Is buying individual U.K equities too risky?

Is buying individual U.K equities too risky at the moment? There has been bid action at Detica and Acambis, which has been very helpful. However, for large sectors of the British stock market such as banks and housebuilders where volatility has been very high and the movement has been down. It would have been very difficult to time when to buy Alliance and Leicester and then not to hang around for the Banco Santander paper.
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I wish my few stocks would go up a bit. I look at their prices in the paper and wish that I bought a tracker fund and then could stop worrying about equity investment.

IFAs are going back to school

MoneyMarketing has reported that the UK companies Scottish Widows, part of the Lloyds TSB banking group and Norwich Union, part of the insurance group Aviva,
are heavily attracting independent financial advisers (IFAs) for their training
academies. For instance, Norwich Union has attracted over 1,300 registrations to
its Financial Adviser Academy since March.
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MoneyMarekting cites George Andrew, market relations head at Scottish Widows, who noted the appetite for more professionalism in the industry.
I think IFAs have enviously looked on at the legal and accountancy professions, who
manage to charge substantial fees for their work.

UK direct property unit trusts prove a poor buy.

In the United Kingdom retail investors of direct property unit trusts have been hit by the double whammy of poor performance and of being unable to sell. Major players such as Norwich Union and Friends Provident have locked investors in with long notice periods.
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The idea of investing in direct property via unit trusts was that it represented a non-correlation with shares. However, these unit trusts have proved illiquid with a limited market for selling their assets when investors cash in their units.

Are we going to get any Spanish lolly?

Are we going to get any Spanish lolly from the Banco Santander paper bid for UK mortgage bank Alliance and Leicester? Santander might end up bigger in the UK than in its home market of Spain. OK, that might be unlikely but the car manufacturer Volkswagen
has a presence in Brazil similar to the size of its operations in Germany.

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With the share bids for Abbey National and Alliance and Leicester, Briitsh shareholders are accepting a major player in the UK banking market. Does it matter
if a foreigner holds a certain percentage of this market? Would the authorities be
so welcoming if some foreign group took over HBOS (Halifax Bank of Scotland)? Or perhaps the British authorities will give
Sr Emilio Botin, Santander chief, a knighthood for rescuing two mortgage banks?

Clive Briault trousers £528,000 from the FSA.

One of the few scapegoats of the Northern Rock affair, Mr Clive Briault, has trousered £528,000 from the UK's financial regulator Financial Services Authority (FSA). Mr Briault left the organisation in April 2008 by mutual consent. The mortgage bank had to be rescued by the UK government after being unable to borrow from the wholesale lending market.

MoneyMarketing also reports that the FSA boss, Callum McCarthy, who saw his pay go up by 10 per cent to £480,553 but did refuse a bonus. Amazing, the British government under the Reverend Gordon Brown, has called for pay restraint to help keep inflation at around 2 pct-3 pct, when quangocrats are getting a lot more.

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The Daily Telegraph reports that Northern Rock has appointed Rick Hunkin to reinforce risk control at the Newcastle-based bank. Mr Hunkin had a similar role at the U.S owned institution GE Money UK Home Lending. I suppose better late than never.
I suppose everybody is wondering if Bradford and Bingley is going the same way as its
northern rival.

HBOS affiliate Clerical Medical stops trail commission.

MoneyMarketing reports that Clerical Medical has stopped trail commission to quite a few independent financial advisers (IFAs). The British financial company, which is part of banking group Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS), justifies its move by saying that many customers no longer deal with their IFA.

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MoneyMarketing cites a Clerical Medical spokesperson, who says customers have been telling them they no longer have an IFA and the move is to keep in line with the requirements of the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

I think Clerical Medical has shot itself in the foot over trying to grab a small amount of money. This might mean it is under financial presure. Who knows? The
Halifax share price looks pretty miserable at the moment.