition to other restrictions.

• The five-year holding period on Shares at Risk includes an enhanced recapture provision that will permit the firm to recapture the shares in cases where the employee engaged in materially improper risk analysis or failed sufficiently to raise concerns about risks. Enhancing our recapture provision is intended to ensure that our employees are accountable for the future impact of their decisions, to reinforce the importance of risk controls to the firm and to make clear that our compensation practices do not reward taking excessive risk.

• The enhanced recapture rights build off an existing claw back mechanism which goes well beyond employee acts of fraud or malfeasance and includes any conduct that is detrimental to the firm, including conduct resulting in a material restatement of the financial statements or material financial harm to the firm or one of its business units.

• Shareholders will have an advisory vote on the firm’s compensation principles and the compensation of its named executive officers at the firm’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

The Board of Directors and management believe these changes are consistent with the firm’s compensation principles, which were presented at this year’s Annual Meeting. Going forward, we continue to be focused on refining and improving our compensation practices. The principles underlying effective compensation practices include linking compensation to multi-year performance, aligning compensation with the long-term interests of the firm and its shareholders, and ensuring that compensation incentives are formulated so that they serve as a tool to attract, retain and motivate talent, without encouraging excessive risk-taking.

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Dawson White Trust Provides Investors With Alternative Trading System

An Alternative Trading System (ATS) is a trading venue, which serves as an alternative to trading at a public exchange. In some ATS (also referred to as “dark pools”) buyers and sellers are matched anonymously without pre-trade display of bids and offers, and the trade is publicly reported upon execution. It is important to note that the basic function of a broker-operated ATS is an electronic manifestation of a previously manual trading process, when trading desks would first try to execute trades internally before sending the order to a public exchange. Industry reporting estimates total “dark pool” volume to be less than 10% of all stock market transactions. The vast majority of trades still occur at exchanges and ECNs.

ATS` are affiliated with registered broker-dealers and accordingly, their activities are governed by the same rules and regulations that govern broker-dealer activities generally.

Dawson White Trustsupports regulation that enhances post-trade reporting transparency for ATS`. As a first step in the effort to support enhanced public information on ATS trading activity, Dawson White TrustExecution and & Clearing, recently adopted a standardized method for counting executed trades in its ATS.

Non-displayed or “dark” orders and related trading activity are part of the price discovery process. When seeking best execution of their orders, market participants use trading tools that shift between providing displayed and non-displayed quotes, balancing the benefits of displaying a quote to achieve an execution versus not displaying a quote in an attempt to reduce market impact and potentially obtain price or size improvement on their order. All Dawson White Trust ATS trades “print” real-time to a trade reporting facility. This publicly available “time and sales” data is an integral component of price discovery, and ATS trading contributes to this in the same manner that public exchanges do.

ATS` have led to increased innovation and competition. Increased competition among trading venues has led to a broad reduction in explicit trading costs for both institutional and individual investors. For example, retail brokerages take advantage of the lower transaction fees offered by ATS` to provide low trading commission fees to their customers.

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Confused.com Reveals Unluckiest Streets And Door Numbers

It’s not easy being ‘Green’ according to new statistics from comparison site Confused.com: 27.6% of customers living on a road named Green Way have claimed on their home insurance in the last five years.

The Confused.com figures also reveal that living at house number 166 can be unlucky too: 21.9% of UK customers living at 166 have also claimed on their home insurance within the last five years.

The highest amount of cash paid out to claimants went to residents of Portland Road, where average claims exceeded £25,000, followed by Castle Street residents whose average claims came to £13,671 per resident.

Unsurprisingly the least claims were made in the more remote areas. The Scottish Borders registered the fewest claims, where the door number 7 was unluckiest. In London it’s people living behind the number 93 who might be worried as they are the ones with the highest volume of claims over the last five years, coming in at just over 19%.

The number 60 is unlucky not only for homeowners living in Central Scotland (almost 25%), but also for those who reside in the East of England where 60 is also the most likely to have had a home insurance claim, with almost 19% of the residents putting in a claim during the last five years.

Gareth Lane, home insurance expert at Confused.com, said: “As a person looking to buy a house in the near future I’ll think twice about moving into 166 Green Way. Joking aside, if these trends continue, on average more than 14 per cent of customers could claim on their home insurance in the next five years, with an average claim amount of around £2,000.

“During these hard economic times and extreme weather it’s important to find the right cover at the right price.”

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Confused.com Reveals That Nervy Brits Call For UK Driving Laws To Follow Europe

Confused.com has asked if it’s finally time for the UK’s driving laws to fall in line with Europe, with two thirds (66%) of Brits’ experiencing some form of motoring mishap when travelling abroad.

British holidaymakers have long been labelled the blight of the European holiday season, but new research from car insurance expert Confused.com, has revealed a different side to the ‘bawdy Brits’. Nearly three quarters (73%) of Britons who will drive abroad this summer have a fear of foreign roads because of confusing foreign road signs, driving habits and cross-country law changes.

Far from being a falsified phobia, the fear of driving on the continent exists for good reason. According to the research, one in five (20%) road trips from Britain to Europe end in a crash or bump, and an overwhelming two-thirds (66%) experience some form of motoring mishap.

This is worrying news for the 25% of British motorists who drive abroad each summer without checking they have adequate insurance. The current trend shows that a quarter of British motorists casually assume that their UK policy automatically covers them on foreign soil when in fact their policy may not be as comprehensive as while driving at home.

With so many blissful summer breaks turning into holiday horrors, it’s not surprising that British motorists want to alleviate their euro nightmares. Driving on the right is the number one fear for more than a third (39%) of UK drivers, and one in five of us (19%) confess to having driven on the wrong side of the road abroad.

The debate over left vs. right is intricate and complicated, and while switching the UK from left to right overnight is perhaps a step too far, the British public feel that standardising Europe’s drink-driving laws is a must, and soon.

Nearly half (47%) of Brits who have driven in Europe are strongly in favour of introducing uniform drink-driving limits. 27% believe that standardising European driving laws would reduce their chance of having an accident abroad, an opinion supported by transport expert, Benjamin Heydecker: “England and Wales are the only two countries in the EU (other than Malta) that has a legal drink-driving limit above 50mg per 100ml – 80mg. Harmonising Europe’s standards by reducing the limit to 50mg per 100 ml – which Scotland did recently – would modify drivers’ attitude to drink driving, with undisputed benefits for road safety.”

UK drivers’ lack of preparation was revealed when quizzed on the driving laws of Europe’s top-locations: 50% of Brits admitted they didn’t realise it was illegal to use a hands free kit in Spain, or that in Sweden it’s compulsory to carry antifreeze and a shovel in the car. Similarly one in ten (10%) didn’t know that drivers in Spain and Italy who wear glasses need to carry a spare pair.

Gareth Kloet, Head of Car Insurance at Confused.com, said: “As the holiday season approaches, we’re going to see more Brits heading to the continent. While driving is often the most convenient means of travel, it’s important for motorists to take the time to understand the foreign laws. Accidents can easily happen in an unfamiliar environment, so reading up and making sure you’re completely covered for the country you’re driving in is just as important as getting the right currency.”

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Bank Cainvest Approved for Listing on Cayman Islands Stock Exchange, Symbol CIB

Cainvest International Bank Ltd.(“Cainvest”) is pleased to announce that the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange has approved Bank Cainvest for listing on the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange(“CSX”) under the symbol “CIB”.

“Following the extensive marketing initiative of the Ministry of Finance in Brazil we are pleased to welcome Cainvest International Bank Ltd. to the Cayman Islands and to the CSX family of listed companies. We are keen now to encourage the listing of growth companies and we wish Cainvest every future success.” said Mr. Anthony Travers, Chaiman of the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange.

“Listing on the CSX is an important milestone in Bank Cainvest’s growth strategy” said Charles Aboulafia, Chief Financial Officer at Bank Cainvest. “Bank Cainvest will adhere to stringent corporate governance procedures, and thereby ensure transparency for shareholders, customers and counterparties. Furthermore, being a listed company increases public awareness in the Company and its products and enhances the status of the Bank.”

Walkers acted as Cayman Islands legal counsel to Bank Cainvest. “We are delighted to have been able to assist Cainvest on this admission to the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange. This represents an exciting opportunity for Cainvest, and we are happy we were able to help.” Ramesh Maharaj, a Partner in the Corporate and Finance group of Walkers, Cayman Islands.

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Banks May Soon Be Able To Buy Gold As Tier 1 Capital

The Basel Committee for Bank Supervision, the maker of global capital requirements and whose Basel III rules form the basis for global bank regulation, is studying making gold a bank capital Tier 1 asset. The purchase of gold may drive up its demand worldwide. In addition, gold should increase the value of the banks total capital.

Goldbullionadvisors.com is a consulting firm which helps the banking industry secure gold bullion from its worldwide suppliers. Most banks will purchase physical gold and retain possession of the bullion in their vaults to enhance its capital.

Under the proposal gold would carry a zero percent risk weighting under tier 1 capital. Gold is coming back into the banking system. We are in a world where currency wars are being fought daily, and as the system continues to collapse under its own weight of paper printing, gold will be the go to asset and possibly the last man standing.

For more information about our firm, please visit www.goldbullionadvisors.com

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Prudential Reports Average Brit To Make A Million By The Age Of 56

New research* from Prudential has revealed that the average UK worker will have earned £1 million by the time they are 56 years, nine months and three weeks old.

However, despite these cumulative earnings, fewer than two in five (37 per cent) of those expecting to retire this year have saved enough to secure a comfortable retirement.

Prudential’s analysis of average incomes shows that becoming a millionaire before tax is well within most men’s grasp, as long as they start work at 18 and then earn the average income for their age bracket through to age 65.

A man on an average income can expect to be an income millionaire when he is 50 years, six months and two weeks old. However, women will find it harder than men to make the magic million, reaching the milestone at 72 years, four months and three weeks – 22 years after their male counterparts.

Of course, this £1 million will be earned before tax which means that the average worker will have also paid £137,101 in income tax and £84,129 in national insurance.

The good news is that if someone contributes to a personal pension throughout their working life, they can benefit from significant tax relief. An individual who pays £100 per month personally into a pension over a 40 year working lifetime could receive additional tax relief of at least £12,000.

Vince Smith-Hughes, retirement expert at Prudential, said: “We might think that making a million is a pipedream, but it will become a reality for those who earn an average salary throughout their working lives, especially if they are men.

“Looking at cumulative earnings in this light helps us to understand how much we could potentially save for our retirement. Of course, ongoing financial pressures and priorities means that it is not always that easy, but it remains the case that the earlier you save and the more you save, the better retirement income you will have.

“Pensions remain highly efficient tax saving vehicles which can help savers to claw-back some of the tax that they have paid over the years.”

The analysis shows that if the average person works until the age of 65, their career earnings before tax will be £1,217,604. If they keep going to 70, then earnings will hit £1,322,009.

Prudential’s figures show that average earnings for UK workers peak at £31,328, in their forties. Average earnings for men hit a high of £40,652, while for women the peak is £21,758.

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Diamond Reveals Britain’s Speediest Drivers

Diamond has revealed that drivers named Juliet and Rupert are the most likely to have been caught breaking the speed limit, according to new research.

The women’s car insurance specialist looked at over three million motorists to identify the first names of drivers most likely to have points for speeding*. The top five women’s first names are Juliet, Susannah, Justine, Deirdre and Alexis, while for men the speediest five names are Rupert, Julian, Piers, Giles and Justin.

The research also revealed the occupations of the motorists most likely to have a motoring conviction for driving over the speed limit. Surgeons and chartered surveyors top the list of professions most likely to have been clocked speeding, followed by area sales managers, commercial chairmen and chiropractors.

Diamond managing director, Sian Lewis said: “Our research does indicate that people with certain names and occupations are more likely to have a speeding conviction than others. It was most surprising to see surgeons and other well-qualified professions top the list of occupations most likely to have a speeding conviction.

“Many people would also consider the names Juliet, Alexis, Rupert and Piers as traditionally middle-class names so it’s also interesting to see them feature highly as well.”

Diamond also looked at the first names and occupations of drivers least likely to have speeding convictions. At the other end of the scale, women named Paige, Molly, Shannon, Bethany and Lily are least likely to have points on their licence and for men it’s Connor, Terrence, Jake, Jordan and Joshua.

In terms of occupations, school students, au pairs, college students, typists and dinner ladies are the least likely to be caught speeding.

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Confused.com Reveals Why Single People Are ‘Mating’ With Friends For Life

A new Confused.com report, entitled ‘Friendships, Finance and the Future: The rise of Singledom in the UK’, has revealed that almost three quarters* (72%) of singles have friends who will be friends for life, and four in five say that friendships last longer than romantic relationships. Men in particular are saying no to marriage. Just three in ten single men think they will ever get married, and 48% think single people are more fun.

This new report also identifies a new demographic in UK society: FLAPers (Financially Liberated and Positively Single). This is a new breed of single people who are turning the tables on the stereotype of the sad singleton and embracing the adventure and spontaneity. Like the flappers of the 1920s, who threw away their corsets and sought independent lifestyles, these FLAPers are celebrating a new era of positivity and empowerment in the wake of troubled times.

Experts at Future Poll, the research division of The Future Laboratory, predict that the future could see friendships among single people recognised as relationships that work while marriage increasingly fails. Laws will protect best friends and single people might formalise their friendships by entering into ‘mate-trimony’ agreements with their best friends. Relationship status on passports and census forms could include ‘mate-trimony’ as an option, next of kin will automatically be friends, and more and more singles will protect their friendships with life insurance – 59% of singles would consider insuring the life of a friend if they bought a house together.

As people stay single for longer, they are realising how much they rely on their friends for the things traditionally provided by a partner. Friends offer a shoulder to cry on: 45% of singles turn to their friends first for emotional support. Friends know each other inside out too: 30% of singles say the person who knows them best in life is a friend.

Singles even trust their friends, rather than family members, with their online secrets. Twice as many singles would rather have a friend see what they’ve been looking at online than a family member. 18 – 24-year-old singles would much rather that friends see their web-browsing history (62%) than family members (18%), probably because their friends would be less shocked.

The research found that 29% of single people in the UK have lent money to a friend in the last 12 months and in the West Midlands, 35% of singles have lent friends money in the last year. More than one in four single people would go to their friends first if they needed money urgently, and men (31%) are more likely to do so than women (23%).

To many single people, marriage is viewed as an old fashioned idea. 21% of single men think marriage is out-dated while 34% of single women think marriage lacks the value it once had.

Mike Hoban, Chief Marketing Officer at Confused.com said: “The need for us all to prepare for the worst, and protect our loved ones, is paramount. There is an opportunity for life assurance companies to reflect the rich diversity of our society and meet the needs of more people by making available products and services which reflect the value that people put on personal relationship outside of traditional family and marriage ties.”

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Confused.com Reveals A New Way Of Living For Young Singles

Confused.com has revealed that the continued property crisis, coupled with a rise in the number of singles in the UK, is resulting in the creation of alternative ‘family’ units and giving birth to the MOSH.

This type of MOSHing does not include head-banging to metal music; it’s all about embracing the ‘Multiple Occupant Shared Home’ and challenging the traditional household structure.

Confused.com has worked with futurologists at Future Poll, the research division of The Future Laboratory, on the new study into the friendship and finances of single people in the UK, which explores the growing trend for best mates to create alternative ‘family’ units.

The Confused.com research found that 57% of singles have a friend they trust enough to buy a house with.

Furthermore, 59% of singles would consider protecting their friendships with life insuranceif they bought a house together.

Single-person households are projected to increase by 163,000 per year – from 6.8m in 2006 to 10.9m in 2031 – and singleton households could outnumber any other kind of household by 2031, according to the Government Office for Science. This shift in behaviour among young people will mean MOSHing is tipped to become mainstream over the next decade. The Confused.com report predicts that MOSHing will become a lifestyle of choice for men and the younger generation of singles, and so it will be vital to protect these co-dependent lifestyles with some form of insurance.

Men are already MOSHing more than women. Twice as many single men (10%) have bought a house with a friend compared to just 5% of single women surveyed. Some 44% of men would be comfortable owning a property with a friend, compared with 38% of women. Young people are native MOSHers, according to the Confused.com research. More than six in 10 (64%) single 18–24-year-olds have friends they trust enough to buy a house with, compared with around half (47%) of those over 55.

Young MOSHers also have more friends they would trust enough to buy a house with: 18–24-year-old singles have 36%, while those over 55 have just 21%.

Social networking is accelerating friendship and young people are connecting to more people and sharing things in a way that would be impossible in their busy offline lives. Their constant connection to their friends online means that they increasingly want to make these online communities concrete.

Mike Hoban, Chief Marketing Officer at Confused.com explains how this will impact insurers: “Insurance companies are increasingly using social media to communicate with young audiences and the next stage is to recognise, and respond to, the real-life social networks which are structuring the new ‘urban families’ as friends set up home together, supporting one another both financially and emotionally. As our report demonstrates, friendships are increasingly important to independent single people in the UK and a financial industry that caters for single people and couples alike is one that is prepared for the future of personal finance.”

The report, entitled ‘Friendships, Finance and the Future: The Rise of Singledom in the UK’, can be downloaded here:
www.confused.com/life-insurance/articles/~/media/docs/friendships-finance-and-the-future.pdf.

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Confused.com Launches New Zombie Video

Confused.com has launched a new video application called ‘Home Sweet Zombie’, in order to increase awareness of the importance of home insurance and raise its social media profile.

The video requires the user to enter their postcode. After doing so, the hometown of the user becomes swamped with a virus and zombie characters appear to make their way to the user’s home making use of Google Maps technology.

In order to demonstrate the need for home insurance, the video app uses the customer’s name and postcode to personalise the experience and make them feel as though their local area has been invaded by zombies. As the video continues, a shot of the zombies with a bomb is shown and the video comes to a climax as the customer’s home is blown up.

The last shot is Confused.com characters holding a message ‘Make sure you get your home insurance through Confused.com’.

The video forms part of the on-going social media strategy of Confused.com, and reinforces the importance of having a home insurance policy in place to make sure possessions are covered against damage and theft.

The video app can be accessed via the Confused.com website here and also Confused.com’s Facebook page. But to widen the campaign further, Confused.com will be sending an email to 1.2 million of its customers, each with a personalised video.

This app also coincides with Confused.com’s Nectar promotion where customers can collect 1,000 Nectar points with every home, pet, van, bike and car insurance policy bought through Confused.com. Customers who buy life insurance will receive 5,000 Nectar points.

The app aims to encourage people to think about the need for home insurance and customers can collect 1,000 Nectar points by simply buying this product through Confused.com.

Speaking about the video app, Mike Hoban, Marketing Director at Confused.com, said: “We’re looking to get people talking about this video app and make people understand the importance of having home insurance. We want to create customer engagement and via Facebook and Twitter we want people to share and like this video, building essential relationships with our customers.

“The aim of the video is also to create a personalised touch for our customers to ensure they know how important they are to us and how important it is to ensure their house is protected against unforeseen circumstances.”

Gareth Kloet, Head of Home Insurance added: “We want to ensure that people have home insurance. By using a comparison site like Confused.com it means we do the hard work for you and the added benefit of this exciting video app is that customers can be directed straight to the site by the click of a button.”

The ‘Home Sweet Zombie’ video app can be found at www.confused.com/news-views/games/home-sweet-zombie.

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Bower Welcomes the ReLaunch of SHIP

Bower Retirement Services, winners of the 2011 Equity Release Awards, welcome the relaunch of Safe Home Income Plans (‘SHIP’) as The Equity Release Council (The Council). Bower welcome also the decision of the trade body to broaden its membership to include financial advisers, solicitors, surveyors and other interested parties.

SHIP was established in 1991 by the major product providers as the body to safeguard the interests of consumers entering into equity release plans. Over the past 20 years, SHIP has been very successful in improving the reputation of equity release and in promoting consumer awareness of the products available. The main focus of the Equity Release Council will be to protect consumers and increase education, awareness and understanding of how equity release works, the options available and the consumer safeguards that are in place.

Geoff Charles, Managing Director of Bower commented:

“We welcome the new organisation and look forward to joiningand supporting the Equity Release Council. The changes are excellent news for elderly homeowners who are seeking to release capital from their homes in order to raise a lump sum and/or to supplement their retirement income. The extension of the membership and SHIP standards to all participants in the sector will strengthen consumer confidence and reinforce the message that equity release plans are now mainstream retirement products.”

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Standard Life Launches Auto-Enrolment Toolkit

Standard Life has launched a toolkit aimed at helping employers and advisers plan for the introduction of auto-enrolment and identify the potential cost impact.

Ann Flynn, Head of Corporate Marketing, Standard Life said: “From our research and discussions with employers it is clear that many are scratching their heads as to how to tackle the implementation of auto-enrolment. They’re not entirely sure of the steps they need to take to meet their responsibilities, how much work is involved and importantly, how it will impact their bottom line.

“We have therefore developed a dedicated corporate benefits website which hosts a range of tools, news and videos to support employers and advisers through auto-enrolment and beyond.”

The toolkit includes; Pension Reform Pathfinder tool: An in depth planning tool which will help employers and advisers build up a personalised plan of duties and help establish a scheme to fit their requirements, and comply with auto-enrolment regulation.

Pension Reform Cost calculator: The pension reform cost calculator will help employers and advisers understand the potential cost of auto-enrolment by:
– Checking if a current scheme meets the requirements to satisfy the legislation
– Identifying the estimated ongoing costs of meeting legislation requirements
– Showing how the costs can be implemented gradually over time
– Demonstrating how costs could be reduced by providing the option for employees to pay through salary exchange.

Employer checklist: Gives employers an overview of the key tasks they must carry out in order to fulfil their new duties.

Data exchange guides: The guides will help employers navigate their way through their new duties and understand the impact on their current processes and systems.

Member communications timeline: The timeline gives a clear view of the mandatory member communications that pension reform legislation requires. It shows:
– The timeline – what communications need to be issued and when
– The regulations – which communications are mandatory and which are ‘recommended’
– The ownership – which communications must be sent by the employer
– The member categories – what type of information needs to be communicated to each category of employees.

Pension Reform information for employees: A dedicated pension reform website page, aimed at educating employees, has also been created on www.standardlife.co.uk to inform employees about the changes. The site covers everything they need to know, from why pension reform is happening to what to do if they don’t want to join their company pension scheme. There is also a short video which summarises pension reform and auto-enrolment.

Flynn added: “The cost and infrastructure impact will be a major concern for most businesses so these tools will help form the basis of discussions between advisers, HR teams and Finance Directors.

“With so many employers’ staging dates falling in 2013 and 2014, it is crucial that providers support employers and their advisers to help make the transition as painless as possible. Our message to all employers is the sooner you start your planning the better.”

Via EPR Network
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Payday Express appoints new facilities co-ordinator to ensure staff wellbeing

Short term payday loan provider Payday Express has enlisted a facilities co-ordinator to support its focus on staff wellbeing.

Kristina Winch, who began with Payday Express as an administrator in September 2009, was appointed last month and has been focusing on making improvements to the staff break-out area. Vending machines providing snacks and hot drinks for staff throughout the day have already been installed.

The online payday loan service provider takes staff wellbeing very seriously, paying close attention to the working environment as well as to training programmes, ongoing job support and career development.

As well as vending machines, sofas have also been installed in the break-out area to give staff somewhere comfy to sit during their breaks. This is in addition to the Wii-Fit, which was introduced as part of the March “Be Fit” campaign.

The company also focuses on job satisfaction, aiming to equip employees with the tools and skills to carry out their jobs successfully and progress within their careers. This starts from an employee’s first day in the company when he or she undergoes a two-day induction course, held by the company’s experienced training staff.

Payday Express is a fast-growing company and in May the company recruited 30 new employees across their account management, contact centre and collections departments. Of the 30, 12 of the new starters were referred by friends who already work at the company, a statistic which is representative of the satisfaction felt by employees.

Richard Turner, human resources advisor at Payday Express, said: “Staff wellbeing is paramount. We aim to deliver this not only by creating a welcoming environment, but also by offering effective training and on-going support, which in turn ensures staff provide consistently high levels of customer service.”

Via EPR Network
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Confused.com Expands Their Telematics Car Insurance Providers

Confused.com has added leading telematics brand, insurethebox, to its ever-increasing car insurance panel. insurethebox joined Confused.com’s collection of leading car insurance providers on Friday 25 May.

Confused.com’s car insurance comparison service makes it easy for customers to compare different policies, and the new relationship with insurethebox affords those shopping for insurance an even greater choice than before.

insurethebox specialises in telematics insurance, which is targeted at drivers who believe they can reduce their premiums by driving safely. This can be of specific benefit to young males, who traditionally have the worst driving record and consequently the highest premiums.

insurethebox is the fourth telematics provider to be added to the Confused.com panel, following Autosaint, Coverbox and AA Drivesafe.

Telematics enables personalised insurance based on the safety of the policyholder’s driving. This is measured using data gathered by a device which is fitted to the car. The device is about the size of a deck of cards, and gathers data such as mileage, when and where the car is driven and harsh acceleration and braking.

insurethebox policies are unique in a number of ways. The insured is limited to a maximum number of ‘policy miles’ which they can drive in a year – currently 6,000. Extra miles can be purchased or built up.

Data gathered is sent to insurethebox, which then rewards safe driving with up to 100 bonus miles every month. The better the driving, the greater the chance of premium reductions on renewal. The data can also be accessed online through a secure personalised portal, so that the driver can see how they have driven and learn where they need to improve.

As an additional safety benefit, the telematics device will inform insurethebox in the event of an accident, and the emergency services may be contacted where appropriate. The device also acts as a tracker, which can deter theft and locate the car in the event of it being stolen.

The Confused.com telematics page contains plenty of information, as does the Confused.com telematics FAQ page.

Gareth Kloet, Head of Car Insurance at Confused.com, said: “For us, Confused.com customers come first. So we’re really happy to be able to offer them a greater choice and variety of policies.

“insurethebox are a market-leading brand with some really progressive ideas. Their telematics expertise is second to none, and we’re really glad to be able to add them to our impressive list of partners.”

Via EPR Network
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Prudential Reveals Women Set To Retire On £5750 Less Than Men

New research from Prudential has revealed that women retiring in 2012 expect their annual retirement income to be a third lower than that of their male counterparts, adding up to a gender gap of £5,750.

Prudential’s Class of 2012 study into the finances and expectations of those planning to retire this year finds that the average woman expects an annual income of £12,250 from their retirement pension, compared with an average expected income of £18,000 for men.

The study shows that the gender gap has fallen from last year’s £6,500, and has narrowed steadily since Prudential first measured a gap of £6,642 in 2009. The fall this year can be mainly attributed to a reduction in men’s expected incomes. However, the gap remains significant.

Prudential’s study found that the average amount that men and women expect to retire on in 2012 fell to a five-year low of £15,500 including private, company and State pension, compared with £16,600 in 2011.

Stan Russell, Prudential’s retirement income expert, said: “The Pension Gender Gap appears to be narrowing, but there is still a long way to go. Not only does the gap remain stubbornly wide, but anticipated retirement incomes have this year hit a five year low for both men and women.

“The practical steps that women can take to improve their retirement income prospects include maintaining pension contributions during career breaks and, if possible, making voluntary National Insurance contributions after returning to work.

“It is imperative for anyone looking to secure a sufficient income when they retire to begin saving as much as they can, as early as they can, and to do so regularly through life. For those who are still working, it has never been a more important time to save into a pension.”

The Prudential study also found that nearly half (49 per cent) of women believe they will not have enough income for a comfortable retirement, compared with 40 per cent of men.

The retirement gender gap is widest in the South East, where women retiring this year expect to have £7,878 less income a year on average than men – £12,259 compared with £20,137.

The gender gap is narrowest in the North West, with women in the region retiring on an average of £13,087 a year, compared with £15,632 for men – a difference of £2,545.

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STANLEY-CLIFFORD Dynamic Allocation Fund Risk Considerations

After the release of the Dynamic Allocation Fund Risk Considerations the board of STANLEY-CLIFFORD is releasing the following considerations.

STANLEY-CLIFFORD Funds, the mutual fund family of STANLEY-CLIFFORD, offers individual and institutional investors a wide range of long-term investment choices among over 80 financial instruments, fixed income, money market and hybrid funds. The family’s global line of offerings provides both core and satellite investments across different asset classes, investment styles, investment approaches and geographical regions.

The STANLEY-CLIFORD Fund invests primarily in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), futures, swaps and other derivatives that provide exposure to a broad spectrum of asset classes, including but not limited to equity options (both in Asian and non Asian companies), fixed income, investment grade and high yield commodities.

Derivative instruments may involve a high degree of financial risk. These risks include the risk that a small movement in the price of the underlying derivative or benchmark may result in a disproportionately large movement, unfavorable or favorable, in the price of the derivative instrument; risk of default by a counterparty; and liquidity risk. The STANLEY-CLIFFORD Fund’s equity investments are subject to market risk, which means that the value of its investments may go up or down in response to the prospects of individual companies, particular industry sectors and/or general economic conditions.

The STANLEY-CLIFFORD`S Fund’s fixed income investments are subject to the risks associated with derivatives generally, including credit, liquidity and interest rate risk. High yield, lower rated derivatives involve greater price volatility and present greater risks than higher rated fixed income futures. The STANLEY-CLIFFORD Fund is subject to the risk that exposure to the commodities markets may subject the Fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional investment vehicles.

The STANLEY-CLIFFORD Fund may also invest in foreign market derivatives, including emerging markets futures, which may be more volatile and less liquid than investments in traditional Asian markets and are subject to the risks of currency fluctuations and sudden economic or political developments. The Fund is non-diversified and may invest more of its assets in fewer issuers than diversified funds. Accordingly, the STANLEY-CLIFFORD Fund may be more susceptible to adverse developments affecting any single issuer held in its portfolio and to greater losses resulting from these developments.

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