FT Adviser

As long as there have been financial advisers, there has been debate about how to plug the advice gap. But research has found that some 39m people have never sought any professional advice or guidance for their finances, and one in five advisers won't serve someone with less than £100,000. So there is clearly a gap to be plugged, but does the plugging of it fall to advisers? What role do providers...

Breaking up is always difficult. Quite apart from the emotional aspects, the financial aspects are particularly difficult for both parties, with division of assets often needing solicitors and court orders. Although there is a need for professional advice, too often people think they will simply split the assets - the man gets the pension; the woman (especially if she is the primary carer for the...

For the past four months, the rate of inflation has beaten the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target.  Despite saying that this rise will be “transitory”, the central bank has warned inflation might soar over 4 per cent before the end of the year - meaning it could reach its highest point in a decade, and so far governor Andrew Bailey has not confirmed that rates will rise in order to tackle th...

Markets have been going through a turbulent period in recent weeks and, in part, this has been down to events taking place in China. Chinese equities have lost 11 per cent over the past three months because of concerns about an ongoing regulatory crackdown in the country. But these worries have been exacerbated by the liquidity crisis facing property giant Evergrande. Both of these developments ha...

We've all heard the phrase 'people buy people'. But does this really apply to advising different genders? After all, a great financial adviser can deliver great financial advice to any client, regardless of their gender. But it is also true that there are additional benefits to an advice firm that can be gained by having a more diverse team. Moreover, there are sometimes particular sensitivities t...

Next year will see the launch of collective defined contribution pensions - at least one will come into existence when Royal Mail 160,000 employees move into this new type of scheme, but will others follow? CDC pensions aim to bridge the gap between defined benefit and defined contribution by having all employees pay into one massive pot from which their benefits are drawn. This week reporter Amy...

After plenty of waiting, the government has finally unveiled a plan which, it says, will solve the UK's social care crisis. On this week's podcast, senior reporter Amy Austin is joined by Steve Webb, former pensions minister and partner at LCP and Tony Mudd, divisional director for tax & technical support at St James’s Place. They discuss the government’s social care plans and how it is unlike...

We know there is a gender pay gap - and therefore there is a gender pension gap that needs to be filled. But often we forget that this lack of funding for women in retirement can also lead to a poorer outcome for women needing care in later life. So how can advisers help women get on a better financial footing in retirement? And what is needed to help educate female clients about their financ...

Consolidation in the digital mortgage space has spiked in recent months as larger companies buy up the technology to service their own customer bases. Having attracted some hefty investments over the last year too - most notably the in August 2020, how much of a threat are these digital brokers? On this week's FTAdviser Podcast, reporter Ruby Hinchliffe is joined by Charlotte Nixon, mortgage advis...

The re-opening of pubs and shops, as well as the return of international travel, might make some think the Covid-19 pandemic is moving into history. But the economic impact of the pandemic, and its impact on markets, has not yet fully played out, with the Bank of England yet to raise interest rates from their rock bottom position at 0.1% and the future direction of inflation uncertain as the re-op...

The gap between those who need advice and those who can access it - the so-called 'advice gap' - is one of the long-standing conundrums the financial advice profession has faced. For some advice firms, the solution is to encourage more people into the profession to level out the supply and demand imbalance which has led to a surge in the number of advice academies being launched. So what role do t...

Speaking on this latest FTAdviser In Focus podcast on the topic of how protection fits into family financial planning, panellists discuss why it is not just important to curate wealth, but also to protect the people bringing that wealth into the household. Tony Mudd, divisional director for tax and technical support at St James's Place; Kathryn Knowles, managing director at Cura Financial Services...

Last month the Financial Conduct Authority warned that social media platforms were playing an increasing role in putting consumers at risk of harm through adverts for financial products and the rise of financial influencers - or "finfluencers". Advisers aren't immune either, with the regulator expressing concerns that the use of certain social media platforms by advisers wasn't always helping cons...

As the world tentatively emerges from the pandemic, the thoughts of many market participants are starting to turn to the next phase of the economic cycle, and the potential for higher inflation to take hold and disrupt markets. In this podcast, Remi Olu-Pitan, multi-asset investor at Schroders, Chris Darbyshire, chief investment officer at Walker Crips, and Charlie Parker, managing director at Alb...

This year marks a decade since Vanguard's Lifestrategy range launched in the UK and to say the passive funds had proven popular would be to downplay the situation. The five multi-asset funds are now worth £29bn and earlier this year their monthly inflows hit £1bn. But Lifestrategy range, which costs just 22bps, isn't just popular with investors. Advisers have also flocked to the range over the cou...

Much has been made of the need to start saving as early as possible and to keep this habit going as long as possible. But when it comes to pension provision, are the current products available suitable for all generations? Is the current advice or perceived wisdom around pension planning as appropriate for someone aged 20 as it might be for someone in their 40s or 50s? And why should it matter how...

Last month the Financial Conduct Authority published its business plan for 2021-22, setting out how it plans to adapt itself to the "profound forces transforming the entire landscape of financial services". But what does this mean for financial advisers? The FCA has said it will be conducting a review into the scope and coverage of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Will this bring about...

Last week the government announced a U-turn in its cladding guidance. It said leaseholders living in buildings under 18 metres tall would no longer need external wall application (EWS1) forms. Many leaseholders have found themselves “stuck” in properties deemed undesirable by lenders due to the risk of huge cladding removal bills - some estimated at as much as £70,000 - hanging over them. Now, hig...

Over the next few decades it is estimated that trillions of pounds will pass from one generation to the next: primarily from baby-boomers, who have ridden the wave of rising asset prices to their millennial children, who haven't always been as lucky. But ever since the pension freedom reforms of 2015, the big worry many savers have had is how they can turn their pension savings into an income so t...

Many in the advice profession have debated the benefits of face-to-face versus digital advice for several years. But over the past 18 months, many advisers have been unable to offer face-to-face advice and many robo-advisers have retreated from the market after finding the market wasn't as big as they thought. So what does the future of advice look like? M&G Wealth, which is currently expandin...

According to data published by the government, in 2018-19 there were more than 34,000 taxpayers who reported their pension contributions exceeded their annual allowance - with excess payments amounting to £817m. Savers also struggle to stick within the lifetime allowance with more than 7,000 people exceeded the allowance, incurring a tax charge. This week reporter Amy Austin examines why so many s...

The Great Wealth Transfer is about to begin in earnest, where a predicted £5.5trn is set to pass from older to younger generations over the next couple of decades. While this may well bypass the so-called 'squeezed middle' - or Generation X - the financial services industry is well aware of the need to help all generations understand the value of money. But what we are also starting to see is...

Over the course of the past 18 months, the government has spent a lot of money to get the UK through the Covid-19 pandemic. But Rishi Sunak, the chancellor of the Exchequer, has made repeatedly clear that the bills we have racked up during this period will soon be coming due. This puts into sharper relief the debates around tax which have been rumbling on in the background for several years. Refor...

The year 2020 was a landmark one in lots of ways, including for ESG investing - if for no other reason than it finally put to bed the idea that you need to choose between investing ethically and investing for performance. But where next for ESG? In this podcast, sponsored by BMO Global Asset Management, FTAdviser digital editor Damian Fantato takes a look at what the future might hold for these ma...

Private equity interest in adviser platforms has continued to grow over the past year or so. Recently Novia, James Hay and Parmenion have all been bought by private equity firms and according to analysis by the Lang Cat, the proportion of platform assets owned by private equity has gone up from 2 per cent in 2016 to 15 per cent in 2021. Meanwhile life companies, which have traditionally owned plat...