As the next stage of the FCA's Consumer Duty looms in July - when legacy products and sales will be included - some new research suggests the Duty may be rather more of a burden on Financial Planners and advisers than first thought.

It’s been a torrid week for wealth manager St James’s Place and senior figures could be forgiven for reaching for the Scotch this weekend. Trebles I suspect.

Don’t reach for your hankies just yet, but I’m beginning to feel a touch of sympathy for our much-lambasted Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

The Waspi campaigners have certainly stung a few backsides at the DWP this week and I can’t help but admiring their pluck. This doesn’t necessarily mean I agree with the entirety of the argument but it is worth exploring why they are so determined and why they need to be listened to.

It turns out, according to a new study, that Financial Planners are very much on the right lines when it comes to delivering a personal service that wealthier clients actually want.

I meet and talk to online many Financial Planners during the course of a typical month. I’m always impressed by their enthusiasm and enjoyment for what they do and also their long-term confidence that they are in the right profession at the right time.

Conferences and in-person events have become more important in these post-pandemic times and this week’s CISI Annual Financial Planning Conference was no exception.

Investors in St James’s Place can be forgiven for reaching for a stiff Scotch this evening - it’s been one hell of a day.

The latest FCA data on complaints does not make comfortable reading for advisers and providers, particularly those involved in giving advice on pension decumulation and annuities.

Regulation is expensive and getting more expensive, as most of you can attest.