Jan 19 2012

ClearView launches integrated platform

Posted by Thomas Taylor in Financial Consulting

ClearView has launched a private label platform that incorporates life insurance products and wealth management.

Called LifeSolutions, the platform will offer a full suite of life insurance products including income protection, total and permanent disability (TPD) as well as business expenses cover.

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Jan 18 2012

An Introduction to the Positive Payment Hierarchy

Posted by Admin in Financial Consulting

If you have never given much thought to how your credit card balance is paid off then you are not alone. It’s definitely worth knowing a bit about it, however, as how your outstanding balance is paid off can have an effect on how much you end up paying in the long term. Luckily for consumers, credit card issuers are now required to adhere to something called the positive payment hierarchy.

But what is this and how does it work? Essentially, the positive payment hierarchy exists to make sure that any credit card debt that is charged at a higher rate of interest than the rest of your balance is paid off first. The idea behind this is to help to limit the amount of interest that is paid on purchases.

For example, this often applies to balance transfer cards. If you transfer a balance from an old card to a new one, you will usually be able to pay off the transferred balance at a 0% rate of interest. H Read more…

Dec 29 2011

Workplace Gossip

Posted by Thomas Taylor in Financial Consulting

My name is Workplace Gossip. Everyone loves me; however, I am nobody’s friend. I maim without killing. it is I who cause breaches in trust and lowered morale levels within a team.. I am responsible for lost productivity and wasted time. I break hearts and ruin lives.

I am sly and malicious and gather strength with age. The more I am quoted the more I am believed. My victims are helpless. They cannot protect themselves against me because I have no name and no face. To track me down is impossible; I’m definitely not on a corporate blog. The harder you try, the more elusive I become. I make headlines and heartaches. I hurt feelings and reputations. Once I tarnish a reputation, it is never the same. I cause increased anxiety among employees as rumors circulate without any clear information as to what is fact and what isn’t. As an outcome, good employees leave the organization because they find the work atmosphere to be unhealthy. I can ruin careers and cause sleepless nights. Remem

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Dec 16 2011

From DirectX to Game Engine: need suggestions

Posted by Thomas Taylor in Financial Consulting

I worked on DirectX for long time and now i assimilated the concept of how graphic works.

I made game with the d3d and managed to load static and animated models.

What im looking now is for a free Game engine.

I worked with c++ with DirectX so i pointed at UDK.

Ive installed it but it runs like crap since for now im stuck on this laptop with an intel graphic card.

So now (at least till i buy a new pc) i am searching for a good game engine but first few questions:

Should i switch to C# and work with an engine based on that language (since most of the engines are following that way)? if Yes, is there a way (even if i know that c++!= c#) to learn c# avoiding the really basic stuff (aka can you point at some tutorials of this genre)?

Now, what im looking into a Game Engine:

- My platform will be windows mainly, but if the engine provides more platform it is indeed welcomed.

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Dec 11 2011

FOS concern on consumers not opting in

Posted by Thomas Taylor in Financial Consulting

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has called for the opt-in proposals in the Future of Financial Advice Bill to be modified to deal with clients not responding to renewal notices.

In a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, FOS says there are occasions when a client is genuinely unable to respond due to illness, a long holiday or has difficulty understanding technical documents.

Consumers that would be most likely to fail to respond to renewal notices for these reasons would be retirees and vulnerable and disadvantaged consumers, FOS said.

“We suggest a safety mechanism be added to address these issues.”

FOS wants any renewal notices to explain in simple terms how not signing these documents will affect them in the future.

“The bill requires a renewal notice to include a basic statement about how non-renewal terminates the adviser/client relationship, but does not require explanation of how failure to renew may affect the client,” FOS said.

“We acknowledge the adviser would want to provide this explanation to encourage renewal, but this motivation may not be enough from the consumer’s perspective.”

FOS says the legislation could give those clients who have not renewed their agreement the chance to consider their position later.

This could include the adviser sending out a reminder three months after the original notice has been allowed to lapse, reminding the client of the consequences of not receiving any advice.

This letter should also include details of how the client can renew the agreement again.