IFA

Following Wednesday's Pre-Budget Report announcement on the review of PTA, a host of adviser comments are still rolling in criticising the government and questioning what firms should do for clients with "pipeline" cases.

Financial advisers have reacted angrily to the government's decision to review the rules around the sale of standalone life cover with tax relief, otherwise known as pensions terms assurance (PTA.

I was out on the road last week chairing conferences on the development of the wrap and platform market, and learned some valuable lessons about the reality of the adviser business.

Philip Marsden, director of Vantis Corporate Finance, the business and tax advisory group, says despite record amounts being invested through private equity deals it remains the case it is tricky to strike deals with IFA businesses.

Punter Southall Financial Management has announced plans to buy national IFA firm Opus Consulting for an undisclosed sum.

In my blog last month I tried to brew up a storm with my suggestion that neither the public nor the regulator understood the difference between independent financial advice and independent financial sales.

There have been a lot of questions raised in the industry of late about the voices contributing to industry reform consultations, and where the intermediary voice fits into that.

I produced a story yesterday which created what I would call robust criticism from some circles of the industry (and robust is perhaps the polite description).

A Kent-based IFA has hit out against what he says is unfair treatment at the hands of the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

Resolution Asset Management has appointed a new head of its third-party sales division which includes intermediaries.