Times remain challenging (how many times have I written that) but a New Year brings new hope and plenty of potential for Financial Planning, indeed the prospects for Financial Planners are promising.

The obvious immediate and most unpleasant threat for UK plc is, unsurprisingly, Covid-19 and the Omicron variant.

Over the past few weeks many friends, family members and contacts have suffered, fortunately most with mild cases.

We are not out of the woods yet but the vaccines seem to be changing the picture so let’s hope that positive news continues.

Many people have reverted once again to working from home but I suspect will be itching soon to get back to the office. I have not changed my view that working solely from home is probably a bad thing. We are social animals, after all, and working with a team is the most enjoyable and productive way to work long term. Combining home and office working, for those lucky enough to have the choice, remains an attractive option.

Those fortunate enough to work exclusively from home know there are pros and cons.

It’s fair to say that despite the challenges the Financial Planning profession continues to grow and the demand to buy Financial Planning firms seems unabated. We’ve already started the new year with a surge in acquisitions of all sizes, Financial Planning Today has reported.

We’ve also had confirmation this week that the major M&G Wealth acquisition of Sandringham Financial Partners and its 180 advisers has received regulatory approval. Interestingly M&G Wealth will run Sandringham as a separate brand.

M&G Wealth will be one to watch in 2022 as it invests heavily in building its new Financial Planning-focused wealth arm.

Schroders Personal Wealth, the Lloyds Bank / Schroders joint Financial Planning venture, is also seeking to grow in 2022 too despite a rocky start. This week it appoint a new senior exec from from Barclays Wealth as chief client officer, a sign it plans to expand further. Other firms are also expanding rapidly like True Potential and Fairstone. Others are following.

There is no shortage of private equity investment coming down the track and I suspect this to continue in 2022. Financial Planning today is no longer in the slow lane, it’s an express train travelling at speed on the fast line. 

While this is a resolutely positive direction, the focus on delivering a comprehensive, empathetic and fiduciary-based Financial Planning service to clients should not be lost. If the profession gains no more than new investment but loses sight of what brought clients to Financial Planning in the first place the progress will be short lived.

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Kevin O’Donnell is editor of Financial Planning Today and a journalist with 40 years of experience in finance, business and mainstream news. This topical comment on the Financial Planning news appears most weeks, usually on Fridays but occasionally other days. Follow @FPT_Kevin