If you were stuck under a rock during the last five days, then here is a quick catch-up:
1) Time to forget buy-to-let
Buy-to-let investment is expensive and inconvenient and does not compare favourably with investing in funds, according to the chief executive of Hargreaves Lansdown.
Ian Gorham said while £100,000 worth of shares might cost about £300 a year to manage, the cost of maintaining a property would be more like £3,000.
The comments of Mr Gorham, a qualified accountant, joined Hargreaves Lansdown in 2009 as chief operating officer, before becoming chief executive in September 2010, certainly got you talking about the merits of pensions versus property.
Some pointed out the 44-year-old, who earned £1.9m in salary and bonuses last year and £10.6m the previous year, would favour investment over buy-to-let given the investment focus of his firm.
Others backed him pointing out the 3 per cent tax on stamp duty for buy-to-let investors, due to come into force from 1 April, could be the end of the buy-to-let boom.
Chancellor George Osborne announced the measures during his Autumn Statement in November in order to cool the market and tackle the issue of second homes bought by those who live overseas.
2) Sanlam changes and Tenet for sale talk
After announcing the loss of its UK chief executive Lukas van der Walt earlier in the week, Sanlam kept on restructuring.
Ex-Ashcourt Rowan men Steven Haines and Alfio Tagliabue, joined the board as group chief operating officer and group chief financial officer respectively.
Jeremy Gibson also got a promotion to chief executive of Sanlam Investments & Pensions.
The latest in the Tenet sale saga also hit on Thursday, with Intrinsic chief executive Andy Thompson stating he was in high level discussions with several distribution businesses as he bids to grow his company’s advice arm.
“I am currently talking at a high level to several distribution businesses and I have met Martin Greenwood, chief executive of Tenet, on many occasions,” he commented.
3) Storms brewing at the FCA
The Financial Conduct Authority has had a fairly turbulent start to the year, bringing ignominy upon themselves by sneaking out the cancellation of a banking culture review on New Year’s Eve.
The Treasury select committee had some questions for its bosses this week, with its chairman Andrew Tyrie asking the regulator’s chairman John Griffiths-Jones whether this was the consequence of a planned pre-briefing, or whether it was leaked.
He denied any leak, but pointed out the letters sent to the banks were not secret, adding that the thematic review was abandoned in order to narrow down the investigation by “putting the work on culture back onto individual firm supervision”.
Separately, back bench MPs have secured a House of Commons debate on the motion the FCA is no longer fit for purpose - no doubt delighting many in the advisory community.
Due to take place on 1 February, it comes following questions raised about the City watchdog’s handling of the Connaught funds and mis-selling of interest rate hedging products.
Finally, another document that appeared to have been sneaked out last week, was an independent boardroom review, which uncovered a number of challenges for the FCA, chief among them questions over its independence and susceptibility to external influence.
4) Pension caps and flat rate tax
The week began with parent paper the Financial Times revealing that pension tax relief for those on higher incomes looks set to be ditched as part of HM Treasury’s overhaul of the pensions system.
Chancellor George Osborne is expected to announce a move towards a ‘flat-rate’ government contribution in his March Budget, rather than the threatened “radical” move towards taxing pensions like Isas.
Nigel Green, chief executive of deVere Group, warned that middle class savers need to act now before the flat-rate pension tax relief is introduced and take the tax relief while it lasts.
On Tuesday, Mr Osborne was at it again, confirming that the Treasury - via the FCA - will be introducing curbs on excessive pension exit penalties.
While most in the industry welcomed the move, many were quick to question the level at which the cap will actually be set by the regulator and how the plans would work in practice.
5) Tributes
Yesterday (21 January) saw tributes paid to Parmenion founder and chief executive Richard Mein, who died of cancer at the weekend.
He was just 52-years-old and tributes came flooding in for a man who had done so much to push the platform industry forward.
peter.walker@ft.com
