Standard Life has blamed falling annuity sales for a £24m drop in UK operating profit for the first half of 2015.
An investigation has been launched by the Government to find solutions to the so called advice gap, while a probe will also examine the effectiveness of the Money Advice Service.
Demand for annuities appears to have climbed, with sale increases suggesting somewhat of a recovery since the slump in April, research has shown.
The IFP’s chief executive hopes that a Treasury and FCA investigation into the advice gap, announced this morning, will help better define the differences between types of advice and Financial Planning.
The chance for professionals working in and around the advice sector to comment on a major review examining the so-called advice gap ends next week.
The Government’s three month probe into pension exit fees has been described as a “wakeup call to those providers who still think pensions born in the 1990s are fit for the 21st century”.
A number of Financial Planners, including a former IFP president, have left Towry following the takeover of Ashcourt Rowan, the company has confirmed.
A director from the Prudential Regulation Authority is joining the FCA for a one year role as the ripple effects of Martin Wheatley’s looming departure spread out.
Scores of companies are ‘dodging’ UK consumer protection rules and duping consumers into believing they are dealing with FCA regulated firms, it has been claimed.
Excessive early exit penalties have been placed at the heart of a three month probe into firms failing to make the new freedoms available to savers.