Consumers just do not trust financial services firms, that’s the long and the short of it.

Whenever I hear of a new regulatory initiative designed to crack down on rogues or bad practice I always resist the temptation to cheer straightaway.

Clients are getting older, on average. It’s an inescapable fact that I was reminded of this week with the launch by St James’s Place of its Care Concierge service, aimed particularly at clients over-80.

It was good to get away last week for a break to sunny Devon, beating the G7 hordes heading to the South West. 

I have to confess that I scratched my head this week when I heard the news that JP Morgan Chase was buying the loss-making robo-adviser Nutmeg.

The Personal Finance Society has always been something of a problem child for its parent the Chartered Insurance Institute.

As we reported last week, the CII’s recent crunch AGM saw a setback for rebels fighting against the deregistration of the Personal Finance Society.

What quality matters most to our clients? Whatever else comes along, no machine or tool will ever replace empathy and that's the quality that all of our clients seek.  

I seem to spend a lot of my time discussing the lifetime allowance, so when it was announced in Budget 2021 that it would be frozen with immediate effect for the next five tax years I knew this would only increase these conversations.

Our usual way of life has been turned upside down by the global pandemic. Thankfully, due to the exceptional role out of the UK Covid-19 vaccination programme, the hope that life will return to some semblance of normality is a realistic prospect.