If you’ve ever applied for a visa to the US and some other countries, you may remember one of the questions they ask is ‘whether your are seeking or have ever engaged in terrorist activities or genocide’. A great help, I’m sure, in keeping the bad guys out. I’ve just heard that our regulator is sending out a mandatory survey (i.e. complete it or else) to check our ‘financial resilience’ in the crisis. What happens, one wonders, if you tell them you’re in dire straits?* I have a feeling they won’t be popping round with a cup of tea and a sympathetic shoulder to cry on! *PS We’re not in dire straits, in case you’re a worried client or the FCA…
“Britain has lost 435 financial advice firms since 2022”
Headline figures, there were over 200,000 financial advisers at the end of the ’90s, there are around 30,000 now and our numbers are continuing to reduce.