Gov't to promise free financial advice for all - papers 15 Jan

Ministers have appointed Otto Thoresen, chief executive of Aegon UK, to lead a task force to design it by the year's end. The service will provide advice about transactions from mortgages and pensions to investing in the government's child trust fund, says the paper. The scheme is likely to comprise a national helpline and website, alongside a network of new and existing local advice centres, and it will link to independent financial advisers or product providers. The service will cost about £50m a year, to be shared by the taxpayer and the financial services industry, and it will b...