Category Archives: Financial Management

Financial Management

Banks, Business, Currency, Financial, Financial Information, Financial Management, Financial Services, Financial Software, Financial Solutions, Forex, Investment, Money, Profits, Trading

Saxo Bank Video Looks at Post-quake Japanese Investment Opportunities

Saxo Bank has released a new Equity Focus video featuring the company’s Equity Strategist Peter Garnry. The video looks at what the possible implications for investors interested in the Japanese stock market are in the short and long-term, with the total impact and cost of the massive earthquake in Japan, related tsunamis and nuclear crisis still unclear. The Bank of Japan has introduced a series of policy easing measures but there is still doubt that this will be enough to create market stability in the Japanese stock market.

Comparing Japan’s current situation to the state of the country’s market following the huge earthquake which occurred in the city of Kobe in 1995, Peter Garnry commented that the stock market remained steady in the days following that disaster but people underestimated its effects and within four months the market had fallen by 25%. When asked whether this was due to the Kobe earthquake hitting a large industrial area of Japan rather than the coastal areas devastated by the recent quake (although some car manufacturing and electronics plants were forced to stop production) Garnry replied that the effect on the market will only be known in the coming months. He also stated that the aftermath of the earthquake could be a great opportunity for many investors to be exposed to Japanese stocks and subsequently invest in them.

With the current disaster coming on top of an already exorbitant national debt status there are increased concerns that the Japanese economy could be pushed back into recession. Meanwhile, major Japanese exporters are being hurt by forced shutdowns due to power shortages, while the yen, at least for now, is supported by the Bank of Japan’s massive liquidity injection into the banking system. As it’s still early days there’s a chance that just a few months down the road the impact on Japan’s economy and currency might be somewhat different and this could result in some interesting investment opportunities in large Japanese export driven stocks.

About Saxo Bank:
Saxo Bank is an online trading and investment specialist, enabling clients to trade Forex, CFDs, Stocks, Futures, Options and other derivatives, as well as providing portfolio management via SaxoWebTrader and SaxoTrader, the leading online forex trading platforms. The three specialised and fully integrated trading platforms; the browser-based SaxoWebTrader, the downloadable SaxoTrader and the SaxoMobileTrader application are available in over 20 languages. The Saxo Bank website features a wealth of investment advice, trading products, market news and analysis, including forex videos.

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Financial, Financial Information, Financial Management, Financial Services, Financial Software, Investment, Money

Vebnet and Towers Watson Announce Partnership Throughout Latin America

Vebnet, a market-leading global technology provider of total rewards and flexible benefits solutions, and Towers Watson (NYSE, NASDAQ: TW), a leading global professional services company, have announced a formal partnership in Latin America.

The partnership combines Towers Watson’s expertise in benefits, investment and communication consulting with Vebnet’s market-leading technology to support organisations that need portal-based flexible employee benefit schemes. Vebnet and Towers Watson have a similar, successful partnership in Asia Pacific.

“The increasing diversity of today’s workforce makes flexibility an essential component of benefit provision and total rewards programs,” said Segundo Tascon, Latin America benefits director of Towers Watson.

“Together, Towers Watson and Vebnet will offer a fully integrated yet highly configurable solution to clients and their employees. Vebnet’s FIX&FLEX is an intuitive and highly configurable technology application that enables companies to provide education and information content through engaging communications and consistent messaging within a common employee brand.”

By combining Vebnet’s technology, bespoke communication programs delivered through multimedia channels and highly experienced consulting and implementation teams, Towers Watson can develop and deliver a differentiated employee benefit strategy and solution to leading companies. This solution can include communications plans, total rewards statements, flexible benefits and online pay slips to bring more choice, empowerment, flexibility and automation to the company’s benefit scheme. The technology can be deployed in multiple languages and currencies and be the application controlling multinational or global employee benefit scheme provision and administration.

This technology currently supports over 260 organizations, covering 400,000 employees. The technology is deployed in over 20 countries and in different languages including Chinese, Thai and Spanish.

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Banks, Business, Currency, Financial, Financial Information, Financial Management, Financial Services, Financial Software, Financial Solutions, Forex, Investment, Money, Profits, Trading

TradingFloor.com Releases Video On European Growth

TradingFloor.com, the home of Saxo Bank’s trading commentary, financial research and analysis, has released a video discussing the current European growth.

The European growth situation is particularly in focus, with quite a bit of key macro data being published which is expected to confirm the ‘growth story’. In the video Mads Koefoed, macro strategist at Saxo Bank’s TradingFloor.com discusses the growth in Europe and in the U.S.

Mads first discusses Eurozone industrial production in addition to the Eurozone and some individual members’ GDP reports. The industrial production numbers of -0.1% were a little below consensus expectations but above TradingFloor.com’s expectations of -0.4%. Even though the numbers had declined, the manufacturing sector is still growing strongly in the Eurozone. The declining numbers are thought to be attributed to the very strong November numbers, which saw industrial production rising 1.4% month on month, so some give back is it to be expected in December’s numbers. The very poor weather in December will also have had some affect on production numbers. Mads expects the numbers to improve for January.

The overall GDP reports were also fairly good and what was expected. Countries like Spain performed better than expected with a result of 2% up. With Germany continuing to drive the Eurozone, Mads predicts a fairly robust growth in the Eurozone in the fourth quarter.

Furthermore, also in focus is a meeting of Europe’s Finance Ministers and any indications of increasing the debt stability of southern Eurozone members. While Mads does not foresee much news coming out of the event, he does foresee them discussing the Germany and France proposal to put in place a measure against debt increase to hopefully ensure a more harmonized corporate tax system in the Eurozone, despite other leaders not being completely behind this.

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TradingFloor.com Releases Video on the German Economy

TradingFloor.com, the home of Saxo Bank’s trading commentary, financial research and analysis, has released the video ‘Why the German economy continues to outperform in Eurozone’.

Despite a minor correction in industrial orders in December, the German economy continues to stand out from the rest of the Eurozone members in terms of growth. In the video Mads Koefoed, macro strategist at Saxo Bank’s Tradingfloor.com, discusses the performance of Europe’s largest economy versus the 16 other Eurozone members.

Mads Koefoed discusses two main reasons why he believes the Germany economy is continuing to outperform other countries in the Eurozone. Germany is turning part of its foreign exports away from other countries in the Eurozone and towards Asia. While Germany still continues to do a lot of trade within the Eurozone, by turning to Asia, where more solid growth is taking place, it is doing better than other Eurozone countries that have not moved some of their trade overseas.

Southern countries such as Spain, Portugal and Italy have also seen higher cuts on public spending than have happened in Germany, meaning Germany should recover much stronger.

Mads is optimistic that the economic growth of Germany will continue throughout 2011 and hopefully into 2012, because while Germany is cutting costs, it is not doing it as harshly as other countries.

Northern areas of the Eurozone such as the Netherlands and France are expected to catch up with Germany first, though it looks doubtful whether the southern countries will make real advance any time soon. Mads mentions that other countries outside of the Eurozone, such as the UK, should catch up fairly quickly as well. While the UK may see a weak first half due to the rise in VAT and the public spending cuts, the second half of 2011 should see a strong rebound.

The Eurozone economy video is available to view on the Saxo Bank TradingFloor website.

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Credit Cards, Financial, Financial Management, Financial Services, Financial Solutions, Money, Personal Finance

Advantages of Xmas Sale Shopping Using a Prepaid Card prepaidcreditcardsuk.org.uk

The Christmas sales are now well under way so out come the credit and debit card, but new statistics show the prepaid credit cards can offer better protection and service than traditional plastic brands.

Online visits to prepaidcreditcardsuk.org.uk have increased significantly over the last 6 months as traditional shoppers, turn away from credit and stick to debit shopping in order to keep debt to a minimum.

Prepaid credit cards come in all shapes and forms, and some cards like the now notorious Kardashian prepaid card have given this form of spending a bad name.

However the reality is that many prepaid cards actually offer significant advantages over credit purchases and some even offer money saving deals and even free phone credit.

For example the Escape card which retails at phones4u offers cashback on purchases made at GAP, USC, Littlewoods, Argos and Avon and many other stores online.

More importantly than getting cashback on purchases a prepaid card allows you to budget far more easily and not spend more than you can actually afford. For example if you have a monthly income and you want to make sure that you don’t overspend you can load a prepaid card with spending money and this will stop you never overspending.

And finally as online fraud is becoming more sophisticated a prepaid card can offer an additional layer of protection when making purchases online by minimising the risk as you only have a set amount of money in your account at any one time.

prepaidcreditcardsuk.org.uk is a UK based comparison guide offering the latest information about prepaid credit cards for the United Kingdom.

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Not All NAIC Suitability Training Solutions Are Created Equal

With the Iowa Suitability Requirement becoming active on January 1, 2010 there is no doubt that insurance carriers are scrambling to find the best solution. While most solutions are similar in that they will offer State Specific Training and Carrier Specific Training the means and methods in which they deliver the training will differ from provider to provider. Quest is proud to offer the industry’s most comprehensive, user friendly and cost effective solution to the NAIC Suitability Regulation.

Using proprietary technology, Quest has the ability to meet each individual carrier’s NAIC Suitability Training needs. While most carriers will opt for a Single Suitability Platform, there are some carriers with captivate agents that would prefer a private label solution. Quest has built their reputation on providing innovative solutions and advanced custom technologies. This custom technology addresses the needs of the carrier wishing to have an NAIC Training portal branded specifically for their company and their producers. A private label solution will match the carriers’ look and feel providing an effective marketing tool and sense of good will with the carrier’s producers. Custom reporting, in addition to daily PGP encrypted data feeds are standard with all of Quest’s learning platforms and will serve as an integral function in both private label solutions and the Single Source Solution.

While other NAIC Suitability Training Providers have turned to their old, outdated technologies to address the growing demand of training required of producers, Quest has specifically designed their NAIC Suitability Training Portals with the users in mind. Quest’s simple three step process allows producers to either self-register for their training or be loaded in on the front end by their carriers. The first step requires the producer to select the State Specific Training required by the NAIC. Currently the only state with a requirement in place is Iowa. The second step asks the producer to select the insurance carriers that they sell for so they can select their Carrier/Product Specific Training at step three. The process is intuitive and seamless. The producer will easily be able to create their user profile loaded with all of the training they need to continue to sell their carriers’ products.

Quest’s system puts control in the hands of the producers. The logic behind this method is that the producer knows better than anyone else which carriers they sell for and which state and product specific training they need to complete. Other vendors trust complicated and incomplete databases which rely on each carriers list of producers to be correct and constantly updated. Quest’s solution allows for flexibility and intelligence so producers are able to use the training portal as a way of updating their own records with the carriers they represent. On demand reporting and daily data feeds will ensure that producers are compliant with their requirements and able to place business with the carriers they represent as soon as possible.

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Irevna Achieves Milestone as Argentina Crosses 50 Employees

Irevna continues to expand as its Buenos Aires, Argentina research center crossed the milestone of 50 permanent employees. Irevna Argentina currently now has a head count of 51 after three analysts were hired in April. Irevna has hired 15 new employees so far this year.

“We at Irevna strive to offer the best solutions to fit the specific needs of our clients. This includes the capability to provide our customers around-the-clock service with research centers across geographies and time zones in countries such as Argentina, Poland, and India,” says Mani G. V. Mani, Senior Director, Offshoring Business – Irevna. “We continue to prioritize the needs of our clients first, which is the reason Irevna continues to experience such strong growth.

Irevna has been ramping up its hiring in Argentina as clients want the benefits of offshoring, such as labor arbitrage with highly qualified resources, while maintaining a high level of interaction with the offshore analyst. Many clients based in the US and Canada require real-time support during earnings season or periods of market volatility Outsourcing to Argentina, which is only one hour ahead of New York during most of the year, is a solution that many clients have been requesting.

“The increase in employees in Argentina is also the result of an internal strategic decision. Growth is a primary objective for 2010 and we are actively recruiting new analysts,” says Gustavo Araujo, Group Lead of Irevna Argentina.

Irevna was the first KPO to open a Western Hemisphere Deliver Center in Argentina in November 2006. Irevna has started a research center in Wroclaw, Poland to satisfy the demand for similar services in Europe. Irevna is the world’s top-ranked research, analytical and financial services offshoring firm with a global workforce of close to 1,300 analysts.

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CRISIL-Irevna Buys Pipal Research

CRISIL-Irevna, the world’s top-ranked financial services and investment Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) firm, today announced the acquisition of Pipal Research (Pipal), a large player in the KPO Industry. Pipal is headquartered in Chicago. The combination of CRISIL-Irevna and Pipal will be uniquely positioned in the high-end analytical offshoring space with the widest range of services, geographic locations, and customer diversity. Pipal’s operations are complementary to CRISIL-Irevna’s, enabling the combine to strengthen its leadership in the KPO industry. CRISIL Irevna has consistently been ranked the No.1 financial services and investment KPO firm by the Datamonitor Black Book of Outsourcing.

Speaking of the acquisition, Roopa Kudva, Managing Director and CEO of CRISIL Ltd, said “This is an important milestone in the CRISIL-Irevna journey, enabling us to further strengthen our leadership position in the high-end KPO space. Pipal’s deeply embedded client relationships provide a strong platform for growth. The two organisations have complementary strengths, which will enable us to serve our clients better. We look forward to working with Pipal’s talented employees and providing them exciting career growth paths.”

Mr. G.V. Mani, Senior Director, Irevna, added, “The acquisition of Pipal Research not only gives us an opportunity to expand our spectrum of offerings but also presents us a strong customer base, partner franchise and most importantly talented employees, who will enrich our service capabilities.”

Pipal provides business research and investment research services. Its clients include leading global firms in the telecommunications, technology, consumer packaged goods, and industrial sectors, and in the financial services space. Pipal has three research centres in India (Gurgaon, Noida and Bangalore), and an office in Chicago. Majority-owned by Firstsource Solutions Ltd, Pipal reported USD8.1 million of revenue for the financial year ended March 31, 2010.

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Quest CE Introduces the 2010 NAIC Suitability Regulation Solution

Quest Continuing Education Solutions (Quest CE) is proud to announce the solution to the 2010 NAIC Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation. Quest’s simple two-tiered approach will provide an “All-In-One” Solution for Insurers, Distributors and Producers that fall under the NAIC’s new regulation.

Quest’s 4-hour annuity course in Iowa has been approved by the state and meets the Iowa Administrative Rule 191-15.72 for a one-time, four (4) hour annuity training course requirement. In addition, this course is approved for resident CE credit. Per the new NAIC Suitability Regulation, Quest will also provide insurer-product specific training in their Industry Leading Learning Management System, Renaissance.

NAIC Suitability Regulation Training through Quest allows for automated encrypted data and completion feeds. Feeds can be sent on a daily basis or as often as the program administrator desires. Quest’s system also allows for participants in the program to be bulk loaded into the training platform. Ensure your programs compliance with Quest so beginning January 1, 2011 your producers are able to sell your annuities in Iowa.

The NAIC Suitability Regulation Training platform will provide:

• A dedicated location where a producer can complete all of their required training requirements and view the status of each requirement within the Model Regulation;
• Updated training posted to the site subsequent to initial training including additional State Specific Annuity Requirements as they become effective;
• A company specific branded web portal where insurers can comply with the new regulation and update their product-specific training courses in their student profiles;
• The ability to print completion certificates online 24/7;
• An automatic e-mail notification system allowing insurers to instantly notify producers of new or updated product specific training requirements;
• Automated and PGP encrypted customized data feeds with real-time search tools for insurers and Broker/Dealers to satisfy compliance requirements and training.

Quest’s NAIC Suitability Regulation Training Solution is available now and ready for demonstration or implementation. Contact Quest at 877-593-3366 or e-mail Quest at sales@questce.com to speak with one of our dedicated Sales Team Members about guaranteeing your 2010 NAIC Suitability Regulation Training today.

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Quest CE Launches Compliance Training for Investment Advisers

Quest Continuing Education Solutions (Quest CE) is proud to announce a new product line-up to meet Investment Adviser’s Compliance Training Needs. Since 1986 Quest CE has built a reputation of being the premier provider of Compliance Education Training to the financial services industry including insurance professionals and FINRA regulated Broker/Dealers. Quest is now able to address the regulations and requirements that face the Investment Adviser world.

Quest CE’s comprehensive Investment Adviser Training Program allows advisers to complete essential training through a cost-effective one-stop easy to use program. The Investment Adviser Compliance Training program enhances advisers’ ability to provide investment advice to clients, protecting the client, adviser and firm.

Courses include:

• Anti-Fraud Programs and Controls
• Anti-Money Laundering and the Red Flags Rule
• Investment Adviser Client Suitability
• Information Security Protecting You, Your Clients and Your Firm
• Investment Adviser Code of Ethics

Complete Investment Adviser Compliance Training Packages start at $25.00 with individual courses starting at $10.00.

Content
Our courses are delivered through interesting and interactive self-paced online presentations. All of our courses use images and manageable page lengths to enhance the learning experience and make compliance enjoyable.

Compliance Tracking
Quest also offers a complete suite of compliance tracking tools including:

• Outside Business Activities
• Gifts and Entertainment
• Political Contributions

Professional Designation & Insurance Training
Quest CE is a Nationally Approved Provider of Insurance Continuing Education (Insurance CE). Each year we deliver over 150,000 insurance CE courses. Complete state CE packages start at $29.95 with individual courses starting at $12.95.

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Assets, Financial, Financial Information, Financial Management, Financial Services, Home Equity, Insurance, Insurance Services, Money

LV= Reports That Up To 1.2 Million Over-50s May Use Equity In Home To Supplement Pensions

LV= has revealed that ‘Home is Pension’ is a common mantra among the over-50s workforce in Britain as shown in a recent report published by the retirement specialist. Although 54% of the over-50s believe the value of their home has fallen over the last three years, an estimated 1.2 million ‘HIPpies’ (‘Home is Pension’) may use the equity in their home to help supplement their retirement income.

Only 19% of all over-50s still in work feel that they are financially on track to retire as planned, while the number of working over-50s that believe they may have to delay retirement for financial reasons has increased hugely, to 41% from just 28% this time last year. Homeowners over 50 estimate they have lost £60 billion in property value due to recent volatility in the housing market.

However, this has not put many off using the equity in their homes to help fund retirement, with nearly a quarter of working over-50s considering using some, or all of the equity in their home to fund their retirement. The ‘Home is Pension’ mantra is so valuable to over-50s, that 54% would suggest their children include investment in property as part of their retirement planning.

When working over-50s were questioned about the impact an interest rate rise would have, LV=’s research found that 40% would have to reduce their pension contributions just to meet the higher cost of paying debts. More than four in ten (44%) of all working over-50s and 34% of those aged 60-69 in work, have an outstanding mortgage debt on their home.

Vanessa Owen, LV= Head of Equity Release, said: “It seems to be increasingly commonplace for those approaching retirement to consider using the equity in their property as part of their overall retirement plan. Continuing doom and gloom over volatility in the housing market and seeing some properties fall in value, hasn’t deterred the UK’s “HIPpies” and many are still positive that the equity in their home is their best chance of having a more comfortable retirement.”

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LV= Promotes Best Practice For National Customer Service Week

LV=, the mutual insurance, investment and retirement group, is running a series of training and activities to promote and reward excellence in customer service as part of National Customer Service Week.

LV= is dedicated to delivering the best possible customer service all year round and will be using National Customer Service Week as an extra opportunity to highlight the value that customer service plays within organisations.

In addition to highlighting and rewarding those staff who have demonstrated customer service excellence, the group will be running a series of initiatives during the week such as problem solving training and ‘back to the floor’ sessions for senior management.

Two staff award schemes have been set up to celebrate the week. The LOVE awards are for employees who demonstrate Living Our Values Everyday (LOVE) and the Unsung Heroes awards are for staff to nominate colleagues who have gone the extra mile to improve an internal process or system.

In the general insurance business, each site has initiatives promoting great customer service throughout the week including managers’ mystery shopping and awarding prizes for great examples of customer service, quizzes themed around customer service, dress down and dress up days, job swaps and awards for the friendliest members of the customer service team.

Initiatives being rolled out specifically in LV=’s Bournemouth office include a dress like a rock star day, a ‘Know your Claims’ team quiz and retention spot prizes.

LV= handles more than 18,000 customer calls a day and has won numerous awards for its customer service, including the 2010 Moneywise award for best customer service in car insurance. The LV= general insurance call centre also won call centre of the year* in the 2009 National Customer Service Awards and is short-listed again for the same award this year.

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Banks, Business, Currency, Financial, Financial Information, Financial Management, Financial Services, Financial Software, Financial Solutions, Forex, Investment, Money, Profits, Trading

Saxo Bank Releases Quarterly Outlook For Q4 2010

In its economic outlook for the fourth quarter of 2010, Saxo Bank recognises growing optimism in recent months due to a strong earnings season but the state of the US economy still overshadows these results. Saxo Bank, the trading and investment specialist, expects final sales to remain weak in the second half of 2010 and into 2011 and the unemployment rate to continue to hover just below 10% in the fourth quarter.

Commenting on the outlook, David Karsbøl, Saxo Bank’s Chief Economist said: “With the S&P 500 currently trading around the same level as it did at the beginning of the year, and with the lack of investments due to a weak housing market, the ongoing trouble in Southern Europe, and most developed economies, Saxo Bank fears that a cold front will stall, bringing more challenges and adversity going into 2011.”

Equities rely on the notion that the impressive earnings growth rates, recorded in earlier quarters, can be sustained. According to the Bank, the trouble is that earnings growth currently comes almost exclusively from one source: margin expansion, and while productivity gains can only take income to a certain level, sales growth must soon step up to the challenge.

The Bank predicts that spending at state and local levels remains a downward trend as policymakers scramble to balance their budgets. Despite the fact that the recession is generally perceived to have ended in the summer of 2009, it is still very much a reality at state and local levels.

“Double dip fears re-emerged over the summer as the deceleration in the US economy progressed as predicted in our 2010 Yearly Outlook. We expect growth to come to a complete halt in the fourth quarter of 2010 as consumption deleverages, the manufacturing sector will slow down, and investments will be negatively affected by the weak housing market. Unfortunately, the risk of a double dip, within the next few quarters, is substantial in our view.” Karsbøl added.

The Quarterly Outlook Q4 2010 focuses on the following areas: general market comment, macros forecast, FX outlook, equity outlook, commodity outlook and policy rates.

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Banks, Checking & Savings, Credit Cards, Financial, Financial Management, Financial Services, Financial Solutions, Money, Personal Finance

Barclaycard Launches Next Generation Online Payments With SmartPay

Barclaycard has announced the launch of Barclaycard SmartPay. This new secure online payment processing system is designed to help European retailers compete with domestic retailers in foreign markets and reduce the number of transactions where customers do not complete their purchase. Developed in partnership with global internet payment and e-commerce solutions provider Adyen, it will revolutionise cross-border e-commerce by offering a simpler, seamless payment experience to consumers.

Barclaycard SmartPay’s next generation functionality offers a single payment gateway for large merchants’ online shops, adapting language and currency to the origin of the paying customer. While ensuring an interruption-free redirect to the payments page, it also offers a diverse range of payment methods, helping retailers to meet local consumer preferences for online transaction types across European countries which helps lower abandonment rates*.

According to recent figures** for Western Europe, e-commerce sales are expected to reach €77bn this year, and grow by a further 10 per cent per annum to reach €123bn by 2015. Whether in traditional retail sales, leisure and travel or other key online sectors, Barclaycard SmartPay will enable merchants to take maximum advantage of the rapidly growing online sales market.

Paul Cook, Managing Director of Global Payment Acceptance at Barclaycard, said:
“Consumers can quickly get frustrated at online check-out and abandon their purchase if the experience isn’t straightforward or they can’t select their preferred payment method. By simplifying the complex online transaction processes, Barclaycard SmartPay will make it easy for businesses to present a seamless, familiar payment environment to customers across the EU and, ultimately, increase conversion rates and confidence with previously unfamiliar websites.”

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Barclaycard Spending Index Up 9.2% Year-On-Year in July

Barclaycard Spending Index up 9.2% year-on-year in July shows talk of Government austerity drive having little impact on consumer spending.

Consumer spending on cards saw a near double digit increase in August compared to the same month last year, challenging concerns that talk of reduced public spending is already forcing consumers to be more cautious.

According to the new figures released by Barclaycard, the amount spent on debit and credit cards, in-store and online, increased by 9.2% in August compared to the same month last year, with new autumn sales, discounts and back-to-school spending helping to keep the retail sector buoyant. The rising cost of both food and cotton may also be starting to filter through to retail prices, meaning higher spending.

This month’s increase represents the fourth month in a row that the annual growth rate has increased by more than 9%, indicating anything but a dip in confidence.

The figures challenge recent reports of a consumer spending slowdown and reduced consumer confidence, suggesting that a gap exists between what consumers say about their financial prospects and how they behave, with spending on the high street remaining strong.

Stuart Neal, head of Barclaycard UK Payment Acceptance said: “With leading retailers warning that the Government austerity drive will keep the economy in the doldrums and hit consumer confidence hard, it is good to see a fourth month of increased spending.”

“While there is some cause for viewing the near future with a certain amount of trepidation, recent indicators are good. Confidence remains relatively high, but it will be important to see how spending fares when public spending cutbacks begin to hit people’s pockets, and not just the headlines.”

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M&S Money Warns Insurance Homework Should Be A Priority For Todays Students

A new survey by M&S Money* has revealed that, as thousands of students prepare to head to university, the average student bedroom contains a massive £1620 worth of gear – yet only half of students have contents insurance.

The poll found that the average student crams into their room almost £699 worth of electrical gadgets and appliances, £444 worth of clothes, sports equipment valued at £246 and textbooks worth £231.

The huge value of a student’s bedroom is not surprising, with over half of students (55%) owning a laptop, 48% possessing a MP3 player and 20% a widescreen television.

The survey also revealed that 27% of students have been burgled while at university with 71% being burgled more than once.

Despite this, only 52% of students who took part in the survey said that they have insurance to cover their possessions whilst the items are in their student accommodation.

M&S Money points out that many students heading to university will not need to buy a standalone student policy and should check if their parents’ home insurance policy provides sufficient cover.

Students whose parents have M&S Premier Home Contents insurance receive unlimited cover for their possessions while living in student accommodation. This covers events such as damage, flood or theft from halls.

The student bedroom of 2010 is very different from student bedrooms of the 80s. To mark the 25th anniversary of the launch of the financial services arm of M&S**, M&S Money surveyed students who went to university in 1985 to find out their most cherished items.

Andrew Ferguson, M&S head of General Insurance, said: “While the contents of a student’s bedroom have changed a great deal in the past 25 years, one thing remains the same – they have expensive tastes.

“Students of 2010 preparing for the new academic year may see insurance as an unnecessary expense on top of everything else. But as our survey shows the modern day student bedroom is a goldmine for thieves, so insurance could be the best investment students make this autumn.

“Many students would be surprised to know that their valuables may already be covered – they just need to check whether their parents’ home insurance policy covers their property when away from home.”

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Assets, Financial, Financial Information, Financial Management, Financial Services, Insurance, Insurance Services, Money

LV= Launches New Viral Game

LV= has announced the launch of “LV= Heartsville”, a new viral game that offers a number of prizes to be won.

Aligned with the theme of the current LV= TV advert, the premise of the new game is to fly a hot air balloon over the fictional town of “Heartsville” and avoid any obstacles that could ground the balloon. While the game boasts easy and user friendly game play, it becomes more challenging as the player progresses through the game.

Players can share the game with their friends via Facebook and create leagues to make it even more fun. A free prize draw is also available to users with prizes including two tickets for a Virgin hot air balloon ride, a Fortnum & Mason hamper or a £50 shopping voucher.

“LV= Heartsville” has been created in order to assist the company in capturing customer data, increase LV=’s brand awareness and drive traffic to the company website, with LV=’s key products such as car insurance and life insurance getting a mention in the game.

Alan Lay, web content manager at LV= said: “We think it’s a great game, lots of fun to play, with some great prizes up for grabs and you can indulge in some friendly competition by setting up leagues with friends and family. “Heartsville” brings a little extra cheer to our audience, creating a buzz and engaging them with the brand, then driving them to our website to show them how we look after what they love in life.”

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LV= Asset Management Equities Team Celebrates Year Of Strong Performance

One year after joining LV= Asset Management (LVAM), the fund management arm of mutual insurance and investment group, LV=, Graham Ashby and his team are celebrating an impressive set of numbers for both the LV= UK Equity Income Fund and LV= UK Growth Fund.

Graham joined from Credit Suisse and has been the lead manager of the LV= UK Equity Income Fund since 1 September 2009. During the year to 31 August 2010, LV= UK Equity Income Fund returned 12.18% versus a FTSE All Share Index figure of 10.57% and an IMA UK Equity Income sector average of 8.22%, marking it as 1st Quartile and 6th Percentile*.

Under the stewardship of Michael Crawford, an experienced manager who has worked with Graham for over 10 years, LV= UK Growth Fund returned a much improved performance of 9.29% against the FTSE All Share Index’s 10.57% and an IMA UK All Companies sector average of 8.62%*.

Graham and Michael also brought Marcus Chandler and Mira Bhogaita with them from Credit Suisse. Together with long-standing LVAM fund manager Chris Price, they make up LVAM’s UK Equities team.

The UK equity portfolios have a ‘backbone’ of stocks which have a proven record in creating value for shareholders and where fundamental analysis indicates that these high returns are sustainable.

The team also believes that UK equity portfolios should also be diversified in absolute rather than relative terms. As a result, they seek to ensure adequate diversification by limiting the exposure to individual stocks and adopting a ‘benchmark aware’ rather than a ‘benchmark driven’ approach to portfolio construction.

Recently, in response to demand, LVAM has moved to a quarterly income distribution for the LV= UK Equity Income Fund, which helps with clients’ cash flow and is also in line with the trend for UK companies to pay dividends quarterly; an institutional income share class has also been added.

In July this year, LV= UK Equity Income Fund received a Standard & Poor’s ‘A’ rating and in addition, both Graham Ashby and Michael Crawford are ‘A’ rated by Citywire.

Via EPR Network
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Financial, Financial Management, Financial Services, Insurance, Insurance Services, Money, Personal Finance

M&S Money Goes Back To The Future To Compare Student Bedrooms

The average student crams into their room almost £699 worth of electrical gadgets and appliances, £444 worth of clothes, sports equipment valued at £246 and textbooks worth £231, according to the poll by M&S Money*.

The huge value of a student’s bedroom is not surprising, with over half of students (55%) owning a laptop, 48% possessing a MP3 player and 20% a widescreen television.

But students’ expensive tastes are nothing new as the survey also revealed what the typical university bedroom of 1985 looked like.

While today’s students listen to music through their MP3 player and stereo, students in 1985 enjoyed the sounds of Wham and Tears for Fears through their Walkman, ghetto blaster and turntable.

In the same year that ‘Back to the Future’ hit the big screens, the students of 1985 were watching the first episodes of Eastenders on their black and white TVs.

The 1985 student bedroom was also likely to contain an alarm clock, scientific calculator, Breville toaster, and even a landline phone for the lucky few.

The survey also revealed that only 8% of the 1985 students said they were burgled while at university, compared to 27% of current students.

Andrew Ferguson, M&S Head of General Insurance, said: “While the contents of a student’s bedroom have changed a great deal in the past 25 years, one thing remains the same – they have expensive tastes.

“Our survey shows the modern day student bedroom is a goldmine for thieves, so insurance could be the best investment students make this autumn.”

The survey was carried out to mark the 25th anniversary of the launch of the financial services arm of M&S**, today known as M&S Money.

Financial, Financial Management, Financial Services, Insurance, Insurance Services, Money, Personal Finance

M&S Money Reveals Brits Stick To Things They Know And Love

M&S Money has revealed new research that shows when shop keepers and businesses earn the British public’s trust, customers return time and time again.

From dentists to favourite shop keepers, on average these relationships with our favourite shops and people last the test of time, according to new research by M&S Money* to mark the company’s 25th anniversary.

The results showed that people have firm favourites among their shopkeepers and other professionals, with almost 25 million Brits remaining loyal to their favourites for 20 years or more. Six out of 10 say that good customer service is the main reason they stay loyal to a person or business and over half cite reliability and good value for money.

The report also showed that 1.3 million women have stuck with the same hairdressers for over 20 years and, on average, British adults have the same doctor for almost 13 years, with over 10 million staying with the same doctor for 25 years. The research also found that despite some people’s nervousness they stay faithful to our dentists for nearly nine years. It was also revealed that men stay with their main bank for 14 years and women slightly longer at 15 years.

Colin Kersley, chief executive of M&S Money, said: “Consumers will evidently stick with businesses and people who deliver great service and look after their customers. Most people can name someone they trust completely, whether cutting their hair, managing their money, decorating their house or fixing their car.

“People clearly feel strongly about good customer service, reliability and trustworthiness as these are reasons why they stay loyal for so long. After 25 years in business, M&S Money has stood the test of time and we know how important it is to continue earning the loyalty of our customers.

Via EPR Network
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