Good morning and welcome to your Morning Briefing for Wednesday 16 August 2023. To get this in your inbox every morning click here.
Inflation down again
The Consumer Prices Index rose by 6.8% in the 12 months to July, down from 7.9% in June.
This lower figure has been welcomed by the financial services industry.
But, they warn, there is still a long way to go to bring inflation down to the Bank of England’s 2% target.
In Conversation With Nick Elston
Inspirational speaker Nick Elston talks to chief reporter Lois Vallely about all things money and mental health.
They discuss the link between money and mental health, and how financial advisers can build trust and rapport with their clients. They also talk about the importance of understanding the relationship non-financial people have with money.
Hiring for one-man bands
The majority of advice firms are one-man bands. If business-owners want to grow their companies, though, they will need to start hiring at some point.
In this feature, Amanda Newman-Smith gives some tips to micro advice firms for how to go about this.
Quote Of The Day
Taking vulnerable customers into account at every stage of developing products and services, will help firms to meet their clients’ needs and avoid causing harm.
– Leon Diamond, chief executive and founder of LiveMore, calls on lenders and intermediaries to take particular note of the vulnerability aspect of the Consumer Duty rules, as data shows a rise in mortgage arrears and non-payment of bills
Stat Attack
The cost-of-living squeeze was more acutely felt by students than the average household over the last academic year, new analysis by interactive investor finds.
Using the latest inflation and housing rental data from the Office for National Statistics, ii calculates that there has been an 8.7% increase in the cost of student basics over the past year to June 2023.
| Inflation on student basics | Annual % CPI inflation to Jun 2023 |
| Food | 17.3 |
| Non-alcoholic drink | 16.9 |
| Alcohol | 6.7 |
| Clothes | 7.4 |
| Footwear | 6 |
| Private rental costs | 5.5 |
| Energy | 22.3 |
| Train | 6.5 |
| Bus and coach | 4 |
| Telephone and services (including internet) | 9.5 |
| Cinema, theatre, concerts | 4.6 |
| Sports attendance | 4.6 |
| Books | 14.1 |
| Television and radio licence fees, subscriptions | 2.3 |
| Restaurants and cafes | 9.1 |
| Hairdressing and personal grooming | 5.3 |
| Takeaways | 10.2 |
| Games and hobbies | 5.1 |
| Average | 8.7 |
Source: ONS and Interactive Investor
In Other News
Ocorian has strengthened its financial crime and anti-money laundering support for clients with a key appointment. It has promoted Joe French to managing director and head of its financial crime and consulting services.
He has been promoted to his new role having previously worked for Ocorian’s Newgate Compliance Limited for over six years.
His experience includes 13 years with HM Revenue & Customs leading intelligence teams which developed domestic and international criminal and civil cases in relation to money laundering, fraud and cyber-crime.
Prior to this he worked for the Financial Conduct Authority, after starting his career with Royal Bank of Scotland.
The news comes as recent international research with more than 130 family office professionals, commissioned by Ocorian, said growing regulatory pressures are a key driver behind 91% expecting their outsourcing to grow over the next three years.
National brokerage Just Mortgages has strengthened its self-employed management team with the appointment of Nigel Smith to the role of area director for the Midlands.
In the new role, Smith will support self-employed brokers in the region with their day-to-day operations and their future planning. In addition to coaching those making the move from employed to self-employed, he will help those existing self-employed brokers to expand their skill sets and ultimately their own businesses.
He will also work closely with brokers to access the ongoing training, compliance and marketing support offered by Just Mortgages.
Smith brings with him more than 17 years of experience from his tenure at Countrywide, starting out as a broker himself in 2006.
As the region’s top-performing broker for three years in a row, he was promoted to sales manager in 2011 for Somerset and Bristol, before progressing to financial services director for the west and Wales division in 2018. In this role, he managed eight sales managers and more than 60 mortgage advisers based in estate agencies across the region.
From Elsewhere
Bank of Ireland apologises after IT glitch let customers withdraw money they didn’t have (The Guardian)
Higher-for-longer rates regime pressures US recession trades (Reuters)
The Big Short investor Michael Burry bets $1.6bn on stock market crash (Sky News)
Did You See?
Senior reporter Momodou Musa Touray gained exclusive access to a round table hosted by MRM about the future of funding in financial services.
He heard that advisers looking to sell their businesses must be more realistic about valuations as the consolidation market grinds to a halt.
The panel said that both higher interest rates and inflation have combined to create a challenging economic environment.
These have reduced the appetite for mergers and acquisitions among buyers who have become more “discerning” about future financial performance of IFA firms.
