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The Morning Briefing: Inflation stays at 2.2%; the joys of being a self-employed adviser

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2 days ago

September 18, 2024

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Good morning and welcome to your Morning Briefing for Wednesday 18 September 2024. To get this in your inbox every morning click here.

UK inflation holds steady at 2.2%: reaction

UK inflation matched market expectations in August, holding steady at 2.2% annually, according to official data.

This figure remains below the Bank of England’s forecast of 2.4% and unchanged from July’s 2.2%.

Despite hitting the BoE’s 2% target earlier this year, inflation has since struggled to return to those levels.

Dan Wiltshire: The joys of being a self-employed adviser

One thing our wonderful profession/industry (whatever!) affords us is the opportunity for self-employment, writes Dan Wiltshire, an independent financial planner at Wiltshire Wealth.

This is great, particularly for certain personality types, such as mine.

Looking back, I was a lousy employee. That’s not to say I did a bad job but more that I struggled to conform to the unwritten rules that come with a corporate hierarchy.

In Conversation With Rachel Edwards: A financial planner’s journey

Rachel Edwards is a financial planner who took the leap from a successful career to launch her own firm.

She talks to Kimberley Dondo about her journey through The Verve Foundation’s Adviser Incubator, the “aha” moments that solidified her entrepreneurial path and the valuable lessons she learned along the way.

Learn about the challenges and triumphs of building a business in the financial advice industry, and discover how Rachel’s firm is uniquely positioned to address the needs of today’s clients.

Quote Of The Day

I think they’re the dinosaurs of our age. The old command and control type management style

– Sir Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology and health at the University of Manchester’s Alliance Manchester Business School, on employers imposing strict requirements on staff to be in the office

Stat Attack

A recent study by Legal & General, in partnership with the University of Sheffield, revealed that pension jargon is confusing and often acts as a barrier to effective pension planning among UK retirees aged 45 to 75+.

29%

of retirees do not fully understand the term ‘State Pension’.

73%

are puzzled by the term ‘annuity’.

82%

are unclear on what a ‘Defined Contribution Scheme’ entails.

22%

find complicated terminology a significant obstacle when researching pension options.

Source: Legal & General

In Other News

Sparrows Capital, an evidence-based investing pioneer, has appointed Helen Mason as its new marketing manager.

The move comes as the firm expands its low-cost model portfolio services (MPS) for financial advisers and wealth managers.

Recently, Sparrows Capital also hired Arnie Millington from 7IM as head of partnerships and partnered with JUST Group to launch SCore-D, an innovative retirement product.

Mason, a CIM-certified marketing expert with experience in financial services, previously held senior roles at Floreat Group and Rathbones Group.

She will lead a marketing review to enhance Sparrows Capital’s brand awareness.

Mark Northway, head of marketing at Sparrows Capital, said: “We have made great strides this year towards making investing simpler and more efficient for clients, which we have achieved through business expansion.

“This latest recruitment of Helen Mason, a diligent marketer experienced in the specific needs of advisers, wealth managers and private clients that make up our client base, will no doubt help us reach even more people with our evidence-based investment proposition.”

Superyacht and private jet tax could raise £2bn a year, say campaigners (The Guardian)

Starmer says first budget won’t undermine growth goal (Reuters)

Anger abounds as China raises its strikingly low retirement age (The Economist)

Did You See?

There are two distinct phases in the political cycle of every governing party following a general election, writes Liz Field, chief executive of Pimfa.

The first is where new faces and new ideas begin introducing themselves to the country. The second, which is harder, is where we expect them to deliver against their objectives.

This Labour government may have expected to have found themselves in the first stage a little longer. However, a combination of recent events and their inheritance means we are already quickly moving towards that second phase.

Ethereum is still home to the most active crypto developers and is the most attractive chain to build applications on top of for big companies, argues Bitwise’s Matt Hougan.

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