Sterling may be weak but the spirit of maximising opportunities to profit from this is certainly willing, judging from the weekend money sections.

The FT’s Ellen Kelleher led the pack with the belief that a falling pound will boost UK shares and provide a ‘competitive boost’ to smaller exporters in the FTSE 250. Kelleher continued on this theme in the FT Money section, exploring how sterling’s slide against the dollar and the euro are positive for buyers of UK equities and income funds, with the share prices of some British companies already rising in response. A note of caution was flagged, however, for bond and gilt fans due to increased pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates. Last but not least, Kelleher quotes an S&P poll indicating that a wave of takeover activity is expected in the UK smaller companies sector as the weak sterling allows overseas groups to buy their UK rivals at a discount.

 In a nod to a ‘glass half full’ approach, the Sunday Telegraph’s Emma Simon leads the section with a guide on how to profit from a weak pound, outlining options from buying currency online to  spread betting.

In yet another take on things the Mail on Sunday’s Jo Thornhill notes the consequences of a falling sterling value for holidaymakers, with credit and prepay cards touted as the best solutions to counteract increasingly costly trips abroad.

Elsewhere, the ‘plight of savers’ theme rolled on this weekend with research for the FT by Defaqto revealing that in spite of restrictions on withdrawals thousands of savers in notice accounts are earning lower returns than the average 0.86% paid on instant-access accounts. The Sunday Times’ Ali Hussain points out there may be light at the end of the tunnel in the form of opening high paying current accounts,  with many now opening multiple accounts with different banks and ‘drip feeding’ in money.

All in all, the sentiment is keep the chin up and don’t let the thought of all those upcoming shopping trips to New York and Paris get you down! Ok, will snap out of the daydream now…

Coverage scores on the doors are as follows:

Charity                 4%

Credit cards        5%

Fraud/scams      2%

IFAs                       5%

Insurance            5%

Investment        30%

Mortgages           7%

Pensions             20%

Regulation          2%

Savings                 9%

Tax                        5%

Utilities               5%

A straw poll of member firms using the platform has revealed that the platform’s focus on transparency and clarity of charging means there is ‘one less thing to worry about’ when it comes to their own preparations for the RDR.

Commenting, Arthur Childs, Nucleus member and Managing Director of Arch Financial Planning said:

“Nucleus is all about clarity of charging so that our clients know who gets what and when, and the vast range of investment options permitted through the ‘open architecture’ framework means we can demonstrate that our advice is unbiased and unrestricted – a vitally important part of being RDR-ready.

 “Through the Nucleus wrap we have been able to get our advisers to agree on standard client charges rather than relying on product providers to determine this for us – thus removing the potential for adviser remuneration to distort consumer outcomes.”

Childs believes that the Nucleus framework has given member firms the flexibility to develop bespoke client charging structures to fit RDR requirements, and that the ownership structure means clients are reassured that member firms play an active role in the development of the platform with clients’ ‘best interests in mind’. 

“Nucleus has given us the freedom to develop our own client charging structure so that our remuneration is already in line with the requirement for ‘Adviser Charging’. This means our client charges increasingly reflect the services actually being provided rather than the amount of money being invested, which is fairer to all of our clients.”

Barry Neilson, Business Development Director at Nucleus comments:
 
“We’re delighted that member IFAs are confident Nucleus can be added to the list of firms who have declared themselves ‘RDR-ready’ and that they believe the transparent culture which has been in place since the inception of the business, as well as the open architecture framework, are entirely consistent with the FSA’s direction of travel. We always say to IFA firms that adopting a wrap does not automatically make you RDR-ready but it is a significant step in the right direction.”

Hear Arthur describe why he believes Nucleus to be RDR-ready here.

Darley, who oversees £1.2 billion of European equities at Ignis, says investors have taken an overly macro a view of markets in recent months, retaining significant overweight positions in defensive sectors such as pharmaceuticals and telecoms but failing to spot the opportunities in the cyclical financials sector.

“The market has thrown the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to the financials sector,” he says. “Yes there are problems, but not all banks are bad. Indeed, a number of them are very attractive right now. Most of those that needed capital raised it a year ago and are now looking for growth. Lending margins are much improved from 12 months ago, which for well-capitalised banks is very good news indeed. Following strong results some of these companies have already seen share prices rise strongly but many valuations remain attractive which is at odds with most investors’ underweight positioning in the sector .

Santander and BNP Paribas, says Darley, represent particularly attractive investments at current valuations. Santander, which is trading on 8 times its 2011 earnings and 7 times its 2012 earnings, not only offers exposure to high growth markets in Latin America but has also exploited other banks’ weakness to secure a strong market position in the UK, as evidenced by its deals for Abbey National and Alliance and Leicester assets .

“Santander is a great example of a company that has emerged from the credit crisis stronger than it went into it,” he says. “Even after making conservative adjustments for risky loans, its valuation remains compelling, and could become even more so as the general economic environment improves.”

BNP Paribas, which accounts for 3% of Ignis’ Europe (ex UK) equity exposure, is similarly undervalued in Darley’s view.

“BNP is also trading on 8 times consensus 2011 earnings but its return on equity will be in the mid to high teens, which is being driven by strong earnings growth and synergies from the Fortis deal. BNP’s bad loan provision has peaked and it is paying a high dividend – yet it is trading around book value. That’s a great investment opportunity.”

Other attractive financial stocks include insurers Munich Re and Allianz and wealth manager Julius Baer, a smaller financial, which Darley says offers “a good structural play on wealth management with a clear strategy for growth in Asia and the Middle East. Wealth managers generally have no exposure to non-performing loans and they have a key growth driver in globalisation. Julius Baer has significant excess capital yet trades on a 2011 PE of less than 12x despite strong growth prospects ” Darley does, however, urge caution on those stocks which have weathered the financial storm less well, highlighting Commerzbank as an example of a company which has raised insufficient capital and is burdened with a large bad loan book.

Pointing out that Ignis’ financials exposure is not a general play on cyclicals – his funds remain underweight many industrials – Darley has sought to balance the financials weighting with a significant overweight in the defensive pharmaceutical and healthcare sector, which he says is undervalued given its strong growth prospects. Favoured stocks in this area are Roche, Novartis and Fresenius. In general, Darley expects European equity performance to be reasonably robust this year although he warns that following recent rises a short-term pullback is possible, a risk that has prompted him to raise over 2% in cash to enable him to seize any opportunities a correction is likely to present.

“Europe has enjoyed a very significant move up and is close to its December/January highs, although the worries that previously weighed on markets haven’t all gone away. That means there is a greater risk of a pullback now than in recent weeks but as ever, this will present opportunities for us as we look to exploit market anomalies.”

February saw Strategic Bonds gain in popularity, taking 7 percent of net sales. Three Strategic Bond funds made the top 20 of net selling funds with M&G Optimal Income fund dominating as the third highest selling fund. Henderson Strategic Bond fund took tenth while L&G Dynamic Bond just made the top 20 as nineteenth.

Cautious Managed continued to lead the sales chart as the highest selling sector, accounting for over 20 percent of gross money invested in February. Meanwhile, Property maintained high but stable taking over 5 percent of sales.

Michelle Woodburn, Manager, Fund Group Relations at Cofunds said: “With Strategic Bonds gaining in popularity and Corporate Bonds continuing to hold their own, February was a positive month for fixed income in advisers’ asset allocation. As the markets maintain a certain aspect of volatility, especially around currency and the impending election, sectors are stabilising with advisers not making any overwhelming changes to clients’ portfolios. This can also be seen with Property sales remaining at a relatively high yet stable level.”

Full details of this product can be found at http://www.barclayswealthprotectedinvestments.com.

Lisa Chaudhuri, vice president, Barclays Wealth, says: “Although the markets have rallied recently, nervousness amongst investors over the long-term sustainability continues. Easily understandable products offering competitive returns without putting capital at risk therefore still play a big part in our offering. Our new DRP delivers 44% return provided that the Index is not below the starting level at maturity, an attractive prospect that does not rely on equity market growth.”

Derek Stewart, Managing Director at Strategic Asset Managers commented: “Having looked closely over the last year at what is on offer in the platform space we felt that the Nucleus proposition was best placed to deliver the level of service and transparency our clients deserve and our business requires in the run up to, and before the implementation of, the RDR.

“Being part of a community of like minded firms was a key factor in our decision to invest in the proposition – knowing that our interests are very much aligned with those of the other members and that together we could influence the future development and direction of the platform.

“Another key factor in the decision was that Nucleus’ main business focus is on delivering an open, transparent wrap without other distractions leaving us to spend time looking after our clients. Essentially, we are working with colleagues at Nucleus rather than being employees of a provider, which is just the way we like it.”

Barry Neilson, Business Development Director at Nucleus said: “Strategic Asset Managers is a highly respected firm of independent financial advisers and we are delighted they have chosen Nucleus as their preferred platform for the business. We continue to be encouraged by the quality and diversity of adviser firms who are keen to share in the Nucleus vision and look forward to welcoming more on board in the coming months as we continue to strengthen our proposition.”

I reckon my old school friends are just like the average IFA’s client bank.

There are a lot of them, I only manage to stay in regular touch with a few and – until recently – the time and effort required to stay in touch with the rest was just too great to practically contemplate.

However, over the past two years, I have effortlessly rekindled connections with almost 230 former friends and colleagues, simply by signing up to Facebook and LinkedIn.

Now, I promise I’m not going to waste your time banging on about how Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube are the best things since sliced bread.

But I will suggest three reasons why IFAs should not overlook Facebook fan pages as one of the most practical means of staying connected
with potentially a substantial chunk of your client-base, which is – for now at least – free of charge.

1. Facebook vs The Press

Your clients are more likely to use Facebook each week than read the Sunday money sections.

Let’s suppose you have 100 clients. Based on published circulation figures, 21 of them may read the Sunday newspaper money sections each week, but 39 of them will visit their Facebook account at least once a week.

That’s according to data gathered for the Government’s 2009 Digital Britain report, which said that 40 per cent1 of the UK population have Facebook accounts. Other studies support the figures claiming that 39 per cent of 16-65 year olds in the UK maintain a social web account.

Either way, at least 19 million consumers in Britain have an account with Facebook.

2. Fan pages = free connections

The real power of Facebook is the way it allows you to establish and maintain connections with clients who already have a Facebook account. So it offers a cost-free, effort-free way for both you and your clients to connect and stay connected.

But why would clients connect?

Because you have something in common with each other – your client’s financial plan.

What’s more, you have experience, expertise and information that is both useful and interesting for your clients. If you publish content on your Facebook fan page – like presentations or PDFs – you are able to continually demonstrate it.

Of course, maintaining connections also means that you won’t lose contact with clients; you won’t lose their postal or email addresses, nor will your clients forget your web address and contact information.

3. Traffic for your content

Your website content stands more chance of being read, viewed or listened to through a Facebook fan page. Unless it is designed to deliver client services – or is at least as interesting as Facebook – it’s unlikely you can rely on regular traffic to your site. But Facebook has the ability to generate traffic to your content 24 hours a day.

So, instead of regarding your website as an online destination for information about your business, think of it as a means of distributing that content elsewhere on the web. By connecting your website or blog’s content to a Facebook fan page, for instance, you can share business news and views in at least two places at once, as well as link to content like presentations, video and audio that is published elsewhere on the web.

First published in Cofunds’ Perspectives magazine (March 2010)

To join the conversation, search ‘IFAs and the social web’ fan page at Facebook or follow Ian on www.twitter.com/mrianthomas

Now we’re not one to blow our own trumpet (much) but watch the masters at work here and see how we effortlessly segue from a shameless plug for our research into a top Friday link…it’s seamless and a joy to behold…our survey of 20-30 year old professionals’ attitude to money shows that far from being a generation of credit junkies this demographic is taking an altogether more wholesome approach to their finances and in so doing take a leaf out of their grand and great grandparents book by making do and mending in this instance their finances by reducing their debt and putting money aside for a rainy day (find out more from Cork’s finest, Sarah.O’Connell@mrm-london.com). And here’s a genius way of applying the same dig for victory spirit to your old jeans, Wise Bread’s found 25 different uses for them, just take a look here. MRM’s personal favourite? Why there’s no contest, it’s No 22 of course, the ‘blue jeans table’.

Keeping on the same thread(s), anyone for an emission spectra scarf ? We would love to explain further but MRM’s grasp of science is a little weak, ahem. Our knitting skills, on the other hand, are legendary.

MRM salutes you Jess3, because with this truly mind boggling array of internet and social media platform stats, which you engagingly present on Vimeo here, we can salvage a bit of face and claw back some link dignity ahead of a weekend of kebab-inspired dance moves, togged out in our best pimped-up jeans. Thank you.

Available now, the range includes the popular six-year Regular Income Bond. This FTSE 100-linked product offers an annual income of 6% or a monthly income of 0.4875%. Investors’ capital is at risk if at any time during the term the FTSE falls by 50% and remains lower than its starting level at maturity. If this does occur, capital will be lost on a 1:1 basis.

Also reissued is the Super Tracker which offers a five- and three-year option for investors. The five-year offers four times the first 16% rise in the FTSE 100 up to a maximum of 64%. The three-year option offers investors two times the first 15% rise in the FTSE up to a maximum of 30%. In both cases, investors’ capital is at risk if at any time during the term the FTSE falls by 50% and remains lower than its starting level at maturity. If this occurs, capital is lost on a 1:1 basis.

Full details of these products can be found at http://www.barclayswealthprotectedinvestments.com

Commenting, Lisa Chaudhuri, vice president, Barclays Wealth, says: “With many still doubting the strength of the recovery, investors are looking for attractive returns in potentially low growth markets – either in the form of fixed income, as with the Regular Income Bond, or through products that offer returns for small rises in the FTSE, as with the Super trackers. The potential of getting capital fully returned at maturity providing the FTSE has not suffered a significant fall is also an attractive prospect for investors.”

The DRP AKO, which launched in December 2008, required the FTSE 100 to be at its 17 February 2009 strike level of 4034.13 in order to kick-out on its first anniversary. When the Index closed above this level on 17 February 2010, the plan automatically matured and delivered its stated 13.5% return to investors.

To coincide with this early maturity Barclays Wealth has launched a one-off investment, the Defined Return Plan AKO – Maturity Edition, designed to appeal to those looking to re-invest their capital. The five-year investment, which is only available to investors in the previous product, offers a fixed return of 8% for every year it is in force and will automatically mature on any anniversary where the FTSE 100 is at or above its starting level. As with the previous product, investors’ capital is at risk at any time during the term if the Index has fallen below 50% of its starting level and is below its starting level at maturity, then investor’s capital is lost on a one for one basis with the change in the Index level.

Lisa Chaudhuri, vice president, Barclays Wealth, says: “With many industry commentators doubting the strength of the recovery, Annual Kick-Outs continue to be in high demand from investors looking for products that take advantage of moderate growth. And while investors may have been able to find superior returns over the last twelve months by taking on more risk, a pay-out of 13.5% after just one year, coupled with a strong buffer against potential loss, should be a pleasing return for any investor.”