Sesame Bankhall Group

Clive Balchin had been with Sesame for 18 years but an ever more stringent approach to compliance pushed him to hand in his notice - just days before the group announced it was shutting its investment network.

Sesame plans to shut its Financial Adviser School as part of its wider restructuring, it has said in its latest letter to advisers.

Networks face a murky future

Network Sesame has pledged to cover investment advisers' regulatory fees and trail commission arrangements as part of a benefits package for those going down its 'preferred route'.

Restricted network Sesame has said it will no longer offer an appointed representative (AR) option for wealth firms.

Restricted advice network giant Sesame witnessed a near-30% fall in new complaints in the second half of last year, as customer gripes related to banking and credit cards rose.

The proportion of complaints against advisory groups found in favour of the consumer is significantly below the average for the sector, the Financial Ombudsman Service's (FOS's) latest data shows.

Restricted adviser network Sesame would be broke and unable to trade without the continued financial support of its parent company Friends Life, Aviva has said in a note to shareholders ahead of its planned acquisition of the provider.

Clients who buy the same protection products via Sesame could pay vastly different premiums amounting to thousands of pounds more depending on which of the network's two types of adviser they deal with, an investigation by Professional Adviser has revealed....

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