Good morning and welcome to your Morning Briefing for Tuesday 28 October 2025. To get this in your inbox every morning click here.
Clients cutting pension contributions to invest in IHT solutions
Nearly half of advisers say clients are cutting pension contributions to invest in inheritance tax solutions, according to new research from investment manager Downing.
This is in the lead up to the April 2027 deadline for unused defined contribution (DC) pension funds being included in estates, announced in the Autumn 2024 Budget.
In Downing’s survey of UK financial advisers and wealth managers, a further 30% questioned said clients are taking money out of pensions to invest in IHT planning solutions.
How to write in a way that engages your clients
You want your clients to read the stuff you write, don’t you? writes David Butcher, managing director of communications and content.
Of course you do. Yet many advisers’ work is probably not being read, because they’re not writing in a way that works for their clients.
The way that people read has been changing profoundly. Advisers who can adapt their writing accordingly will probably engage their clients. Advisers that don’t… well, you might as well cook a lovely meal, then scrape it straight into the bin.
FCA issues guidance for firms offering crypto ETNs
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published guidance for firms planning to offer crypto exchange-traded notes (cETNs) to retail investors.
In an update released today (27 October), the regulator reminded firms that cETNs are classified as Restricted Mass Market Investments and must comply with financial promotion rules.
This includes prohibitions on offering incentives to invest, requirements for robust appropriateness assessments, client categorisation and cooling-off periods, as well as the inclusion of prominent risk warnings.
Quote Of The Day
With central banks in the spotlight and Big Tech earnings on deck, markets could be in for another week of sharp twists and turns
– Lukman Otunuga, senior market analyst at FXTM, gives their view on the markets
Stat Attack
Over a third (34%) of UK workers are at risk of not being able to cover their basic needs in retirement, according to fresh research from Scottish Widows.
The new report ‘Retirement Realities: Unlocking The Workplace Benefits’ – analyses the views of 1,000 senior decision makers with responsibility for pensions at their firms and 2,000 employees from a range of different sectors.
The findings show:
20%
of full-time employees still face poverty in retirement despite actively contributing to a pension.
34%
of part-time workers are at risk of not being able to cover basic needs in retirement due to lower earnings and missing auto-enrolment thresholds.
£13,400 per year
The estimated minimum cost of a retirement lifestyle for a single person outside London, excluding housing costs.
63%
of retirement income is expected to come from workplace pensions, according to Scottish Widows.
38%
of employees have little to no understanding of the pension-related benefits offered by their employer.
41%
Have little to no understanding of their pension benefits.
Source: Scottish Widows
In Other News
Evelyn Partners has appointed ex-professional rugby player Chris Dean to its Edinburgh financial planning team.
Dean spent over a decade with Edinburgh Rugby Club, and with more than 150 appearances became the club’s most-capped Centre in its history.
Evelyn Partners said his appointment in a business development role, while also training as a financial planner, further grows the Edinburgh office of the wealth management firm.
Dean will develop opportunities for both the financial planning and investment management teams at the Edinburgh office, strengthening relationships with key contacts and raising Evelyn Partners’ profile in the marketplace, with a particular focus on the firm’s Total Wealth Management offering.
Just Wealth, the financial services arm of national brokerage Just Mortgages, has surpassed 600 referrals from its sister firm so far this year through the Just Refer portal.
The milestone, a total of 585 year-to-date, highlights the growing success of the referral partnership between the two businesses and the strength of the Just Refer platform in connecting Just Mortgages’ clients with wider financial support.
Launched to streamline collaboration between the mortgage and wealth arms of the business, Just Refer enables brokers at Just Mortgages to refer clients to a Just Wealth adviser for additional financial advice, such as pensions, savings, investments or estate planning.
The platform is also used within Just Mortgages to enable brokers to refer clients to a qualified colleague to discuss the likes of equity release, business protection or commercial advice.
As Trump-Xi trade talks near, investors turn to history as a guide (Reuters)
$100bn stock swings expose ‘fragility’ beneath Wall Street rally (Financial Times)
Saudi wealth fund’s boss touts vision 2030 progress amid strains (Bloomberg)
Did You See?
Transact chief executive Tom Dunbar says the platform is on a mission to build the UK’s best AI-ready ecosystem for financial advisers.
He says this next phase will combine seamless integrations, automation and digital efficiency to make financial planning easier.
Speaking exclusively to Money Marketing, Dunbar outlined his strategy to strengthen Transact’s technology infrastructure and help advice firms harness artificial intelligence safely within their existing systems.
“We want to be not only the best platform in the market but the platform that builds the best technology and admin ecosystem for advisers,” he said.
The aim is to eliminate re-keying and data fragmentation by allowing information to flow seamlessly between systems, from portfolio creation to client reporting.
