Finance sector company Aviva is to sponsor the National Theatre Live.

Aviva is a major player in the finance sector and sponsors events both in the field of arts and sports. To further their profile in these areas, Aviva has created a new partnership with the National Theatre. Aviva are now sponsors of the National Theatre Live, taking place in cinemas both in the UK and worldwide.

This is the second season of the National Theatre Live, and was proved incredibly popular in its first. 180,000 people saw films screened on 320 screens in 22 different countries; all broadcast live from theatres and screened in participating cinemas and arts venues.

The National Theatre’s idea to bring theatre to a wider audience is an extremely popular one, and Aviva were keen to sponsor the event in an effort to make sure the second season is just as popular, if not more so, than the last.

"We’re delighted to be supporting National Theatre Live, bringing the best of British theatre productions to international audiences in the comfort and convenience of their local cinemas. As the world’s sixth largest insurance group, Aviva is well-placed to share the National Theatre’s ambition to grow this innovative programme in scale and stature. We look forward to seeing audiences increase over the coming season and enjoying the ‘National Theatre experience’ on the big screen,” says Sally Shire, global brand development director at Aviva plc.

Particular plays are nominated, so that the arrangements can be made to have the cameras at a set time. The broadcasts film the chosen play at the theatre in high definition. It is then broadcast via satellite to the cinemas: in Europe this is live, as well as in a number of US cities, but in other countries it is time-delayed to allow for maximum audience attendance.

The venues can be found in the UK, USA and all across Europe, as well as more far-flung places such as South Africa and Australia.

“We are hugely grateful to Aviva for their support. We could not have initiated the experimental pilot season of National Theatre Live without Arts Council investment; its success has now enabled us to attract a generous corporate sponsor. I very much look forward to a long and exciting international collaboration,” said Nicholas Hytner, director of the National Theatre.

With the sponsorship of the financial sector company, this arts-based idea can continue and encourage other, similar projects worldwide; evidence that different sectors can easily come together in partnership to help one another.

Guest Article by Neil Camp 

Banks are always anxious to ensure a swift and painless succession when it comes to sorting out the top jobs and HSBC is usually the one institution which can be relied upon to get things right.

Yet the hallowed HSBC Boardroom has been ripped asunder by a top management spat which has brought an end to its safe hands reputation. And it now joins other banks which are turning to those in the investment divisions to run things at the top.

HSBC has just announced that Michael Geoghegan, currently chief executive, is to leave the bank and will not, as usually is the historic custom, replace the outgoing chairman Stephen Green.

Mr Green sparked the round of musical chairs after he elected to follow a new career with the coalition government.

City soothsayers are amazed that Mr Geoghegan was passed over for the chairman’s chair which is going to current finance director Douglas Flint. Although Mr Geoghegan was known to be a somewhat combative and outspoken chief executive, few foresaw his being passed over for the top job. He has told the media that given his non-selection to chairman, he had no other choice but to go.

But HSBC corporate spinners were desperate for the outside world not to see the departure of Mr Geoghegan as a strop.

Chairman elect Mr Flint said, in what many might regard as the understatement of the century:
“We need to restore trust in the banking industry by learning from mistakes made in recent years.”

Mr Geoghegan said there were no ill-feelings, saying:
“It’s been historical at this company that the chief executive goes on to be chairman but you have to be asked, and the reality was I wasn’t asked.”

He leaves with £1.42 million in a severance package

Slipping into the chief executive shoes is Stuart Gulliver, formerly head of the HSBC Investment division and a promotion which mirrors the decision by Barclays bank to reward their aptly named investment chief Bob Diamond with the top job.

This worries the Government and some regulators that far from learning from their past mistakes, the banks are leaning towards the investment, and some would say, riskier parts of their businesses and forsaking the comparatively plodding retail parts. Whether this is coincidence, or key executives making sure they are on the right side of the fence should some people in the government get their way and split banks into two, remains to be seen.

Guest Article by Neil Camp 

New research from the Marks & Spencer money shop, known as M&S Money, shows that most of the UK public are very brand loyal.

The money shop cites new research which shows that once shops and businesses have gathered the trust of the shopping public, they tend to stay loyal and return again and again. Some can remain loyal for over 20 years. Whether this be a food brand, a particular shop chain, or a certain doctor or butcher, people keep going back so long as the trust remains.

So why do people stay so long with their favourite professionals or businesses? Most cite customer service as their main criteria for establishing a positive relationship; good customer service apparently keeps people coming back for more. The research done by Marks & Spencer revealed that six out of 10 people claimed customer service as their main reason for staying faithful.

When it comes to doctors, the British are fiercely loyal if they have a good relationship with their GP. The survey indicated that on average the British keep their doctors for 13 years, with a further 10 million returning to visit the same doctor for 25 years. Favourite and trusted hairdressers are coveted by British women, 1.3 million of whom stick with the same hairdresser for over 20 years.

Banks will be pleased to hear that once a customer is loyal, they will be equally as long-staying with the bank of their choice. Men on average stay with their main bank for 14 years, with women staying on for an extra 12 months with an average of 15 years.

"Consumers will evidently stick with businesses and people who deliver great service and look after their customers. Most people can name someone they trust completely, whether cutting their hair, managing their money, decorating their house or fixing their car. People clearly feel strongly about good customer service, reliability and trustworthiness as these are reasons why they stay loyal for so long,” says Colin Kersley, chief executive of Marks & Spencer Money.

So what of the customers of the brand that instigated this research? How faithful are the Marks & Spencer customers?

“After 25 years in business, M&S Money has stood the test of time and we know how important it is to continue earning the loyalty of our customers. While the average relationship lasts nearly nine years, our own M&S Money customers have remained loyal to us for an average of 17 years.”

This established money shop is one of the many businesses and professionals, once they have proved their worth to their customer, will enjoy loyalty for many years to come.

Guest Article by Neil Camp 

Banks, investment firms and insurance companies have all been slapped on the wrists again as The Financial Ombudsman Service releases its third set of six-monthly complaints data.

And banks, like many companies across the financial sector, do not come out of the findings that well.

The report from The Financial Ombudsman Service covers complaints that were received for the first half of the year. The total number of new complaints in this period were 84,212. And nearly 90% of these related to 160 businesses which were financial in nature. The Ombudsman actually covers 100,000 businesses.

To compare with what happened in the second half of 2009, then there were 82,136 received then, so a slight increase in 2010.

What’s worrying, is that five individual groups had more than 3,000 complaints each. Taking as a total, this amounted to over half of all the new complaints.

As to the number of complaints upheld (those found in favour of the person complaining), then 44% were seen to have validity. This compares with 53% in the second half of 2009, which suggests that the complaints although up in number, are not for some reason being upheld so frequently.

A contributing factor may have been that some 15,000 complaints about unauthorised overdraft charges were filed and then closed. This was the only course of action left open to The Financial Ombudsman Service, after the Supreme Court dashed everyone‘s hopes by ruling last year that the Office of Fair Trading’s test case could not be used to challenge the fairness of unauthorised overdraft charges.

The chief ombudsman, Natalie Ceeney, said:
“The latest set of complaints data shows that some businesses are really committed to ensuring that complaints are handled well, and are used to inform and improve the service they offer their customers.

“However, the complaints data also shows there is still more that some businesses need to do to ensure that complaints are properly investigated and fairly resolved. The ombudsman is keen to continue to play its part and help businesses draw lessons from the complaints that we see, so disputes can be sorted out at the earliest opportunity.”

As for which banks got the worst marks, way out in front is the UK’s largest bank, Lloyds TSB. Of the 12,750 complaints about in the first half of 2010, some 45% were upheld. And although Barclays was second with 7,991 complaints, a whopping 61% of those were upheld. Third on the name and shame scale was Halifax/Bank of Scotland, with 6,211 complaints, although only 23% were upheld. Ironically, with Halifax/Bank of Scotland being part of Lloyds TSB, put those figures together, and the group wasn’t very popular at all.

Santander customers like to complain, but with only 19% of 4,881 complaints upheld, the Spanish banking group, coming in at number four, might have averted a PR embarrassment.

Fifth on the list is the bank that likes to listen to its worldwide customers, but obviously not enough, because 3,286 customers didn’t like what they were being told, although only 34% of the complaints were upheld.

Bringing up the rear of the top six worst offenders – no doubt due to those nauseating television adverts about their friendly bank staff – was NatWest with an not too unrespectable 2,810 complaints and 43% of those were found to be valid.

So complaints up, but numbers of those upheld down, so maybe there’s hope for the remainder of the year.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Customers may like to rank their bank, but the European regulators and central banking governors have just done the same thing.

But how they rank their bank is far more exacting, as senior European regulators have got together in Basle, Switzerland, and created new stringent capital rules.

It comes down to how much capital a bank should hold in case it hits a financial problem. The financial crisis in 2008 highlighted how the banking system – not just in the UK, but across the globe – could not cope with a crisis, such as the US mortgage collapse.

It has been agreed that banks should now put aside some 7% of their loans and investments in reserve to cope with financial wobbles, without having to run to their respective governments for taxpayers help. The figure used to be 2%, which proved completely inadequate as the banks stood on the verge of near collapse.

But for some commentators, the newly found prudence could ironically lengthen recession, and might actually cause the double dip most economists fear. The argument goes that if banks have to spend more of their cash in bolstering their reserves, then that means less cash for the consumer on the street, or for hard-strapped businesses.

The UK’s chief money regulator was pleased though, with the Chairman of the Financial Services Authority Lord Turner saying that the changes were: “…a major tightening of global capital standards and will play a major role in creating a more resilient global banking system…”

Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank, added his weight to the proceedings, declaring that the new rules were: “…a fundamental strengthening of global capital standards. The transition arrangements will enable banks to meet the new standards while supporting the economic recovery.”

The US added their congratulation as well; it’s been known for a long time that Barak Obama, the American President, is in favour of more stringent banking rules worldwide.

For those worried that the new rules could bring about a double-dip recession, their fears should be somewhat calmed with the news that the Basle III – as the new guidelines were called – do not come into force until 2013 and will still then take several years to be gradually be introduced. Banks will not have to immediately squirrel away millions of pounds into their vaults.

And Basle III still needs the final ratification from the heads of governments who attend the G20 summit in November.

The reactions from the individual banks has been mixed. Many UK banks already discipline themselves to reserves pegged at around 9%, which possibly highlights the inadequacy of the new rules. But mainland European banks are going to find it more difficult, as they have operated traditional with lot lower reserves.

Indeed, the Swiss, UK and US authorities were lobbying hard for 10% and feel that 7% is just not onerous enough and will not deflect the next major stress test.

So from now, you can rate your bank from a new perspective.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

The term savings fixed rate will be uncomfortable for many of the over-55s if a new report from Aviva is to be believed.

The report concludes that around 25% of over-55s are having to take the unwanted step of dipping into their income-generating savings in order to pay for life’s unexpected expenses. And for those whose financial plans embody the savings fixed rate schemes, there could be a tightening of the purse strings in the future.

The report revealed that the majority of over-55s (92%) have faced unexpected expenses in the last five years. What’s more, for this age group, the biggest financial fear is the rise in the cost of living. Some 64% cited this as the thing that keeps them awake at night. And given that this worry has gone from 18% of those asked in May 2010, to 64% in the latest survey, then this demonstrates the sense of panic and bewilderment caused both by the effects of the recession and the Government’s plans regarding the austerity measures.

And when it comes to financing those unexpected expenses, most of the over-55s dip into their emergency savings funds to foot the bill. A quarter use income-generated savings to fund the payout; some 17% cut back in other areas to make savings; just over 10% organised a loan, or paid by credit card; and, 6% sold assets.

Aviva’s Clive Bolton, a director of the company focussing on retirement, said about the findings of their report:
“Over the last thirty years, people have generally seen retirement as an opportunity to relax after a long working life and enjoy the fruits of their labour.

“However, when you consider that for a savings pot of £16,296, you would get an annual gross income of just £117 from the standard branch based notice account, you can understand why many over 55s are very worried about their finances. In fact these figures reveal that one in five over 55 households is struggling to get by on almost a third of the national average income.”

She went on to explain that:

“Retirement income is also relatively fixed which is why any rise in the cost of living is particularly concerning for this age group. This coupled with the fact that people often have to pay for unexpected expenses for which they have made no provision highlights how vitally important it is to build up retirement savings over your entire life.

“The Aviva research shows that as longevity increases individuals will spend longer in retirement. As such we want to help them plan their retirement finances so that they can enjoy the best possible lifestyle in their later years. At Aviva we offer a range of saving and investment solutions, as well as access to financial planning tools, to help individuals save for both planned and unplanned future expenses.”

In short, a worry for anyone with savings fixed rate plans.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

When it comes to money, a research report from financial giant the Prudential has revealed that one in three couples are oblivious to their partner’s finances.

And the Prudential – in the dock itself currently over its abortive plans to go large in Asia – worries that if partners don’t know each other’s money situation, then they risk poverty in old age through a lack of proper financial planning.

The Prudential study concluded that nearly one third of couples (33%) who were over the age of 40, but not yet retired, did not know, or indeed fully understand, their partner’s financial retirement planning. What’s more, just over a fifth (22%) admitted that they had never talked to their partner about the idea of planning for retirement.

The research went onto reveal that its women who are less likely to discuss these money matters with their men folk. Nearly a quarter of women said they had never broached the subject, whereas only one in five men said they had never raised retirement plans.

Perhaps even more worrying, just over 10% of both men and women admitted that they were not remotely interested in their partner’s financial affairs, nevermind their financial planning.

Investments director at Prudential, Andy Brown, said:
“It is incredible that so many people do not know the details of their partner’s retirement savings. Essentially, this could mean millions of UK adults are banking on hope as their core retirement strategy and are approaching what is arguably the most important financial decision without a full understanding of their household financial situation.

“It’s astonishing that one in 10 men and women say they’re not interested in their partner’s retirement savings arrangements. Firstly, couples should strive to have open conversations with one another but they also should aim to be constructive and use these conversations to begin laying the foundations for their retirement planning. The reason this is so important is because the longer retirement planning goes unresolved.”

And it also turns out there is a north/south divide over this money awareness. Those in the north of the UK had the lowest levels of awareness, compared to the greatest awareness which was found to be couples living in the South East and East Midlands.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Those looking for fast finance are using their wedding rings to raise money and given the expected rise in the divorce rate in 2010, not too many tears will be shed.

Recessionary times always bring out ways of quickly raising finance and for many couples unhitching from the marital yoke, getting a firm to buy the gold, rather than just pawning it, appears to be growing in popularity. The recent difficulties in the economy have led to this trend, with postgoldforcash.com having bought over 10,000 engagement and wedding rings since 2009.

It’s not, however, purely financial reasons that are driving people to sell their precious wedding rings. Many find their wedding rings are no longer that precious after divorcing from their partners; divorce-online.co.uk has predicted that the number of divorces will increase in 2010 due to the economic recession. In the first quarter of 2010 alone, there was a 6% increase in the breakdown and eventual separation of married couples compared to the same time period in 2009.

For England and Wales, the totals are usually on the high side. In 2008 the divorce rate was over 11.2 people divorcing for every 1000 that married. This was relatively low by the standards of England and Wales, but globally this is the one of the highest divorce rates seen.

Arguments over mortgage payments, unemployment, savings, what to spend and what to save, are just some of the areas in which couples may be finding strong disagreement in any marriage. Combined with the current economic situation, and these problems are magnified to the point where they have appeared to be dissolving marriages at staggering rates.

The notion of selling one’s wedding ring for some cash is not quite so surprising a notion when – as the case appears to be now – it is combined with divorce. But both notions are apparently driven by our gloomy economic climate, although ‘divorce’ has yet to appear on any prescribed money saving tips list.

With personal finance looking down, selling a wedding ring appears to be one way of overcoming two problems at once. Those wanting to make some extra money this way can find a number of ‘gold for cash’ websites and services, varying in reputation and price.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

President Obama has cracked the whip with Wall Street and succeeded in getting a set of major finance reforms through the US Senate by 60 votes to 39, following earlier approval by the House of Representatives.

The reforms say observers represent the largest overhaul in decades of the US finance regulatory framework. Their aim is to avert a financial crisis of the kind experienced in 2008 when the global banking system came close to a meltdown. Although undoubtedly of extreme significance, many observers believe that these finance reforms are a mere shadow of the proposals originally proposed by President Obama and come after months of intense politically haggling.

The US President said:
“Even before the financial crisis that led to this recession, I spoke on Wall Street about the need for common sense reforms to protect consumers and our economy as a whole.
“But the crisis came, and only underscored the need for the kind of reform that the Senate passed today. The kind of reform that will protect consumers when they take out a mortgage or sign up for a credit card, reform that will prevent the kind of shadowy deals that led to this crisis, reform that would never again put taxpayers on the hook for Wall Street’s mistakes.”

Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, said:
“The financial reform legislation approved by the Congress today represents a welcome and far-reaching step toward preventing a replay of the recent financial crisis.”

The new finance rules are centred on legislation which creates a new federal agency which acts an as overseer of consumer lending and keeps its eye on complex financial instruments. But a key component of the forthcoming finance initiatives is the new Volcker rule – named after the man who proposed it, Paul Volcker, the Federal Reserve Chairman – which states that banks will no longer be able to take part in proprietary trading using their own money. Proprietary trading is when banks take bets on the outcome of financial markets over a given period of time.

Only time will tell if the new finance proposals will actually be able to avoid a 2008-type crisis.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

As adults, never mind children, try to work out how many billions make a trillion, there is a growing clamour in schools, especially those across the pond, to start teaching personal finance as part of the curriculum.

And this is a trend which is set to hop across the water. Kids could suddenly find that religious education is out of the window, and personal finance lessons are in.

The reasoning behind such moves in the States, and here, is compelling of course. The argument goes that the near collapse of the U.K. sector was not only due to the amount of toxic assets floating around, but also due to the fact that the banks were giving tonnes of money to people who just couldn’t be trusted.

Now, this argument doesn’t play that well in the media of course, because the majority of the population do not want to blame themselves for the mess they now find themselves in. No, best to blame the financial institutions who were stupid enough to hand over the dosh in the first place.

But, nonetheless, the theory goes that if everyone was trained in school how to balance the cheque book, calculate the APR on a personal loan, or how to pick the correct credit card, then maybe the crisis wouldn’t have happened at all.

Right. Now, that all sounds great in theory, but that would suggest that we as children never had a biology lesson and never learnt that smoking, drinking and lack of exercise was all bad for us.

Now, back to the facts. Unlike the U.K., the U.S already does teach quite a lot of financial education in their schools. And some 28 states of the union legally require that a degree of financial education is taught. Which, again, somewhat weakens the argument for dropping double woodwork and taking up calculator operation instead. The U.S. has copped it worse than most, so it’s possible that the financial savvy population maybe wasn’t that savvy after all.

And research has found the financial education lessons in the U.S. hasn’t really helped. It was discovered that some retention of information was held for a short while after the classes, but that long term, there was little benefit.

The simple problem appears to be that the financial products sector is so sophisticated and complex, that comparatively few people have the ability, or indeed the inclination, to bother to learn enough to make a noticeable difference.

And the research outlined the fact that only a limited number of people, when it comes to a personal loan say, can calculate the total interest due, given the loan amount, number of monthly payments and the duration of the loan.

So, in many respects, educating the younger generation in the basics of personal finance might not seem such a good idea.

Yet there is of course a counter opinion and in the U.S. there is an organisation called the Personal Finance Education Group (pfeg) which strongly advocates that children must learn some personal finance basics whilst at school. They warn that if no attempt is made to properly educate school leavers on how to conduct their finances, then they will continue to make the kind of mistakes seen over the last decade, when personal debt levels have got out of control.

And this is the view being extolled in the U.K. schools at the moment, although many think this will be a flash in the pan and once the financial crisis eases, then it will be forgotten along with a number of other well meaning ideas that never get off the ground.

Guest Article by Neil Camp