“Dobell steps down as M&G Recovery fund manager”

Sep 17, 2020 | Financial Services

An independent (financial adviser’s) view

When I first became an independent financial adviser, the M&G Recovery Fund was flying high. The theory was that, by investing in out-of-favour companies and sectors of the economy, you could buy cheap and hang on for the inevitable recovery of more than a few of those choices. The problem was that it never really recovered from the crash of ten years ago. In fact, you’d have been better off putting your money in the bank in 2010 than hanging on in there. Those that are still hanging on in there after all this time will hope that the successor to its now-departed star fund manger will aid its recovery (see what I did there?) Not many, I fear, will be holding their breath.

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“Record year for annuity sales driven by advisers”

“Record year for annuity sales driven by advisers”

I was asked this week whether annuities are now ‘a good investment’. They’ve been recommended very rarely in recent years, since ‘pension freedoms’ allowed pretty much unlimited drawdown on pension funds and anything left to be passed on to beneficiaries free of Inheritance Tax.