Good morning and welcome to your Morning Briefing for Wednesday 23 August 2023. To get this in your inbox every morning click here.
More advice consolidation
The consolidation train continues as Loyal North announces the acquisition of financial advice firm Paul Wallis Financial Solutions, bolstering the company’s existing presence in the southeast.
Paul Wallis Financial Solutions (PWFS) is based in West Malling, Kent and has been serving clients for over 13 years.
Seasonal planning
Knowing which job to do around the garden each month is essential for keeping outside space neat and manageable.
Although financial planning is obviously different to gardening as everything depends on individual client needs, some tasks may be seasonal due to things like tax deadlines.
Features writer Amanda Newman Smith explores how…
Market trends and insights
In this episode of In Conversation With, digital content manager Kim Dondo dives into market trends and insights with special guest Michael Field, European Equity Strategist at Morningstar.
They cover various topics that shed light on the current market scenario and provide valuable guidance for investors and financial advisers.
Quote Of The Day
The government has been turning its attention to the big increase in the over 50s who are ‘economically inactive’ or not seeking employment.
– Steven Cameron, pensions director at Aegon, comments on research by the firm which found Those aged 50-59 who have stopped working or retired are almost four times as likely to say their skills and experience are irrelevant to the workforce today than those still in work (54% vs 15%)
Stat Attack
Rates on instant access and one-year fixed rate savings accounts are up to eight times higher than before the start of Bank of England base rate rises, according to new analysis commissioned by Investec.
| Base rate | Average rate for top 50 instant access accounts on £5,000 balances | Average rate for top 50 one-year fixed rate accounts on £5,000 balances | Average rate for high street instant access accounts on £5,000 balances | Average rate for high street one-year fixed rate accounts on £5,000 balances |
| Base rate 0.1% November 30th 2021 | 0.459% | 0.91% | 0.07% | 0.2% |
| Base rate 5.25% – July 21st 2023 | 3.63% | 5.44% | 1.52% | 4.97% |
| Increase | 3.39% | 4.53% | 1.45% | 4.77% |
Source: Investec
In Other News
A new Issue of NS&I’s Green Savings Bonds has been released today paying 5.7% gross/AER fixed-rate over a three-year term.
Savers putting money into Green Savings Bonds will be helping fund vital green projects across the UK as part of the UK government’s Green Financing Framework.
NS&I chief executive Dax Harkins said: “I’m really pleased that we can offer a new Issue of our Green Savings Bonds at a higher rate from today.
“This is a great opportunity for savers who want to see a guaranteed return on their investment while also making a difference with their savings by helping to make the world greener, cleaner and more sustainable.”
The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) Protection Viewpoint is back for a fourth consecutive year and the trade body is calling on all mortgage advisers to complete a short survey.
The questions cover approaches to protection, the tools used by advisers, the impact of Consumer Duty and what advisers think should be done within the industry to help increase consumer trust.
The survey can be found here.
From Elsewhere
The minimum wage has passed the high inflation test (Financial Times)
Bonus freedom to pay paltry ‘Brexit dividend’ for Britain’s banks (Reuters)
WhatsApp messages between traders lands bank with £5.4m fine (Sky News)
Did You See?
Artificial intelligence has shot up the national and international agenda in the past year.
Stock market performance over the first half of this year has been driven by a handful of mega growth and AI names, which has created opportunities elsewhere.
Demand for the chips and data centres to enable AI has hugely benefited companies such as Nvidia, whose world leading AI capabilities and strength is evidenced in its most recent quarterly earnings report and a surge in its stock price taking it year to date (YTD) to in excess of 200%.
The catalyst for the market focus on AI was Chat GPT, which launched to the public in November 2022 and was the fastest app to reach 100 million users in history.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments investment manager Scott Spencer discusses the potential benefits to investors of this AI boom.
