News Roundup: Investment adviser probe, property spending list, prevention precept, LGPS pool’s new chief
0Scope of investment advisers probe revealed
The Competition and Markets Authority is to investigate whether conflicts of interest on the part of investment advisers are affecting the quality of advice to customers. This week, the CMA announced the main issues that it will investigate as part of its inquiry into investment consultancy firms providing advice to institutional investors. Other areas that will be considered include whether difficulties in switching investment consultants reduced incentives for competition, along with barriers to challengers entering the market.
Spelthorne rises up property spending list
Spelthorne Borough Council last year spent more than any other council in England on fixed assets, apart from the Greater London Authority. Spelthorne, which has a population of 95,600 residents, spent £422m in the category during 2016/17. Birmingham, with a population of more than a million, spent £289m during the year. Spelthorne made headlines during the year with its £360m purchase of the BP campus at Sunbury-on-Thames, the biggest commercial property transaction ever by a local authority.
Call for ‘prevention precept’
The government should introduce a new council tax precept of 2% to pay for prevention measures relieving pressure on social care and the NHS, according to the District Councils’ Network (DCN). The representative body said that the cash raised could used on housing, leisure, homelessness, troubled families and air quality services. John Fuller, chairman of the DCN, said: “We know that for everyone £1 spent, district councils can save the NHS up to £70, just by adapting homes to prevent falls, improving home insulation and heating or providing recreational and leisure services.”
Elwell appointed LGPS pool chief
Rachel Elwell is to take up the post of chief executive at the Border to Coast Pensions Partnership. She will join the emerging Local Government Pension Scheme pool from insurance firm Royal London, where she is currently staff pensions director and investment office director.
London authorities highlight £1.5bn funding gap
London Councils, the representative body for the capital’s local authorities, says its members face a cumulative £1.5bn funding gap by 2020. In its 2017 Budget submission to chancellor Philip Hammond, the body said London boroughs will have received a 63% funding cut over the decade, despite a booming population. Claire Kober, chair of London Councils, said: “The impact of such a significant drop in funding on services such as housing, children’s services and adult social care cannot be underestimated.”
Insignis wins treasury tech prize
Insignis Asset Management has scooped the Fintech start-up award in the Cambridge Independent Entrepreneurial Science and Technology Awards. The company was rewarded for its CashTech platform that tracks 1,000 UK deposit rates each day. The technology allows treasurers to open accounts and place deposits online. An Insignis spokesperson said: “All of this provides local authorities with transparency, security, ease of use and most importantly, much needed income in a time when budgets are under pressure. “
