NAIFA's Robert Miller pushes for compromise on fiduciary issue

Robert Miller isn't a typical member of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors His firm, Miller-Pomerantz and Associates, is located in the New York financial district near Zuccotti Park and in the same building as the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. His clientele in large part comprises Wall Street bankers and New York lawyers.

Yet as the organization's president, Mr. Miller, 57, maintains that the vast majority of NAIFA's 50,000 members operate small businesses in small towns. In his narrative, they are part of middle America, building relationships and serving middle-income clients.

Mr. Miller hopes to persuade the Securities and Exchange Commission not to impose a type of fiduciary-duty standard on NAIFA's registered representatives that he contends would force them to abandon the commission-based business model that thrives under the suitability standard.

Perhaps it is a good thing that the tall, lanky Mr. Miller laughs easily. He will need his sense of humor over the next year that he serves as NAIFA's president.

Mr. Miller is heading a group that is accused by advocates of being the primary obstacle to a universal fiduciary-duty standard of care.


NEWS BY:http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20111127/REG/311279987

MPI VANESSA COTTON MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP WINNER ANNOUNCED

Final year hospitality student at the School of Tourism at Bournemouth University, Dominique Dashwood-Evans, has won the Vanessa Cotton Memorial Scholarship 2011.

MPI UK and Ireland Chapter President, Samme Allen, proudly announced this year’s winner during the association’s cocktail reception at European meetings and incentive trade show EITBM in Barcelona.

The scholarship will provide Dashwood-Evans with sponsored registration, accommodation and travel to experience the professional development and networking at the European Meetings and Events Conference (EMEC) taking place in Budapest from 29 to 31 January 2012.

“Dominique’s application was well thought out and she clearly has a passion for our industry based on the work she has done to date [mostly on a voluntary basis],” said Allen. “In the judges’ opinion she demonstrated a strong understanding of the value and significance of this award.”

The winner will be mentored at EMEC 2012 by members of the UK Chapter board and members of the Excel London and Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) team.

“Winning the scholarship was a huge surprise, attending the conference will provide me with the opportunity to develop a more professional presentation building my confidence for future occasions,” said Dashwood-Evans. “It will also prove invaluable for my dissertation which looks into how social media can influence the decision making of events planners, as social media is a topic that will be covered in the specific interest sessions at the conference.




NEWS BY:http://www.c-mw.net/newsdetails/1804/mpi-vanessa-cotton-memorial-scholarship-winner-announced

Government funds ad apprenticeship scheme

Skillset, the sector skills council for the creative industries, was awarded the scheme, which is expected to create up to 250 jobs for school leavers in IPA member agencies over the next three years.

Meetings with IPA member agencies will begin in January to develop the framework for up to four apprenticeship schemes for the advertising sector.

Each scheme will combine training for 18 year-olds with on-the-job work experience in media, digital, direct marketing and creative agencies from next September.

The new initiative is in direct response to the IPA’s Future of Talent Strategy, says Janet Hull, director of marketing at IPA.

“When almost a million 16 to 24 year-olds are out of work and when soaring university fees are discouraging even the brightest students are far from realising their full learning potential. The need for this apprenticeship scheme couldn’t be more apparent,” adds Hull.

The trade body’s support of the initiative is part of its president Nicola Mendelsohn’s strategy to attract new creative talent from different backgrounds to the industry.

Elsewhere, the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA) and Pearson in Practice, a division of the global publishing firm Pearson, have announced that they will be leading the development of the first Government-funded industry-wide PR apprenticeship scheme. Up to 600 apprenticeship roles will be created over a three-year period.

Both schemes follow the Government’s announcement of a £1bn youth jobs fund last month, as it looks to tackle rising unemployment levels in the UK.

NEWS BY:http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/sectors/agencies/government-funds-ad-apprenticeship-scheme/3032595.article

Business groups worried over 4G mobile broadband

The Federation of Small Businesses and the National Farmers Union (NFU) say the rollout is taking too long and won't cover enough of the UK.

They are worried hundreds of thousands of people, mainly in rural areas, could be left behind.

Ofcom says the project is moving as quickly as possible and that no final decision has been made about coverage.

Two 4G trials are being carried out in the UK.
Continue reading the main story

    Businesses in rural areas need broadband now. They [the government and Ofcom] need to move faster on this and be more ambitious

Andrew Cave Federation of Small Businesses

One is taking place in central London, run by O2, and another in north Cornwall, jointly run by Everything Everywhere and BT.

Twenty-five-year-old Hayley Gaffney is one of around 200 people taking part in the Cornwall trial.

Until she got the 4G broadband she was only getting speeds of just over 1Mbps.

"The internet was an absolute nightmare," she says. "It just kept crashing because it was so slow."

However, since joining the trial her broadband speed has jumped to more than 11Mbps.

"The internet really is amazing to what it was before," says Hayley.

"It was things like watching YouTube, uploading photos onto Facebook, just uploading the news feed on Facebook, getting my emails without getting them a few days later. Before it was so slow."
'More ambition'

Andrew Cave from the Federation of Small Businesses says those kinds of benefits are vital to roll out to every part of the UK, not just urban areas.

NEWS BY:http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/16038102

PM under pressure ahead of EU talks

London Mayor Boris Johnson urged the Prime Minister to call a referendum - or even wield his veto - on any EU-wide treaty that sets the 17 single currency states on the path to fiscal union.

And eurosceptic Cabinet minister Owen Paterson broke ranks to say that a referendum will be the "inevitable" result of moves to forge a closer bloc of eurozone states within the EU.

In the House of Commons, Mr Cameron faced demands from his own backbenchers to use tomorrow's summit to renegotiate the UK's EU membership or block eurozone fiscal union, which veteran Tory Sir Peter Tapsell warned would "pose a great threat to the whole of the liberty of Europe".

Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell urged the Prime Minister to show "bulldog spirit" in the talks between the 27 EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.

Mr Cameron responded: "That is exactly what I will do. The British national interest absolutely means that we need to help resolve this crisis in the eurozone. It is freezing the British economy just as it is freezing economies right across Europe."

The Prime Minister insisted he will not sign a treaty unless it includes provisions to protect the City of London and the European single market. "We will insist on safeguards for Britain," he said. "That means making sure we are stronger and better able to do things in the UK to protect our national interests. The more the countries of the eurozone ask for, the more we will ask for in return."

But Downing Street made clear that he sees no argument for a referendum in the UK on the treaty changes needed to tighten economic governance in the eurozone.

NEWS BY:http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-24018569-pm-under-pressure-ahead-of-eu-talks.do

University offers 'golden ticket' scholarship worth up to £50,000

The challenge provides a fantastic opportunity to an exceptional student who can demonstrate the qualities we seek in our applicants and which we nurture in our students,” she said.

“At the same time this initiative will reinforce our position as one of the most sought after universities amongst some of the most talented students in the UK.”

But Dr Philip Dixon, director of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) in Wales, slammed the scheme as a “gimmick”.

He said: “While I think that the individual student who wins this process will be very fortunate, it is a very sad indication of the state in which our higher education system finds itself that gimmicks like this have to be offered by our universities.

“I wonder where this will end – will we see the universities of Wales offering buy-one-get-one-free degrees?”

To be in with a chance of winning, students must have accepted an offer to study at Cardiff next year before undertaking a series of challenges which will increase in difficulty between now and next spring.

The first series will take place online, while the final will bring the best students to Cardiff University for a live head-to-head challenge.

All finalists will earn a scholarship towards their undergraduate tuition fees.

The first stage of the “ultimate scholarship” competition will appear on the university’s Thrive website later this month.

NEWS BY:http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2011/12/06/university-offers-golden-ticket-scholarship-worth-up-to-50-000-91466-29900763/

Refinery rewarded with Integrated Agency of Year Title and trophy for Best B2B Campaign

Refinery’s result-driven marketing has been recognised in a leading industry awards scheme in which the agency took home two awards, Best Integrated Agency and Best B2B Marketing Strategy for its Magnet Trade Take Off Campaign.

Now in its third year, the MiAwards run by the Marketing Industry Network identify and highlight the very best in marketing, media and communications agencies, teams and individuals across the whole of the UK.

The judging panel was expanded this year to include clientside marketers as well as senior agency side professionals and an awards dinner took place in Manchester mid November.

At the start of the year, Refinery was listed as the 19th Most Awarded Agency outside of London by The Drum Magazine and, as the 2011 awards season draws to a close, these latest awards take Refinery’s trophy count this year to seven wins this year alone, plus nominations, including a Silver in the Roses Advertising awards,

two awards at Fresh – a silver and a bronze (both for advertising) and a B2B Marketing award; four nominations in the RAR awards, and agency nominations in the Drum Marketing and How Do awards; plus managing director Nigel Papworth was given an OSBA (Outstanding Social Behaviour Award) for his work for local charity Mothers Against Violence.

NEWS BY:http://www.creativeboom.co.uk/north-west/news/refinery-rewarded-with-integrated-agency-of-year-title-and-trophy-for-best-b2b-campaign/