Podcast Summary
LinkedIn: The Hiring Fish Tank: LinkedIn is a dominant platform for hiring professionals, with over 70% of users not visiting other job sites, making it essential for small businesses to utilize it for recruitment.
LinkedIn is a valuable resource for small businesses looking to hire professionals. It's like looking for your car keys in a fish tank to ignore LinkedIn when hiring. Over 70% of LinkedIn users don't visit other leading job sites, making it an ideal platform to find professionals, even those not actively seeking new roles. Meanwhile, in the world of finance, more choice is a good thing, especially when it comes to retirement income. Annuities are a significant area where consumers can forfeit billions of pounds each year by not shopping around. The Financial Conduct Authority is investigating the annuity market's functioning, and the Association of British Insurers introduced a code of practice to prevent savers from walking into poor deals. Innovation in the private sector includes the supermarket giant, Tesco, launching an online comparison website for annuities. Although Tesco won't sell its own brand annuities, it will introduce customers to companies offering annuities, allowing them to shop around for the best deals. Stay tuned for more details on which companies' products Tesco's comparison website will offer.
Tesco's entry into annuity market could lead to increased awareness and shopping around: Tesco, with its vast customer reach and marketing muscle, aims to launch an annuity comparison service, potentially targeting sales using customer data, reflecting the growing trend of DIY investment in the pensions market.
Tesco, Britain's largest retailer, is seeking regulatory approval to launch an annuity comparison service. This is significant for the annuity market as Tesco's vast customer reach and marketing muscle could lead to increased awareness and shopping around for annuities. With a panel of providers and 16 million Clubcard customers, Tesco could potentially use customer data to target annuity sales. However, it's unclear if this data will be used to assess annuity income based on shopping habits. While Tesco's entry into the annuity business may not directly lead to better annuity rates due to expensive raw materials and market outlook, it reflects the growing trend of shopping around and DIY investment in the pensions market, which has been lagging behind other sectors.
Wealthy donors scrutinize charity management and costs: Donors are focusing on a charity's impact, not just administration costs, when deciding where to donate.
As charities face decreasing donations during economic downturns, wealthy donors are becoming more discerning in their giving. They're not just considering the cause, but also the charity's management, administrative costs, and executive compensation. This trend isn't new, but it's gaining more attention. While administration costs are a concern, they shouldn't be the sole factor in determining a charity's effectiveness. Instead, donors should focus on the impact the charity is making on the ground. This scrutiny isn't limited to the super-rich; it's relevant for anyone considering supporting a charity through donations, earnings, or bequests. The conversation also touched on the controversy surrounding charity careerists and the suggestion of a government cap on administrative spending. While administration costs have long been a point of contention, the focus on these costs may be intensifying as donors seek greater transparency and value for their contributions.
Focus on a charity's impact, not just administrative costs: Evaluate charities based on their mission, activities, results, and management, rather than solely on administrative costs.
While it's important to consider a charity's administrative costs, the real measure of effectiveness lies in the impact of their work on the cause. Comparing charities based on administrative costs alone can be misleading, as the same costs can be categorized differently between organizations. Instead, focus on a charity's mission, the activities they undertake to address the need, the results they achieve, and how well they are managed and governed. Additionally, smaller charities may require some investment in administration to grow their impact. When evaluating charities, consider asking why they exist, what activities they undertake, the results they achieve, and how they are managed. Finally, the economic recession may impact the amount of money people give to charities, but the focus should remain on the impact of the charity's work.
Giving Culture Thrives in the UK Despite Economic Challenges: The culture of giving is growing in the UK with more people participating in charity events, payroll giving, and wealthy individuals increasing their philanthropic efforts. However, savers have seen a decline in savings rates due to the funding for lending scheme.
While some sectors have experienced income declines, philanthropy has emerged as a significant part of people's lives in the UK. The culture of giving has grown, with more people participating in charity events, payroll giving, and wealthy individuals increasing their philanthropic efforts. This trend is expected to continue, as shown by the increasing number of venture philanthropists bringing business expertise and profit motives to the charitable sector. However, the funding for lending scheme, which offers cheap wholesale funding to banks on the condition that it's passed on to borrowers, has had negative consequences for savers. Savers have seen a significant decline in savings rates, with the average no notice account dropping from 1.09% to 0.76%, and 2-year fixed rate bonds falling from 3.29% to 2.07%. The extension of the scheme is unlikely to improve savings rates in the near future.
Funding for Lending scheme impacts larger deposit holders more: The Funding for Lending scheme led to cheaper mortgages for homeowners with larger deposits, but did not significantly increase mortgage availability for first-time buyers or those with smaller deposits.
The Funding for Lending scheme has led to a significant decrease in deposit rates and an increase in cheap mortgages, particularly for homeowners with larger deposits. However, it has not significantly increased the availability of mortgages for those with smaller deposits or first-time buyers. Traditionally, banks relied on retail deposits to fund mortgages and attracted savers with high savings rates. But with the cheap funding provided by the Funding for Lending scheme, banks no longer need to rely on savers' money, leading to lower savings rates and cheaper mortgages for those with larger deposits. Despite this, the focus has been on the prime market, with 5-year fixed rates for borrowers with deposits of 40% or more reaching record lows. While the scheme has helped first-time buyers to some extent, the real impact has been on homeowners with larger deposits. It is hoped that the extension of the scheme will encourage banks to launch more high loan-to-value mortgages, benefiting those with smaller deposits. However, the impact on first-time buyers and those with smaller deposits has not been as significant as some had hoped.
Funding for Lending Scheme: Impact on Lending Volumes: The Funding for Lending scheme has reduced borrowing rates for some segments but hasn't significantly increased lending volumes yet. First-time buyers and other areas of the market have not been helped as much, but the scheme may continue until 2015 to bring more change.
While the Funding for Lending scheme has been successful in reducing borrowing rates for certain segments, it hasn't significantly increased lending volumes yet. In fact, lending volumes have remained relatively unchanged since the scheme's launch. First-time buyers and other areas of the market have not been helped as much, but there's hope that this could change if the scheme continues until 2015. Additionally, there are now two other schemes aimed at helping this market segment. The FT Money section of this weekend's Financial Times has more on the effects of the Funding for Lending scheme and other topics, including Terry Smith's series on investing fundamentals, Ken Fisher's perspective on quantitative easing, and Meryn Somerset Webb's thoughts on investing in Russia. The FT Money team also interviewed Lord Harris of Peckham about his business successes and philanthropic efforts. Remember, you can email us at money@ft.com or follow us on Twitter @FTmoney. UnitedHealthcare's Health ProtectorGuard fixed indemnity insurance plans, underwritten by Golden Rule Insurance Company, help manage out-of-pocket costs by supplementing your primary plan. Visit uhone.com for more information. 1800flowers.com offers a wide range of gifts for all occasions, made with care and love. To learn more, visit 1800flowers.com/acast.
