Meanwhile the incoming Bank's governor lifted the lid on the defined benefit transfer market to MPs. It's time for the week in news.
IFA loses £200k commission case against Aviva
An IFA found himself more than £200,000 out of pocket in January when a High Court ruled he was not entitled to claw back commission from provider Aviva.
As reported by FTAdviser this week, the adviser had sought to recover the commission after the company he advised moved its employees to a new pensions platform and thus ending his services.
The adviser argued Aviva was under a contractual obligation to pay him the commission he believed he was owed, rather than paying his principal firm, but the High Court judge dismissed the claim saying he could not find any breach of contract.
BoE warns over 'large economic shock' from coronavirus
The impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the financial services sector continued this week, as the outgoing governor of the Bank of England warned the economic shock from the disease "could prove large". But Mark Carney told MPs on Tuesday (March 3) the fallout would "ultimately be temporary".
Closer to home in the advice market the ongoing coronavirus threat resulted in an adviser event in central London being cancelled this week.
Advisers and discretionary fund managers were due to attend the Columbia Threadneedle investment conference at the Savoy Hotel on Tuesday, but received an email the day cancelling the event as a result of the outbreak and "feedback" the company had received.
Bailey confirms 370 firms left DB market
The outgoing chief executive of the FCA was up in front of MPs at a Treasury committee meeting this week, where he was grilled on his upcoming post as governor of the Bank of England.
It was during this session the watchdog boss confirmed 370 firms had left the defined benefit transfer sector over the past two years - a total of 12 per cent of the entire market. Mr Bailey used this opportunity to warn the general view at the FCA was pension freedoms had been "rushed through too quickly", with the regulator left playing catch up.
Quilter fast-track course gets green light
This week Quilter's adviser school confirmed its fast-track course had been given the green light to become a permanent feature after its first cohort of students graduated with a pass rate of 100 per cent. The programme sees students achieve a Diploma for Financial Advisers in three months - half the time allowed on Quilter's standard 47-week programme.
Head of training Julian Hince said the school's graduates gave him "enormous hope" for the future of advice.
Client stuck in cash earned just 0.29 per cent in six years
This week FTAdviser reported how one adviser stepped in to help a client who accidentally left his £134,000 pension pot in cash for six years, missing out on a strong market run. The client had diligently paid lump sums into his platform savings, but had failed to invest the money into any underlying funds.
The money was kept in the platform’s default cash account and the client’s return from six years of having their pot invested in cash was just 0.29 per cent, working out at an annual rate of about 0.05 per cent a year.
By contrast, the average fund in the Investment Association Global sector has returned 74 per cent over the past six years, according to FE Analytics.
The client first came to the adviser for a general check-up of his financial affairs when he discovered the pension pot kept entirely in cash.
rachel.mortimer@ft.com
What do you think about the issues raised by this story? Email us on fa.letters@ft.com to let us know.
