Platform and SIPP provider AJ Bell is to boost interest rates on higher levels of cash held in some accounts.

National Financial Planning firm Fairstone has completed the acquisition of Goodman Chartered Financial Planners, based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

Schroders’ Benchmark Capital arm has continued its rapid growth by buying £111m AUM Hayward Heath-based Champain Financial Services for an undisclosed amount.

Major Swedish wealth manager Söderberg & Partners has completed its fourth UK adviser deal of the year by buying a minority shareholding in London-based Generation Financial Services for an undisclosed sum.

Expanding wealth manager and Financial Planner MKC Wealth has added £90m to its assets under advice by acquiring Buxton-based Crescent Independent and the client base of Bury-based IFA Christine Brearley.

The Pensions Regulator has called on trustees to help battle cyber-crooks by reporting significant cyber-related incidents as part of updated guidance to tackle the ongoing threat posed by cyber criminals.

The FCA is cracking down on the practice of so-called ‘double-dipping’ by investment platforms and SIPP operators whereby they keep interest on customers’ cash balances and charge them a fee for doing so.

Canadian-owned investment manager and platform 7IM has snapped up £1bn AUM Financial Planning firm Amicus Wealth, subject to regulatory approval.

The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) has appointed Glenn Murphy ACSI as the new head of CISI’s Wealth Management Forum Committee.

In the last two years annuity rates have risen by more than half, according to Canada Life, giving a 65-year-old with a £100,000 annuity an extra £2,500 a year.