Money Marketing’s Weekly Must-Reads: Top 10 Stories
Stay up to date with the biggest stories in financial services this week — from TILLIT’s closure following a failed funding round to Aegon’s bold campaign challenging the traditional advice model.
TILLIT closes after failed funding round
TILLIT, an investment platform and workplace pension provider founded in 2019, announced its closure after failing to secure necessary funding. Despite a strong product and loyal customer base, the current funding environment proved too challenging. CEO Felicia Hjertman expressed pride in the team and gratitude to customers. The firm began an orderly wind-down with Seccl Custody and the FCA, keeping its platform open briefly to support customer transitions.
Raymond James invests in FNZ’s wealth management platform
FNZ partnered with Raymond James to power its next-generation wealth management platform, aiming to transform adviser and client experiences. Raymond James planned a significant investment to accelerate FNZ’s digital infrastructure, focusing on AI-driven capabilities and efficiency. FNZ also raised US$500m in new capital. The platform offered enhanced personalisation, speed and security, benefiting advisers and investors alike. The partnership underscored FNZ’s commitment to North America and Raymond James’ global tech investment strategy.
Rathbones director elected Sheriff of the City of London
Rathbones investment director Robert Hughes-Penney was elected one of the two Sheriffs of the City of London, with his term beginning in September 2025. A veteran of over 30 years in wealth management, he brought experience from leadership at Rathbones and TheCityUK. In his role, he aimed to champion financial literacy, support justice initiatives, and represent the City at civic and legal events, including the Justice for All programme and charitable fundraising efforts.
Transact integrates with Intelliflo to streamline adviser workflows
Transact launched a new integration with Intelliflo to reduce adviser admin, speed up workflows, and improve data accuracy. The integration, free to users of both platforms, enabled client data to flow directly from Intelliflo into Transact. Central to this was the ZeroKey browser extension, eliminating the need to rekey information. The collaboration reflected Transact’s and Intelliflo’s shared commitment to boosting efficiency for advisers and enhancing the overall financial planning experience.
Weatherbys head of financial planning achieves rare double
Nathan Valbonesi, head of financial planning at Weatherbys Private Bank, achieved a rare double by earning the highest qualifications in both financial planning and wealth management. He became one of the few professionals to hold both CISI’s certified financial planner and chartered wealth manager titles. Valbonesi’s case study received the year’s top mark and a CISI award. He was also invited to join the CISI exam panel in recognition of his achievement.
Andy Bell: Reeves must act, not overthink retail investing reform
Andy Bell urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to focus on simplifying ISAs rather than overregulating them to boost retail investing. He opposed cutting the Cash ISA allowance or mandating UK asset allocations, arguing such policies add confusion and are difficult to enforce. Bell advocated for merging Cash and Stocks & Shares ISAs into a single product to ease behavioural barriers, promote balanced saving and investing, and support long-term retail participation without extra cost to government.
AJ Bell launches app-based advised platform Touch to tackle ‘advice gap’
AJ Bell launched AJ Bell Touch, an app-based advised platform designed to help advisers serve clients with smaller portfolios and simpler needs. Built from scratch, Touch offered a low-cost, fully mobile experience with secure messaging, digital document approval, and open banking integration. It aimed to reduce administrative burden and close the advice gap, enabling advisers to support underserved segments while complementing AJ Bell’s existing platforms and expanding its advised customer base.
How to approach the four-day week
Firms in the financial advice sector adopted the four-day week to improve work/life balance, boost productivity and attract talent. Companies like Almond Financial and WBR Group found success by phasing in the change, maintaining full pay, and focusing on outcomes over hours. Emphasising trust, autonomy, and smarter workflows, they avoided simply compressing workloads. Leaders reported improved morale, reduced absence, and stronger employee engagement without compromising service or business performance.
Aegon launches campaign to challenge traditional model of financial advice
Aegon launched Money:Mindshift, a campaign led by Dr Tom Mathar to challenge the traditional transactional financial advice model. It promoted a human-centric approach, recognising emotional and psychological factors behind money decisions. Research showed mixed beliefs on money and happiness. The campaign emphasised guiding clients toward a “well-lived life,” balancing financial outcomes with values, health, and relationships. It highlighted advisers’ need to address clients’ emotional as well as financial needs for success.
Consumer Duty has made it ‘much harder’ to serve low value clients
The Consumer Duty made serving low-value clients harder, according to a Lang Cat study. Thirty-eight percent of advisers reported increased difficulty, with no one finding it easier. Typical advised portfolio sizes rose to £411,026. Despite challenges, most advisers did not refuse clients but imposed strict conditions or offered tailored services. Consumer barriers to advice included cost, trust, and finding advisers. The report highlighted persistent advice gaps and mixed views on FCA’s targeted support proposals.
