Profit is essential for all businesses to thrive and invest and Financial Planners, above everything else, are business people who need to make a profit. Profit is the lifeblood of all Financial Planning firms and that's something that is sometimes forgotten.

One of the main talking points this week has been the FCA’s Adviser Survey which seems to point to both positive and negative factors, as far as the professional advice sector is concerned.

Many years ago a wise and very experienced CEO of a Scottish life and pensions company (sadly no longer with us) passed on to me a very useful piece of advice on pensions which we were discussing at the time.

Targeted Support has arrived this week as planned and it has only taken a few days for two major companies, Royal London and Quilter,to join the fray. Many more will follow.

The Consumer Duty was introduced on 31 July 2023 and it’s fair to say it has shaken up the financial services sector and driven improvements in consumer protection - but is it having the full effect intended?

Apparently it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. This is an old adage but it seems it can now be applied to financial advisers.

In a sea of misery and general economic depression, it’s good to see that the humble ISA has brought some cheerier news by creating an unexpected plethora of new millionaires.

In just a few weeks the FCA’s much-heralded Targeted Support changes will arrive (on 6 April) and the advice world will change for the better - at least everyone hopes it does, because nothing is certain.

The FCA has warned firms about their 'off-channel' communications, which could include mobile phone calls and emails, after its review showed that staff at most firms breach internal policies.

The FCA has defended its plans to delete emails after one year and denies it is trying to hide evidence and avoid scrutiny.

To delete or not delete (emails) - that is the thorny question the FCA has had to face and a move which forced one of its senior execs to defends its email deletion plans this week.