Industry News - March, 2008

Independent financial advisers (IFAs) agree that Customer Agreed Remuneration (Car) is important in business-to-business dealings, research has revealed.

According to a survey by Winterthur Chambers, 95 per cent of all IFAs rank Car as either very or fairly important to their business.

More than one in eight indicated that Car would help differentiate financial services marketing from that of providers.

According to Winterthur's head of marketing and value added servic... more...

Islamic finance in the UK will be marketed solely on its ethical merits within five years, one leading industry expert has claimed.

Consistent with the growth of ethically-minded consumers, financial services marketing of Islamic finance is set to attract non-muslims as an ethical alternative to conventional banks.

According to Junaid Bhatti, director of Ballencrieff House Consultancy, Islamic financial service providers are "coming around to the idea that there are signif... more...

Direct marketing remains a very popular option because it is sensitive to consumer trends, according to the Institute of Sales and Direct Marketing Management (ISMM).

The 2007 Global Marketing Effectiveness Report indicates that direct marketing is still ranked as the number one advertising medium, with around 35 per cent of the global marketing and communication spend.

Businesses and advertisers working in industries that are constantly changing, such as insurance marketing, a... more...

Following its launch into the discretionary and institutional markets, Legal & General's Dynamic Bond Trust is set to go retail, it has been announced.

Dickie Hodges, fund manager, explained that it will be fully UCITS III compliant and its flexibility will prove a "priceless commodity in the volatile market conditions we have been working in".

Legal & General has £108 billion in fixed assets, £45 billion of which is managed by the fixed interest t... more...

Many small businesses remain unaware of the benefits of updating their website and often "need convincing", one industry expert has claimed.

According Howard Gerlis, chairman of the British Computer Society (BCS) Internet Specialist Group, many SMEs allow websites to "languish very quickly" once they've been set up.

Recent research by Netflare revealed that nearly one quarter (23 per cent) of small businesses have not updated their website since it was launc... more...

The current mortgage environment could be responsible for the rise in life insurance business, it has been claimed.

According to the latest figures from the British Bankers Association (BBA), mortgages taken out to fund house purchases fell by almost a third in the 12 months up to the end of February 2008.

Underlining the potential benefits of life insurance marketing in the current economic climate, Pink Home Loans reported a 37 per cent increase in life insurance applications... more...

Further calls for the introduction of reforms to personal injury compensation have been received from the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

Government proposals announced in April 2007 are expected to save 110 million days a year in delays in dealing with personal injury claims when they finally come into force.

Director general of the ABI Stephen Haddrill insists that the current system is "failing many claimants".
Many legal marketing firms are no doubt ke... more...

Competition in accountancy marketing is set to increase in 2008, according to one entrepreneur.

Rising demand among small businesses and start-ups for online accountancy software is rewriting the future of the industry, as more and more firms latch onto this new business opportunity.

According to Duane Jackson, creator of the Kashflow online accountancy tool, "a lot of other companies are getting into the same space as us".

He told Real Business: "We now... more...