For anyone out there convinced there must be something else going on the news other than Brexit - surely - then you've come to the right place. It's time for the week in news.
1) Pension transfers that are finger lickin' good
For advisers interested in finding out how to get their clients interested in their finances, the answer appears to be quite simple.
This week we learnt unregulated introducers are attempting to get British Steel pension scheme members to transfer their retirement pots by offering them chicken dinners.
Labour MP for Stockton North Alex Cunningham, who has constituents affected by the failure of the pension scheme, said he heard of stories where people were being treated to “chicken in a basket” with a view to being persuaded to transfer their pensions out and into investments elsewhere.
Nick Smith, a Labour MP for Blaenau Gwent in Wales, said his constituents were also affected by this "scandal" (the pension transfers, not the chicken).
Mr Smith said the Financial Conduct Authority was providing insufficient support to steelworkers "at this crucial time".
This week the Pensions Ombudsman revealed it had received more than a hundred complaints from members of the British Steel Pension Scheme.
What could possibly go wrong?
2) Advice unrestricted by the rules
It would seem a fairly straight forward thing to know whether your firm is independent or restricted but if we're being generous this seems to have eluded Bluefin Insurance Services.
This week the FCA fined Bluefin £4m for pushing its parent company insurer Axa's products while claiming to be independent.
The FCA found Bluefin's independence was compromised by its culture, which included a policy focused on increasing the business placed with its parent company over treating customers fairly.
An investigation found it had inadequate systems and controls and failed to provide information to its customers about its independence in a way that was clear, fair and not misleading.
3) Cranking up the cracking down
The FCA has seen some things it doesn't like and one of them is firms operating at the margins of regulated activity that it believes pose a serious risk to consumers.
A lawyer close to the situation said this week that in a series of recent proceedings the FCA has sought to prosecute so-called introducer firms deemed to have misled consumers by not being clear about their unregulated status, or by transferring money into risky investments which later failed.
Meanwhile the FCA has this week also raised a red flag on offers of so-called 'free' pension advice.
The FCA said: “Free pension reviews are designed to persuade you to move money saved in an existing pension pot to a new scheme.
“Chances are your money will be invested in something that is either very risky or a scam.
“Professional pension advice is not free. Professional advisers looking to act in your best interests are very unlikely to cold call you offering their services.”
4) You've got to have faith
Investors in Neil Woodford's funds have been told this week they lack the courage of his convictions, with the star manager's dogmatic commitment to his view on the UK economy given as one of the reasons for his fund shrinking in size by £2bn over the past year.
The flagship Woodford Equity Income fund has shrunk from £10.1bn in March 2017 to £8.2bn on 4 December.
Mr Woodford has concentrated the investments in his fund around the premise that the UK economy will do better than expected in the coming years, and the global economy will do slightly worse.
In the meantime one of Mr Woodford's top 10 holdings took a hit this week as the FCA launched an investigation into Moneybarn, which is part of Provident Financial.
Provident Financial shares were down 16 per cent in the wake of the announcement but have since recovered some of this.
5) Rise of the robos
This week we learnt Nationwide would be testing a digital investment advice service in the FCA's regulatory sandbox.
The regulator confirmed Nationwide will be testing an automated solution providing digital savings guidance and investment advice.
This was followed by HSBC confirming it would launch a robo-advice service next year to tap into the "tremendous" opportunity of its customers who are stuck in cash savings.
Meanwhile fund management giant BlackRock has said it sees its investment in robo-advice as part of a business-to-business strategy rather than an attempt to go direct-to-consumer.
Michael Gruener, managing director of Emea retail at BlackRock, said the company would use its stake in robo-advice firms to provide technology to existing advisers, allowing them to offer robo-advice.
damian.fantato@ft.com
