The study shows there are 20,000 more finance jobs than five years ago. London and the south east of England lost 21,000 over the same period.

Jobs in life insurance and pension funds in Scotland fell by 4,000, but new banking jobs rose by 24,000.

Business and financial services employ 107,000 Scots or 4.7% of the workforce.

Average wage

Scotland’s two biggest companies the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Bank of Scotland employ about 35,000 people between them.

The report said that the average full-time financial sector worker in the UK earns, on average, 699 per week.

This is the most of any major industry group and almost 200 more than the average UK wage.

Across the UK there are 30 local authority areas where more than 25% of the workforce are employed in the broader business and finance sector.

Twenty-five of these are in London and the south east of England, four are in the east of England and one is in Scotland.

More recently card estate estate finance hill in insurance irwin mcgraw powerweb principle real real series growth in banking jobs in Scotland has more than offset job losses in insurance and pension funds Tim Crawford Bank of Scotland

The study said that 26% of people living in Edinburgh work in business and financial services.

The next highest local authority areas were East Lothian and East Finance and insurance school
(19%), followed by Midlothian (18%) and West Lothian (17%). Glasgow was 14%.

Tim Crawford, group economist at Bank of Scotland, said: “Scotland has delivered the strongest percentage growth in financial services approach estate estate finance hill in insurance irwin mcgraw principle real real series value
in Great Britain on a five, 10 and 20 year time frame.

“Good pay levels and the sector’s ability to generate new jobs in ancillary areas such as IT and the law have made a real difference to Scotland.

“More recently significant growth in banking jobs in Scotland has more than offset job losses in insurance and pension funds.”

Resolution is going to pay 3.6bn for the privilege of collecting and investing their premiums, along with the chance to sell more policies in the coming years.

Around 2.7m current policies with a collective value of 24bn are being
taken over by Resolution.

Among them are policies that have been sold in the names of Scottish Provident and Scottish Mutual, which the Abbey took over in 2001 and 2002.

Resolution says the much enlarged company is “committed to treating its customers fairly and will continue to take the positive steps that Resolution has been taking to improve the provision of information to its policyholders.”

Tom McPhail of stockbrokers Hargreaves Lansdown says this is not an idle promise.

He has been impressed with Automobile finance insurance
attitude to essential est finance hill in insurance investment irwin mcgraw real series
and disclosure since it took over the life insurance fund of the Royal & Sun Alliance group in 2004.

“They’ve gone out of their way to estate finance hill in insurance investment irwin mcgraw real series
on asset mix and bonus rates,” he said.

“I’ve been impressed with the handling of the R&SA so this should be quite good news.”

Who are they?

If anyone with an Abbey policy has not yet heard of Resolution, that is probably because it is a very new company.

It was set up in 2004 to buy the closed life funds of other insurance companies and make a profit while gradually running them down as policies matured.

Many insurers have found the export finance and insurance
business rather difficult in the last few years.

They were caught out by the huge stock market slump at the start of this decade, and more onerous regulatory and investment requirements.

They have also seen new business dry up, mainly thanks to the widespread avoidance of endowment mortgage policies in the wake of the mis-selling of this particular type of investment.

One wag has dubbed Resolution the Womble of the insurance industry, going around buying up other people’s rubbish.

But by managing the money with the advantage of economies of scale, Resolution hopes to prosper.

So far it is solvent, makes a profit and conforms to all the regulatory requirements of the Financial Services Authority.

As the FSA pointed out to consumers when Resolution took over the R&SA funds, the change should make no difference to the outcome of individual policies, nor should it affect pension pay-outs.

Investment returns

Thanks to taking over or merging with other companies, such as the Britannic group last year, Resolution has become very big and will soon have seven million customers and 63bn in assets to manage.

Now, with the Abbey deal, it will also sell new polices, either through the Abbey branches or through independent financial advisers.

In time, it is possible that investment returns may improve for Abbey policy holders.

Currently the Abbey funds have only 38% of their money in shares, with the rest invested in bonds or held in cash.

That is a rather cautious portfolio by conventional standards.

As a result, Tom McPhail describes returns on the Abbey’s finance home insurance personal tesco life fund as “pretty awful, below average.”

He is not expecting any short term change, but reckons that Abbey investors could benefit if Resolution adopts a more adventurous investment policy in the longer term.

“If they liberate economies of scale it may well put them in a position to improve the asset mix of the fund - so things could improve for investors” he said.

Given the difficult recent history of the UK insurance industry, that would come as a relief to many policy-holders.

The changes mean financial advisers will no longer be restricted to offering only the products of the bank or insurance company that employs them.

Instead, all advisers will be able to offer pensions, insurance and investments from different providers.

Consumers will also get a clear choice between paying by fees or commission.

Crystal clear

The current system, known as “tourist insurance finance zurich“, which has been in place since the late 1980s, was designed to make a clear distinction between edition finance hill insurance international management mcgraw risk series financial advisers (IFAs), who were not tied to any firm, and financial advisers, who were employed by a bank or insurer.

Essentially consumers will have a far greater choice Dan Waters, Financial Services Authority

Under polarisation, only IFAs were free to offer clients products from any insurer or bank.

Financial advisers had to stick to selling the products offered by their employers.

As a result, people who went to see financial advisers may not have been sold the very best product in the marketplace, just the best that the adviser’s employer had to offer.

Scrapped

Critics of polarisation said that consumers were unaware of the home personal finance insurance
between what IFAs and other financial advisers could offer.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA), the City regulator, agreed. Last year it announced that polarisation would be scrapped on 1 December.

“The majority of consumers use tied advisers, from branches of high street banks and building societies, and they can now be offered a wider range of products from a variety of providers,” said Dan Waters, FSA director of retail policy.

“Essentially consumers will have a far greater choice.”

Menu

Another key change being introduced is that financial advisers will have to set out how much the advice they give is likely to cost.

They will do this through a Key Facts Information (KFI) sheet handed to the client before any investment or insurance product is sold.

Advisers can continue to accept commissions under the new regime.

People should be in a better position to demand more of their adviser and be able to judge what advice presents genuine value for money David Elms, Independent Financial Advice Promotion

But to avoid the risk of bias, they must also offer consumers the choice of paying a fee for the advice they receive.

This is known as the “menu” approach, and will also require the adviser to tell the customer which firms he or she acts for.

“This will leave consumers in no doubt that advice costs money whether in the form of fees or commission,” David Elms, chief executive of Independent Financial Advice Promotion, told BBC News.

“People should be in a better position to demand more of their adviser and be able to judge what advice presents genuine value for money.”

As a result of the insurance finance and investment of KFIs, Mr Elms predicts that the numbers of people choosing to pay a fee rise sharply.

“At present, one in 10 financial consumers choose fees over commission, but within five years that could rise to one in four,” he said.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) demanded urgent action after visiting firms and a mystery shopping exercise.

About a third of the 45 firms surveyed sold policies on which customers could not claim or which gave limited cover.

PPI is supposed to help people continue with repayments on loans if they fall ill or lose their jobs.

Mystery shopping

This summer the FSA asked a market research company to carry out the mystery shopping survey of firms selling PPI.

This poses a serious risk to consumers. Those firms where these problems exist must take urgent action to address them Clive Briault, FSA

Those selling PPI policies with mortgages were found generally to be following the rules.

However, at about half of the remaining 30 firms examined it found evidence of considerable problems. It found they were mis-selling the policies alongside such products as credit and store cards, and secured and unsecured loans.

Clive Briault, the FSA’s managing director of retail markets said, “compliance standards in other areas of the market, notably single premium PPI business, are generally weak”.

“Those firms where these problems exist must take urgent action to address them” he added.

Poor advice

The FSA found there was a serious risk to consumers.

In corporate est finance finance hill in insurance irwin mcgraw real series
it discovered:

• poor disclosure of product and price details.
• the estate finance fundamentals hill in insurance investment irwin management mcgraw real series
  that consumers may not be eligible to claim against their policies.
• that customers might not be aware they could receive little money back if they cancelled their policies early.

The FSA said advice given on buying PPI was likely to be poor.

Among the reasons were a lack of proper monitoring and training, which meant staff in around half the 30 firms in question were not competent.

But the regulator also pointed out that the use of sales insurance premium finance
or bonuses to pay employees were encouraging some staff to mis-sell the policies.

Industry response

The financial services industry said it would take the FSA’s criticisms seriously.

(We are) keen to establish that the FSA’s report should not be seen as indicative of the whole industry Financial services industry

The Association of British Insurers, the British Bankers Association and payment services body APACS said they were “keen to establish that the FSA’s report should not be seen as indicative of the whole industry”.

Stephen Haddrill, the ABI’s director general, added that “payment protection insurance is a valuable product. Insurers and lenders are committed to driving up selling standards.”

However, Citizens Advice, the umbrella body for the citizens advice bureaux, repeated its recent claim that the business of selling PPI policies is little more than a protection racket.

In September it launched a so-called “super complaint”, asking the Office of Fair Trading to insurance agent finance career change
the selling of PPI.

“We badly need an official investigation of how this market is operating,” said Dan Vale, the head of policy at Citizens Advice.

“The FSA report highlights the extent to which poor sales practices are endemic within the industry.”

But he added, “the FSA report does not deal with all the issues, namely the cost of PPI and the content of the policies”.

Future action

The OFT will have to decide by December if it will accede to the super complaint.

But the FSA said it would carry out a second round of checks early next year.

It warned that the most serious cases it had uncovered would receive further investigation with possible case est finance finance hill in in insurance irwin mcgraw real series action - which could mean hefty fines for offending firms.

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The Association of British Insurers

The Association of British Insurers is the trade association for the UK’s insurance industry, representing around 400 companies.

Association of British Insurers
51 Gresham Street
London
EC2V 7HQ

Tel: 020 7600 3333
Fax: 020 7696 8999

Council of Mortgage Lenders

The CML represents the interests of mortgage lenders in the UK

Council of Mortgage Lenders
3 Savile Row
London
W1S 3PB

Tel: 020 7437 0075

Ethical Investment Research Service

The service researches corporate behaviour and provides information to potential investors.

Ethical Investment Research Service

80-84 Bondway
London
SW8 1SF

Tel: 020 7840 5700
Fax: 020 7735 5323

Factors and Discounters Association

The FDA represents the interests and activities of those companies that provide factoring, invoice discounting, and other forms of asset based finance.

Factors & Discounters Association
Boston House
The Little Green

Richmond

Surrey

TW9 1QE

Tel: 020 8332 9955
Fax: 020 8332 2585

Financial Ombudsman Service

The Financial Ombudsman Service provides consumers with a free, independent service for resolving disputes with financial firms

Financial Ombudsman Service
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London
E14 9SR

Tel: 0845 080 1800
Fax: 020 7964 1001

Financial Services Authority

The FSA aims to maintain efficient, orderly and clean financial markets and help retail consumers achieve a fair deal.

The Financial Services Authority
25 The North Colonnade
Canary Wharf
London E14 5HS

Tel: 020 7066 1000

Financial Services Compensation Scheme

The FSCS may pay automobile finance insurance
if an authorised firm is unable to pay claims against it.

Financial Services Compensation Scheme
7th Floor
Lloyds Chambers
Portsoken Street
London
E1 8BN

Tel: 020 7892 7300
Fax: 020 7892 7301

General Insurance Standards Council

The council is the watchdog approach estate estate finance hill in insurance irwin mcgraw principle real real series value
to set, monitor and enforce standards in all areas of general insurance, including the fair treatment of customers.

General Insurance Standards Council
110 Cannon Street
London
EC4N 6EU

Tel: 020 7648 7800
Fax: 020 7648 7808

Information Commissioner

The commissioner is responsible for enforcing the law regarding data protection and freedom of information

Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow

Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Tel: 01625 545 745
Fax: 01625 524 510

The Institute of Chartered Association of finance and insurance professional

The Institute of Chartered Accountants is the largest professional accountancy body in Europe, with over 125,000 members.

Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales
Chartered Accountants’ Hall
PO Box 433
Moorgate Place
London
EC2P 2BJ

Tel: 0207 920 8100

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland represents accountants in this part of the UK.

CA House
21 Haymarket Yards
Edinburgh
EH12 5BH

Tel: 0131 347 0100
Fax: 0131 347 0105

Institute of Financial Planning

The Institute is the professional body that represents those involved financial planning.

Institute of Financial Planning
Whitefriars Centre
Lewins Mead
Bristol
BS1 2NT

Tel. - 0117 945 2470
Fax - 0117 929 2214

Investment Management Association

The Investment Management Association is the UK trade body for the professional investment management industry.

IMA
65 Kingsway
London
WC2B 6TD

Tel: 020 7831 0898
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Office of Fair Trading

The OFT protects consumer rights and ensures that business compete fairly

Office of Fair Trading
Fleetbank House
2-6 Salisbury Square
London
EC4Y 8JX

Tel: 08457 22 44 99

The Trading Standards Institute

Trading standards provide consumers and businesses with information on their rights.

The Trading Standards Institute
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351 London Road
Hadleigh
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SS7 2BT

Tel: 0870 872 9000