It seems natural to write about the tax year end and ‘ISA season’ at this time of year.

It has been encouraging recently to read about the increasing numbers of Financial Planners and Paraplanners completing their Level 6 (and higher) qualifications.

The 14 March saw the 30th anniversary of Nigel Lawson’s budget speech which conceived the idea of a SIPP (although the name and acronym emerged some time later). 

The publication of the FCA’s Business Plan for 2019/20 set me thinking once again about the effectiveness of the regulation of retail financial services.

I’ve been spending a fair amount of time recently considering the subject of investment due diligence. Last month an ex-colleague Chris Jones and I gave a talk on the subject at the AMPS (SIPP and SSAS providers) conference. In preparing for that talk we undertook some substantive research into the subject primarily in the context of due diligence on investments made within a SIPP wrapper.

The FCA’s recent Retirement Outcomes Review was a very welcome and thought-provoking paper. The report will result in a number of changes for the industry and it will be interesting to see which direction the FCA goes in its final review.

I remember the first exam I passed towards achieving Chartered status, R02 Investment Principles and Risk, February 2014. Five years later and I’ve finally achieved Chartered status – something which feels like it has taken forever.

As the Chair of AMPS, I dread the day that the Financial Ombudsman Service complaints data is published.

A worrying case reported on last week by Financial Planning Today and widely read will reverberate for some time to come - and not in a good way.

Pensions auto-enrolment has been one of the few, consistent bright spots in the UK pensions market over the past decade. But with higher contributions on the way soon the DWP will need to keep a close eye to ensure that the wheels on the trolley don’t come off.