The FCA’s comprehensive adviser sector review published this week brought some surprisingly positive news. The number of advisers is on the up after years of plateauing or decline.

I was going to dedicate this column to a timely look back at 2020 and a look forward to 2021 (see lower down). Then something happened.

So are 4,000 regulated firms really going to collapse this year as the FCA has warned this week could happen?

I was mightily impressed this week by the words from the expanding senior team at Glasgow-based holistic Financial Planning firm Murphy Wealth.

If I was a Financial Planner I would likely be infuriated by the news today from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme forecasting a levy on regulated firms of over £1bn over the next 12 months, up 30% on the previous year.

It was, to some degree, inevitable that private equity firms would turn their attention to UK Financial Planner firms.

I imagine most Financial Planners have a picture in their heads of their ideal client - perhaps a client who looks a bit like their existing clients.

There’s been much written over the past couple of days about a survey and report, compiled by CoreData, into the impact of Covid-19. 

We have just witnessed another successful Financial Planning Week, and it was great to see the PFS joining the CISI for the first time in promoting this.

Often people think about putting in place Lasting Power of Attorney for an elderly relative. Although it is something we talk to clients about all the time, I’m writing this article now having seen two high profile cases in the press in recent weeks which underline the vital Financial Planning importance of Power of Attorney.