• London law firm lg is to open a Dubai office that will act as a point of contact for Gulf-based clients and those in India and South-East Asia.

The Retail Distribution Review has focused attention on increasing standards and qualifications for financial advisers, but a new survey shows that change in this area is already underway.

A combination of increasing longevity, a cosy picture for today’s final salary retirees, and a complacent faith in bricks and mortar is leaving tomorrow’s retirees high and dry.

As the Financial Services Autho-rity (FSA) begins to make visits on small firms, the IFA community is being warned it may have missed some essential advice on determining self-invested personal pension (Sipp) suitability.

• Life assurance customers would be four times more likely to reinvest maturity proceeds if companies communicated better with them, actuary Mark Richardson told the Actuarial Profession’s Life Convention.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has cleared up a grey area surrounding the status of income drawn from unsecured pensions (USP) and alternatively-secured pensions (ASP).

• The state street global Markets Investor Confidence Index fell 7.7 points to 74.3 in November, driven by a collapse in confidence in the US. In Europe, confidence fell 0.9 points to 84.

Offshore tax dodgers should come clean as the government is stepping up efforts to track them down, tax advisers warned.

Investment funds under administration in Jersey have reached a record £221bn, overtaking bank deposits for the first time, according to the Jersey Financial Services Commission.

As research reveals four out of five high net worth individuals (HNWIs) use wealth advisers, private banks are advising alternatives should account for a quarter of investors’ portfolios.

Independent annuities and drawdown adviser William Burrows Annuities (WBA) has joined forces with MPL Wealth Management (MPL) to provide a more specialist personal service.

There has been a lot of debate driven by practitioners about the difference between a chartered financial planner and a certified financial planner professional, as we review some of the implications of the Financial Services Authority’s (FSA) retail distribution review discussion paper.

Editor Pádraig Floyd

Despite the credit crunch and volatility in equity markets, investors shouldn’t necessarily be put off by equity allocations in emerging markets. We look at three high fliers

REVIEWER: Dane Halling
Investment Director, Arcturus Investments

REVIEWER: Julian Robertson
Investment Manager, Brooks Macdonald Asset Management

REVIEWER: Ian Roberts
Director, Arw Partnership

As Sipps come under the watchful eye of the FSA and SSAS interest continues to grow, providers must focus on offering customers a transparent, competitive service, as interest rates differ enormously between cash holding accounts, says Pádraig Floyd

With the Sipps market booming following the A-day changes, Linda McBain argues that the products’ relatively poor returns on cash are becoming harder for providers to justify, and calls for a change across the board

Pádraig Floyd speaks to six industry insiders about the current state of retirement planning, and how the goverment can improve the financial services of the future

High net worth individuals by their very nature require bespoke, dedicated and well thought out methods of communication, which should lead to successful long-term relationships between client and company, says Abi Wood

Investing is a human pursuit, and as such it is susceptible to flaws in the investor’s ability to rationalise. Vanessa Walduck argues that behavioural finance can at the very least highlight common instances of poor decision making, in the hope that it can be avoided in the future

A-day legislation has revealed ambiguities for individuals wishing to transfer benefits to an overseas pension scheme that may lead them to reconsider their position, if they feel the tax implications are too onerous, says Alan Smith

Fiona Sharp talks Owen Walker through an average day as a senior IFA, which involves dealing with a varied client base who require advice tailored to their circumstances

Exchange traded funds have been gradually moving up the wealth management agenda over the last 10 years and, says Eleanor Hope-Bell, they are set to become an even more prominent form of beta investment in the UK and Europe

• SG Hambros Bank has appointed Jacqui Brabazon as deputy commercial director, to help develop private banking as it expands in the UK. Brabazon joins from Amex Private Bank, where she spent 10 years in various roles.

Skandia UK and Offshore has appointed Michelle Cracknell as strategy director.

Suffolk Life has hired Sarah Knight as sales development manager. This is a new position for the company, and is designed to build relationships with advisers.

Hartford Life has hired Andy Marks as managing director of sales.