Retirement was the name of the game this week with specific focus on annuities. Andrew Ellson kicked things off in The Times by disclosing details of a leaked e-mail from the ABI which indicates that ministers are about to attack the vested interests of pensions providers by overhauling the way people buy annuities. Ellson highlights how this could help restore the fractured relationship between politics and pensions.

The Sunday Times continued with the retirement theme, looking at how both high earners and members of workplace schemes can beat the uncertainty over pensions. Nina Montague-Smith wrote a piece on the annuity time bomb, where advisers warned that plummeting annuity rates are driving people into investment-backed retirement income policies.

The Telegraph also turned its beady eye to the pensions sector, as new research from Barings Asset Management showed that a sizeable number of people who have assessed their pensions schemes go with the default option available to them when joining a company. Nineteen per cent of people questioned in the research said they had no idea how their funds were invested.

Next up on the retirement round-up was the FT with news that European and US companies are paring back their contributions to defined-benefit pensions schemes in an attempt to reduce their costs. The FT also looked at how investors are increasingly leaving their pension pots invested in the stock market as the income offered by insurance companies fell to an all-time low last week.

The Guardian also noted the plummeting annuity rates and offered some constructive advice on how to survive the pensions crisis.

Many of the weekend papers noted how annuity rates were at an all-time low as a result of nose-diving government bond yields. The Sunday Times warned that gilts could be headed for a bubble and offered investors some advice on this tricky sector.

And the rest of the scores on the board this week are:

Bruce Wilson, managing director, Helm Godfrey

My highlight of 2010 so far is the fact that there finally has been acknowledgement that there is life after retirement and that many people simply cannot finish working at 65. Working as many years as possible – while a financial necessity for some – is a lifestyle choice for others and I am very happy that the new coalition government has recognised this. Looking towards the second half of the year, I think the coalition will face its biggest challenges. The crisis highlighted the fact that changes need to be made, but I wonder if the government will be able to carry the people with them through all the tough times ahead. Financial responsibility is being put back onto the individual and I think the Government, and indeed all of us, are in for a rocky road.

Ryan Hughes, senior fund manager, Skandia Investment Group

Industry highlights of the year include having a change of government, albeit, not the clear majority that would have been desired to properly get the debt mountain under control, and China finally announcing it was going to let its currency revalue a little. Personal highlights for me would be seeing the Skandia Global Dynamic Equity Fund, our first fund fully using tactical asset allocation, reach its first birthday with exceptional outperformance; being significantly underweight Europe during the PIIGS crisis; and going overweight Japan for the first time in the careers of some of the investment professionals in the team. Looking forward, I certainly expect there to continue to be some quite extreme market volatility as investors react to contrasting data that will either confirm the recovery or dent expectations. I also think there may be tensions within the coalition government as the outcome of the spending review becomes known. This will be a huge test to the strength of the coalition.

Alastair Conway, sales and marketing director, Cofunds

2010 has so far been a tough year for employees and their pension pots. The continuing closure of big company final salary schemes has given consumers a wakeup call on how they think about saving for retirement, or as it is increasingly becoming a transitional period, post-work living. This was one of the reasons behind our decision to launch the Cofunds Pension Account in H1 this year – an effective way for investors, working with their advisers, to help plan for their post work years. Looking forward to the rest of the year, a key milestone will be the publication of the FSA platform CP which should go some way in clarifying the position the FSA has taken on a number of issues including rebates and unbundling. The delay in the publication of this paper makes us cautiously optimistic that the FSA has taken on board the feedback we and others have provided and that we will see enhanced disclosure and choice emerge as the themes of their consultation paper.

Stephen Young, CEO, Sesame Bankhall Group

This has been an interesting year to date and having now passed the half way marker I would have to say that my personal highlight so far has been the successful integration of Bankhall into the Sesame Bankhall Group structure, ensuring that all three brands are working in harmony. Despite the challenging conditions that this year has thrown in our direction, I am very much looking forward to seeing the business continue its recovery and go from strength to strength. The second half of 2010 will be an exciting time for us and we await the FSA’s platform CP with interest, especially given the upcoming launch of our new wrap proposition.

David Ferguson, chief executive, Nucleus

2010 is proving to be a pivotal year for the platform industry as more and more IFAs are beginning to fully understand and appreciate the importance of choosing the right platform for their business. This has led to my personal highlight of the year so far: posting our first operating profit. Looking forward to the rest of the year, our main aim will be to complete the strengthening of our team and going through £2bn of assets. The main priority of the wider platform industry should be ensuring positioning itself for the RDR and all the opportunities it will bring.

Sylvia Morris for the Mail decries “punishing” low interest rates for High street savers, linking in to James Coney ‘s column criticizing banks’ profit margins and their “petulant” defence of payment protection insurance mis-selling cases. The Telegraph highlights that what good savings rates there are come with unpleasant small print surprises and strict conditions.  Low credit card rates, especially from new entries, mean the Mail and the Express both think they may be beating personal loans.  The Mail and the Express also predict soaring interest rates in the next two years, with breakdowns of the consequences for savers, borrowers, and retirees.

The rest of the scores on the board this week are as follows:

Charity                     0%
Credit cards           22%
Fraud/scams         7%
IFAs                          0%
Insurance               7%
Investment            14%
Mortgages              0%
Pensions                 0%
Regulation             0%
Savings                   21%
Tax                           7%
Utilities                  22%

The guide, which will be updated quarterly, outlines to clients the performance of Openwork’s recommended pension and investment funds, and, in the first edition, provides an insight from Threadneedle – one of Openwork’s recommended fund managers – into current market trends and the latest asset allocation considerations.

The guide also explains the role of Openwork’s Investment Committee, which works closely with Old Broad Street Research (OBSR) to narrow down the full universe of investment funds into a range of recommended funds, selected on the basis on past performance, future performance expectations, charges, volatility and risk.

Graham Angell, Pensions and Investment Proposition Director, Openwork, says: “We are constantly seeking ways to help our advisers educate their clients and the new guide will support our partners in offering well informed insights into the main asset classes and different investment approaches, in addition to information on fund performance.

“In this first edition we also felt it was important to highlight the role of our Investment Committee, which works very closely with OBSR in constructing our comprehensive range of recommended funds. There are thousands of funds available to UK investors and the committee takes a significant amount of weight off advisers’ shoulders in assessing them and deciding which are the most suitable and appropriate for the majority of clients.”

Amongst the excitement of confirming offers and trying to get through the merry-go-round of clearing, new undergraduates need to think about their new financial situation and how to avoid an astronomical debt after graduation. According to Mary Rose Fison, graduate debt frequently breaks the £20, 000 mark and so it’s vital to choose the right bank account. This doesn’t mean choosing the one which offers a free music player but one which has an interest-free overdraft. Moreover, it’s important to check out the interest rates when the balance is in the black AND the red.

The Sunday Express continued this train of thought encouraging students to get insurance. This is of particular importance given that the Home Office has published figures showing students are statistically one of the most likely groups to fall victim to crime.

 It’s not just tuition fees, living costs and the ever-important “going out” money which eat up a student’s loan either. The Guardian highlighted the issues around charges of accommodation costs in halls, private student blocks, shared houses and flats. While there is cause for celebration if you have just been accepted to go to Bradford, where apparently self catering accommodation is as little as £53.50/week, in Edinburgh catered accommodation is as high as £216.44/week. With this in mind it’s hardly shocking that even the most prudent of students usually leaves Uni in debt, as a case study in the Independent revealed on Saturday. However, Nick Evans of One Life Wealth Planning commented that it’s not all doom and gloom, given that a student loan is actually considered quite a cheap form of debt. As a result, it’s advisable to pay off an overdraft before worrying too much about the loan.

For those of us unaffected by A-level results and student budgeting there were some interesting pieces on how to beat food inflation. As well as searching the internet to find the cheapest supermarket for your weekly shop, the FT suggested investing in the production of food. From a simple supply and demand perspective it makes sense to invest in agriculture – population increases and rising global wealth has pushed up demand for meat and grain. Furthermore, while prices collapsed in the financial crisis, it is worth remembering that soft commodities were all the rage for investors in 2007 and 2008. Merryn Somerset Webb recommended investing in machinery rather than crops themselves as factors such as the weather make crops a risky and unpredictable gamble.

The Telegraph also published a piece on how to profit from food inflation. Emma Wall championed various funds to invest in. These included Agriculture exchange-traded funds (although these can be volatile it says) and Tesco, which is large enough to absorb any increases in input costs and Associated British Foods. Overall, while inflation does have many negative impacts, it would seem that we can actually benefit from rising food costs.

A round up of topics is as follows:

Charity                  2%

Credit cards        4%

Fraud/scams      9%

IFAs                       0

Insurance           13%

Investment       20%

Mortgages         13%

Pensions            11%

Regulation         0

Savings               24%

Tax                       0 

Utilities               4%

The funds, which have attracted in excess of £68m since their launch in March 2009, are available with immediate effect. They are:

IFDS Prism Cautious Growth is designed for investors who want a better return than leaving their money in a bank or building society, but are not comfortable with having a large exposure to investments. The Fund’s aim is to produce annual returns which, over the medium to long term, are on average 2.5% higher than NS&I cash ISA rates after fund charges.

IFDS Prism Capital Growth is designed for investors who don’t mind living with a degree of risk in return for the possibility of an enhanced level of return. The Fund’s aim is to produce annual returns which, over the medium to long term, are on average 3.5% higher than NS&I cash ISA rates after fund charges, with a lower level of risk than a fund that is purely equity based.

IFDS Prism Advanced is designed for investors driven by the desire for larger profits and who are less risk sensitive. The Fund’s aim is to produce annual returns which, over the medium to long term, are on average 4.5% higher than NS&I cash ISA rates after fund charges, but at a lower risk to you than a global equity fund.

Prism is a fund management company formed in 2009 as a joint venture between the IFA support services business, Paradigm Partners, and Octopus Investments (Octopus), one of the UK’s fastest growing investment management companies. Working with the team at Octopus, Prism has created a range of funds that aim to deliver the best possible returns within well defined levels of risk.

Anthony Morrow, Director of Prism, said: “Launched a little under 18 months ago the three risk-rated, multi manager funds have proved extremely popular with advisers and their clients, who have invested over £68m in them. With a strong track record starting to emerge under the stewardship of the team at Octopus, we are now looking to make the funds available to a wider range of advisers and Skandia gives us an excellent platform from which to do that.”

Paradigm Partners, the IFA support services business launched in 2007, has reported an operating profit of £519,000 for the year ending 31st March 2010.

The milestone, which has been reached in only the third year of operation, sees Paradigm become cash-generative nine months ahead of plan and enables the business to enter the next phase of its development ahead of schedule and in a strong financial position.

Paradigm was set-up in 2007 by entrepreneur Paul Hogarth with the aim of creating a community of like-minded IFA firms which could combine their collective expertise and assets for the greater good of each other and their clients. In addition to the core services it offers its 320 member firms the organisation has, over the last two years, also launched a range of other businesses including:

• Paradigm Financial Advisers – an IFA network that has so far attracted over 200 individual advisers
• Prism Capital Management – an investment management company that has already attracted in excess of £68m into its three existing funds
• Paradigm Pensions – a new pensions business aimed at helping advisers make the most of current and future pension legislation.

Commenting on the results Paul Hogarth said: “All businesses have seminal moments and this set of results, in the context of the broader trading environment and the investments we have made into additional business areas, is certainly one of those for Paradigm.  To be in the position we are in so soon after launch is a truly exceptional achievement and one of which I am extremely proud.  There is, however, still much to be done and all effort and resource will now go into ensuring the business fulfils its considerable ambitions – rising to the many challenges that lie ahead and making the most of the opportunities that present themselves for us and our member firms.”

Commenting on the appointments David Ferguson, founder and CEO of Nucleus, said:

“These appointments are further confirmation of our desire to recruit the brightest talent in the retail financial services industry and are all significant additions as we seek to execute our growth strategy. We have big plans for the business and strategically couldn’t be better placed to maximise the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities offered by the introduction of the RDR.”

As the Telegraph’s Paul Farrow noted in his recent Money Marketing column, the debate over charges is nothing if not emotive, with the hostile mood little improved by fund managers’ general disinclination to offer a robust defence. Cynics might suppose they know what informs groups’ reluctance to engage – and in some cases I’m sure they have a point – but does an unwillingness to put your head above the parapet necessarily establish your culpability? Rightly or wrongly, many groups consider it to be a zero-sum game.

This time around the general debate has encompassed performance fees which, it is fair to say, have never been warmly embraced by the UK retail market. News that most funds levy fees on a relative, rather than absolute return, basis is unlikely to quell the criticism. But are performance fees inherently bad? Is there anything underhand about charging fees on a relative basis? Unless a fund explicitly targets absolute returns, in which case a relative performance fee is manifestly inappropriate, there appears nothing innately unfair about charging an additional fee for outperforming an index – even if it has fallen – as long as the investor knows that such a fee could be levied.

If that argument applies to performance fees, it also, of course, extends to AMCs and TERs. It has been suggested that some fund groups do not, shall we say, strain every sinew to highlight charges that nestle at the upper end of the cost scale, and that practice is undoubtedly something the industry could improve. But, in general, if charges are genuine, reasonably reflect the services and costs associated with a particular investment approach and are – crucially – transparent, why shouldn’t a group charge what it likes? Funds do, after all, incur different levels of costs and there is no uniform approach to managing assets. Fidelity, one of the few fund managers involved in this debate, argues that charges are justified by the number of meetings analysts hold with companies and suppliers in order to give clients an investment edge. If its performance reflects this extra work and the costs it incurs, then it is difficult to see the problem. Most car buyers accept that a high performance Porsche will cost more than a moribund Mazda. If a fund manager demonstrates consistent outperformance, why should the same principle not apply?

Some will say, of course, that this argument misses the point; that the real issue is whether TERs are an adequate gauge of total cost. As TERs do not include trading as well as other costs, there is justification for saying they are not. But as some commentators have pointed out, the real issue isn’t necessarily trading costs per se, it is whether the activity of the manager offers value for money. And this is, partly, why investors employ advisers. If they cannot themselves determine whether managers are adding value relative to their charges, then they have to employ someone who can. Most people understand – as evidenced by the very small number of investors who buy funds direct – that investing in assets is a complex, risky enterprise.

Much of the criticism of active management charges emanates from the passive management end of the sector, which of course has its own battles to fight, particularly when – as now – funds are the mercy of choppy or falling markets. In these conditions, costs must seem like safer ground for comparison than performance. But as long as investors understand what they are paying and what they are getting for it, the debate over charges seems, as a fund manager might say, a little overdone.

Ignis Asset Management can confirm it has received Dublin authorisation to launch a global technology fund in order to benefit from the attractive prospects for the sector. The fund will launch in the fourth quarter of 2010 and will aim to achieve long-term capital growth through investing in a concentrated portfolio of around 40-55 global technology stocks.

Ignis plans to build a credible track record before seeking UK and Continental European registration for the fund. Until a credible track record has been established and until the fund is registered for broader distribution, Ignis will refrain from actively promoting it to third party investors.

Managed by Geoff Paton, the Ignis International Global Technology Fund will invest in well-managed companies with above average growth prospects in the information technology sector. The fund will also have the flexibility to invest in innovative technology areas such as medical technology, biotech and alternative energy. The Ignis International Global Technology Fund will not be constrained geographically or by index weightings or by market capitalisation. This flexibility will allow the manager to select from the broadest possible pool of stocks in order to generate the best possible returns for investors.

Paton, currently a member of the Ignis Asset Management US equity team, has an established track record in the asset class having previously managed technology funds at Abbey National and Henderson Global Investors before joining Ignis in 2009 – see biography below.

Geoff Paton, manager of the Ignis International Global Technology Fund, says:

“I am delighted to be launching this fund ahead of what promises to be an exciting time for the sector. Technology stocks can be broadly classified into two camps, ‘legacy’ companies and ‘new age’ companies. This year, ‘legacy’ companies have struggled to perform despite, for the most part, significantly rising earnings estimates over the course of the last year. This has left many legacy companies such as IBM, Cisco, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard and Dell at very low valuations. ‘New age’ technology stocks are those exploiting profound secular trends such as cloud computing and the mobile internet. These stocks have performed well but are now beginning to experience valuation contraction to some degree. We will be particularly focussed on this latter category of stocks, where there are a number of long term secular trends that will give rise to powerful investable themes and strong returns for investors.

“We will be working hard to establish a credible track record over the next six to twelve months and look forward to making the fund more broadly available to third party investors in due course.”