IMA

Plans to raise the contribution cap on personal accounts to £5,000 will mean the decision to remove regulated advice could not be "sustainable", warns the Investment Management Association (IMA).

Specialist funds were the most popular form of retail investment in 2006, as the dominance of property funds accounted for almost a quarter of the Oeic market.

HM Treasury has announced it has set up a working group to consider the effect of taxation on the competitiveness of UK funds.

The White Paper on personal accounts may be stoking up problems actually delivering sufficient supply of SEE funds at a price in line with government policy commitments to capping costs.

The IMA says the FSA should allow hedged share classes for open ended funds to ensure London does not lose out to financial centres such as Dublin and Luxembourg.

Just Retirement, the life insurer whose products are aimed at people in or entering retirement, has raised £87m from its flotation on Aim, says the Daily Telegraph .

Standard Life is set to make a profit of more than £100m from its 7.9% holding in Corus as a result of Tata Steel's £4.3bn offer for the steelmaker, says the Daily Telegraph .

Offshore centres such as Luxembourg and Ireland are more attractive to fund investors than the UK.

An interesting problem has arisen concerning attempts to regulate investment instruments which has the potential to blow the existing understanding of investment ranges sky high.

UK-based IFAs are now likely to be exempt from meeting new suitability regulatory requirements attached to MiFID, according to the Investment Management Association.