Consumers just do not trust financial services firms, that’s the long and the short of it.
The pandemic is not over yet, far from it, and it is too early to predict the long term impact but if there is one certainty it is that many people’s retirement plans are changing.
If there is one positive from the London Capital & Finance fiasco it is that the whole sorry business has prompted government and regulatory action to stop a repeat of LCF.
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.
The rules of financial regulation were effectively torn up and rewritten this week after the Government stepped in and launched a £120m compensation fund for victims of the London Capital & Finance collapse.
This week I did something rather different. I put on a pair of black work shoes, a decent work shirt and a pair of trousers. I then went to my annual business meeting at our accountants.
Unlike the original judgment in the Adams v Carey/Options case we did not have to wait over two years for the Court of Appeal’s decision which came last week.
I have spent a large part of the last three days in a virtual court room listening to the Appeal Court hearing of the Adams v Options/Carey SIPP case.
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After countless times saying to my friend, “You should worry less about what happens if you get hit by a bus and die, and more if you get hit by a bus and live, do you have Powers of Attorney?” I decided that young people should probably be a bit more clued up about personal finances matters so it’s now become a bit of a personal mission to do something.
The pandemic has forced many of us to turn to online platforms for hosting client engagements. Meetings that may have begun with the adviser greeting their client with a handshake or perhaps a hug, offering them a cup of tea, and leading them into a welcoming setting with comfortable seating and good lighting are no longer possible.
I entered financial services just as the tech bubble was about to burst. One of my earliest professional experiences of investing was watching the bubble surrounding tech stocks, swiftly followed by the disappointment of investors who had become over exposed to that sector as it collapsed.
Monday saw a grilling of Andrew Bailey, former CEO of the FCA, by Treasury Committee MPs regarding missed opportunities for the early detection of problems at the failed mini-bond provider London Capital & Finance.