IFA

Financial advisers are the most trusted figures in financial services, particularly in the wake of the banking crisis, research suggests.

Some IFAs are recommending will writers to clients in exchange for secret clauses in wills leaving legacies to the advisers, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) claims.

The FSA may extend to other retail markets the practice of requiring advisers to justify recommending a product with higher charges compared to a more basic vehicle.

The Plain English Campaign (PEC) has been fighting gobbledygook, jargon and misleading public information since 1979. Judging by last week's RDR professionalism paper it still has work to do at the FSA.

Pointon York has launched Family Trust, a retirement planning tool for families and business associates.

More than three quarters of advisers are confident they will still be trading come 1 January 2013, the day the RDR is introduced, according to Aviva research.

The regulator's about-turn to allow commission payments on Holloway-style income protection plans after 2012 proves the RDR neglected lower-premium paying consumers from the start.

Asset managers and IFAs have countered active fund manager Terry Smith's warning ETFs are a "new investment fad" that investors misunderstand.

Another quarter, another social media phenomenon IFAs will be told to get onboard with. This time around, it’s Quora. It isn’t, as one asset manager thought, a vegetarian meat-alternative. It’s a social answering service that’s causing all the fuss.

Perspective Financial Group has made its 20th acquisition with the purchase of Leedham Independent Financial Advisers.