sesame

Newly-formed intermediary giant Sesame Bankhall Group will immediately set about helping its IFAs transition their businesses to be ready to operate an adviser charging model from 1 January 2013.

Sesame has completed its acquisition of Bankhall and the Premier Mortgage Service from Skandia UK.

The FSA has burst a growing bubble of opinion it intends to cut the number of financial advice firms in the UK by "over-regulating" the sector.

IFA Lighthouse is in the driving seat to snap up more than 200 Park Row advisers should talks for a bulk transfer to 2plan Wealth Management break down.

Banks dominated new FOS complaints figures naming and shaming the worst offenders for the first time.

Adviser complaints against mortgage lender service levels and practices have jumped by almost two thirds in the past twelve months, according to Sesame.

Sesame will deliver a virtual RDR conference to update advisers on the impact for their businesses and provide solutions for a smooth transition.

Financial advice firms will avoid the lure of joining a national or network IFA in the build-up to 2012 and instead look to join forces with like-minded propositions, research suggests.

Sesame has stressed it sees platforms as "very important" to the future of retail distribution as the final details on a takeover of support services provider Bankhall are hammered out.

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