Octopus Investments has announced the appointment of a new area sales director from Old Mutual Wealth.

A financial advisory firm has launched a new online auto enrolment service for small businesses with between one and 30 staff.

A new Lifetime Allowance guide has been launched by Fidelity International ahead of the limit falling from £1.25m to £1m in April.

A new regional Financial Planning hub is to be established by Sanlam UK as it embarks on an adviser recruitment drive.

A Financial Planning firm set up by a Chartered Financial Planner is set to be bought by a new robo-advice firm backed by the founder of MoneySupermarket.com.

Some 61% of trust-based pension schemes have yet to provide access to a Flexi Access Drawdown Facility for their members nearly a year after the Chancellor announced new pension freedoms for members, according to research by Willis Towers Watson.

An ex-Bellpenny director’s IFA ‘match-maker’ has teamed up with an asset manager to offer a new specialist service.

Dawn Pearce-Herzberg, who used to head up operations for Financial Planning firm Bellpenny, launched Vines Row in late November to help pair IFAs looking to sell their firms with the right buyers. Her company aims to “reinvent the existing match-making model currently being offered to IFA vendors and acquirers”.

Her acquisition advisory business has today announced a tie up with Verbatim Asset Management, part of the SimplyBiz Group.

The companies will offer merger and acquisition support to advisory firms who wish to develop either an exit strategy, growth through acquisition or internal succession planning.

It will be offered as part of the Verbatim Business Consulting Service to help firms build a “compelling client proposition with robust advice processes, linked to a central investment proposition and supported by efficient client management practices”.

Using shared infrastructure, Verbatim will then introduce those firms who want to sell up, to those who want to buy. It is designed to help secure better deals for sellers as well as reduce the risk of deals failing.

Ms Pearce-Herzberg, managing director of Vines Row, said: “Since launching at the end of last year, we’ve worked with more than a dozen advisory firms looking to buy or sell their businesses.

“We were always confident that there was a gap in the market for a well-differentiated, truly end-to-end advisory service in the IFA acquisitions market, but it’s reassuring to have this validated so conclusively during our first few months.

“Verbatim already offers an impressive consulting service and so this partnership seemed like a natural fit for Vines Row.”

Dan Russell, managing director of Verbatim Asset Management said: “Since the death of trail commission, advisory firms have found it difficult to value their business or define an exit strategy. This has left them vulnerable to predatory offers from consolidators which present a bad deal for the adviser and usually an even worse deal for their clients.”

The new chief executive of the FCA has been announced this morning as Andrew Bailey, the chief executive of the Prudential Regulation Authority.

A Certified Financial Planner is to step down from her position as a non-executive FCA board member, it has been revealed this morning.

Nearly three quarters of advisers remain unsure of what truly constitutes robo-advice, a survey has suggested.