Smith & Williamson has made 22 senior promotions as it prepares for its £44bn merger with Tilney set to create one of the UK’s biggest wealth management and Financial Planning firms.

National IFA firm Chase de Vere has reported increased turnover and higher pre-tax profit for the year ending 31 December 2019.

Pension group XPS has reported flat profits for the 12 months ending 31 March at £11.4m but remains positive about the year ahead.

Wealth manager St James’s Place is celebrating the 100th Paraplanner to graduate from its Academy.

Tavistock has said that its senior managers and the majority of other staff have made voluntary salary waivers and the IFA and Financial Planning group has also made use of the Government’s furlough scheme.

Market volatility has seen 450,000 fewer people use investment ISAs but a 21% jump in the use of Cash ISAs, according to the latest figures from HMRC.

Britain has dropped down the rankings of the best European countries for retirees in 2020.

Emails pushing a bogus Coronavirus business grant scheme dressed in UK government branding have put leisure and hospitality businesses at risk of falling victim to fraud.

New research has shown that 60% of Financial Planners expect clients to start managing more of their investments, such as pensions and ISAs themselves, instead of using an adviser.

A recent survey found that close to two-thirds (65.6%) of those who spoke to their adviser during the pandemic felt very well prepared (29.6%) or quite well prepared (36.1%) financially.