The recent problems with the suspension of dealings in a heavily promoted UK equity income fund have exposed the blurred line between advice and guidance. According to the Investment Association (IA), there are around 3,500 funds on sale in the UK. The IA sorts these into over 30 individual investment sectors, although about 10% are listed as being in the unclassified sector. Faced with such a large choice, understandably many private investors want some help in making their

A government-commissioned report has proposed significant changes to the funding of university students in England. Students resident in England (different rules apply in other parts of the UK) pay a maximum university tuition fee of £9,250 per year, financed by a student loan. Further loans to cover maintenance plus interest at RPI+3% mean that at the end of a three-year course graduates can start working life with £50,000 of debt. That debt is currently written off after 30

Have you forgotten ISAs, now the end of the tax year has passed? Statistics from the Investment Association regularly show that ISA sales are clustered in the early months of the calendar year as investors react to a 5 April deadline. Look at the personal finance pages of the weekend press in March and it is hard to avoid all the ISA stories, including the journalist’s favourite of ISA millionaires (they do exist). However, by mid-April ISAs seemingly go into hibernation. The

The world’s share markets had a buoyant first six months. The final few months of 2018 were a dark time for the world’s stock markets, with concerns about US trade policies and the backwash from the Brexit uncertainty leaving many markets posting an overall loss for the year. The prospects for 2019 did not look bright, with the spectre of the US Federal Reserve continuing to raise interest rates after its fourth rate increase in December. Six months on, and the doomsayers app

A new set of proposals for funding long-term care has emerged from a significant source. The funding of long-term care is an issue that beats even Brexit in terms of protracted political procrastination. A Royal Commission on the subject was established in 1997 and reported in 1999. Its proposals were rejected by the then Labour government as too costly. Since then there has been a steady flow of reports, reviews and even another Commission report (although not royal this ti