The Top Class Wednesday Update gives out more energy than it takes in

Nearly there, everyone, nearly there. It’s dark and it’s cold and there’s as much as three inches of snow in parts of England so obviously it’s snowmageddon. I was reminded recently when daydreaming of escaping to Finland of this rundown of what proper Finnish weather is: +15°C / 59°F – This is as warm as […]
The Top Class Wednesday Update would have settled for a card

I just spotted this, right, and I don’t want to shock anyone but it’s distressingly near Christmas and no-one mentioned anything and now there’s quite a lot to do, so you’d better all get on with it. And by “you” what I mean is “me” so if we could all keep everything on the down-low […]
The Top Class Wednesday Update is worried about France in the quarter finals

Greetings. Hope you are all well. Mike here, keeping the TCWU wheel turning for another week. Big news from the FCA today, with the release of the snappily titled, “Broadening access to financial advice for mainstream investments” consultation paper. This is something that has been trailed for a while now, with Money Marketing reporting on […]
The Top Class Wednesday Update sheds tiers

Afternoon everyone and a happy Wednesday to those who celebrate. Where I am the temperature has plummeted faster than in a meeting of the Commuters Association when Mick Lynch walks into the room and it feels like we are now on the run-out from 2022, for which I suspect many will be grateful right up […]
Duty bound: The link between suitability and Consumer Duty

A lot of what the Consumer Duty is about is ensuring that clients are empowered to make better financial decisions. There’s a fundamental tenet here – it’s not enough that they have you as their advice professional. They have to understand things for themselves. They don’t need to understand Markovitz and modern portfolio theory. They […]
The Top Class Wednesday Update is 200, sort of

Well now, it seems like forever since I’ve had my hands dirty with the Update, ably assisted as I am by Rich, Old Tom (as opposed to Young Tom) and diverse others these days. In fact it’s only been three weeks, but as we all know a lot can happen in such a short time […]
The Top Class Wednesday Update is going against Mum’s advice

Hi gang, Rich Mayor here to talk about the third quarter a bit. We’re tantalisingly close to being able to talk about everything about platforms’ numbers last quarter, but we’re still embargoed until Thursday when it will be unleashed upon an unsuspecting public (that’ll be you). But while we can’t say everything we can say […]
I’m a Top Class Wednesday Update get me out of here

Mr Polson is away this week, having indulged his guitar-playing Mr Hyde persona and most excellently tearing up the PFS Conference. For anyone who got too close, counselling is available. I’ll come to the pensions in a minute. But in the week we celebrate both the dark and the supernatural (and for some reason, pumpkins), […]
The Top Class Wednesday Update is glad everything’s completely normal

Day five million in the Big Brother house, and the contestants have started to eat each other. “This is normal,” says Suella, gnawing on a thigh bone. “I’m struck by how well everything is working,” says Dominic, popping a juicy eyeball into his dry, blackened mouth. I’ve been looking for a long time for a […]
The Top Class Wednesday Update remembers Ian Taylor

Hi everyone, Mark here. Rich will be Updating you – albeit in a truncated form – in a moment, but first I think we need to take a moment to mark the end of an era with the desperately sad news of the passing of Ian Taylor, ex-CEO and co-founder of Transact, at only 58 […]