I’m a big fan of Monty Python and the famous ‘nudge, nudge’ sketch came to mind this week as the DWP announced plans to give a ‘stronger nudge’ to pension savers to seek guidance from Pension Wise before taking benefits.

The news this week that platform engine provider FNZ has been ordered by the competition watchdog to sell GBST was a bit of a shock. 

It is astonishing to think that investors who have been compensated by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme go on to lose some, or perhaps all, of their compensation money all over again with another dodgy firm.

In 1981 two bored but ambitious accountants started a British investment business from a spare room. Today they are billionaires.

Sceptics may have questioned warnings that the soaring cost of Professional Indemnity Insurance would put some advisory firms out of business. They may have to eat their words.

The FCA’s comprehensive adviser sector review published this week brought some surprisingly positive news. The number of advisers is on the up after years of plateauing or decline.

I was going to dedicate this column to a timely look back at 2020 and a look forward to 2021 (see lower down). Then something happened.

So are 4,000 regulated firms really going to collapse this year as the FCA has warned this week could happen?

I was mightily impressed this week by the words from the expanding senior team at Glasgow-based holistic Financial Planning firm Murphy Wealth.

If I was a Financial Planner I would likely be infuriated by the news today from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme forecasting a levy on regulated firms of over £1bn over the next 12 months, up 30% on the previous year.