Hello.
The finfluencers are at it again.
You might remember I was a bit put out at one who felt that documenting their attempts to achieve their super niche goal has earned them the right, in the form of a paid advertisement, to imply you will only ever need a no commission platform and to further imply any platform charging consumers any form of fees is tantamount to theft.
Informing people about where they may be paying potentially a pretty consequential amount in fees in certain contexts and why they may or may not be happy with that is one thing. Taking money from [redacted zero commission platform] to imply that’s all they’ll ever need and here’s an incentive code for something or other is something else.
Well, the finfluencers are evolving.
There’s this style of content usually reserved for angry Italians who have realised there’s a limit to how much people will watch them get overexerted in reaction videos at chefs deviating from traditional Italian recipes. You know the type:
“No, Gordon. NO NO NO. Mamma didn’t put the cream in the carbonara..” (You’ll have to imagine the hand movements.)
Anyway, the Italians have shifted to having various categories of dishes, types of ingredients, beer, wine, you name it, appear to them and they have to rank them into a tiered list.
Anyway, I saw one finfluencer use this format for another Paid Ad from [redacted no fee platform no. 2] to rank ETFs. They then mumbled something fairly generic to explain their reasoning, but really?
One of the less bad ones outlined the rationale behind the underlying investments in their ISA, only to explain they sold them to put their money in a global equity ETF because the diversification is all in there – and don’t worry it’s done by market cap.
It was all rounded off with an ad for [redacted no.2} no fee platform.
“I use them because of low fees.” No further explanation needed, “this is how easy it is to set up and use the code in the comments.”
So, what’s the problem? I was speaking to a pal who also works in financial services about all this.
“I have a lot of friends who use [redacted no.2] platform because of these adverts,” she said.
“They think it works just like a bank account.”
The News:
LANG CAT & CLIENT MENTIONS
Turn down unhelpful noise of AI advice
Steve in the Scotsman.
Source: The Scotsman
Quilter CEO Steven Levin: ‘We’re heading for a massive retirement crisis’
Advice Gap mention.
Source: Financial News
Morningstar Wealth’s Sanderson: ‘Advisers are maligned and misunderstood’
Our joint research mentioned.
Source: Portfolio Adviser
The drawdown shortcut that may not exist
Dr Sipp, or Lee Halpin of @sipp to others, talking about a potential misconception in how PCLS is approached.
Source: FT Adviser
7IM promotes corporate development chief to ramp up M&A
Big plans ahead for 7IM.
Source: Citywire NMA
Copia Capital’s Warne: The current infrastructure outlook
The positive story for infrastructure as laid out by Copia’s Richard Warne.
Source: Portfolio Adviser
‘Financial advice is not about money’
Saturn mentioned here.
Source: FT Adviser
Clifton Wealth reaches £4bn AUM with Suffolk IFA buy
Clifton keeps pushing on.
Source: Citywire NMA
FCA protection review ‘missed opportunity’ for industry
Guardian shares some perspectives on the regulator’s protection review.
Source: FT Adviser
ADVISERS
Starting Out: Why graduates are choosing financial services careers
Consensus is although graduates associate the sector with a solid career choice, they are sometimes unaware of the variety of roles available.
Source: Money Marketing
UK AUM set to hit £16trn by 2030
Quite a lot, isn’t it.
Source: Money Marketing
Asking what role money coaching could play as advisers struggle to service lower value clients.
Source: Professional Adviser
Average adviser client numbers rise from 118 to 134
According to Dynamic Planner.
Source: Money Marketing
PROTECTION
Protection insurers paid out £7.84bn in 2025
Down 3% from 2024.
Source: COVER
PLATFORMS
Parmenion rolls out redesigned dashboards to combat advice complexity
That’s nice of them.
Source: Money Marketing
FCA rules platform cash margin must be consumer duty compliant
Clients must now understand the impact of interest margin retention.
Source: Citywire NMA
INVESTING & WEALTH MANAGERS
Has Mike Ashley bitten off more than he can chew?
Isn’t that his whole thing?
Source: Investors’ Chronicle
Bond giant Pimco flexes muscles with private placements push
“These include financing wartime debt for Middle Eastern governments, lending to a Blue Owl private credit fund whose shares had sold off, and contributing a major part of the funding for huge data centre projects for Meta and Oracle.” – OH S***
Source: FT
NatWest completes £2.7bn takeover of Evelyn
Source: Citywire NMA
REGULATION & POLICY
FCA looks to reduce Consumer Duty wholesale and non-UK burden
Some CD tinkering going on.
Source: Professional Adviser
FCA slashes reporting complexity in Consumer Duty overhaul
Some more CD tinkering going on.
Source: Professional Adviser
FCA unveils crypto rulebook for UK firms
Moves to standardise crypto investing in the UK.
Source: Money Marketing
Confidence in firms’ ability to detect non-financial misconduct declines
Said to be gaps in firms’ commitment and ability to enforce the new measures.
Source: Investment Week
Source: The Guardian
PENSIONS & RETIREMENT
Transact aims to cut pension transfer times by up to 5 days
Think a lot of people would appreciate that.
Source: FT Adviser
Three in five retirees who withdrew tax-free cash regret it
According to research by Quilter.
Source: Money Marketing
TRADE & ECONOMY
If you thought the global financial crisis was bad…
Happy Monday.
Source: The Economist
CRAZY CAT STORIES
Meet the cats tipped for Andy Burnham’s No 10 North
Finally, a politics story for the rest of us.
Source: The Lancashire Telegraph
OUTSIDE THE TRADE
Remote-controlled cockroach swarm can now breathe underwater
“Tiny 3D-printed diving suits allow cockroaches to walk underwater for up to 3 hours with no ill effects, which could enable a cyborg insect swarm to explore disaster zones and perhaps even Mars.”
Source: New Scientist
What Andy Burnham’s clothes say about his politics
I have no issue with Burnham not wearing a shirt and tie day to day. I have a big problem – it being a longstanding pet peeve of mine – with the t-shirt and blazer. Sorry Steve.
Source: FT
Sean McKinven is PR account executive at the lang cat
