The FCA has told advice firms CEOs to improve their retirement service following a thematic review, as Citywire reports.
This may be the key sentence – “Most of the advice files the FCA reviewed showed advice provided was suitable. However, in a small number of instances recommendations resulted in consumers losing guarantees or incurring unnecessary charges.”
So by and large good news? The focus on cash flow modelling is certainly interesting and the FCA has even provided an article examining the issue.
It is worth considering the FCA’s view of what constitutes potential harm as follows, where advisers:
do not consider how clients will interpret the output
project forward using returns that are unjustified and don’t result in realistic outcomes
do not consider the inputs and outputs objectively
In other new, SJP could become takeover target after £426m advice fee review say the analysts at RBC, as reported by New Model Adviser.
Intriguingly, they have downgraded SJP from ‘buy’ to ‘hold’, believing the business could become the target of M&A activity, which feels a little counterintuitive. Obviously, something to watch closely.
Cheshire-based Equilibrium Financial Planning has launched a service to make financial planning more accessible to younger people reports FTAdviser.
It will provide wealth management guidance to younger people who may have inherited property from family, have had successful careers early on, or who need a “lighter financial touch point”.
It is interesting to see a combination of light touch and family advice. Of course, policymakers want to see advice and guidance get to people who have not accumulated wealth yet.
Actually Equilibrium has gone part way to argue that advisers need to think about reaching younger people as the Professional Adviser take on the story shows here.
In Money Marketing Haydn Barlow, a chartered financial planner at Equilibrium Financial Planning, assesses some of the planning issues arising from the abolition of the Lifetime Allowance.
Has the inflation beast finally been tamed. Well, the Consumer Prices Index has fallen to its lowest level since 2021 at 3.4%. The Guardian reports on the issue with a thorough analysis.
It does point out (as does the Labour Party and trade unions) that families have faced a 25% increase in the cost of food since January 2022.
The Bank of England has decided to keep base rates on hold at 5.25% but markets are pricing in a cut relatively soon. Quite a nice analysis here from ING.
