With no clear front runner, it's one of the closest elections battles we've seen for decades and potentially defined by the fact that the Scottish National Party (SNP) could become the UK's third largest party. But while it's easy to get sucked into second guessing which coalition is likely to be friend or foe of financial planners should we not end up without a majority government on 7th May, it's important that we work with the information we have now in order to benefit cl

The financial advice sector has seen a great deal of change over the past few years and with a general election on the horizon, there's an element of uncertainty in the air. Yet while change is needed for the financial advice sector to evolve, there is a risk that if change is conducted too quickly or is disjointed then we end up focusing on implementation rather than the desired outcome - a healthy, vibrant and professional financial advice sector. Take the government's new

The sunset clause for trail commission is possibly the final act of the Retail Distribution Review's (RDR) aim to get the advice sector on to a more professional footing. We know that from April 2016 trail commission from legacy business tied up on platforms will be switched off and advisers will lose this recurring income. So how are IFAs shaping up and what work is left to do? There's little doubt that for many advisers the switch off will impact profitability - how much wi