Opinion

This time of year is always weird for me. Where on Earth has it gone? The New Year only seems like yesterday. What happened? Did someone steal eleven months while I was asleep?

With the UK base interest rate currently standing at 2% but predicted to fall further early in 2009, it is becoming more and more difficult for investors to find a home for cash holdings offering competitive rates of interest within their investment portfolios....

I am told a recent reunion of the Class of 1978 appears to have spawned what, in the context of that time, would be seen as a "Butterflies"-like relationship between two old school chums.

I cut my teeth in financial services in the early '70s, which means that I was weaned on a diet of inflation, recessions and rising unemployment.

It might seem strange to suggest that November saw a return to normality, but in many ways that is how it felt to me, albeit a very depressing return to normality.

With all the doom and gloom of the credit crunch, highlighted so visibly by the recent demise of one of our best known high street retailers, you'd be forgiven for wanting to hibernate this winter, hide under a duvet and wake up when it's all over.

The biggest news of the last week or so, aside from the recent tax tinkering from the chancellor that is, has been the arrival of the FSA's latest thoughts on the RDR.

One of my fellow IFAonline bloggers made some interesting observations about industry awards ceremonies in his latest submission. And given that I seem to have attended more of these events this year than ever before I thought I would add my own opinions...

I have feared right from the start of the current financial crisis that we would face calls for the press to be regulated and gagged.

What are the broader implications of Skandia's resignation from the Association of British Insurers?