Opinion

CONVENIENCE has become a byword for modern living and we all expect things to come to hand easier, faster and cheaper than ever before.

It seems that each governing party that comes to power likes to make its own stamp on the pension and investment marketplaces, particularly the pension industry which has seen radical changes over the last decade, with simplification being the latest....

Financial advisers must be on their mettle to protect the thousands of property buyers being forced to jump last minute hurdles by nervous mortgage lenders.

At around this time each year my family starts asking me "what would you like for Christmas?" Usually I say "Oh I don't really want anything - a bottle of whisky or a bottle of brandy will do nicely."

When I started in financial services 10 years ago, I entered a world where the With Profits Bond was king.

They say a week's a long time in politics, although nowadays any change may be spin rather than substance. How long's a fortnight in Inheritance Tax?

I attended a pensions and divorce workshop in London last week. It made a nice change to be going somewhere as a delegate rather than having to speak!

In its financial stability report of October 2007 the Bank of England identified categories of UK borrowers that it believed may be vulnerable to the "credit crunch".

On the face of it, pensions should be one of the simple things in life.

Most of my conversations at the moment seem to involve investments in commercial property funds.