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Financial, Financial Services, Home Equity, Insurance, Insurance Services, Loans, Money, Mortgage, Personal Finance

Survey Shows the Benefits of Arranging Life Insurance Young

L&C’s October survey of people arranging life insurance through them showed 44% of people were over the age of 45.

This is despite the fact that life insurance gets more expensive with age. In the survey, the average monthly premium for the 56+ group was 35% more than for those aged 26-35. Many people don’t expect the unforeseen at an early age and can often prioritize other items above buying protection. However, there are financial benefits, not to mention peace of mind, from buying protection early. The survey showed that people in the 26-35 year old group had an average monthly premium of just £26.29 – less than a pound a day. This was despite 55% of people in the younger group being smokers compared to only 6% in the older age group.

L&C’s Richard Morea said The younger you are when you take life cover, the cheaper it will be. People should consider it an essential item like motor or household insurance. Waiting until you’re old to get the protection habit means you’ll not have the peace of mind having protection brings – and the monthly cost will be higher.

For more information and free life insurance advice, call 0800 0731932.

London & Country (L&C) is the UK’s leading no-fee mortgage broker. Based in Bath, it provides whole of market advice via telephone and post to clients nationwide. As well as residential mortgages, it also specialises in the Buy-to-Let and adverse-credit sectors.

Via EPR Network
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One In Five Stock Market Investors Never Check Share Performance

Prudential has revealed that over one in five (22 per cent) of UK stock market investors never check the performance of their shares. Furthermore, it has been revealed that 65% of investors don’t seek any professional advice prior to investing.

The findings, f r o m new research conducted for Prudential, found that 36 per cent of UK adults aged 18+, equivalent to 17.23 million people, have invested in the stock market over the past 10 years. However, more than half (53 per cent) of these investors admit they only check share performance every six months or less frequently, with one in five (20 per cent) saying they only review their stock performance once a year and 22 per cent admitting they never do.

When it comes to gaining advice on where the best place is to invest their savings, UK adults appear to be equally apathetic with around two thirds of investors (65 per cent) saying they rely on internet searches or media reports when selecting which shares or investment fund to buy with just 16 per cent seeing an independent financial adviser, four per cent consulting a stockbroker and 10 per cent gained advice f r o m bank or building society staff.

However, while many stock market investors fail to adequately monitor share performance or gain financial advice on how to invest, they are at least exposing themselves to an asset class which has historically shown some of the strongest growth. This sits in stark contrast to the rest of the population with around 30 million UK adults (64 per cent) having made no stock market-based investments in the past ten years.

Trevor Cheal, Retirement Savings Business Director, Prudential said: “While not everyone is fortunate enough to have spare funds to save or invest, many people do and it is staggering how few are seeking financial advice or looking to capitalise on the growth potential that the stock market has historically offered.

“Those who invest in the stock market have taken the first important step towards benefiting f r o m the long-term growth of the economy, but they stand a greater chance of maximising its value if they re-evaluate their investment arrangements regularly. However, in volatile markets, investors may not want all their eggs in one basket and multi-asset funds which provide diversification can give them some degree of comfort while still having exposure to the stock market. Those who feel they lack the knowledge to manage a diversified portfolio should consider getting professional financial advice f r o m a stockbroker or an IFA.”

Via EPR Network
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Survey Finds SEPA Still A Priority For UK Corporates

Experian, the global information services company, has revealed that while the majority (67%) of large UK-based organisations are primarily focused on enhancing business efficiency and reducing costs over the coming six months, payment regulation will also remain high on the corporate agenda.

Survey Finds SEPA Still A Priority For UK Corporates

According to a survey of payments professionals conducted at Experian’s Payment Strategies 2009 conference, complying with changes in payments regulation, such as the migration to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) and the Payment Services Directive (PSD), remains a priority for 40% of large companies. The survey also found that finance companies are most focused on complying with upcoming payments regulation (53%), while 26% of the insurance companies questioned are making it a priority to become compliant by the end of the year.

Almost a third of corporates are planning to make use of the SEPA Direct Debit service in the next twelve months, indicating that they are far better informed about the SEPA initiative and its value to their businesses. Another Experian survey undertaken in 2008 revealed that 48% of corporates felt that there was insufficient information provided on the move to SEPA.

Jonathan Williams, Director of Product Development and Strategy at Experian Payments, commented: “While most corporates involved in the migration to the pan-European Direct Debit scheme would admit that it has not been a smooth path to tread, SEPA does create direct business opportunities for these organisations. Those planning to make use of the initiative will benefit from greater efficiency in terms of consolidating their systems and rationalising the number of bank accounts they hold as well as having a common standard for direct debit transactions in Euro countries. Those corporates which need to make payments to and receive payments from the European Economic Area will benefit from this more standardised approach to payment transactions.”

He added: “Under SEPA, the use of BIC and IBAN to identify the bank and account of a payment beneficiary will become mandatory for all cross-border SEPA payments. Corporates need to be aware of the fact that failure to validate these details before making a payment will result in increased costs and poor customer service. They will need to make the necessary changes in the coming months to avoid these pitfalls which, if not addressed, could affect the profitability of their business.”

About Experian Payments
Experian Payments, develops global strategic payment software solutions and services to meet the requirements of the world’s leading banks and corporate organisations. Focussing on the specific challenges of data validation, including processes to convert IBAN, and the processing of international payments, Experian Payments’ platform-independent solutions help organisations control costs, reduce risks and improve customer service through the minimisation of payment errors. Experian Payments has over 1,000 customers across all sectors of industry and commerce. Experian Payments is a division of Experian.

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Online Marketing Strategies Leave IT Departments Isolated Reveals Rackspace

IT decision makers are increasingly falling into a “Website Wilderness” as they fail to align technology with the delivery of online marketing, according to international research launched by Rackspace Hosting (NYSE: RAX). The research also indicates that businesses are not engaging effectively online or aligning formal objectives with business goals.

The survey investigated the views and future plans of 250 IT decision makers among eight industry sectors and across several regions – the UK, Northern Europe (Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark) and South Africa.

According to the study nearly two-thirds (64%) of UK respondents expect to see more investment in online marketing in the coming year, but almost the same number (65%) claim they would not be involved in its delivery. The findings were similar across Northern Europe, where 44% stated online marketing would be a big focus, but 45% did not expect to get involved in it. Considering 90% of shoppers bought their Christmas presents online in 2008*, these findings are particularly startling.

As well as the disconnect between IT and the delivery of online marketing, only 20% of UK businesses and 32% in Northern Europe are investing in blogs and web forums. This could put businesses at a competitive disadvantage as the use of social media as a channel to communicate with customers increases in many sectors.

Just over a third (36%) of IT decision makers have formal objectives aligning IT with business goals, highlighting a disconnect between business strategy and technology implementation. This number is less in Northern Europe (28%). With so many options on how technology is delivered to the business, it seems that IT decision makers are confused by the array of applications they can host, which
include hosting, accounting, finance, email, ERP, payroll and websites.

Fabio Torlini, marketing director at managed hosting provider Rackspace, said: “The online ambitions of the marketing departments need to be supported by the technical expertise of the IT department for the benefit of the whole company. Technology has evolved in such a way that businesses can have almost any service adapted to support their marketing needs. So for businesses not to use this to their advantage is completely misguided.

“Marketing leaders must tap into the expertise of the IT department and IT decision makers become engaged in the marketing strategy. The challenge for IT people is to look to new ways of working, such as online engagement and hosted applications, to enhance competitive edge. In particular I would expect to see a review of strategies in line with the economic downturn. Outdated views of technology and a disconnect between IT and the wider organisation will present a risk for businesses in 2009. Set against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, making mistakes in IT strategy could prove costly to repair.”

 

* IMRG e-Retail Customer Service (e-CSi) Index, Dec 08

The research was carried out by independent research company, Loudhouse Research, who interviewed 100 IT decision makers from UK, including IT Directors, IT Managers, IT Project Managers, Heads of IT, Network Managers, MDs and CEOs.

About Rackspace Hosting
As the world’s leader and specialist in hosting, Rackspace Hosting is changing the way businesses worldwide buy IT. Rackspace delivers computing-as-a-service, integrating the industry’s best technologies into a flexible service offering, making computing more reliable and affordable. A trusted partner to companies of all sizes, Rackspace enables IT departments to be more effective. Rackspace is distinguished by its award-winning Fanatical Support, furthering the company’s mission to be one of the world’s greatest service companies. Rackspace featured in the top 30 of both the Sunday Times 100 Best companies to work for list and the Financial Times Great Place to Work Awards, 2008. Rackspace’s portfolio of hosted services includes managed hosting, email hosting and cloud hosting.

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