In recent decades, Scottish Friendly has been at the vanguard of technological change. We were one of the first financial services organisations to launch a website back in 1997 and, more recently, our award-winning back office system has attracted leading financial organisations. In 2012, our 150th anniversary year, we are once again leading the way with a revolution in online investing, a revolution that will…
Views in this article are those of the author alone and do not necessarily represent the view of Scottish Friendly. Links in this article will take you outside of Scottish Friendly’s website and Scottish Friendly do not take any responsibility for the content of these other websites. I’ve spent time in the past lambasting the chattering classes of the industry of which I am a…
It’s been a while since I’ve posted but at least I’ve got something to show for it. As you may or may not know we’ve recently launched with two new partners, Beagle Street and Smart Insurance. Smart are on TV and Beagle Street are part of the mighty BGL group who you will know more commonly through these little guys. So whilst rushing about I’ve…
Recently an independent commission found that thousands of students are being put off applying to university by a rise in tuition fees. The first report revealed that applicant numbers to English universities are down 8.8% compared with two years ago – around 37,000 fewer students[1]. When you look across the rest of the UK, the conditions facing young people are worrying. A poor graduate job…
I’ve never been a great saver, let alone an investor. But in the short time I have been working at Scottish Friendly, I’ve come to realise that investing financially in my future is something that I really should be moving to the top of my priority list. I remember when I got my first real job. I was full of good intentions when it came…
As Bradley Wiggins heroically showed last month with his historic Tour De France victory: timing is everything. David Cameron also recently predicted that macro-economic volatilities would continue for some time. So the Scottish Friendly blog drew inspiration from the Yellow Jersey winner and put our investment hats on to tackle similar questions to those Wiggins must have asked himself as he climbed mountains, out-manoeuvred the…
The information provided in this article was accurate at the time of publishing and should be read in the context of the date it was published. So the summer of 2012 is proving to be one of the wettest on record, but here at Scottish Friendly in Glasgow we are used to investing for a rainy day. However, when it comes to school holidays, and…
It was the performance that other teams now aspire to mimic. The one which raised the bar for others to try and match. The Euro 2012 final between Spain and Italy may not have been the edgiest final in history, but in terms of a footballing display, and the accolades won (including a third consecutive international trophy, retention of the trophy, best player of the…
It’s fair to say that many of my female friends are confused about the best way to save for retirement. They know they have to do it but just keep putting it off. After all we’ve all got far more pressing priorities: new decking for the garden, a family holiday, even a savings account for the kids. But I know deep down it’s an absolute…
In light of Julia Donaldson (author of The Gruffalo) taking part in the Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour in September of this year, I took a look through my kid’s bookshelves again. I have spent many happy bedtimes reading her stories to my kids. And I was surprised to find out that I had been reading books for years that I wasn’t even aware were…
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