Exclusive: FNZ clarifies working from home sacking threat
FNZ has clarified its working from home policy after an email threatening to sack staff who work from home for more than two days per week caused uproar. The company told Money Marketing the email was taken out of context and that it values the benefits of hybrid working. It added that it has invested in technologies and office space to support its workforce. FNZ has over 6,400 employees in 30 offices worldwide.
Exclusive: Abrdn restructures financial planning arm
An Abrdn spokesperson told Money Marketing it is restructuring its financial planning arm to create two new models: the financial consultant model and the regional advice model. The financial consultant model will serve clients with straightforward or more simple needs, while the regional advice model will serve clients with more complex needs. In parallel, the business will put in place arrangements for client and colleague meetings in locations where it does not have an office. The changes are due to be completed by the end of the year.
Adviser platform model is doomed to fail
The adviser platform model, in which financial advice firms operate their own investment platforms, is facing challenges. These include high compliance costs and difficulty competing with larger, more established platforms. Some experts believe that the adviser platform model is not sustainable in the long term and that financial advice firms would be better off white-labeling a platform from a third-party provider.
Intelliflo partners with SS&C to launch ‘industry changing’ wealthlink
Intelliflo, a practice management software provider for financial advisers, has partnered with SS&C Technologies, an investment platform technology provider, to launch Wealthlink. Wealthlink is a new proposition that will allow advisers to manage client investment and pension plans in one place. It is claimed to be the “deepest ever integration between practice management software and an investment platform”. Wealthlink will be going live with a user group of Intelliflo customers later this year.
Abrdn mulls redundancies after financial planning restructure
Abrdn is considering redundancies after restructuring its financial planning arm. The restructuring is expected to lead to redundancies, but the exact number of jobs lost has not yet been confirmed. The changes are due to be completed by the end of the year. Last summer, Money Marketing reported that senior staff members were leaving Abrdn Financial Planning in droves. A source close to the business revealed that Hina Desai – managing director, North – resigned in April with six months’ notice.
M&G Wealth’s MD David Montgomery to leave in August
David Montgomery, managing director of M&G Wealth, will be leaving the company in August. Montgomery has been with M&G Wealth for three years, and under his leadership, M&G Wealth has grown its assets under management to £28bn. Montgomery’s departure comes at a time of change for M&G Wealth. The company is currently in the process of being integrated with Prudential. It is not yet clear who will replace Montgomery as managing director.
Trouble-hit Bravura changes CEO after a year
Trouble-hit platform tech firm Bravura has changed its chief executive officer Libby Roy with immediate effect. Roy, who was relieved of her CEO duties, will remain with the company until 30 June for a handover and transition purposes. She was appointed to the role last June replacing Nick Parsons who had a short stint at the helm of the Australia-headquartered platform technology provider. Andrew Russell will be interim CEO until Roy’s successor is appointed.
Advisers slate platforms over poor service levels
Advisers have criticized platform providers over their service levels, saying that more needs to be done to address the issue. The overwhelming view of advisers who attended the Lang Cat platform service whitepaper launch was that platform service is the most important issue for advisers and the area that needs most work across all providers. The whitepaper looked at platform service propositions and what they mean for advisers.
Veteran adviser: ‘We can close advice gap if we get rid of FOS’
Veteran financial adviser Doug Brodie has claimed that the advice gap could be closed if rules around advice are relaxed and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is disbanded. Brodie, who is the founder of retirement advice firm Chancery Lane, said that the current regulation hampers efforts to provide valuable advice to millions of people on low incomes. He believes that getting rid of the FOS would allow advisers to offer more affordable advice.
Top slicing relief evolves again – will your clients be worse off?
The rules around top slicing relief have changed again, and this could mean that some clients will be worse off. Top slicing relief is available for chargeable event gains on life assurance and redemption policies. The new rules mean that the relief is now calculated differently, and this could result in some clients paying more tax.
