Good morning and welcome to your Morning Briefing for Tuesday 28 March, 2023. To get this in your inbox every morning click here.
Guardian income protection
Protection challenger Guardian has announced that it will launch income protection cover in the coming weeks.
The new product will sit alongside its existing policies such as life, critical illness and combined life and critical illness protection.
Guardian said it will offer a full menu on its Protection Builder 2.0 quote and apply system.
Soaring taxpayer numbers
Understandably, the main focus for our sector following the Budget earlier this month was on the changes to pensions tax.
I will make no comment on the fundamental question of whether the changes will deliver the required result of both driving people back to work or keeping them working… Aside from that, the details are eagerly awaited.
Among all the pensions-related excitement (I still find “pensions” and “excitement” an interesting juxtaposition), it would be easy to forget the tax context in which we are all living and its impact on the numbers of people likely to need financial advice.
Quote Of The Day
April marks the start of the AGM season; a golden opportunity for all shareholders to flex their collective muscle on topics that continue to capture investor attention such as executive pay and renumeration more broadly, the urgency of the climate emergency, diversity, and corporate performance.
– Lee Wild, head of Equity Strategy, Interactive Investor on how private investors can use their voice to drive change
Stat Attack
New research data, from Phoenix Group’s longevity think tank, shows that pension participation among ethnic minorities is lower than average, and non-pension sources are expected to play an important role in funding the retirement of these groups.
£25,000
Compared to the average retirement income of £25,000 expected by white British people, most ethnic minority groups expect to have a retirement income around 16% higher if they were of a similar age and had similar salaries.
The percentage of people from these groups expecting a “comfortable” retirement is also greater, at
38% of people from Black African,
37% of people from Indian or Pakistani and
36% of people from Bangladeshi ethnic backgrounds, compared to
25% among White British people.
However, these expectations do not reflect the present reality in which weekly income for retired Asian and black families are £391 and £412 respectively, compared to the population average of £556.
Source: Phoenix Group
In Other News
General insurance solutions provider Paymentshield has introduced a new, optimised home insurance quote journey that will bring greater efficiencies for advisers while ensuring they can still deliver the best outcomes for customers.
The enhanced quote journey, now live in the Adviser Hub platform, asks fewer questions than before.
This means advisers can now generate a quote for their client in in less than one minute. The total question set has been reduced by over half with advisers finding they can now complete the quote journey in as little as 40 seconds, according to Paymentshield.
In addition to providing the new quote journey via its Adviser Hub, Paymentshield has also developed its API offering so its integrated partners can deliver the same improved GI experience within their own platforms.
Investing.com, one of the world’s largest platforms for financial data, tools and news, and accessed by more than 60 million retail investors monthly, has completed the acquisition and integration of Streetinsider, the top rated premium source for market moving breaking news on equities.
By acquiring StreetInsider, the global financial markets platform that has been focused on providing its users with real-time premium data and tools, is now expanding its content offering with breaking news, analysis and exclusive insider information.
Investing.com will embed a variety of StreetInsider’s core news services – including the famous Hot list, Rumours, Trader talk, Momentum Movers and Trading Halts feeds – into the company’s mobile apps and website serving over 690 million users globally.
These brand-new feeds will feature a combination of free and pay-wall-gated content, available to InvestingPro subscribers, the premium subscription service for better investor decision making from Investing.com.
StreetInsider will continue to operate as a stand-alone service, keeping selected feeds exclusively available on its own platform.
From Elsewhere
Can Australia’s banks withstand the contagion stalking the global finance sector? (The Guardian)
US backstops Silicon Valley Bank sale to First Citizens (Reuters)
Rules for winding up big banks do not work, Swiss finance minister warns (Financial Times)
Did You See?
The Personal Finance Society has apologised for sending a welcome email to advisers, many of whom are longstanding members.
On Twitter numerous advisers checked with each other if they had received the same welcome message from the PFS.
Financial planner Ed Gibson asked if anyone else had received the welcome message from the body with adviser Sebastian Riemann replying “it would be easier asking who has not received one”.
Comments