It’s been a busy week, particularly for those among us who have had to schedule in their secret meetings with members of the Israeli government.
If your furtive attempts at diplomacy have meant you haven’t kept on top of the news as much as you’d have liked, then here’s the week in news.
1) Turn up, tune in, drop out
This week more than 3,000 advisers turned up to a conference centre in the Midlands for the Personal Finance Society’s Festival of Financial Planning.
As far as your loyal correspondent could tell, there were very few illicit substances doing the rounds but there was some alcohol and more than enough financial planning.
He also announced that the PFS had secured a mutual recognition agreement for qualifications with the European Financial Planning Association.
Meanwhile advisers were warned they run the risk of accidentally allowing people to carry out defined benefit transfers and the Financial Conduct Authority ruled out tampering with professional indemnity insurance for firms providing these transfers.
2) Passing of a pensions legend
The world of pensions and financial advice was shocked by the death of AJ Bell’s Mike Morrison.
Mr Morrison, who was head of platform technical at AJ Bell, was 55-years-old and had a wife and young daughter.
He was well known, liked and respected within the industry he worked in for almost 30 years through roles at Winterthur Life, Axa Wealth and AJ Bell.
This writer and many of his colleagues can certainly speak for what a knowledgeable and decent person he was.
3) Decumulation delusion disaster?
Platforms declining to offer the full range of pension withdrawal products with only drawdown widely available, is putting advisers at risk of claims they are not acting in the best interests of clients, we learnt this week.
Consultancy firm the Lang Cat found just 53 per cent of advisers use a platform specifically for decumulation, that is to enable clients to manage the withdrawal of their retirement savings.
The Lang Cat’s founder Mark Polson said that what made this particularly disappointing was the fact some of the most popular platforms did not offer “the most basic features” for decumulation.
Only two platforms - Standard Life Wrap and Transact - provided all 11 features of the features Mr Polson asked about.
Rory Percival, a regulatory consultant and former technical specialist at the Financial Conduct Authority, said advisers were risking falling foul of the rules by not using a well-designed platform with all the necessary features for decumulation.
4) Heavy metal
Members of the British Steel Pension Scheme are finding themselves on the wrong end of flawed advice, it has been uncovered this week.
Henry Tapper, the founder of Pension Playpen, and Al Rush, principal at Rutland-based Echelon Wealthcare, spent a day this week in Port Talbot in Wales speaking to defined benefit scheme members.
Around 130,000 individuals will have to choose to move their pension pots to a new plan being created, BSPS II, or stay in the current fund, which will be moved to the Pension Protection Fund (PPF).
More than 7,000 members of the scheme have requested a transfer value quotation between April and September this year.
But Messrs Tapper and Rush found there was “little awareness” of the risks of transferring and a lack of understanding about the risks of drawdown.
5) You break it, you bought it
The Financial Conduct Authority has said it will expect consumers to take reasonable responsibility for the financial decisions they make.
But it added firms must treat consumers fairly and should exercise extra care when they are vulnerable.
The confirmation of the regulator's stance is in a document published this week which set out its approach to consumers.
Addressing the advice market in particular, the FCA said it expects consumers to receive suitable advice which takes account of their individual circumstances.
damian.fantato@ft.com
