Good morning and welcome to your Morning Briefing for Monday 3 July, 2023. To get this in your inbox every morning click here.
AIG wellbeing milestone
Insurer AIG Life has hit a milestone with its customer value-added wellbeing service as thousands of people make use of the support package that come with their life insurance including doctor’s appointment.
The insurer announced on Friday 30 June that it has delivered on its Smart Health over 53,000 phone and video GP appointments from its launch to the end of April 2023.
FCA rules riddles with bias
Regulatory capture is a dull-sounding concept that is part of a duller-sounding topic: public choice theory. Yet there’s plenty of evidence of regulatory agencies being captured by the industries they’re supposed to regulate.
You might think of ‘dieselgate’ or the Deepwater Horizon oil spill – both instances where the relevant businesses made substantial profits at the expense of their customers or society at large thanks to lax regulation normalised by cosy relationships between big companies and their regulators.
Quote Of The Day
There is a policy showdown on the horizon between the triple lock and the personal income tax allowance freeze. Both Conservatives and Labour have pledged a commitment to the triple lock in their manifestos for the upcoming election.
– Gary Smith, partner in financial planning at wealth management firm Evelyn Partners, commenting on the rise of taxpaying pensioners
Stat Attack
IPOs in London raised less than £1.6bn in the past year, a fall of 72% from the £5.7bn raised in the previous 12 months, says UHY Hacker Young, the national accountancy group.
There were only 30 IPOs on the London Stock Exchange in the last year, down 78% from the 137 floats the market saw in 2021/22.
The amount of new money raised in IPOs on the main market fell 67% from £4.5bn to £1.5bn in the last 12 months, while the number of IPOs fell 75% from 79 to 20.
AIM has been hit harder than the main market by the economic stress that has affected the UK over the past year. Funds raised in IPOs on AIM have fallen to their lowest level on record, with just £68m raised in the last 12 months.
There were only 10 IPOs on AIM in the last year, the lowest since the nine companies that floated in 2008/9 and the peak of the last financial crisis.
However those nine floats raised £429m in new equity, more than six times the amount raised this year.
The quiet IPO market of the last year comes on the back of a positive 2021/22 for AIM, in which 58 IPOs raised more than £1.2bn. 2022/23 represents a 94% fall in money raised and an 83% fall in the number of IPOs.
The AIM All-Share Index has also underperformed the main market, falling 14% in the 12 months to the end of June 2023, compared to a 4% rise for the FTSE All-Share Index over the same period.
Source: UHY Hacker Young
In Other News
The Income Protection Task Force (IPTF) has announced that Guardian Financial Services joined the organisation on 1 July.
The move follows Guardian’s successful launch of its first income protection product, designed in collaboration with advisers to provide better outcomes, earlier in the year.
Guardian Financial Services marketing and proposition director Jacqui Gillies said: “We’re delighted to join the IPTF and contribute to the efforts being made across the industry to increase awareness of this very valuable product.
“Income Protection plays an important role in helping people increase their financial resilience, both as part of a menu recommendation and on a stand-alone basis.”
IPTF co-chair Jo Miller said: “We’re thrilled to further expand the IPTF membership to include Guardian following their entry into the market earlier this year. IPTF strives to represent as much of the market as possible and we’re excited to include them in future plans.”
The IPTF was formed to promote awareness of income protection amongst all parts of the life and health insurance industry and among consumers.
IPTF represents many of the income protection providers in the UK, reinsurers, advisers and businesses involved in providing services to the market.
From Elsewhere
Sunak faces three-week sprint to turn UK election chances around (Bloomberg)
The saver’s dilemma: open an account now, or hope for even higher rates? (The Guardian)
UK’s mortgage relief measures risk a financial shortfall in later life (Financial Times)
Did You See?
Catch up on Money Marketing’s most popular stories of last week. The FCA has made a British Steel IFA pay £106k for poor advice and ‘I feel sorry for advisers’ says AJ Bell due to the LTA situation. Read more below:
