Good morning and welcome to your Morning Briefing for Wednesday 4 January, 2023. To get this in your inbox every morning click here.
CII membership
For some time now we have been trying to decipher the inner workings of the Chartered Insurance Insurance (CII) and Personal Finance Society (PFS).
The week in the run up to Christmas Eve was revealing as there was a stream of news about the deteriorating relationship between the CII and PFS.
The dispute centres on the status of the PFS within the broader CII Group with management of both bodies making allegations against the other.
On 21 December the CII Group made the dramatic move of appointing a majority of directors to the PFS board, after independent mediation failed.
The CII accused the PFS of being poorly run and insisted a series of “serious governance risks” at the PFS left it with “no alternative” but to step in.
Among the failures listed were a “lack of collective decision making” by the PFS board and a failure to act in line with the articles of association approved by PFS members.
The PFS hit back and said these allegations are simply a smokescreen to distract from the CII’s own failings to acknowledge or listen to PFS member concerns.
The drama has inspired the first poll of the year below.
Loading …Investment zeitgeist
When it comes to successful investment there is an old saying: “It’s not about timing the market, but about time in the market.”
Mark Dampier’s column is always worth a read and argues investors are going to see the biggest game changer for 40 years.
Events are shifting companies and countries from “just in time to just in case”.
Quote Of The Day
It seems clear that the phenomena of zero interest rates and ‘get rich quick’ from the past 15 years is now potentially over.
– Nick Clay, head of global equity income at Redwheel shares his views on the global equity income strategy for 2023.
Stat Attack
There is less than one month for millions of customers to file their self assessment tax return for the 2021 to 2022 tax year. The reminder comes from HM Revenue and Customs.
12 million
Customers are expected to file a tax return for the 2021 to 2022 tax year by 31 January 2023
129 customers
Submitted their returns on 1 January between 00:00 and 00:59
25,043
Tax returns were filed on New Year’s Eve
17,571
Tax returns were filed on New Year’s Day
Source: HMRC
In Other News
Evelyn Partners has strengthened its business tax team with the appointment of Jonathan Balcombe as a partner.
He will focus on tax advice for private equity-backed companies and their stakeholders.
Balcombe joins Evelyn Partners from EY where he worked for more than 18 years. Most recently, he was a partner providing advice and support to private equity-backed and fast-growth companies.
Prior to his advisory role in EY’s business tax services team in London, he spent ten years working in M&A carrying out due diligence, tax structuring, tax modelling, and tax review of legal documentation.
Two Premium Bond holders are starting the new year as millionaires. NS&I announced that the first Premium Bonds jackpot winners of 2023 are from South Yorkshire and Wiltshire.
The first winning Bond number drawn belongs to a winner in South Yorkshire. The jackpot winner holds £4,625 in Premium Bonds and purchased the winning Bond in July 2021. The win makes them the seventeenth Premium Bonds jackpot millionaire from the Yorkshire region.
The second winning Bond number drawn comes from Wiltshire. The winner holds £50,000 in Premium Bonds and purchased their winning Bond in June 2020. They are the tenth Premium Bonds jackpot millionaire from Wiltshire.
Later life specialist Responsible Group has appointed Sara Robinson as head of business development.
Robinson has worked in financial services for over two decades, and joins from Equity Release Associates, part of Age Partnership Group. She previously worked for Key Retirement Solutions and Skipton Financial Services.
It comes after the company last month revealed it had appointed Tom Moloney as Responsible Life’s new advice airector and brought in Chris Flowers as intermediary sales director at lending arm, Responsible Lending.
All three hires are important to the next phase of the group’s expansion.
From Elsewhere
The new Gulf sovereign wealth fund boom (Financial Times)
Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to fraud (BBC News)
Did You See?
It is terrible when a person dies before their time and it reminds us life is precious.
Yesterday (3 January) we heard the terrible news that Quilter’s commercial and propositions director David Tiller passed away at the age of 56.
Tiller died suddenly on 28 December whilst out walking with friends in the Lake District.
A statement from Quilter said Tiller was deeply respected throughout the wealth management sector, having enjoyed a long and successful career in financial services including over 20 years at Standard Life (now Abrdn).
Quilter chief executive Steven Levin said: “We are all desperately saddened by the news of David’s passing and our condolences and thoughts are with his family at this time.”
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