Good morning and welcome to your Morning Briefing for Monday 4 August 2025. To get this in your inbox every morning click here.
Hoxton Wealth expands into Asia with acquisition of Infinity Financial Solutions
International advice firm Hoxton Wealth has expanded into Asia with the acquisition of Infinity Financial Solutions.
The acquisition, which is Hoxton’s first in the region and its largest to date, will add $300m (£225m) in assets under management (AUM) to its rapidly-growing portfolio.
The deal takes its total AUM to $3.3bn (£2.5bn).
PensionBee’s petition demands government action on pension transfer delays
PensionBee has launched a national petition urging the government to introduce a legally enforceable 10-day pension switch guarantee due to the “glacial pace” of pension switches.
It said that millions of consumers who attempt to take control of their retirement are “blocked from moving their money by outdated processes, unnecessary red tape and excessive delays”.
Noel Butwell: Targeted support can help reshape financial advice
There is no question that something needs to change in how people engage with financial advice, writes Noel Butwell, CEO of Aberdeen Adviser.
Despite years of discussion around the advice gap and efforts to close it, the problem continues to grow.
According to the lang cat’s research, only 9% of people sought advice in the past two years, down from 11% in 2023. Targeted support presents a valuable opportunity to shift things in a more positive direction.
Quote Of The Day
Financial resilience begins at 35. Physically we may be just past the peak, but financially we’re going from strength to strength
– Hargreaves Lansdown head of personal finance Sarah Coles on how 51% of those aged 35-39 score ‘good’ or ‘great’ for their financial resilience
Stat Attack
Research from wealth management platform, Stratiphy has found how many UK investors want more control over their investments amid volatile global markets.
77%
of investors want more control over their investments due to volatility.
77%
said the ability to personalise their investment strategy is essential.
67%
of people in the UK said that everyone should be able to access investing tools, but that too few people invest as it is seen as too complicated.
48%
want help with saving and investing but feel traditional wealth management tools are too expensive.
58%
of people in the UK said they would feel more confident investing if they could see how investments have performed historically.
71%
would be more confident to stay invested over the long term if they could see how investment managers handled past market downturns.
Source: Stratiphy
In Other News
SM Advice, the social media management firm supporting the adviser community, has announced the appointment of Chris Miles as its new managing director.
Miles joins from The Openwork Partnership, where he has held a number of leadership roles as well as chairing the LGBTQ+ colleague network group.
He was awarded The Business Ally award at the Barclays Diversity, Equity & inclusion awards in 2023 for his work at educating the adviser network on the benefits of allyship.
He brings 25 years of financial services experience, enabling him to utilise his industry insight to identify new opportunities in delivering sustainable business results for business owners, financial advisers, mortgage brokers and protection specialists.
SM Advice founder Setul Mehta said: “Since launch, SM Advice has had a phenomenal response from advisers who want relevant, consistent and compliant social media content.
“Miles’ leadership will allow SM Advice to build on this momentum, expand the service offering and provide even more value to not just clients but the networks, providers and nationals SM Advice works with.”
China’s independent oil firms elbow into Iraq’s majors-dominated market (Reuters)
UK is being ‘left behind’ on crypto, says George Osborne (Financial Times)
FCA says lenders face minimum £9bn bill on car loans (Bloomberg)
Did You See?
Retail investors will soon be able to access crypto exchange-traded notes (cETNs), following a regulatory change announced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Under the updated rules, cETNs must be traded on FCA-approved, UK-based Recognised Investment Exchanges (RIEs).
The move is accompanied by financial promotion requirements to ensure consumers receive clear, accurate information and are not exposed to inappropriate investment incentives.
Firms offering cETNs to retail clients must comply with the Consumer Duty, ensuring they act to deliver good outcomes.
However, investments in cETNs will not be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), and the FCA is urging consumers to fully understand the risks before investing.
The change forms part of the FCA’s broader work to build a regulatory framework for cryptoassets.
Recent steps include proposals on stablecoins and other parts of the regime, set out in its published crypto roadmap.
