The Parliamentary Ombudsman, Anne Abraham, has been supported by the MPs on the Public Administration Committee to compensate clients of Equitable Life who have been “miss-sold” Pension and other Product in the past, and to look into the way these investigations are conducted in the future.

My thoughts are, with Fee-based IFA Practices, growing the future, and IFAs effectively charging for their time, and not the sale of products, “miss-selling” or the hint of such things, will reduce greatly, moving forward. This development has been amongst controversy, that the Government have delayed making a decision on victims of Equitable Life “miss-selling” until after Christmas.

More news on the IFA Acquisition trail, as Towergate has acquired Russell Plaice & Partners…… and RP& P, an IFA Practice based in Lincolnshire will be re-branded as Towergate Russell Plaice. Towergate are showing an extremely strong growth plan in a down turn, with this being the 9th acquisition in 2008, posting a formidable total of Advisers to 95 across the entire group! Ian Darby, Chief Exec of Towergate, said this was an excellent addition to their group, as RP & P, are a successful practice with HNW clients……

Each week, I come across the exact same story, the Banks aren’t the only animals taking smaller ones under their wing, in the IFA market, and this has never been so prevalent. I think the reasons are numerous ; the effects of RDR, and IFAs deciding to leave the industry, and smaller firms not being able to financially survive in the Market place, or even, small, but successful Practices, like above, securing their future by linking up with a larger firm that will support them to further success.

Acquisition isn’t just limited to firms, as James Hay have proved…They have added Cazenove UK absolute target fund into their wrap platform, bringing their total fund choice to 1,373 through 59 different providers. This addition to James Hay’s wrap proposition, offers a neutral stance on short and long positions, and doesn’t resemble the market, and Chris Smeaton, Head of Funds, stated that they can offer a wide range of Investors, a wide variety of Fund and Investment choices.

Again, I’ve seen this more and more, “cash is king!” is a true saying, at the moment, and IFAs are offering better choice, better quality of advice in general & a better service than ever before, to attract a portion of that liquidity. Furthermore, I think, IFA clients are in a strong position as to where and, with whom they invest their monies! Never, has the IFA Market offered better choice to potential clients, and ones that have been in situe for years.

Back to the Banking Market, as anticipated by some, Santander, are to axe around 1,900 staff in 2009, mainly from back-office roles within Alliance & Leicester, Bradford & Bingley & Abbey Savings Arms, as it looks to streamline and combine & integrate the various Products into one brand. Maybe, 6 months behind their rival “super-bank”, HBOS shareholders have voted yes to the merger with Lloyds TSB to start in 2009.

So what implications does all this have for Financial Adviser & Wealth Management Roles within the Uber Banks in 2009? One word, I think “uncertainty”, certainly in a recession, it logical to think that there is less Investment and Financial Planning Business within the Bank Balances, and as these two giants are looking to amalgamate their products, redundancies in Financial Planning roles, I think, is a distinct possibility….