The Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd (FPSB), the global body for Certified Financial Planner certification, has appointed UK compliance consultant and lawyer Adam Samuel as one of two new directors.

I remember a few years back when I worked at another media business that we had a presentation from a senior bod about the exciting technological future awaiting the company.

I’ve often wondered exactly how many people regularly use an IFA and now we know - it’s about 8%, at least of the key so-called Generation X segment of the population, the important 39-54 year-olds.

The mighty St James’s Place juggernaut seems to defy negative forces as the number of advisers working for it grows and grows.

For Financial Planners, working with clients over many years and helping them plan towards a better, more secure and comfortable life in retirement must be one of the most rewarding aspects of the job.

Well, that was a bit of a week, wasn’t it? Few could have guessed on Monday we would have started the week with one Chancellor and ended with another.

I am beginning to wonder if low cost investment dynamo Vanguard is becoming the new Aldi of the investment world and what this means for the sector.

Debate is raging about fees and will continue to rage, I suspect, because there is simply no right or wrong answer.

Next week our new Chancellor, just weeks into the job, will attempt, to sort out some of the mess which befuddles the UK pensions landscape. I’m not hopeful.

So how did he do? Opinion on our new Chancellor seems to have been rather positive. Against the backdrop of rollercoaster markets, emergency interest rate cuts and Coronavirus fears he did pretty well, especially for someone thrown into the job just a few weeks ago.