Good morning and welcome to your Morning Briefing for Friday 31 January 2025. To get this in your inbox every morning click here.
Platform dinosaurs will go extinct
There are some dinosaurs in the platform industry that will go extinct if they don’t evolve, Progeny’s former CTO has warned.
Tim Thompson-Rye gave his damning verdict during a panel discussion at the Empowering Advisers Through Technology (EATT) conference yesterday (30 January).
Thompson-Rye said that platforms have “had it easy” over the years, and as a result have had “no incentive to improve or innovate”.
Direct authorisation application are on the decline
Applications for direct authorisation (DA) are on the decline, data obtained from the Financial Conduct Authority and seen by Money Marketing has revealed.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted to the regulator by Network Consulting founder and director Paul Day discovered there has been a 64% drop in DA application approvals in the past five years.
In his FOI request, Day asked how many applications for firms to become DA have been approved for each of the past five years in three areas.
Encouraging young talent into financial planning
Financial planning, and specifically paraplanning, offers great benefits and is a unique and rewarding career, writes Gerard Smialko, a graduate at The Timebank.
As a profession, however, it’s not great at marketing that. When catching up with friends or relatives not many know what a financial planner is, let alone a paraplanner!
As a new entrant, I took a real interest in the paraplanning role after a guest speaker at university discussed his experience, as well as comparing the ‘role expectations’ and ‘benefits’ to other roles within the financial sector and scanning the job market.
Quote Of The Day
The tech-light nature of the FTSE 100 also gives it insulation from the cold air blasting over the chip industry over the risks posed to Silicon Valley dominance
– Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown, comments on the FTSE 100 cruising to an all-time intraday high
Stat Attack
Almost half a million pensioners in the UK still have not paid off their mortgages, according to the latest research from over-50s experts SunLife. The study surveyed more than 2,000 people over 50 and discovered that of the
69%
that are homeowners
23%
still have a mortgage, owing £67,478 on average.
86%
of those with outstanding mortgages are still working.
14%
of those still paying off their mortgages are retired. This means that of all pensioners in the UK
5%
the equivalent of almost half a million older people are still burdened with paying monthly mortgage payments.
Source: SunLife
In Other News
Financial data company FE fundinfo has announced the results of its latest Crown Ratings rebalance.
The January rebalance highlights significant movements and trends within the investment-fund landscape, with big investment houses returning to the top of the table in an impressive rebound compared to performances two years prior.
Overall, seven funds gained a 5-Crown rating for the first time since the last rebalance in July, bringing the total number of 5-Crown-rated funds to 356.
These newly rated funds entered the rankings directly at the 5-Crown level, representing the top 10% of ‘Crown Scores’, calculated through rigorous performance metrics and benchmark comparisons.
In terms of sectors, the top performer was Specialist, with 26.1% of funds receiving a 5-Crown rating. This was followed closely by the Japan sector, which scored 24.6%, and the Sterling Strategic Bond, which scored 21.3%.
Global digital transformation consultancy Apply Digital has hired Sarah Hackett as its first senior vice president of growth, EMEA.
Hackett, who joined from Publicis-owned Digitas UK, will be responsible for amplifying reach through new business opportunities, client expansion, strategic marketing, channel partnerships and streamlining sales operations.
She will build on a client list that already includes The Very Group, Renishaw and Kraft Heinz to develop new opportunities and support global clients looking to grow into EMEA.
Her specialist business growth experience also takes in six years at Cognizant’s experience consultancy Zone and two years at design specialist Head London. Prior to this, Hackett spent nearly a decade at Goldman Sachs.
From Elsewhere
Women don’t trust Bank of England with inflation, study finds (Bloomberg)
How five years of Brexit reshaped Britain (Financial Times)
Chinese state-linked accounts hyped DeepSeek AI launch ahead of US stock rout (Reuters)
Did You See?
When I first entered the financial services industry, I set myself a goal to become a Fellow, writes Emmelia Powell, financial planner at Premier Wealth Solutions.
It wasn’t about collecting shiny badges or flaunting letters after my name. It was about holding myself to the standard I’d expect if I were to trust someone with my life savings.
There are plenty of examples of great financial planners who have chosen not to pursue further qualifications.
There are others that have aimed for chartered or CFP and chosen to stop. And then a small minority (I think less than 1%) went all the way to Fellow.
However, the lack of letters does not reflect lack of knowledge or experience, neither will the presence of letters earn you more clients. So, why consider the commitment to further qualifications?
Read the full article here.
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