Independent Wealth Planners (IWP), the acquisitive Financial Planning firm, has begun the search for a new chair after founder and chair David Inglesfield unexpectedly stepped down at the end of December.

Brighton and Hove-based wealth manager Skerritts Group has acquired £62m AUM Kent Financial Planner Equinox Wealth.

Platform firm Nucleus is set to buy SIPP and SSAS provider Curtis Banks for £242m in an agreed cash offer.

CII group chair Helen Phillips has expressed “sadness” over the decision yesterday by PFS President Caroline Stuart to resign but has insisted that the CII will pursue its aim of taking control of the PFS board.

PFS President Caroline Stuart has quit the PFS board today with immediate effect.

PFS member directors and co-opted advisers on the PFS board have called for an Extraordinary General Meeting to be held in the next two weeks to find a way forward from the current deadlock with parent body the CII.

Wealth manager and SIPP provider Mattioli Woods has reported revenue rose by 10% to £54.9m (1H22: £49.9m) for the six months ended 30 November.

Mass vacancies are becoming increasingly in evidence at some of the Personal Finance Society’s regional committees.

Mutual provider Royal London has received High Court approval to consolidate the Royal Liver Sub-Fund and the Phoenix Life Assurance Ltd (PLAL) Sub-Fund into the Royal London Open Fund.

Defined Benefit pension schemes enjoyed an “unprecedented” £400bn fund improvement in 2022, according to pension consulting and admin firm XPS Pensions Group.