The year has not started well for the adviser sector with nearly a dozen firms already declared as failed by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

The FCA has done a pretty good job in cracking down recently on scams and dodgy financial promotions, stung into action by some major failures over the last few years.

Amid a sea of gloomy news - zero growth anyone? - it was cheering to see this week that global Financial Planner numbers are on the rise.

There was a time when retirement was a line in the sand. You retired from your job, received a carriage clock from your employer and headed off into your sunset years with a decent pension and plans to play a bit more golf or do some DIY.

There is no getting away from the fact that the plans to launch Pensions Dashboards are in trouble with news this week that the Pensions Minister Laura Trott has stepped in to “reset” the timetable.

There was a stark reminder this week that the cost of economic crime is hitting everyone in the pocket and financial advisory firms will be no exception.

This year’s Budget has baffled me more than most. I still cannot get my head around why a seemingly highly conservative Chancellor Jeremy Hunt threw out a decade of pensions taxation policy and effectively said “to hell with it.”

The FCA confirmed some important new appointments this week which suggest that it will be trying to take a tougher line with enforcement in future.

Fairness in pensions is very important, particularly when it comes to the State Pension. It is sadly, increasingly missing from Government pension policy.

There was a bit of good news this week in the seemingly never-ending war on scammers and financial crime.