UK home repossessions fell by 10% in the second quarter of the year compared with the first three months of 2009, figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) suggest.

Corporate wraps will not pose a threat to adviser firms but will instead complement their services, according to Friends Provident.

Pension providers have come out broadly in support of introducing adviser charging to the group personal pensions (GPP) market.

LV= has become the latest firm to join the decumulation action group headed by Tom McPhail.

The UK faces a slow recovery from recession as the financial crisis continues to impact on public and private spending, according to the Bank of England.

Clive Cowdery is nothing if not determined. Two years after jilting Friends Provident at the altar for a better offer from rival closed-life firm Pearl Assurance, he has returned to hunt down the insurance firm in a new guise.

Sesame made a £1m loss in the first half of 2009, while parent company Friends Provident increased its underlying profits by almost 200%.

Friends Provident's board has recommended shareholders accept the latest acquisition offer from Resolution.

In the US, the largest stocks began a retreat after weeks of gains with the benchmark Dow Jones down 19.34 points to 9,350.73 in early exchanges.

Wealth manager Sterling McCall has moved its investment offering to a discretionary fund management service.