Pension provider Hornbuckle Mitchell has recruited Pointon York Sipp Solutions managing director Jo French to the position of managing director of operations and client experience.

National IFA Chase de Vere has opened a new office in Cambridge and is targeting growth in East Anglia.

Friends Life has launched a venture with Key Retirement Solutions to bolster the support it offers customers at retirement.

Platforms have adopted a lot of new and unnecessary regulatory processes and need to step back and take a "sense check", according to one wealth planner and chief executive.

Lighthouse Group has compensated the former executive chairman, David Hickey, £259,000 following his resignation from the post in August last year.

TRENDS

There is a huge and widening gulf between firms making outstanding profits and those losing money, according to research released today.

Adviser Network Intrinsic expects the number of its ‘restricted' advisers to increase to 75% over the next two years, compared with less than 60% currently.

Members of life and pensions mutual Royal London have agreed to proposals to acquire the life insurance and asset management businesses of the Co-operative Banking Group.

Some 40% of IFAs say that clients are more confused on the difference between independent and restricted advice than they were before the implementation of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), according to research released today.