ABI

Keith Skeoch, chief executive of Standard Life Investments, has replaced ABI Investment Committee chairman Chris Phillips, who died earlier this year

In my youth, when I would hang around wine bars trying to look cool and being totally ignored by the fairer sex, I knew a chap called Smart Pete.

The ABI's review of the life and pension fund sectors has reached the consultation stage and the association is urging providers and financial advisors to get involved.

The ABI's head of health and protection insurance, Richard Walsh, will leave the association at the end of June.

Stephen Haddrill, director general of the ABI, has welcomed the Government's stance on insurance companies' use of personal data to set product premiums.

The Director General of the ABI, Stephen Haddrill, has called on the Government to raise the initial rate of employer contributions to Personal Accounts, from 1% in the first year to 3%.

One of the topical issues at the moment is Fidelity's Special Situation Fund, reported to be over £3bn in size, as the fund management moves from Anthony Bolton to Sanjeev Shah.

The ABI has hit out at proposals to merge the Pensions Ombudsman (PO) and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) outlined in the Thornton Review of Pensions Institutions .

Apologies to all you intermediaries out there but on this occasion my blog is more aimed at insurers - but do let me know if you agree with me. Feedback is always appreciated.

There has been steady growth in life and pensions sales during the first quarter of 2007, according to new business figures from ABI members.