Just before Christmas I suggested that the FCA needed a new direction post-Bailey. It may already have found one although it is clearly not the direction everyone wants.

I was reminded this week that Financial Planning is much more of a profession than a business by the latest Charles Stanley results.

The FCA’s long awaited DB transfer review was published today with, seemingly, a ban on contingent charging which turns out to be not a complete ban after all.

A new poll of Personal Finance Society members suggests nearly 90% of Financial Planners will never return to the way they worked before the pandemic.

It’s been an exciting couple of months at Jane Smith Financial Planning.

Today we received our questionnaire from the FCA regarding actions that now need to be taken following receipt of the information we provided to them regarding defined benefit pensions.

The woes of Woodford Investment Management have been well chronicled by Financial Planning Today and others. I will not repeat them hear suffice to say that the curtain is coming down on a painful episode in fund management, as Mr Woodford described it himself.

The recent developments involving Berkeley Burke SIPP Administration (BBSAL) have caused understandable concern and consternation for SIPP providers, advisers and SIPP investors.

I ended my last commentary by expressing concern for all senior managers working with SIPPs – whether as a provider or adviser – given the ongoing regulatory uncertainty particularly around the responsibilities for investment due diligence.

As we approach the end of another decade I have been reflecting on a subject dear to my heart – the evolution of the SIPP market.