A new survey suggests that millions are deferring major life decisions such as retirement due to soaring living costs.

A new ‘low cost’ advice firm called Hundreds and Thousands has been launched by the former founder of Novia, Paul Boston, to bridge the advice gap for both advisers and consumers.

Schroders-owned adviser acquisition firm Benchmark Capital has acquired Chartered Financial Planners Kennedy Independent Financial Advice (KFA) in Derry to expand its presence in Northern Ireland.

M&G Wealth has added a Capital Gains Tax (CGT) tool to its platform enabling advisers to carry out complex calculations and test different planning scenarios for clients.

Manchester-based Pareto Financial Planning has increased its team to more than 70 with the addition of four new hires over the past year.

Only 23% of women are confident they will be able to retire comfortably with over a third (35%) expecting to be unable to enjoy a decent income in retirement.

The Association of Investment Companies (AIC) - the trade body for the investment company sector - has renamed three of its sectors following a review.

The FCA has warned that scammers have tried to clone the FCA website and are also regularly using fake emails to target regulated firms.

The consumer complaints body the Financial Ombudsman Service is to increase its maximum compensation award from £375,000 to £415,00 from 1 April.

Fund manager Marlborough has launched an investment platform for financial advisers and their clients with an annual charge of 0.2%.